The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[tom_tom_go]

Ah Andrew, I was hoping you would return!

You can easily add pictures to the updated forum and if you download all your old photos from Photobucket I can change their location to the new forum (as long as you do not rename any of the files).

PM me if you want to do this and hope to see some railway action from you soon.

Tom

[Big Jim]

Hello Andrew,
Nice to hear from you again.
The Chocolate factory layout sounds wonderful but please be aware that The Dept. of the Environment have declared Oompa Lumpas a non-native, invasive species and are looking into a cull starting next year.

[LNR]

Good to hear from you again Andrew, hope you retrieve your line from the undergrowth. I enjoy retrieving mine after winter, I find you can make it look decrepit or nicely trimmed either way.
Grant.

[Andrew]

Ah, it's good to be back! I've been having a look round and there's so much inspirational stuff going on - I'll participate properly again once I've got a little more modelling time...

In the meantime,that chocolate factory microlayout idea keeps bubbling away... I had a bit of a brainwave this morning when it came to me that I could construct it using one of these as a "baseboard":



It could live outdoors (vertically, minus legs, behind our raised deck) then be worked on, operated or even exhibited indoors or out, with or without legs... It looks like a Flagg Fluorspar/ Pigsty Brewery type layout using Faller track could fit relatively happily. I'm thinking of modifying Big Big tippers to deliver Maltesers and "scaling" (eeek!) the Fry's Sentinel to sit on an HGLW chassis. If it happens it'll be a bit of fun - and not to any known scale! That said, both loco and factory are pretty distinctive, so I should be able to capture something of the flavour (chocolate, of course) of the original:



I'll post on here if I ever turn these idle thoughts into reality...

Thanks to everyone who's registered and added their votes for the (real) "Chocolate Train" - if you'd like to join in you've got until Tuesday lunchtime. We've just crept over the 3,000 votes mark which should see us through to the next round, where a panel of judges make the final decision - but their criteria includes popularity, so every vote counts! https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voti ... ew/17-3937

All the best,

Andrew.

PS Thanks for the offer re the photos Tom, much appreciated, I'll drop you a line over the weekend...

[bazzer42]

Votes cast.

An old family friend (Bill B) was a fireman on steamers and brought my dad up to see my railway last month. He was based at Philips Marsh in Bristol and one of his regular trips was to the chocolate factory. He was telling us how, on cold days, the girls would give him bars of chocolate for a warm in the cab, nothing more he said!

[Andrew]

Thanks for the votes - and for the fantastic story! I believe there was a "transfer" to Somerdale twice a day, usually pannier hauled - although apparently the rule book allowed anything except a railcar, so it could theoretically have been a King...

Perhaps the chocolate girls were unaware that there was another way to keep warm - one of the Sentinel's driver kept a bathtub at the end of its shed! There were only ever two drivers, the two chaps in the photo...

Cheers all,
Andrew.

[Andrew]

Hello again!

Thanks again to those that voted for the Avon Valley Railway's "Chocolate Train" - we got the money! The wagon restoration team can now order the timber they need to rebuild a BR brake van to run with the old Frys factory Sentinel when it returns to steam later this year - thank you!

The chocolate factory layout has moved on too, from a vague idea to a baseboard, some track, and the beginnings of a building. The pressure's on though - I've agreed to exhibit it at the AVR model railway exhibition at the end of April! Watch this space...

Cheers,

Andrew.

[tom_tom_go]

Good news Andrew, let's have some updates of the layout from you then

[LNR]

I second what Tom said, good to hear from you again.
Grant.

[bazzer42]

Excellent news and explains the Aviva email I had this week. Keep us posted on the exhibition as you're not too far away.

[Andrew]

Afternoon all,

After many months the (WH)WHR is beginning to return to life...

I've cleared the trackbed and made a mental list of the various tasks that need doing to make it safe and presentable again. It includes lots of re-ballasting, a new platform at Clarach, a whole new station at Penlan, and lots of general tidying up.

At Trefechan the station itself's in reasonable condition, but the tunnel and adjacent siding are in a bad way:

Broken tunnel.jpg (400.63 KiB) Viewed 6073 times

Overgrown slate wagon.jpg (415.15 KiB) Viewed 6073 times

The tunnel mouth I'll sort when I've got a little spare time, but the siding looks nice so clearance work will need to wait until the flowers are no longer in bloom! The slate wagon was only posed there, but I quite like the abandoned railway look, I may have to come up with something along those lines that's a little more permanent.

Longer-term readers of this forum may recall the MOTTLITTs, the Manky Old Trucks That Live In The Tunnel. Against my better judgement, all this time later they were still there, and had to be pulled out so that an inspection train could run. Unsurprisingly, they weren't looking great. Most responded well to a good clean up with an old paintbrush, but the Mamod guards van is rusting beneath the paintwork and will need to be withdrawn for some serious TLC at the end of the running season, and the closed van is in a very bad way and has been removed from service straight away. I'll restore it in due course, but I'm now without any closed vans, which might hasten the building of some WHR examples...

MOTTLITTs 1.jpg (456.22 KiB) Viewed 6073 times

MOTTLITTs 2.jpg (357.94 KiB) Viewed 6073 times

I'm in the process of sorting out some better storage so that I can avoid such sorry scenes in future...

Anyway, with the trucks out of the way, the Peppa Pig inspection car was set to work:

Inspection car leaving tunnel.jpg (355.52 KiB) Viewed 6073 times

Inspection car climbing bank.jpg (429.39 KiB) Viewed 6073 times

All looks to be well but, alas, in reality the little railcar encountered a twig in the tunnel, stalling its progress until I could reach it. That only took a few seconds, but it stripped its nylon worm gear during that time and has joined the closed van in the overhaul queue. It's an old Busted Bricks chassis, the same as the HGLW one, but it can only have run a couple of hundred yards ever - perhaps I set the gears up badly? I'll repair it, but I'm concerned that the same thing will happen again. In the meantime, those photos were posed, and the inspectors had to continue by foot!

As expected, the line was deemed unfit for use by passenger trains, but given the OK for goods, subject to speed restrictions and the more overgrown loops and sidings being avoided... The first train will run sometime soon, pictures to follow...

All the best,

Andrew.

[Peter Butler]

Shame about the Inspection car, she's a little beauty! Nature certainly seems to be getting it all her own way and maintenance is an ongoing concern here too. I'm sure the effort will be well worth it in the end.

[tom_tom_go]

The line is looking good though Andrew despite it's neglect. I like the photo of the quarry wagon.

[Dwayne]

Love the inspection critter. Best of luck reclaiming the line from Nature.

[bazzer42]

Still a lovely railway, but turn your back for a second and mother nature takes her toll. That shifting by the tunnel is similar to my bridge problem where the hebe roots are pushing a bridge sideways.. All part of the challenges and fun!?

[ge_rik]

Are the wheels ok on the tunnel wagons? I'd imagine they'd be a bit rusty unless they're plastic.

Pity about the PP inspection car. My HGLW chassis came with a spare worm so I suspect there's an expectation they will wear, but maybe not quite so quickly. It's a pity there isn't a brass or steel replacement.

Rik

[Andrew]

Are the wheels ok on the tunnel wagons? I'd imagine they'd be a bit rusty unless they're plastic.

Pity about the PP inspection car. My HGLW chassis came with a spare worm so I suspect there's an expectation they will wear, but maybe not quite so quickly. It's a pity there isn't a brass or steel replacement.

Rik

Fortunately, most of the stock in the tunnel had Big Big Train plastic running gear, which has survived quite happily. The local spiders seem to have evolved a way of making strange cylindrical webs around the axles, but those were easily removed. The Mamod brake van has aluminium(?) wheels, which seem OK, but the box van's steel wheel have indeed rusted, one of the reasons for its withdrawal from service - the bodywork's also in a bad way - the door's fallen off on the other side, apart from anything else.

And yes, it is a shame about the inspection car, I rather like it. I think it was shredding the nylon from the outset - when it was running it seemed to run pretty smoothly, but maybe there's scope to can adjust it when I refit, in the hope that a better fit alleviates the problem...

Thanks for the encouragement folks,

Andrew.

[Soar Valley Light]

Lovely pictures!

That's atmosphere that can only come naturally over time.

I look forward to seeing more of the old line. I always enjoyed your posts in the past.

ANdrew

[LNR]

Ah!! the MOTTLIT'T's. Glad to see to see they mostly survived. I rather like the look of the closed van less the obvious additions. Having the opportunity of an overgrown railway always allows you to only cut back what is necessary, often providing for a typical somewhat run down look.
Grant.

[Andrew]

Good afternoon!

After at least 18 months without any meaningful activity, this afternoon the (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland spluttered back to life. West Kent Light Railway No 3, Daisy, did the honours, raising steam in the afternoon sunshine at Clarach:

Daisy raising steam.jpg (395.22 KiB) Viewed 5512 times

After a few stops to clear overhanging vegetation (still more to do there!) Daisy arrived at Trefechan, coupling on to the surviving MOTTLITTs and heading up the hill (and through the shadows) again:

Daisy leaving tunnel.jpg (337.84 KiB) Viewed 5512 times

Daisy in the cutting.jpg (385.44 KiB) Viewed 5512 times

In the trees.jpg (388.33 KiB) Viewed 5512 times

At Clarach an attempt to shunt the guard's van to the rear ended in failure (points failure to be specific, another job on the "to do" list...) but not to worry... Here's the train about to set off again, with the strong evening sun doing its best to hide the damage to platform and buildings caused by the ravages of time...

Return trip.jpg (295.86 KiB) Viewed 5512 times

Here's the train returning to Trefechan, with Margaret's driver lurking under the station canopy just as he's done for the last 18 months...

Back at Trefechan.jpg (380.7 KiB) Viewed 5512 times

And that was pretty much it, the rest of the run being cut short when the gas ran out. Not such a bad thing really, there's something rather nice about making a single round trip with a rattling pick-up goods, just like the real thing...

More trains soon, perhaps a proper Welsh Highland goods next....

Cheers,

Andrew