The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[Andrew]

Weather here is still miserable..Haven't seen the for 4 days now..

Unfortunately it's raining here too - it started the moment I set foot outdoors! I'm hoping I'll get some decent evenings this week so that I can still run some trains next weekend. Fingers crossed...

Cheers,

Andrew.

[tom_tom_go]

The weather in Kent has been lovely this weekend!

I do like all your planting Andrew.

[Andrew]

The weather in Kent has been lovely this weekend!

I do like all your planting Andrew.

It's rained all day here but brightened up beautifully now - can any of the resident SBR gurus remind me if I can apply the stuff to wet chippings?

Glad you like the greenery Tom - it wasn't really planned that way, it looks very different to how it started out, it's just kind of evolved...

[philipy]

- can any of the resident SBR gurus remind me if I can apply the stuff to wet chippings?

Not sure that I qualify as a guru, but I would say damp would be OK but I wouldn't chance it if they are soaking wet. There is too much risk of the SBR being diluted from the tops of the top layer and not having enough coverage to grip. I did once experiment with misting the dry chippings first to allow faster absorption of the SBR, with variable results depending on how much mist was applied.

[Andrew]

Thanks Philip!

I think I'll give it a miss this evening, but tomorrow looks dry so I might manage to SBR the un-glued ballast in the evening...

All the best,
Andrew

[Andrew]

I'm hoping I'll get some decent evenings this week so that I can still run some trains next weekend. Fingers crossed...

Well that didn't happen!

I did SBR the ballast, but we've had lots of really heavy rain this week, much of which somehow got under the coverings I'd put over the track, not ideal... The covers came off when the sun came out today though and I seem to have got away with it. Here's the little PW chap looking quite smug, in a grumpy sort of way:

Penlan ballasted 1.jpg (199.93 KiB) Viewed 8939 times

And a view of the station site with a couple of wagons in the siding:

Penlan ballasted 2.jpg (403.1 KiB) Viewed 8939 times

I've still not ballasted the points at each end of the station so haven't declared it open to traffic yet, but I've run into a bit of a problem - it seems I can no longer obtain the ballast I've used before. I'm going to experiment with some "stone dust", a split bag of which I picked up for free at Jewsons this morning. Once I'd washed some of it using a hose and a sieve to get rid of the really dusty dust, the pieces that are left seemed to have potential - I'll have to see how they respond to SBR, but I'm optimistic.

Cheers,

Andrew.

[FWLR]

It's looking really good Andrew.

I hope you can rescue the 'stone dust'. Isn't it always the case when you get something that works and then you can no longer get it anymore...Very frustrating when that happens...

[Andrew]

The sun's come out, and I've finally got a few hours to spend in the garden, so the task of relaying Penlan Bank has finally begun...

The first job was to lift the track, and to clear away the remains of the old ballast, Mind Your Own Business, and whatever else had accumulated on the trackbed:

Penlan bank 1.jpg (264.54 KiB) Viewed 8814 times

With the track back down it was time to shovel on ballast, then spread it out and level the track. Here are the tools of the trade - a trowel, an old paintbrush, and a lovely hexagonal spirit level:

Penlan Bank 2.jpg (367.04 KiB) Viewed 8814 times

Additional tools included a teaspoon, used to add ballast very carefully around the points at the lower end of Penlan station's loop. A test train revealed that all was well:

Penlan Bank 3.jpg (340.21 KiB) Viewed 8814 times

Alas, those cherries will taste horrible, even when ripe and, despite being over ten years old, the tree's entire harvest will barely fill a Ffestiniog slate wagon...

I've rather enjoyed having rustic, overgrown looking track, and no doubt the greenery will soon be back (nothing of mine ever stays tidy for long), but there is something very lovely about neat permanent way:

Penlan Bank 4.jpg (269.89 KiB) Viewed 8814 times

The stone dust ballast is wet here, and will dry a much paler grey - it's already started to do that. It should all be dry by tomorrow morning, when I'll add SBR - which might make it look slightly darker. After it's made it look blue, of course...

I'm hoping that the weekend's promised warm weather will be perfect for drying SBR, so I'm hoping to run some trains too...

Cheers,

Andrew.

[tom_tom_go]

Love the last pic Andrew, everything my railway wasn't!

[FWLR]

Thats a brilliant job Andrew. Just a bit late for the photo competition though, that would have given the winner a run for his/her money....Sorry I don't know who has won it....

[steamgeorge]

Very smart . That 'S' bend is just overflowing with narrow gauge atmosphere!

[philipy]

Sorry I don't know who has won it....

Nobody knows yet, voting doesn't end until tomorrow night!

[FWLR]

Sorry I don't know who has won it....

Nobody knows yet, voting doesn't end until tomorrow night!

Oooopss...

[Andrew]

The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Restoration of Passenger Service


The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway is delighted to announce that passenger services have been restored to the WHR's Clarach branch between Trefechan and Penlan. This follows several months of work to bring the track up to the required standard and the complete rebuilding of Penlan station - this morning's services were the first the line has seen since the summer of 2016, and the first to call at Penlan since the spring of that year.

The revived passenger service was handled by the West Kent Light Railway's diesel railcar. Although clean and efficient, the railcar's limited capacity was somewhat tested by the large numbers wishing to travel, and it is likely that afternoon services will be consist of a conventional train now that the steam locomotive has completed the morning's goods workings.

The line between Penlan and Clarach remains closed for the present, but with the current good weather aiding the work of the track gang, it is hoped that this section too will re-open in the coming weeks.

Penlan Re-opening 1.jpg (467.13 KiB) Viewed 8735 times

Penlan re-opening 2.jpg (397.55 KiB) Viewed 8735 times

Penlan Re-opening 3.jpg (480.09 KiB) Viewed 8735 times

Penlan Re-opening 4.jpg (410.81 KiB) Viewed 8735 times

[tom_tom_go]

Great stuff Andrew, Russell looking the business as ever on your line.

[philipy]

That all looks superb, Andrew. Worth all the hard work and frustration.

[FWLR]

Looking good Andrew. Some very good photos of a great looking line.

[Andrew]

Morning all,

Here are a few more photos from yesterday, the afternoon this time.

First, here's Russell on the passenger train:

Russell passenger 1.jpg (401.44 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Russell passenger 2.jpg (429.68 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Russell passenger 3.jpg (396.3 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Russell passenger 4.jpg (343.08 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

I'm pleased to report that the Summer Car ran beautifully - phew!

Next up, "Jonah", my RH Bertie trundled the slate wagons about:

Bertie slate 1.jpg (321.07 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Bertie slate 2.jpg (468.4 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Bertie slate 3.jpg (394.93 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Bertie slate 4.jpg (435.04 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Bertie slate 5.jpg (306.64 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

I'd been meaning to run that combination of loco and stock since I built the wagons, and I am rather pleased with how it looked. Again, everything ran well, but I was reminded that a slip eccentric loco's not really ideal for my end-to-end line - I've got to get selling/saving for a Lilla!

Lastly, I posed a few shots at the end of day, just for fun:

Russell and Bertie 1.jpg (396.13 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Russell and Bertie 2.jpg (400.56 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

Russell and Bertie 3.jpg (402.95 KiB) Viewed 9797 times

You'll see that "Margaret" crept into the last shot, and a proper thing too - she was the unsung heroine of the day, tirelessly shunting and positioning trains for the stars of the show...

All in all, a good day. I'm looking forward to enjoying some more soon...

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Dwayne]

[FWLR]

Brilliant photos again Andrew. I do love seeing your loco's on the line. They are very atmospheric in their work...