Just Ladders Left

I'm about ready to begin painting the water tank wagon.

Since the last update I've added a few more of the final details including the vacuum pipes and, in a very fiddly operation, soldered on some tiny lengths of brass wire to represent the levers on the valves on either end of the tank outlets.

The pipes were not straightforward either because on one end the outlet pipe passes behind the hose and I had to do it in such a way that the tank can still be taken off for painting - it won't be fixed down until the very last moment when I will also add the ladders.

More Gardening

The new Oberon Wood houses are looking a little more established now Himself has been able to do some 'gardening' at the front.

The road through the estate has also been properly surfaced.

So this is basically how this scene will appear at Dinas in a few weeks time.

This segment of the layout is still very obviously a work in progress but I hope we'll be able to give a good impression of how it's going to look when it's completed.

Inlets & Outlets

I've spent the last few details beginning to add the essential details to the water tank wagon, such as the filler and the platform on the top and the two outlets on either end where Fireman Sam connects his hoses should it ever be required at a lineside incident.

The platform is a tricky little piece fabricated from styrene strip with etched brass mesh on top.

It was very flimsy and delicate while it was being made and didn't stand up to handling well, but now it's glued in place on the top with the mesh attached it is seems to be more solid. Lets hope it stands up to the rigours of service at model railway exhibitions.

I have also dug out my trusty resin rivet transfer sheets to add the detailing along the frame.

There are also half a dozen grab handrails to be fitted along the frame before the chassis and tank are painted - still as separate units.

Only when they are painted and finally glued together will I be adding the ladders on either side.

A Great Wee Show

There are just 7 weeks to go now until we take the layouts - note the use of the plural - out on the road.

I may be biased but I think this has the makings of one of the best narrow gauge model railway exhibitions anywhere in the UK this year.

You can see a full list of the layouts which will be on show at Dinas here and there are a few of them which I'm really looking forward to seeing with my own eyes for first time.

It could be the last ever chance to see Bron Hebog and Dduallt running, including for us, the team, so I hope as many people as possible will be able to get along over the three days.

Mock The Week

The Artistic Director has been hard at work too.

He has produced a cardboard mock up of the farmhouse at Cwm Cloch Isaf.

The design of the model is complete guesswork - we have only a handful of photographs taken from public rights of way to go by - so it's important to check that the scaling and the dimensions of the building look right in place on the layout before finalising design on paper and handing the plans over to me to produce the finished version in styrene.

The other very obvious missing feature in the middle of the layout is the barn which sits in the middle of the S bend.

Like the water tower at Beddgelert station this is another one of those structures where we're going to have to pick a moment in time in which to depict it.

When we were first researching the layout, back in the days when the railway was only running to Dinas, this building was a neglected ruin.

Today it has been transformed and redeveloped.

Our version will be somewhere in between when it was in the early stages of rebuilding.

This is going to mean even more work for me because the front half will have to be roofless and that means scribing the stone walls inside as well as out!

Tank Trial

So, here we go. The tank is resting on its supports and the wagon is on its wheels.

What do you reckon?

I think it's got potential.

Looking side-on at it it doesn't half look long!

As I don't have any of the finished stock for the layout here I've been holding up some scrap B wagon sides next to it and comparing it with photos I can find online to try and get some reassurance that it's roughly the right size.

The tank matches with the measurements I was given, and the DZ chassis is a known known, but you always have that doubt in your mind.

Saddle Up

While the tank is the big ticket item on the water tanker project there are quite a few smaller bits to make before I can think about fitting it into place.

Prime among these are the 3 cradles which it rests on atop the flat DZ wagon chassis.

As these need to be identical to each other the easiest thing to do is make one master and cast the three I need for the wagon.

I'm making this wagon without ever having seen it with my own eyes.

I do have the benefit of some research pictures taken for me by a friend, and another who ran a tape measure over it, but I've made an assumption here that the supports are in the form of a saddle rather thatn separate ones on each side - it's very dark under there and impossible to tell from the pictures I have.

If I've got it wrong I'm sure someone reading this will be quick to correct me.....

I have also been carrying out the alterations to the DZ wagon chassis.

It's not really possible to use the side castings from my flat wagon kit because they include the remains of the stanchions and door stops which have been stripped off the frame used for the water tank wagon.

So instead I have fitted plain lengths of styrene which I will decorate in due course with transfer rivets.

There was a similar issue with the ends so for this I have adapted a couple of castings from the ballast wagon kit which are uncluttered.

I've also put together a pair of diamond frame bogies for it run on.

Once the saddle parts have been cast I'll be able to see what it looks like with the tank on top!