The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[daan]

You could try and kiss one, may be something decent comes out of it..

[Andrew]

You could try and kiss one, may be something decent comes out of it..

I might do that - it might turn into a Prince, and the line could do with one of those...



Cheers!

Andrew.

[IanC]

You could try and kiss one, may be something decent comes out of it..

I might do that - it might turn into a Prince, and the line could do with one of those...



Cheers!

Andrew.

[daan]

That would be one steamy relationship then..

[Peter Butler]

That is a beautiful photograph of 'Prince', a loco I particularly admire and which is always so well turned out, however, if you bought an accurate scale model, complete with all panel ripples and imperfections, you would complain to the makers and ask for a refund. Strange isn't it?

[IanC]

That is a beautiful photograph of 'Prince', a loco I particularly admire and which is always so well turned out, however, if you bought an accurate scale model, complete with all panel ripples and imperfections, you would complain to the makers and ask for a refund. Strange isn't it?

Quite true Peter. We seek perfections in our models, which don't exist on the full sized ones.

Ian

[Just Julie]

lovely

[Andrew]

Quite true Peter. We seek perfections in our models, which don't exist on the full sized ones.

I know what you mean, although I find that when I make the first mistake on a project, as well as disappointment I often also feel considerable relief... Once perfection's out of the question I can accept imperfection much more happily!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[IanC]

Quite true Peter. We seek perfections in our models, which don't exist on the full sized ones.

I know what you mean, although I find that when I make the first mistake on a project, as well as disappointment I often also feel considerable relief... Once perfection's out of the question I can accept imperfection much more happily!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Andrew]

Hello!

Over the weekend I found some time to get out into the garden and undertake some long overdue maintenance on the line. All did not go quite according to plan...

The main task (I so I thought) was to re-affix the slate cladding to the decking planters that form the landscape that separates my upper and lower termini - the hot weather seemed to have dried out the glue near the tunnel mouth, and the cladding had fallen onto the track:

tunnel 1.jpg (399.12 KiB) Viewed 6473 times

Unfortunately, on closer inspection, the decking in question proved to be so rotten that it simply pulled away from the screws:

tunnel 2.jpg (365.19 KiB) Viewed 6473 times

I removed the remaining plants, dug out the soil, and discovered that the board behind was in much the same way:

Tunnel 3.jpg (410.08 KiB) Viewed 6473 times

As was the exterior ply that formed the "roof" of the tunnel mouth:

tunnel 4.jpg (362.91 KiB) Viewed 6473 times

I knew they'd go eventually, but I had naively hoped they'd last a little longer... Pulling off most of the worst affected wood allowed me to reach in and find that the boards supporting Clarach station seem to be in much better shape, for now at least. They're not in direct contact with the soil and are protected from above by roofing felt, so I should get another year or two out of them, should I wish to. I'm still undecided on that - whether to make do and mend for a while, or to take it all out and have a re-think...

To buy time for now, get trains running and make the area look less of an eyesore I spent 10 minutes (if that!) cobbling together something that looks a little better (?!!) by propping up some of the old slate cladding and tacking on a piece of astro-turf I once found round the back of an old warehouse:

Tunnel 5.jpg (361.33 KiB) Viewed 6473 times

All a bit of a shame really, that was one of my favourite parts of the line, but I'll sort something out...

In the meantime I decided to concentrate on Penlan, the passing station, which has never really recovered from some fencing work a couple of years ago. Here it is before work commenced!

Penlan 1.jpg (476.22 KiB) Viewed 6473 times

After giving the vegetation a much-needed trim I removed the track and cleared away much of the accumulated debris. Among the archaeological finds was the mortal remains of some lolly stick fencing that came from my previous railway and once adorned the platform here - there wasn't much left!

Penlan 2.jpg (418.14 KiB) Viewed 6473 times

With the site clear the trackbed received a nice new coat of brown masonry paint and began to look much more cared for:

Penlan 3.jpg (428.98 KiB) Viewed 6473 times

The track's back down now, but I've not tested it yet - downhill trains were sometimes de-railing as they passed over the facing point, so some attention may be required. With the future of both of the line's other stations in the balance I think I'll concentrate on making Penlan look nice for now, starting with a new platform - once the edging's in place I'll ballast the track, although I've not yet decided between replacing the old cement-based ballast or using granite chippings and SBR. I've used both in the past, and both have their merits...

I was wondering about adding a siding here (I'm desperately short of siding space), but the geometry of the site's rather awkward, so I may leave it for now I think...

So. Not altogether good news from the (WH)WHR, but the opportunity for a re-think's always a good thing, and at least the track's almost up and running again. It just needs a good brushing down now and it'll be ready for the plum harvest - how else will we possibly manage that?!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Peter Butler]

I'm so sorry to see the deterioration of your line and the work involved to restore it. The lolly fencing is sobering yet some still insist on using it... even varnish can't protect it.

[tom_tom_go]

You will get there Andrew.

When your Russell comes home and you experience the slow running it will give you the motivation to rebuild.

I would of pulled my little line long ago if it wasn't for the Slomo.

[Andrew]

Thanks chaps...

Strangely, I'm not down-hearted, it feels like an opportunity in many ways.

And yes, I think a revived Russell will really help. It's one of the reasons I'm delaying making a decision on how to proceed - my main motivation in getting a Slomo is to aid realistic end-to-end running, but one of the options if I rebuild that section is to lose the upper terminus and have a continuous run...

I'll keep you posted, but in the meantime there are test trains to run!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[philipy]

Sorry to see/hear about your problems, Andrew, although I have to confess to wondering about the effects of weather when you were detailing the build.

As you say it's created opportunities, but it would be a shame to lose the upper station I think, personally I loved the way it looked.

[Lonsdaler]

Peter Jones used to swear by scorching ply and then applying waterproof pva to the still warm charred surface, and for wood just the pva, before applying paint.
My personal preference has been to avoid wood at all costs, but having re-read his book on model buildings, I'm almost tempted to give it another go.

[ge_rik]

Glad to hear you're seeing it as an opportunity rather than a threat - but a bit of a blow nonetheless. Probably about time I crawled under my raised wooden section to see what delights await me .....

Rik

[bazzer42]

Glad to hear you're never say die. When I have to rebuild bits there are often things I would do different. Catch 22 garden railways, wood should be relatively simple to remove if moving house but my breeze block track base

I have gone into the wooden building thing knowing they won't last forever. This dry summer hasn't been much of a test and whilst I plan to bring things in over winter I realise they have a finite life span.....but how long?

Keep us posted on your rebuilding, love Windmill Hill.

[IanC]

I haven't any experience of using wood in my garden, except for the shed! (That gets a coat of preservative every now and again). If I were to use wood it would be with the expectation that It will be replaced at some point in the future. The timescale would probably depend on the quality of the wood, preventative measures taken and how much moisture it gets exposed to.

I have contemplated making a temporary railway using wood for speed and then gradually upgrading over time to something more durable (breeze blocks?).

Glad to see that the setback has been used to improve the railway.

Ian

[Andrew]

Funny you should mention Peter Jones, his work and writing has been on my mind in recent days, and in particular his preference for massive works of civil engineering in concrete! I clearly need to do something a little more permanent than decking board, but I think whatever charm the line possesses might be lost if I went for anything on quite that scale - there never seemed to be much greenery in Compton Down...

I've been looking back at old pictures, like this one, to remind myself of the construction technique:



The upper baseboard seems to be holding up OK, and it looks like I made a much more solid job of that than I did of other bits. I'm wondering whether I can leave that for now and cobble together new "planters" for the hillside at the front out of hollow concrete blocks and bits of cheap patio slab - it needn't look great because it'll be covered in cladding, and the slate should stick to masonry better than it did to wood... The top, baseboard, bit will fail eventually, but if the sides are solid I could potentially use those to construct something more solid on... Worth further thought perhaps - but all ideas are welcome!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[tom_tom_go]

I covered all my wood (gravel boards) with roofing felt and it's been fine. No problems with rot although my line is raised.