Cwm Carno

Week ending April 13

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Next up on the exhibition timetable is ABB at the Scalefour Crewe show in June.

After the Ally Pally show some suggestions were made to improve the triangular supports, commonly known as Toblerones. So on Monday Paul 🏅🏅added a flap that hangs too the side of the toblerone but can be deployed across the top giving a wider flat surface. This will make it easier to add any packing necessary for uneven floors. Also the bottoms of them was trimmed to form feet rather than one flat edge.

Although ABB’s trip to Crewe remains on the horizon Cwmcarno has not been forgotten. Luke, under the watchful eye of Mr Chairman has completed his first turnout, and yes, it is in P4. Construction is nickel silver bullhead rail fixed to copperclad timbers with Masokits chairs.

So that is two of the five assembled.

With only three at the club in Friday it could be said this was the best turnout of the day. (Sorry)

Week ending April 13 Read More »

Into April

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What, it’s already April?!!!

At Monday’s club session we received this mock-up for the station building on Cwmcarno. The terrace behind is only temporary being some built for another layout.

The Zoom meeting on Tuesday was lightly attended. Preparations for the NEWGOG show continued while we were on-line, holding over any presentations until next month.

Friday was preparation for the NEWGOG show followed by the exhibition itself on Saturday. Of course club traditions were observed and the layout performed well with perhaps too much (!) stock available.

Into April Read More »

More Progress

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Starting on Monday and Andrew N delivered the turnout and track for the colliery built away from the clubrooms. It has suitably dirty sleepers and prototypical variations in the quality of the trackwork. This should be manageable as only 4 wheeled wagons and small shunting locos will operate here.

The two views are down from the screens to the exchange sidings, and in the reverse direction.

Also present on Monday was the Peak class diesel, just completed by the Welsh Wizard, Fred Lewis from a kit of ancient lineage.

Moving to Tuesday and Luke’s railcar re-appears, now with a tarpaulin fitted over the open goods compartment.

In the layout room the mock-up of the colliery has moved on with the level ground created and walling arranged. We are approaching the atmosphere of a narrow valley with river and railway crammed in the bottom.

Finally some adjustments to Ty’n-y-Coedcae have created the space for a crane in the goods yard, with a fence being moved and a plinth built for the crane.

At the end of Friday the turnout for Cwm Carno has progressed with the crossing in place and the curved stock rail too.

On Ty’n’Coedcae the plinth for the crane has a surface and first coat of paint and is seen roughly in the right position. Also the front of the layout has a fresh coat of paint ready for the NEWGOG show next Saturday.

More Progress Read More »

Back to the club

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The adventure to Ally Pally over we turned our attention back to Cwm Carno

TAFKATYS made a set of card mock-ups of the main colliery buildings to enable us to assess how they would fit into the layout topography and affect sight lines.

Meanwhile, back in the workroom, Luke has started on one of the points for Cwmcarno. The sleepers and timbers are cut to length and by the end of the session all were in place using double sided tape. Then there will be a bit of soldering to be done.

Continuing on Friday with the trackwork, more etched chairs were folded up by Mr C. After cutting off the fret they are folded with forceps, then finally shaped against the blocks with a screwdriver. Meanwhile Luke was soldering some into place.

For the control panel TAFKATYS tried out wiring and programming coloured LEDs to indicate the position of the points on the track diagram. This was successful so now the rest of the LEDs need wiring in.

Back to the club Read More »

Friday 7 March

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Having bought some very cheap 7mm point work Mike E launched into a short line project titled the Hogwash and Balony Railroad. The station building is in progress and three very nice boxvan kits have arrived. They’ve probably cancelled out any savings made on the pointwork.

Away from the clubroom Andrew N has started to produce some track work for Cwm Carno – to be precise the colliery sidings and in flat-bottom to boot.

Friday 7 March Read More »

No pic Friday

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Enough going on at the club this evening but nothing to precipitate the action of a camera shutter. There was a run through of the ABB timetable with a different combination of operators, TAFKATYS wired the control panel while Paul 🏅🏅 assembled the frame for the pelmet, both for Cwm Carno, the Wizard identified castings and LBH assembled a loom for the battery-power radio-control of ADR No 14.

Well, actually we did get one pic of how things were on Friday. This shows the progress TAFKATYS made on the Cwm Carno panel.

No pic Friday Read More »

Mainly Cwm Carno and some homework

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After we fixed the trackbed on Cwm Carno it was apparent that it needed further support to prevent excessive flexing and ensure the it was in one plane throughout the areas supporting turnouts to give us the best chance of reliable running. Paul S added several braces to this end.

Sticking to Cwm Carno, Andrew N has produced what may prove to be the first items of stock specifically for the layout. They are all based on the Masokits whitemetal kits from the 1980s (when, coincidentally, LBH was involved in the enterprise).

And Wagonman looks like he has pretty well reached the finishing line with his ex-CMDPLR pannier.

Away from the clubrooms our members are busy:

Stephen B has created Locomotive no.7, aka “the brick”. It is being built for the mysteriously-titled Project Kevin and will be the test bed for battery powered radio control. He reckons that he should be able to get a small power station in there.

Mainly Cwm Carno and some homework Read More »

Preparations for Ally Pally etc.

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With Abergavenny Blackbrook‘s visit to the London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace, London, which is now only three weeks away much of the evening’s efforts was in practicing operation on ABB.

Other works progressed though, with Luke turning his attentions from the body of his 0-4-0T to its chassis. A write-up of Luke’s build can be found in the Scaleseven Group website here.

Friday also saw TAFKATYS arrive with the planned control panel for Cwm Carno. After discussion the uncoupling magnet positions are settled and by Sunday it’s been completed.

Preparations for Ally Pally etc. Read More »

Cwm Carno trackbed and ABB uncouplers

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Work continued on the trackbed on Cwm Carno, which is now fixed in place.

When we got the framework laser cut, thanks to TAFKATYS’s prescience, we also got a set of alignment gauges made to check the we had the correct elevation difference and that we hadn’t introduced a warp into the trackbed.

Elsewhere we worked on reviving and old Mainline pannier tank, uniting an elderly brass chassis with a modern Bachmann body. The chassis will need a bit of TLC and the body a bit of detailing and weathering but it should provide a useful loco for Cwm Carno.

Mr Chairman sorted out a problem that we had with one of the servo motors that move the uncoupling magnets on ABB. It was working in the wrong sense, that is normally in the up/uncoupling position, this was sorted out by swapping over the blue and orange cables inside the control box.

Cwm Carno trackbed and ABB uncouplers Read More »

Monday 17th February

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Monday and the usual activities in the workroom, etched kits to the fore in Rhobat’s and the Wizard’s hands, while in the layout room work progressed on the Cwm Carno baseboard.

The river bed is the lowest, central strip of plywood.

We first gave attention the river bed, square wooden blocks screwed and glued to the vertical risers and the river bed for our version of Nant Carno.

Blocks have been fixed in place too for the trackbed, but it is seen here just placed in situ.

Forming the weir in Nant Carno.

Monday 17th February Read More »

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