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.
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.
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!
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.
