The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi Andrew,

Very nice pictures, thanks for sharing. Your line looks good to me. What construction method have you used to build it?

I agree wholeheartedly with Jim about the steam-up kit. That's something I must start and assemble ready for the big day when I'm able to commence operations on the Soar Valley Light.

Happy New Year,

Andrew

[laalratty]

Good to see that you managed to run trains for new year, it's something I used to do but the last couple of New Years Days have been rather nasty weather wise (including today, throwing it down and 60+mph winds).

[Andrew]

Hello other Andrew and Jim,

There are a variety of construction methods along the line, but the main ones are a concrete block wall on a solid foundation (still awaiting cladding with slate 4 years after the first bits were constructed) and timber bits (gravel or decking boards on posts or brackets, with roofing felt on top and 2x1 edging), both largely recycled from my old line. The upper terminus sits on the decking board structure described a page or two back on this thread, and the lower one is on blocks kind of nestled in postcrete - quicker than the full foundations, and they seem perfectly adequate so far.

And yep, the steam-up kit's great, even if not quite complete. I'm a disorganised soul and there have been times when I've been unable to run trains because I couldn't actually find all the things I needed. This is intended to address that issue... The box itself came from Lidl years ago and seems perfect for the job. I may add a notepad and pencil to record runs, along with any issues that arise and need addressing.

Thanks for your kind comments,

Andrew.

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi Andrew,

I'd forgotten about your previous construction descriptions - and we corresponded about it at the time as well!

I've read back through this thread and there is some really interesting information in it. I'm working my way up to starting construction of my first serious railway in the garden. Fortunately (from a time perspective) but unfortunately (from a getting something running perspective) I've got a great deal of terra forming to do first. Diverting the path is the first job and relaying the backyard has somehow become a part of that! Once completed - or at least substantially completed - establishing the railway formation will be necessary. That's going to mean building the formation so that the remainder of the garden can be landscaped around it.

There are so many alternative techniques out there that nailing the best/right one for individual circumstances is very difficult. Seeing achievements like yours and reading reports of how successful they are is very helpful in this decision making process. Decision making is never easy, the old saying 'I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure' could have been written about me!

All the best,

Andrew

[Andrew]

Good to see that you managed to run trains for new year, it's something I used to do but the last couple of New Years Days have been rather nasty weather wise (including today, throwing it down and 60+mph winds).

Your weather seems to have made it down here now! I'm glad to be back indoors...

[jim@NAL]

looking good I love your very organised steam up box very good idea looks cold and frosty in some of your shots

[Andrew]

Afternoon all,

Winter track work on the (WH)WHR is now complete - three curves relaid in the hope of reducing derailments and other problems with more sensitive stock. In each case the curve had a spot where the radius was a little tighter than the rest. I hope that's now resolved, but I won't know until I test run with the stock in question - this afternoon I thought I'd just have a quick and relaxing run with some battery motive power and stock that always runs well. I say I thought it would be relaxing - I thought wrong! But it was fun...

It started out quietly enough. Having reinstalled my Railcar Reversal Ramps (aka bits of bent coathanger wire), I set the railcar to work, automatically shuttling back and forth- here it is pootling along on Penlan bank, where a new bridge is high on the 2015 To Do list:



So far, so relaxing...

Then I thought I'd run a goods train too, and so my RH Little John joined in - and that's where the fun started...

My pick-up goods ran up and down adding wagons here and dropping them there, but always racing the railcar to reach the passing loop or desperately trying to complete shunting moves in time to clear the platform road at the termini. Far more drama than one might normally expect on a sleepy branchline but jolly good fun...

Here's "Margaret" waiting to restart her train as the railbus thunders (well, trundles) past:




And shunting at Clarach as the railbus enters Trefechan before reversing and heading back up the hill... Will the platform be clear in time?!



I think I may have invented a new Olympic sport. Sadly, I don't think I'll be making the medals podium... Off outside for more practice!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Big Jim]

Sounds like a fun filled and slightly nerve racking afternoon!
Nothing like making life interesting for oneself.
I do like your little railbus. A bit of a miniature GW 'flying banana'. I have been after one of these for a while for the Grumper to play with but they have started to command high prices on ebay.

[kandnwlr]

I like that rail car. I´ve often thought about getting one myself for the K&NWLR.

[Andrew]

I don't know if it's still the case, but when I bought mine 10 or so years ago, Faller stuff was much cheaper on German Ebay (presumably because there was so much more of it over there), and most sellers were happy to post to the UK. I don't speak any German (unless it's to inform someone that I don't have a dog) but free online translation was sufficient to conduct the transactions...

I may have said before (possibly on this very thread, but I'm too busy reminiscing to check...), but my own railbus is a kind of homage to the AC Cars one the K&ESR had, painted in their then house colours of chocolate and cream. I never rode in it, but recall seeing it from battlements of Bodiam Castle during a family holiday when I was a child...

If you're getting a Swift Sixteen one Alscace Andrew, then you might find that gap in your roster filled, they seem to have a similar kind of vibe...

Cheers all,

Andrew (chilling out with a glass of red after this afternoon's excitements...).

[Andrew]

Evening all,

The last week or so has seen me Spring Cleaning to patio at the bottom of the garden. It's always looked a bit of a state, being the last place to get sorted after building work to the house pretty much trashed the garden (and the last railway). It's a work in progress, but I thought you might like these shots featuring the rarely photographed back straight, taken this afternoon during a test run for Daisy...

Here she is heading up the 1 in 50 climb towards Leach's Curve:



The LNWR trespass sign is one my Dad appeared with one evening in the early 1980s - it made a big inpression on me as a child. He was late home from work, it was dark and raining outside, and he finally appeared, soaking wet and with a tear in his trousers, a gash in his leg, the sign under his arm - and a big smile on his face... I'm guessing he'd ignored the dire warning about what would happen to trespassers, or perhaps decided - that as the lower half is so rusty as to be unreadable - it didn't apply...

Here's Daisy returning down the hill - please pretend you've not noticed that the guard's van's at the wrong end - I did...



The pansies in the troughs might not look much, but I've got high hopes for them - 18 of 'em in a half-dead state cost me 57p from Morrisons a few days ago, and they're looking loads better already...

Here's a final shot of Daisy and train drifting back down towards Trefechan Tunnel...



The strange thing next to the sign is a fragment of a sort of building brick thing. A Czech friend used them (and a team of Czech builders, plus my brother-in-law) to build his family home in Stromness, on Orkney. Apparently they're stuck together with a kind of glue and they're terribly thermally efficient, only letting heat in, not out... I'm told there's one other house on Orkney made of these but that it's uninhabitable because the blocks were used the wrong way round and so it's always freezing cold...

I'm hoping that this stretch of line will be quite pleasant when all the pots and tubs come to life. I need to treat the woodwork, ballast the track and restring the fences too... Unfortunately it'll be all but hidden from view soon because we've promised the kids a replacement for their old trampoline which bit the dust last year - and this is where it will live... Oh well...

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Big Jim]

I think I might be tempted to give the sign a coat of rust remover (try jenolite) and a coat of paint to stop anymore of the letters being eaten by the dangerous Iron Moth!

[bazzer42]

Some nice shots there Andrew, I love those wooden posts and wonder whether thesemi permanence of wood is better than my live for ever melamine chopsticks. It's all learning (and cribbing other peoples ideas!).
We've finally outed our trampoline but the new space is out of railway reach.
A replacement trampoline is more important than a railway........

[Andrew]

I think I might be tempted to give the sign a coat of rust remover (try jenolite) and a coat of paint to stop anymore of the letters being eaten by the dangerous Iron Moth!

That's what the antique folk call "patina", isn't it?!!

I know what you mean, but I'm worried that if I remove the rust there'll be nothing left! Plus I think the fragments of paint are original, and if I repaint it it'll look all wrong... I've wondered whether a coat of varnish would help preserve (!) it in its current state?

[Andrew]

I love those wooden posts and wonder whether the semi permanence of wood is better than my live for ever melamine chopsticks.

My posts aren't doing too badly - all of this section of line was built using sections of my old railway, so I reckon it's 7 or 8 years old. The fence posts were just cheap pine section from B&Q or Wickes, pretty cheap. The original "wire" was treated string, which looked a little too like rope, and they now have fishing line between them, but that looks too thin, and sags badly. I may try kite string next...

[Big Jim]

Don't varnish over rust, you will only seal in any moisture. You could try a spray of WD40 and a wipe over with an oily rag or a very, very thinned coat of waxol (the clear stuff) all will affect the patina but would help preserve it with out painting it.

[Roberts wood light railwa]

 

[/quote]

ive just bought one of these... what does yurs run like?

[kandnwlr]

ive just bought one of these... what does yurs run like?[/quote]

I´ve always liked these railcars, but never managed to get one second-hand, so I´ve just got myself organised two of the new model from Swift Sixteen.

[Roberts wood light railwa]

I´ve always liked these railcars, but never managed to get one second-hand, so I´ve just got myself organised two of the new model from Swift Sixteen.[/quote]


got mine off ebay with the track from the trainset but i"ll either use the track for a indoor test line or sell it on

[Andrew]

Don't varnish over rust, you will only seal in any moisture. You could try a spray of WD40 and a wipe over with an oily rag or a very, very thinned coat of waxol (the clear stuff) all will affect the patina but would help preserve it with out painting it.

Good advice, I'll give it a shot - thanks!