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Week Ending 5th July

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Having taken receipt of the the last two LMJ boards Wagonman put all three together as a start of the process of conversion into its new guise.

Modellers abhor a vacuum!

The space made available by the LMJ board’s removal was quickly invaded by LBH.

Paul🏅🏅 has assembled and painted a pair of shelves for Tŷ’n-y-Coedcae to hold coffee and the NCE Powercab.

Our Wizard is getting on nicely with the tender of B&MR ‘Usk’ (or ‘Wye’)

And to finish the Monday report a start has been made on the laying the track work on Cwm-carno, and following some helpful comments from sharp eyed readers of the entry on the Scalefour forum.

Tuesday was the first in July so we met on-line with a range of presentations. Mr C started us off with pictures gleaned from the internet showing LNWR 4 cylinder compound freight engines and 2-4-0s. Mike E had some pics of incredibly small shunting engines from Italy, though built in Germany. Steve Bell had yet more photos of the Cambrian lines, fascinating as usual, while Rod’s selection was from South Wales. Luke updated us on his latest project which utilises the baseboard for the Peco 200 challenge. Called Queen’s Wharf it is based on Towyn on the Talyllyn Railway. Finally Paul W showed us his scratch-built improvements to the tender of his 78xxx in 7mm.

On Friday there was a significant step forward on Cwmcarno with the first turnout to be laid. After careful siting and marking the position on Monday, the Evostic was applied and the main turnout stuck down and weighted in place with pieces of steel. We can now get on with laying the mainline through the station.

The second turnout in the view will have to be laid later as it needs aligning with this main turnout and exchange sidings crossover which has now been started.

Turnouts for the exchange sidings started.

Week Ending 5th July Read More »

Week ending June 8

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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 Depôt, 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.

Lost and Found – one cap

Week ending June 8 Read More »

Modelling at home

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Most of us will be modelling at home this week. With Monday being yet another Bank Holiday and with some of us busy at the Bristol Show over the weekend it was time to miss this session. And Tuesday will be an online meeting so we’ll be at home with a screen (and liquid refreshments).

On Zoom we asked Steve B to ‘Carry On’, so we were entertained by ‘Further Up the Cambrian’. This session included Manors, Dukedogs and concrete signal posts. We ended with an impromptu visit to a 3 ft 6 ins gauge heritage railway in Tasmania thanks to Paul W.

Friday and back at the club where improvements to ABB continue. We now have a track power indicator next to the signalman – green is good, nothing means a short circuit.

At the end of the terrace the 3D printed workshop or garage has arrived and tried in place. Work on a proper tree has started but with still some way to go as you can see. Ground work will be necessary and a fence along the back too. Perhaps crack open on of the doors?

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One pic Monday and many pics Tuesday

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Again very little to show Paul 🏅🏅finished the bracing on Cwm Carno’s trackbed, LBH tried and failed to get the BPRC for ADR No 14 working, Andrew J kept going on his signal box interior and here we see Mr Chairman fitting the gutters onto the terrace in ABB.

This Tuesday we meet on Zoom on the day that was the 58th anniversary of the last day of operation on the Cambrian Coast Express and Stephen B showed us a collection of images the day’s operation, Luke shared an idea for hand signals to assist in layout operation, Mr Chairman shared a collection of images with the emphasis on 9Fs (or should it Class 9s?) and LBH came to the end of his series of Welsh scenes.

One pic Monday and many pics Tuesday Read More »

Week ending 9th February

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Monday and our well-glued baseboard is set for ‘the test’. Will it fit into the intended vehicle? As long as it goes in low down for side clearance, it can be lifted up afterwards to allow items to be stored underneath. It is very light and we did notice that it will move in the wind.

Also Rhobat brought along the final prototypes for his Bryngaer Models Cambrian wagons. Looking very good.

And Rhobat completed the lineside hut for Cwm Carno.

First Tuesday of the month and we met on Zoom as usual. We looked at advance planning for which layouts need to be erected before they go on show, using Luke’s spreadsheet. Guided by LBH we visited a great variety of pubs from the Valleys seeking features to be included in the pub on Cwm Carno. (The Cordell Arms?) Then Mr Chairman talked about his visit to Bradenton MRC when on holiday in Florida over Christmas. SteveB continued down memory lane with pictures centred around the Cambrian mainline. (The Manors on the Cambrian Coast Express looked magnificent) Finally back to Luke for some Corris Railway and other narrow gauge pictures.

Friday. To help with planning the buildings and other scenery we had a full size printout of the drawn plan made. The proposed positions of the buildings will need a bit of revision, and better provisions made for gardens and the occasinal Tŷ Bach. Apologies for not the clearest photo.

Mr Chairman spent most of the evening trying to get the uncoupling sorted out for one particular movement on ABB. The horsebox and van in the picture have to be detached from the incoming train then deposited in the bay platform. After much swearing it was discovered that the long wheelbase of the green 3MT causes the couplings to swing wide on the curve into the bay and not release freely. The solution was to swop the loco for the shorter 84xx pannier tank.

and Wagonman making good progress with his ex-CMDP pannier tank, providing a lot of detail for the backhead.

Etched brass tank engine are continuing to absorb members efforts. Luke treading new ground with his S7 side tank.

Week ending 9th February Read More »

Week ending 9 June 2024

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Bank holidays and half term over we got back to normal this week with five attending in Monday.

The terrace on ABB with be bookended by a chippie, with a small lean-to and a pub, both will be finished in render to contrast to the brick-built cottages.

Tuesday saw seven of us chatting on Zoom and presentation covered Richmond (NER) and Simla (SKR). Hopefully next month Mike E will chat about modelling US shortlines in 1:48.

Our resident Wizard has made substantial progress on a GWR County Tank with the aid of an 88D Models kit.

By Friday a bit of progress had been made on The Two Gongs.

After a period of storage this 4MT is back on the workbench for attention. Having established that the chip is damaged the hunt was on for a suitable location for the new one. Previously it was tight on top of the motor and it probably got too hot. There is no further space in the boiler as it is full of lead, so it looks like it’s got to be in the tender. There’ll be long leads to the motor which is right behind the smokebox.

The tender has a compensated sub-chassis which needs to come away to get access for the chip. Handling this managed to dislodge one of the pick-ups which can be seen dangling at the front. By the time that had been glued back in place the one on the other side had fallen off!

Week ending 9 June 2024 Read More »

Tuesday Update

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The third Tuesday of each month we split our forces, some of us meeting in the clubrooms, others on Zoom

At the club rooms we added Frecclesham’s fiddle yard to the other boards. Then it had a vacuum over and the trackwork cleaned. Testing was successful with just a few of the turnouts requiring adjustment next session.

A stranger to Frecclesham, Pannier 3603 rests after taking on water, following a testing session on the layout.

Those on zoom looked at Warwickshire Railways’ excellent coverage of Hockley Goods Depot and some of Jim Richards’ fascinating photos of wagons taken in the Barmouth and Penmaenpool areas around the time of the grouping (example). Chat meandered through WD WW1 GBVs (the Cambrian definitely bought some, did the B&MR too?) and commercially available Ocean coal wagons in OO.

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