Apologies to our readers for the gap in posting but the main contributors have been busy elsewhere.
ABB is set up ready for testing the timetable and refreshing the operators. We even found some more of the red buttons for the control panel. These operate the uncoupling magnets. But if you turn the panel upside-down they tend to fall off!
On Cwm Carno below work is progressing on the scenery and around the river bed. The long stone wall needs more colour variation to be added. The terraces, Grenfell Terrace (remember Gren in the South Wales Echo?), are now on their supports which are being glued in place. The clingfilm is to keep the adhesive off the buildings.
The layout room at the club is covered by a flat roof. In the sun it can get very hot and this year it is often unbearable. Just like the real thing the track expands and you can see the result in the first picture. The strip of MDF is the intended curvature. We’ll have to wait for cooler weather before ballasting. Also present are the new coping stones on the platform edge.
Meanwhile Luke has cracked on with buildings for Cwm Carno. The terrace is painted, the chapel renovated and both are close to their final positions. And ABB is erected ready for preparation for the Swansea show. A test loco has run over all track, after cleaning and vacuuming, though no uncoupling tried. Luckily there is space for both CC and ABB in the layout room.
This Monday we packed up ABB to create space for Frecclesham. We are due at the Stafford show at the end of September and Frecclesham hasn’t been operated for a while and does need some refreshing, so that goes up next.
Paul W has been working on his 78xxx kit in 7mm for some time. There were updates back in June. The tender is nearly complete and work has moved to the locomotive.
As supplied the kit has some inaccuracies and to correct them Paul W had to form a new spacer at the front of the chassis from a fresh piece of brass. This had to be measured, marked up and bent to avoid the fixing positions for pickups, yet form support for the cylinder blocks. (which need thinning down) Five folds were required which were achieved with the help of The Wizard at the first attempt.
Tuesday and more Hogwash and Baloney. This evening Mike E started to scratchbuild some girders for his short-line. This is for a modern addition to the scenario, so plate girders are in order, contrasting nicely with the wooden trestles seen previously. All parts were cut from 40 thou Plastikard.
Wagonman’s riding van now has a companion, a Tool Van, which is really a mobile workshop. These were normally paired this way in breakdown trains.
On Cwmcarno the pair of turnouts for the exchange sidings have come on well, been removed from the template and given a good clean with Viakal. The first pic shows them in place in the distance with all the remaining turnouts there too. So with plenty of bits of flexitrack available we ‘laid’ the rest of the formation as seen in the second pic. This shot is taken from the other end of the layout.
Friday was a quiet evening with only a select three present. The last part of the main line through the main platform was laid in as seen in the pic. Hopefully you can’t see the join. Also Wagonman Has been making girders for the river bridge which were tried in place and looked good, but no pic.
Then we moved on to trying to get the position of the next turnout correct, we think successfully. It was not stuck down as it needed the inside chairs to be installed. While Mr. C got on with that, Wagonman continued with his breakdown van and Paul🏅🏅tidied up some laser cut wood parts.
And LBH started the ballasting in the on the CoT (Chair on Timber 3d printed) turnout.
Friday was not exactly busy either. Andrew J decided on using card for the coping stones for Lyne Road’s bridge wall, our Wizard did more work on the 4-wheel tender before leaving for his third job as Dad’s Taxis. Robert cleaned the wheels on a Warship and Cl 37 whilst Wagonman got on with his project. Also he brought along some spare vehicle bits, so Mr C. cleaned them up and started to mock up the work/junk area for outside the workshop on ABB.
Six at the club today, Andrew J working on the road bridge for Lyne Road and Paul S started the fabrication of a couple of shelves for TĹ·’n-y-Coedcae, ….
Rhobat continued work on his Hunslet Jazzer kit in OO from the CSP range.
Currently he is working on the footsteps, attaching a fiddly triangular strengthening piece with the aid of a jig he prepared.
Mr Chairman is finishing off the problematic area at the end of the terrace on ABB, planting this tree as a view blocker.
Paul W was using his scratchbuilding skill fabricating a brakeblocks and hangers for his 78000 Mogul.
LBH progressed with his COT turnout, completing filing up and then fitting the switch blades. Stretcher bar next.
Tuesday and it’s close to the time to lay the first turnout on Cwmcarno. Here Mr C and TAFKATYS sort out the method for driving the point blades (wire in tube from a remote servo) and how to go about the wiring (Drill holes later and solder the wires in) and checked for trackbed flatness.
Meanwhile LBH fitted a paxolin drawbar to his mogul and it no longer shorts out. Hurrah!
Friday proved to be a quiet night with only Andrew J, The Wizard and LBH in attendance.
LBH wrestled with a Severn Models bike kit, he hopes to get the handlebars on eventually, but the brake calipers he’ll omit.
Our Wizard worked on Taff Vale Models kit for a Sharp, Stewart 2-4-0 which we hope to transform with the use of a few alternative etches into Usk of the Brecon & Merthyr.
After a slight break in continuity, hopefully full service will be resumed.
Its now Monday 2nd of June and there’s not much to report from the previous week. Today work continued around the workshop with planking applied to the inside of the door and more paint. Behind the workshop site the hedging was looking a little thin so more was stuck on. Some autumn colour now needs to be added.
Tuesday was the Zoom session for June and we had an update on the Hogwash and Baloney short line from Mike E. This was followed by pictures from Steve B of railway installations found on the French MOD archive website featuring WW1 photos of very good quality from behind the front lines. Lots of temporary track and lashed up stock. We ended with a collection of pics selected by Rod from around Wales, including some B&M stock of course. (but no photos of Machen)
Friday saw LBH replace a broken plasticard drawbar on his newly-acquired ScaleSeven ex-GWR mogul with a more resilient one in brass, only to discover that he had installed a short circuit. Further investigation, assisted by Mr Chairman and our Wizard, revealed that pick-up was by a form of the American system where loco and chassis are each live to the track on opposite sides. The pick-up was unusual in that the loco could run independently. A piece of paxolin has been set aside to form a new insulated drawbar.
Elsewhere on Friday Mr C continued working on the garage for ABB, Mike E in his Hogwash and Balony DepĂ´t, our Wizard on a Coal Tank and Luke on Cwm Carno trackwork.
Saturday saw a rare outing for LBH’s Crindau Pill as a photographic backdrop at the Welsh Railway Research Circle’s AGM. Here seen with a variety of pre-grouping rolling stock.
Monday was very lightly attended with quite a few people gallivanting around the country.
The garage / workshop as had some colour applied to the side and roof, and the fence stuck in place. We now need some debris and junk to go in the corner around where the tree will go.
On Tuesday the workshop had more paint applied and it was turned around with the doors at the correct end.
The good looking 82xxx from Lionheart is having some attention from the Welsh Wizard. The handrails are very fragile so will be removed and replaced with nickel silver wire.
The station building for Mike E’s Hogwash and Balony short line continues to take shape with the windows going in today.
For Cwmcarno the second turnout is nearing completion and is being tried in place on the layout with the one made previously. The first shot looks down the valley with the mainline curving to the right. The second one looks out from the exchange sidings.
Friday was extremely lightly attended – just myself and Robert making his second visit to the club. He came with some electrical questions that I was unfortunately unable to answer.
Having decided to have one of the doors on the workshop in the open position, I tried to carefully cut it out. However, it broke at the weak point where the windows were, so I made a replacement out of plastikard. To make the doors into a pair I later removed the window bars from the other one.
Back to normal attendances this week and eyes are turning towards ABB’s visit to Scaleforum in Crewe with practice running sessions being run.
Mr Chairman fabricated a recycled sleeper fence to fill in the ugly gap between the garage and the chippie lean-to.
LBH has been messing around with laser-cutting again. First he purchased a Peco Rail 200 baseboard (despite him knowing perfectly well that this year we are celebrating the 218th anniversary of rail passenger transport). He also got three sets of stockbox inserts cut to his designs.
Then over a couple of days various circumstances changed the availability for the Crewe show. After a discussion on Friday we had to decide to withdraw ABB from the show – we just didn’t have enough bodies. It was not a decision taken lightly. At least we were able to give 3 weeks notice to the organisers.
Meanwhile over the last few weeks Wagonman has been getting on with this early GW brake van from a kit picked up at the Kettering show.
LBH is making progress with the cart for TĹ·’n-y-Coedcae. It seems a pity, although necessary, to cover up all the cart underframe detail.
