The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

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Andrew
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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Wed Dec 04, 2019 10:57 am

Hello all,

As I've mentioned before, in addition to my garden railway interest, I'm also an "armchair volunteer" for my local preserved line, the Avon Valley Railway - I'm involved in writing grant bids and organising funding campaigns.

I'm not going to do any kind of hard sell, but just in case anyone's interested in industrial steam engines, or Staffordshire industrial history, or is just looking for an opportunity to support a good railway-related cause, I thought you might be interested to learn about our current Big Give campaign. Thanks to the support of AVR patrons and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, from now until 10th December all donations to the railway's "Littleton No. 5" restoration appeal will be doubled.

Littleton 5 image A.jpg
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"Littleton No. 5" is a rugged but fascinating loco, the most powerful built by Manning Wardle of Leeds, and the only survivor of its type. It spent its whole working life Staffordshire's Cannock Chase coal field, slogging up the steeply-grade 4 mile branch from Littleton Colliery to Penkridge exchange sidings - it outlived steam on BR for a couple of years too.

Although it has worked on the AVR, it last steamed over 20 years ago. We're currently looking to raise enough to send the loco away for stripping down and detailed assessment, which will help plan and cost full restoration and so inform a major funding bid next year.

If you fancy making a contribution, then the link's here: https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campai ... 01QZv61AAD - please do forward it to anyone else who might be interested! Because donations are doubled until we reach our £10k total and we can claim Gift Aid where appropriate, every little really does count!

Cheers all,

Andrew.

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:45 pm

Hello!

The garden's hardly looking its best, but I do like to try and run a train early in the New Year - start as you mean to go on and all that...

Today's was a simple operation - just twice up and down with the Regner and the five wagons that happened to be in the cupboard. The track hasn't been used for a while, so there was the odd derailment, but all in all it went pretty well...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Jan 5th 2020 1 (2).jpg
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Jan 5th 2020 2 (2).jpg
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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by LNR » Sun Jan 05, 2020 11:24 pm

The Regner geared locos are great for taking pics. on the move with there nice steady pace. Good to see your railway in operation again.
Grant.

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by philipy » Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:58 am

Nice pictures Andrew.
BTW if your train crews have eyesight so poor that they need trackside notices that big, you really should send them to the opticians! :lol: :lol:
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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by FWLR » Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:35 am

Brilliant photos Andrew. Looks like you have been busy clearing the line.

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by DonW » Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:05 am

Nice pictures. Winter running often produces the best steam effects.

Don

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Fri Jan 10, 2020 7:40 pm

Evening all...

With the (WH)WHR's only battery loco temporarily out of use awaiting a new battery pack I took the only sensible course of action - I contacted my local Roundhouse dealer and ordered a new engine.

OK, so it wasn't quite like that, this is a purchase planned for a while, but the timing's good. The new loco's the RH Hercules that will eventually power a 4-wheeled version of the Welsh Highland's Kerr Stuart diesel. Until I get round to building that, I'm just going to enjoy it, starting with a trundle across the kitchen floor because it's far cold, dark and wet outside:

Number 6a.jpg
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Number 6b.jpg
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It's nice, isn't it? I'm very pleased with my new toy...

Because it's only a temporary addition to the railway in its current form I won't name it - the loco's been allocated to the line's alter ego, the West Kent Light Railway, and given the number six. And, as fans of cult 60s TV series The Prisoner will appreciate, it's quite appropriate that Number Six shouldn't have a name...

Outdoor pictures soon, but probably not until next weekend.

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by DonW » Sun Jan 12, 2020 8:57 am

Looks very nice is it a good hauler?

Don

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by FWLR » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:24 am

Very nice Andrew. Hope to see some outdoor views of her soon...When all this rubbish weather has gone..... :( :(

:sunny: :sunny:

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:37 am

DonW wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2020 8:57 am Looks very nice is it a good hauler?

Don
Thanks Don! I don't know about haulage capability yet because it's still only run on the kitchen floor with those four lightweight wagons, but I'm expecting it to be pretty similar to my RH Little John. I'm sure it can manage a lot more on the level, but heading up hill on my steeply graded line with 3'6" curves it will manage about half a dozen larger wagons quite comfortably, or two heavy wooden-bodied bogie carriages - three feels like too much to ask. I've never put it to the test properly, but I get the impression that my RH Russell would manage double that.

Cheers,

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:38 am

FWLR wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:24 am Hope to see some outdoor views of her soon...When all this rubbish weather has gone..... :( :(
Me too Rod! There was some nice weather this weekend, but we weren't around... Next weekend, maybe?!

Andrew.

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Sat Jan 18, 2020 5:27 pm

Afternoon all!

With a wonderfully free calendar this weekend and the weather not too bad, I decided it was time to take my new acquisition, WKLR Number Six, out for a first trundle round the garden. And here it is:

Number 6c.jpg
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Number 6d.jpg
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Number 6e.jpg
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The five plastic skips were no test for it, but they looked rather well together, I thought?

I managed two or three runs up and down the line before retreating indoors - it's cold out there!

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by FWLR » Sun Jan 19, 2020 11:03 am

Brrrr it sure is. Minus 3 here Andrew, a very nice white sheet of frost on everything.

Love the photos mate. You are a brave man.... ;) ;)

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by DonW » Sun Jan 19, 2020 1:07 pm

Hi Andrew
that little train of skips suits it just fine. Looks just right in the garden. It was quite a frost overnight here too but if you're in the sun it is quite warming but in the shade it is cold. Memo to self make sure that I will not be in the shade too much when I plan the new line.

Don

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by ge_rik » Sun Jan 19, 2020 6:04 pm

Great pix, Andrew.
The new loco already looks very much at home. You seem to be lucky with your weather. I'd hoped to get outside today but the fog never cleared and the temperature reached the heady height of 2.5C!

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Sun Apr 05, 2020 7:32 pm

Evening all!

Spring is definitely here, and the (WH)WHR's Permanent Way gang have begun work on getting the line in shape for a re-opening to passengers at Easter, or thereabouts...

Today, the first train for some months made its way up the line to Clarach, using the gang's new gauging van, see here passing the not-strictly-to-scale trespass sign at the foot of Penlan bank:

5th April 2020 1.jpg
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And again on the long straight climbing up to Clarach, with clearance work clearly required!

5th April 2020 2.jpg
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This section of line passes between various shrubs, and it can be very tricky to work out which ones are outside of the loading gauge, so the van really came into its own - I think it hit at least half a dozen branches!

Here's the cheerful little train arriving at Clarach, with the van's paintwork already a little battered from its encounters with the undergrowth - just the right outcome really, because every scratch on the van is one that won't be happening to my locos!

5th April 2020 3.jpg
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The next outing for the PW gang, sometime this week I hope, will be to check all the points are working properly and maintain them as necessary...

Cheers all,

Andrew.

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by FWLR » Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:39 am

Job well done Andrew. :thumbright:

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by ge_rik » Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:24 am

All it needs are some Boudicca revolving blades either side and job done 😉
Your railway is looking a lot more springlike than mine. Note to self, buy more spring flowering plants....

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:52 pm

ge_rik wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:24 am Your railway is looking a lot more springlike than mine. Note to self, buy more spring flowering plants....
Flower-wise, our garden often looks quite nice from now until about June or July, then goes right off the boil! Luckily, I like the colour green...

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Re: The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Post by Andrew » Sun Apr 12, 2020 12:02 pm

Morning all,

As per Tom's request, here's Russell, fuelled, oiled and ready to go at Clarach...

12th April 2020 1.jpg
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And here's its train, waiting patiently at Trefechan. For no reason other than I fancied seeing what it looked like, it's an all-red train today:

12th April 2020 2.jpg
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I'm not sure how long the front 4-wheeler will last, it's never run terribly well, I think it's got badly cast axleboxes. Must give it some proper attention soon.

I've got various things to do now, so it's likely to be mid-afternoon before the train goes anywhere.

Running trains according to others' requests and my whims has given me a sort of idea though, for a series of GRF mini "galas" over the coming months - I wonder if anyone else would be interested? The idea would be to replace the real railway galas and garden railway open days that won't be taking place over the next few months with running sessions on our lines held almost "to order". The host railway would post a list of possible locos, rolling stock and/or trains, and forum members would then take on the role of the gala organising committee, choosing (by poll, maybe?) which ones the host will run. And photograph/film, of course.

I rather like the idea - one of the things I enjoy about galas is either accurate recreations of the past, or combinations of locos and rolling stock that are either unusual or just plain attractive, even if not terribly realistic... It wouldn't suit all lines or members, but I'd be happy to give it a go. Any thoughts? What do you think chief moderator Tom? If you like the idea perhaps I could start a new thread...

Anyway, on with the jobs for now, and pics of trains later...

Cheers,

Andrew.

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