The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

A place for the discussion of garden railways and any garden style/scale portable and/or indoor layouts
User avatar
BertieB
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:13 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by BertieB » Wed Aug 12, 2020 10:50 pm

These sort of derailment issues drive me insane. My new locomotive, which was built at least partly because its configuration would avoid it, still liked to come off on some corners (turned out to be a combination of sloppy trackwork AND sloppy loco build though).

Lovely pictures of the railway; I’m happy to look at more...

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Sat Aug 15, 2020 8:00 pm

Evening all!

I've just returned to rain-drenched Bristol after a mostly very sunny week in Devon. Not much railway-related goings on to report, apart from catching "Royal Scot" and "Britannia" looking very fine together as they powered along the sea wall at Teignmouth...

Back in the garden, here are a few photos of last weekend's trains, mostly a jolly little goods featuring the three new Phil Sharples wagons, as requested by Rod - we aim to please!

Here's the ensemble heading up the bank:

Sharples goods 1.jpg
Sharples goods 1.jpg (208.52 KiB) Viewed 4773 times
Sharples Goods 2.jpg
Sharples Goods 2.jpg (261.11 KiB) Viewed 4773 times

At Penlan there's supposed to be a small granite quarry, in addition to the timber trade, so the drop-sided open was shunted into the siding...

Sharples Goods 3.jpg
Sharples Goods 3.jpg (178.22 KiB) Viewed 4773 times

And at Clarach, half-a-dozen barrels needed collecting, having sat on the platform for about two years! Here's the return working heading through the shrubs...

Sharples Goods 4.jpg
Sharples Goods 4.jpg (163.55 KiB) Viewed 4773 times

And then heading back to Trefechan with the now-loaded granite wagon also in tow...

Sharples Goods 5.jpg
Sharples Goods 5.jpg (219.14 KiB) Viewed 4773 times

The intention was to steam up my Regner and run a passenger train to complement the goods, so I dug out my oldest passenger rake, the Ffestiniog four-wheelers. Alas, it was a busy weekend and that never happened, so on Saturday evening I shunted those into the tunnel ready to try again on Sunday. That didn't happen either, but they did get a quick trundle up the hill to Penlan to go back into store under the house again! Maybe when the weather improves I'll try again...

Sharples goods 6.jpg
Sharples goods 6.jpg (256.53 KiB) Viewed 4773 times

Cheers all,

Andrew.

User avatar
LNR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1533
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:26 am
Location: Australia

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by LNR » Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:23 am

Very nice passenger consist.
Grant.

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by FWLR » Sun Aug 16, 2020 9:34 am

Fantastic photos Andrew... :thumbright:

Thank you. I always love to see your locos and rolling stock on your brilliant line. :thumbright: :thumbright:

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Sun Aug 16, 2020 4:13 pm

Afternoon all!

It's late summer, it's a train of open wagons, it can only mean one thing - the plum harvest!

Plums 1.jpg
Plums 1.jpg (198.75 KiB) Viewed 4727 times

Actually, it's been a really big crop this year, and the plums are coming thick and fast, but I felt I really out to move at least some of them by train.

And which loco was chosen for this plum job? Why, the pride of the line, Russell, of course...

Plums 2.jpg
Plums 2.jpg (205.29 KiB) Viewed 4727 times

Having picked up the empties, Russell headed down the line to the tree on Leach's Curve, then waited patiently (ie I turned the gas off!) while the plums were picked and loaded...

Plums 3.jpg
Plums 3.jpg (179.7 KiB) Viewed 4727 times
Plums 4.jpg
Plums 4.jpg (230.93 KiB) Viewed 4727 times
Plums 5.jpg
Plums 5.jpg (209.06 KiB) Viewed 4727 times

After running round at Trefechan Russell stormed up the bank once more to Clarach, where the plums will be unloaded for onward transportation...

Plums 6.jpg
Plums 6.jpg (182.74 KiB) Viewed 4727 times
Plums 7.jpg
Plums 7.jpg (300.42 KiB) Viewed 4727 times
Plums 8.jpg
Plums 8.jpg (229.02 KiB) Viewed 4727 times
Plums 9.jpg
Plums 9.jpg (176.79 KiB) Viewed 4727 times

They're still sitting there as I type this, I really must go and fetch them in. Then I'm hoping my wife may be persuaded to make one of her splendid plum cakes...

Cheers,

Andrew.

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by ge_rik » Sun Aug 16, 2020 5:58 pm

Great set of shots - and nice plums ...... !

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

steamyjim
Retired Director
Retired Director
Posts: 1210
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:19 pm

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by steamyjim » Sun Aug 16, 2020 9:41 pm

Fantastic! That's what garden railway-ing is all about!
Check out my steam and engineering youtube channel at...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8vX4P ... _PnvhldjjA

User avatar
tom_tom_go
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4824
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:08 am
Location: Kent, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by tom_tom_go » Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:11 pm

Nice to see Russell out and earning it's keep on the railway.

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by FWLR » Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:48 am

Plum jam..Yummly. :thumbright: :thumbright:

Love the train of plums Andrew. I haven't got our line to the apple tree yet. We are having a nice crop of them also this year.

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:15 pm

Andrew wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 4:13 pm Then I'm hoping my wife may be persuaded to make one of her splendid plum cakes...
I succeeded! And it was delicious - and no doubt improved by just the slightest hint of steam oil...

Cheers,

Andrew.

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:17 pm

FWLR wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:48 am Plum jam..Yummly. :thumbright: :thumbright:
We're more fans of blackberry jam (and have picked a lot of those too!), but Grace makes a fantastic spicy plum chutney...

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:17 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:11 pm Nice to see Russell out and earning it's keep on the railway.
Thought you'd be pleased to see it Tom!

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:21 pm

steamyjim wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 9:41 pm Fantastic! That's what garden railway-ing is all about!
I think so, in fact I look forward to the plum trains all year! I had a complex three-train timetable worked out in my head, but when it came to it I just fancied the simple out-and-back option.

Looks like we're in for a big apple harvest too at the end of September (if they don't all fall off before then!), guest motive power for the harvest trains would be more than welcome!

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by FWLR » Tue Aug 18, 2020 8:27 am

Andrew wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:17 pm
FWLR wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:48 am Plum jam..Yummy. :thumbright: :thumbright:
We're more fans of blackberry jam (and have picked a lot of those too!), but Grace makes a fantastic spicy plum chutney...
Even better...Double Yummy :occasion5: :wav:

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:21 pm

Hello all,

Apologies, it's been a while - work's been busy, and I've got two daughters heading off to university for the first time which seems to be taking up an awful lot of time and headspace! I'm looking forward to catching up on what everyone else has been up to, but in the meantime here's an update from the (WH)WHR, where a much-needed and very therapeutic running session took place yesterday.

The occasion was the annual apple harvest, with Accucraft Baldwain 590 being the chosen motive power, hauling a rake of bogie opens - smaller wagons aren't big enough for the apples!

Here's the train heading down the line and pausing at the tree for loading:

Apples 1.jpg
Apples 1.jpg (203.95 KiB) Viewed 4405 times


Apples 2.jpg
Apples 2.jpg (287.77 KiB) Viewed 4405 times
Apples 3.jpg
Apples 3.jpg (308.77 KiB) Viewed 4405 times

And the loaded train heading back up the hill. It really is a case of "swords into ploughshares", with loco and wagons built for the First World War trenches taking on an agricultural role!

Apples 4.jpg
Apples 4.jpg (225.99 KiB) Viewed 4405 times
Apples 5.jpg
Apples 5.jpg (254.54 KiB) Viewed 4405 times

As this shot reveals, it transpired that a banker was required to get the loaded train up the line. Here's "Margaret" dropping off the back of the train as it reaches the summit of Penlan Bank - she was soon required again though, to push the train up the hill to Clarach.

Apples 6.jpg
Apples 6.jpg (274.53 KiB) Viewed 4405 times

I'll confess that I was a little disappointed that 590 couldn't manage the train, until I carried the apples up the garden after he run - they were really heavy! Double-heading may be in order next year...

Having completed the trip, the Baldwin had just enough steam left to return the empties to the loop at Penlan, where she sat to cool down while I steamed Regner "Daisy" to run a passenger service comprising of Ffestiniog 4-wheelers:

Apples 7.jpg
Apples 7.jpg (289.33 KiB) Viewed 4405 times
Apples 8.jpg
Apples 8.jpg (235.35 KiB) Viewed 4405 times
Apples 9.jpg
Apples 9.jpg (289.6 KiB) Viewed 4405 times

I managed to mis-time things somewhat, so "Daisy" ran out of steam halfway through her last run, coincidentally coming to a stand next to the Baldwin at Penlan:

Apples 10 (2).jpg
Apples 10 (2).jpg (305 KiB) Viewed 4405 times

Not liking to leave the passengers stranded, particularly on what might prove to be the last passenger run of the season, "Margaret" we once again sent to the rescue:

Apples 11.jpg
Apples 11.jpg (229.35 KiB) Viewed 4405 times

Finally, here's an end-of-the-day loco line-up. It had been a slightly chaotic run (they usually are...), but good for the soul..

Apples 12.jpg
Apples 12.jpg (225.01 KiB) Viewed 4405 times

Cheers all,

Andrew.

User avatar
LNR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1533
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:26 am
Location: Australia

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by LNR » Tue Sep 22, 2020 1:08 am

Beautifully weathered Hudson bogie opens with a heavy load, coaches with full length steps, and a nicely shaded Penlan halt, what more could you want!
Great show Andrew.
Grant.

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by FWLR » Tue Sep 22, 2020 8:15 am

Very nice photos and I loved the story Andrew. Those apples do look tasty. We are having to get rid of our apple tree, because it has that blight that effects a lot o fruit trees.... :cry:

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Tue Sep 22, 2020 6:51 pm

Thanks chaps!

If my accounts of messing about in the garden sound like stories I reckon that's a result of pretty much learning to read on Thomas the Tank Engine books! I think there's still a part of me that thinks that if I'm useful enough the Fat Controller will give me my very own branch line... Or maybe that's what the (WH)WHR is??!

Unfortunately, the apples are pretty sour - nice in a crumble though...

Andrew.

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by ge_rik » Tue Sep 22, 2020 6:59 pm

Your stock looks beautifully weathered and very much at home in their surroundings. Great set of pics.

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:18 am

Hi all,

Having been reminded by Peter's thread that I need to bring my buildings in for the winter, it seemed time to run the last passenger train of the year. It's a shoddy operation, but the (WH)WHR has some standards and prefers not to run passenger trains when there are no facilities for them...

I was keen to run the Baldwin again (I wanted to check that I hadn't killed the poor thing with the heavy apple train!), and went for a pair of closed carriages - it's too late in the year for opens!

Here's the train leaving Trefechan:

Autumn 2020 A.jpg
Autumn 2020 A.jpg (195.95 KiB) Viewed 4753 times

Catching the Autumn sunshine as it leaves the tunnel:

Autumn 2020 B.jpg
Autumn 2020 B.jpg (216.58 KiB) Viewed 4753 times

Climbing the bank, with the first fallen leaves evident:

Autumn 2020 C.jpg
Autumn 2020 C.jpg (272.61 KiB) Viewed 4753 times

At Clarach, with a dead tree providing Autumnal colour!

Autumn 2020 D.jpg
Autumn 2020 D.jpg (201.23 KiB) Viewed 4753 times

And heading back down the line again for the last time this year:

Autumn 2020 E.jpg
Autumn 2020 E.jpg (233.31 KiB) Viewed 4753 times

The (WH)WHR will be goods only until about Easter now. although it's unlikely that the locals will even notice, let alone complain...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests