To what do we refer? Little Mill Junction, the club’s super project, has finally been laid to rest – last two baseboards left the clubrooms today in the first step on their journey to a new home in Cheltenham, where they may be transubstantiated (is that the right word? Probably not) to a new and entirely different layout. Watch this blog.
The last boards had a proper send off with a toast of the now discontinued Little Mill single malt. There is a smidgen left for anyone who wants to say their farewell.
LBH, after procrastinating (playing to his strengths again) for a few meetings, has finally fitted a some stretcher bars to his COT turnout. They look a bit crude now but hopefully will look better once painted and lost in the ballast.
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 Tŷ’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.
The hottest day of the year and only three of us ventured to the rather warm clubrooms. Mr Chairman gave some attention to laying the newly completed turnouts on Cwm-Carno and reviewing our options for plain track.
Wagonman completed the construction of a LNER-design Goods Brake Van, modified by BR as it was running in the Forest of Dean in the ’60s.
LBH started the building of a COT turnout by forming and fitting the check rails
next was filing up and fitting the rails that form the Vee
then the wing rails.
and finally for the evening the stock rails were formed and one blade (almost) filed up.
The Peco200 bug hasn’t affected everyone, but both Luke and LBH have decided to have a go. Both are being built to a scale of 7mm/ft and the available footprint is footprint is 750mm x 305mm.
Luke plan makes great use of the very limited space available combining both narrow gauge (16.5mm) and standard gauge (33mm) sections.
The design has its basis in the transfer facility at Tywyn on the Talyllyn Railway and rejoices in the name of Queen’s Wharf.
LBH’s use of the baseboard is much more modest as he is using his board as a test bed for 3d-printed COT (Chairs On Timber) track work. So far no more has been done than obtain the printed base.
The plan is to add some of the ScaleSeven Ready-to-Lay track when it becomes available.
Elsewhere, Mr Chairman was working on the turnouts for Cwm-Carno and Andrew J on scenery for Lyne Road.
Wagonman has made good progress on his GWR GBV side we saw it last month. The roof is loose and yet to be attached to the body.
Little construction work remains beyond adding the whitemetal fittings.
Mike E continues with the Depot for his Hogwash and Balony short line.
Discussions covered the colouring for the walls and the most likely prototype roofing material.
A delayed update on the Hogwash and Balony follows;
At the start of June Mike E confessed to a tracklaying error that led to the destruction seen in the 1st pic. The sweeping curves of the replacements show a great improvement.
Elsewhere on the line the tracks span the hog-wash on a typical wooden trestle structure seen in the later photos.
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.
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 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.
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 Tŷ’n-y-Coedcae. It seems a pity, although necessary, to cover up all the cart underframe detail.
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?
