Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

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gilfachphil
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Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by gilfachphil » Tue May 17, 2022 4:36 pm

Now my article has appeared in the May 2022 issue of SMT magazine the time has arrived to open a layout thread here.
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Yr Hen Felin seen above is an inglenook shunting puzzle layout, something I have thought about building for several years, and which came into existence following my first ever visit to a garden railway show (Llanfair Caerinion 2019). sm32 lends itself ideally to the format as the very tight radius curves available in Peco Set Track allow the layout to be built easily within 2400mm length. The boards are of lightweight construction being based around 50mm Celotex insulation board with 9mm ply edging and pack into a unit with ply ends bolted on. The mill buildings and crossing gate are removed for transport.
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The wall on which the layout is sitting was an early building project, and has been crying out to be used to support some trains for many years.

At the furthest convenient point along the wall
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can now be found Yr Orsaf Newydd, here shown in an early stage of construction (this photo has also appeared elsewhere within this forum), living up to its name of 'The New Station' (for our non Welsh speakers!).
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rather more finished.

Joining the two separate ends is a simple arrangement of track fixed to 9mm ply boards. There is 16 ft of straight track with a small angle bend in the middle. These two lengths are supported by 8ft section of straight which normally form part of an O gauge portable test rack. Separate box sections with angled ends as required then bolt onto each of the sceniced parts connecting the whole together.
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The whole set up amounts to about 35ft long and comes out on sunny days for play.
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Yr Hen Felin is seen here at the October Gala of the Gwili Railway near Carmarthen in October 2021 when it had its first public outing and was a cause of much amusement amongst the visitors who were encouraged to have a go.

More anon.

Phil

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by ge_rik » Tue May 17, 2022 5:22 pm

I saw the article in SMT and was intrigued. Will follow this thread with interest - thanks for sharing.

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by Peter Butler » Tue May 17, 2022 6:58 pm

Great article Phil, should create a lot of interest for those with limited space. I look forward to seeing it again at our next group meeting at the Gwili Steam Railway event, which will be titled... 'Rail Oddities', featuring some of their own standard gauge equipment. This will be held on Saturday 18th June 2022 at Bronwydd Arms Station with steam services running throughout the day.
https://gwili-railway.co.uk/whats-on/
I will be taking some of my own 16mm stock, if I can think of anything even remotely odd!
If any readers are in the area on holiday, please drop in and introduce yourselves.
The best things in life are free.... so why am I doing this?

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by gilfachphil » Thu May 19, 2022 1:37 pm

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Though things here are in the wrong places it still shows something of how the shunting game works.

Glaslyn, the blue diesel has returned from a trip to the station at the other end of the line with the train which had been sorted out during the last game, it has run round the train whilst away.

On the centre board are the five counters, drawn at random from a bag, which show the target order to be achieved and matched in the five wagons behind Glaslyn. Whilst Glaslyn was away, Skylark (not quite finished) came from the station and is now trapped. Three wagons which were not selected are placed in the front sidings. The coloured discs are magnetically attached to the wagons which each have magnets inside the body for the purpose. The colours are deliberately varied for interest amongst the younger participants, who do not seem to be confused when one talks of the colour of the wagon in terms of its attached disc rather than body.

There are 6720 possible combinations of five from eight wagons so a repeat game is highly unlikely.

Phil

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by philipy » Thu May 19, 2022 2:29 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 6:58 pm
If any readers are in the area on holiday, please drop in and introduce yourselves.
Sorry Peter, we were there on holiday a month ago, so sadly won't make it again until next April/May. ( had a great day though)
Philip

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by Andrew » Sun May 29, 2022 5:36 pm

Apologies for the delayed response, but I did want to say how much I enjoyed the article, thank you!

It's something refreshingly different, and fun, and very well executed. I love the yellow GPV too!

I look forward to further instalments...

All the best,

Andrew.

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by gilfachphil » Mon May 30, 2022 10:08 am

Thanks Andrew,

next up should be Trefor the Tram, my latest PDF build, and a Spooner style brakevan from Sixteen Mills which is nearly finished.

Phil

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by gilfachphil » Mon May 30, 2022 4:38 pm

Trefor the Tram

My latest build of a PDF kit, their Arthur tram loco.
Tref chassis.JPG
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First the chassis, a fairly simple matter of screwing together. I did manage to get one of the side pieces reversed end to end so drilled another mounting hole for the motor rod, which for some forgotten reason seemed the simplest way to go.
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The skirt in transparent plastic placed atop the chassis. The instructions say the skirt should be fixed to the body, then the chassis added. This would mean complication in terms of the electrics so I added a hole into each end spacer so that the skirt would become a fixed part of the chassis. The next picture shows the heads of two m2.5 screws. Also shown are the battery pack, charger socket, thermal fuse and switch. Through the black paint can be seen words indicating that the receiver will be underneath. Temporary connections to the motor showed that it would run.
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The switch is SPDT so that the loco will be on when switched to either side of centre. There will be a delay in getting the loco running under radio control as I am waiting for Micron RC to complete development of their replacement for the Deltang item I have used in my previous loco builds.

Next the body in transparent plastic with the firebox and boiler top in filler primer. These parts are 3D prints which need a fair bit of sanding to get the print ridges out.
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With a coat of filler primer over the whole thing there is immediately a more solid appearance
Tref sup2.JPG
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More to come.

Phil

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by Andrew » Mon May 30, 2022 5:17 pm

That's looking very good! I actually rather like it in that lemon coloured primer...

You've prompted me to look at the PDF Models website, where I notice they're offering a model of the Kerr Stuart diesel, 4415. I had planned to scratchbuild a (slightly shortened) version of that on the chassis of my RH Hercules, and wonder whether PDF would be prepared to sell me just the body parts to start me off. I don't think I've worked with acrylic before (I think "plasticard" is different stuff?), and would need to modify the kit slightly to fit the chassis - do you think it would respond OK to me attacking it with a Stanley knife?

Thanks,

Andrew

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by gilfachphil » Mon May 30, 2022 6:49 pm

Andrew,

it seems like working with plasticard though I think I would try sawing with a fine blade. It tolerates being drilled happily so far as I have found. Liquid cement works well.

Phil
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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by Andrew » Mon May 30, 2022 7:19 pm

Thanks Phil, sounds promising - I'll drop them a line...

All the best,

Andrew

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by Andrew » Tue May 31, 2022 9:12 am

Andrew wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 7:19 pm Thanks Phil, sounds promising - I'll drop them a line...
Just a quick update on this - Leanne at PDF got back to me very quickly, the price was great, and I've placed an order. Thanks for the inspiration Phil!

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by philipy » Tue May 31, 2022 10:17 am

Phil, The loco is looking good, especially with the primer on.
Looking forward to seeing your build Andrew...how far down the 'to do' list is this one? :D
When you do get around to it, I'd agree with Phil that acrylic isn't easy to cut with a knife, particularly for anything more than about 1mm thick, and a fine saw would be much better.
Philip

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by Andrew » Tue May 31, 2022 10:56 am

philipy wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 10:17 am Looking forward to seeing your build Andrew...how far down the 'to do' list is this one? :D
When you do get around to it, I'd agree with Phil that acrylic isn't easy to cut with a knife, particularly for anything more than about 1mm thick, and a fine saw would be much better.
Well... The "to do" list is a long one, but it isn't set in stone, and I've been needing authentic(ish) WHR battery power for a long while, so it might well jump the queue. I quite fancy making sure the plan works, and getting to the stage where I've got a good solid basic body sitting nicely on the chassis - maybe I'll add the detail later...

Sorry for the thread drift Phil!

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by GTB » Tue May 31, 2022 3:28 pm

Andrew wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 5:17 pm I don't think I've worked with acrylic before (I think "plasticard" is different stuff?), and would need to modify the kit slightly to fit the chassis - do you think it would respond OK to me attacking it with a Stanley knife?
Apologies for hijacking the thread but the question was asked......

Acrylic is very different to work than polystyrene. Acrylic is much harder, more rigid and also more brittle than the high impact polystyrene sheet that is sold as plasticard.

Some people can manage scoring and snapping acrylic, but I'm not one of them. It's like cutting glass, you either have the knack, or you end up with a crack that wanders off-course and destroys the part.

Acrylic is one of the engineering plastics and in my experience sawing is the best way to cut it, if you don't have a laser cutter handy. Like any thermoplastic, it tends to melt and jam the blade if you get too enthusiastic, but otherwise it is easy to drill, turn, mill, saw and sand. Any accidental handling scratches that appear on the surface can usually be polished out with metal polish.

Acrylic also needs specific adhesives. I doesn't respond at all to common polystyrene glues like MEK. Make sure you get something that it will specifically glue acrylic. Acrylic glues work on polystyrene, but not necessarily the other way around. I used to use Chloroform for fabricating models from acrylic in the days when I was younger and sillier. Presumably any current manufacturer using acrylic in models will recommend a suitable glue for their models.

Acrylic sheet is an excellent material for simulating glass windows in models, which is about all I use it for now. I saw it to size on my little bench saw and use contact cement to fix it in place on metals, wood and polystyrene.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by gilfachphil » Tue May 31, 2022 5:43 pm

The solvent I have been using is Methylene Chloride (Dichloromethane) from EMA Model Supplies (Plastic Weld) bought in my local model shop. This works very well. I'm not sure whether the transparent sheet is acrylic or another plastic. It will also stick this transparent material to plastikard.

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by GTB » Wed Jun 01, 2022 3:47 am

gilfachphil wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 5:43 pm The solvent I have been using is Methylene Chloride (Dichloromethane) from EMA Model Supplies (Plastic Weld) bought in my local model shop. This works very well. I'm not sure whether the transparent sheet is acrylic or another plastic. It will also stick this transparent material to plastikard.
Thanks for that info.

I've seen methylene chloride recommended for glueing Perspex (which is an acrylic) and you report good results with Plastic Weld. Plastic Weld also works well on ABS as well as acrylic, but I can't get it here since the Plastruct distributor in Oz went belly up.

The industrial plastic supplier where I buy my polystyrene sheet also sell acrylic sheet and it seems they stock an acrylic adhesive called Weld On, which looks similar enough to Plastic Weld to make it worth checking out.

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by Andrew » Wed Jun 01, 2022 8:29 am

Great advice everyone, thank you! I'll start a new thread when the project's underway...

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by philipy » Wed Jun 01, 2022 1:32 pm

gilfachphil wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 5:43 pm The solvent I have been using is Methylene Chloride (Dichloromethane) from EMA Model Supplies (Plastic Weld) bought in my local model shop. This works very well. I'm not sure whether the transparent sheet is acrylic or another plastic. It will also stick this transparent material to plastikard.
This post did surprise me, because I've always thought that Plasticweld would NOT stick acrylic.
I've just had a chance to investigate, and I know that formulations change over time, but a fairly new bottle of Plasticweld doesn't even mark the surface of a piece of actual Perspex which is approx 50 years old. So I suspect that you must have a different tye of transparent plastic - Lexan ( polycarbonate) perhaps?
Philip

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Re: Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

Post by Jimmyb » Wed Jun 01, 2022 3:00 pm

philipy wrote: Wed Jun 01, 2022 1:32 pm
gilfachphil wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 5:43 pm The solvent I have been using is Methylene Chloride (Dichloromethane) from EMA Model Supplies (Plastic Weld) bought in my local model shop. This works very well. I'm not sure whether the transparent sheet is acrylic or another plastic. It will also stick this transparent material to plastikard.
This post did surprise me, because I've always thought that Plasticweld would NOT stick acrylic.
I've just had a chance to investigate, and I know that formulations change over time, but a fairly new bottle of Plasticweld doesn't even mark the surface of a piece of actual Perspex which is approx 50 years old. So I suspect that you must have a different tye of transparent plastic - Lexan ( polycarbonate) perhaps?
I have some Carr's Butanone, and this will stick acrylic, and I think it will also stick perspex, it is MEK based, but not to be confused with Slater's Mek-Pac which DOES - NOT contain MEK

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