Tŷ’n-y-Coedcae

Do you remember cassettes?

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But it was not the tape kind, but the modelling kind that created a lot of activity Tuesday. The materials had arrived for Cwmcarno’s fiddle yard cassettes and was sorted and stacked ready for construction.By the end of the evening one had been glued together and weighted down to set.

Also for Cwm Carno Mike E arrived with the splendid near complete screens for the colliery.

Not to be left out Ty’n y Coedcae was receiving materials to upgrade its fiddle yard cassettes. The original ones were very close to the sides of the stock and damage was occurring, especially to the foot boards fitted to its early coaches.

From Monday we see work in progress on Rob F’s workbench for his 7mm Slaters kit of a diagram 04 four plank wagon.

Also on Monday we took advantage of it being both dry and light to check that Cwmcarno would still fit inside Peggy.

Luckily it does.

Do you remember cassettes? Read More »

Blue Monday

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Apparently Monday Jan 19th, 2026 is designated Blue Monday, so what better way to dispel the blues than building model railways.

So TAFKATYS progressed with his ScaleSeven  Sir Lamiel’s 777 Quest layout mocking up the buildings and to bring a sense of scale, introducing a BR(SR) N15 30803 Sir Harry le Fise Lake to the scene.

Elsewhere Andrew prepared some wiggly tin for a building on his 00 Lyne Road layout.

Paul 🏅🏅painted the side of Cwm Carno in a uplifting shade of red.

And LBH built a chicken coop for Tŷ’n-y-Coedcae.

Blue Monday Read More »

Monday 8th December

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Monday was a quiet day, Andrew ballasting on Lyne Road, Fred taming a troublesome 42xx chassis and LBH tidying the electrics on Ty’n-y-Coedcae. No pics sorry.

On Friday Paul trimmed the plywood surround Cwm Carno to its rough profile. It’s starting to look more like a layout now.

And Mr Chairman furnished ABB with a makeshift store and some traffic for the Goods Shed to handle.

Meanwhile TAFKATYS upgraded our test-track. As well as a new position and clearly labelled controls, current limiting has been added to prevent the controller being damaged by short circuits.

Monday 8th December Read More »

Competition Time!

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Steady progress on Cwncarno and Tŷ’n-y-Coedcae but not so much in front of the camera.

Spot the difference! Wagonman has built two brake vans that are similar, but not identical. How many differences can you spot? The prize for the best entry will be Free Admission to our up-coming open day.

And TAFKATYS has been working on the servos and control system for the turnouts on Cwmcarno.

The servos and control gear are mounted on the tops of the baseboard and will be accessible via a removable side panel.

Competition Time! Read More »

Monday 16 June

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Five of us made it to the club on Monday. Paul 🏅🏅 fitted a DCC socket (there’s no doubt a better name for it – I probably should have said fascia panel) on TyCc, Mr Chairman continued with the track work on Cwm-Carno fitting the inside halves of the chairs and LBH assembled a Loading Gauge kit, also intended for TyCc. Andrew J and the Wizard continued with their own projects, but away from the camera.

Monday 16 June Read More »

Getting ready for Crewe – or not

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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 Tŷ’n-y-Coedcae. It seems a pity, although necessary, to cover up all the cart underframe detail.

Getting ready for Crewe – or not Read More »

A lull between shows

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We seem to be in a bit of a quiet patch between shows at the moment, but Monday we welcomed Rhobat back after several weeks away.

Tuesday was quiet too, but LBH did manage to assemble some barrels from the Miniart range, they are actually 1:48 but will look ok on Tŷ’n-y-coedcae’s 1:43.5.

On Friday we were better attended. ABB was erected using the modified toblerones with support over the top of them, to provide an improved bearing surface. This was better but it made access to the joining bolts and electrical connections more difficult.

The persistent problem of how to finish off the end of the terrace may be coming to an end. The garage/workshop mock-up is a better size than previous suggestions, having the doors nearer the terrace makes sense and positioning it away from the line of the terrace looks better. Obviously we need an improved tree.

A lull between shows Read More »

Post-Easter blues?

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This week was a bit quiet; Monday we decided not to open up on the Bank Holiday – deciding in the way of politicians being hounded out of their jobs to ‘spend more time with our families’.

Tuesday someone else will have to talk about since I was otherwise engaged . . . . . So Tuesday was quiet with a select few getting on with stuff including the next turnout for Cwmcarno, – but no pics.

Friday saw Paul make substantial progress on the modifications to the ‘Toblerones’ to make them more stable prior to ABB’s visit to Crewe, while LBH amused himself building a kit for a flat bed cart destined for Tŷ’n-y-Coedcae.

Away from the clubrooms Mr. C was working on a Bachmann Coal Tank for ABB and CC (so two bodies). The bearings have been reamed out to 1/8th, set up in a chassis jig and the coupling rods checked. These had previously been bushed, so were carefully opened out to align with the chassis. Postings on forums had noted that there were variations in some models.

Post-Easter blues? Read More »

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