The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[Phil.P]

A link to a short video:

https://youtu.be/B4laVx5hGeA

Apparently, best enjoyed on an 8 foot screen, with the sound turned-up!
(Video courtesy of David Mellor).

Phil.P

[Soar Valley Light]

Fantastic Andrew, and very apt.

I love the track repairs too, nice to see the platelayers favourite tool to the fore!

SVLR Andrew

[Andrew]

Hi all,

I mentioned a week or so ago that, having just completed the Ffestiniog coal wagon, I fancied running a train entirely made up of metal-bodied wagons - and, this weekend, I took advantage of the autumn sun and did just that.

The rusty rake chose themselves, but needed a loco and a brake van, so I opted for the Regner and Padarn guards van, both of which seemed to fit the decrepit vibe.

I don't think there's much more to say, so here are the pictures:

Cheers all,

Andrew.

[Peter Butler]

Lovely pictures, Andrew, and very fortunate with the local weather conditions too!

[ge_rik]

It looks like they all rattled along quite nicely!

Rik

[Andrew]

It looks like they all rattled along quite nicely!

As I suspected, the axleboxes on the new coal wagon are a bit gummed up with paint, which had the effect of it acting like the brakes were partially on - so even the mighty Regner had to work hard to drag it up the hill. Remedial work will be required!

As Peter said though, a lovely day for a steam up...

Andrew.

[FWLR]

They look brilliant Andrew. Love the weathering, it's superb.

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi Andrew,

The railway is looking really good. You did well to battel your way through the leaves!

SVLR Andrew

[Andrew]

Hello!

Regular Forum-ites might recall that, in a nod to the original Welsh Highland, on my WHR-inspired garden line I generally stop running passenger trains after the summer season. I do like the occasion to be marked by a last train, however, so unless I actually get round to running one the summer season can be somewhat longer than one might expect - this year, it just about made it to December!

Yesterday, Palmerston and a Ffestiniog rake did the honours, with the plume of steam from the loco reaching 8' or more into the air in the cold and misty conditions. In truth, that was partly because I'm still not used to the loco's gas control and so was wasting an awful lot of steam through the safety valve, but it looked impressive! I need to get round to lining it too, but I'm not too bothered because it's such a lovely looking engine already - even my wife commented on that yesterday, although she did resist my suggestion that we probably ought to buy another one...

Anyway, here's the last passenger train until Easter or so, in the decidedly wintery looking garden:

Cheers all,

Andrew

[SimonWood]

Lovely pics! The passengers are lucky the season extended long enough to enjoy this.

even my wife commented on that yesterday, although she did resist my suggestion that we probably ought to buy another one...

"Ought to"

Well quite, it goes without saying. The logic is inescapable.

[Peter Butler]

Beautiful images Andrew, a wonderful collection you have every right to be proud of.

[LNR]

You guys are lucky with your cooler temperatures showing nice steam atmospherics, down here they're far less obvious most of the time.
Nice shots Andrew.
Grant.

[FWLR]

Love the photos Andrew, they do show off your Palmerston and the coaches look great too.

[Old Man Aaron]

It's not just moisture your line is dripping with - it's atmosphere too!

[Andrew]

Hi all,

Over on my Rolling Stock thread, I mentioned that - having just finished another van - I quite fancied running a Christmas mail train. I've not seen any evidence that anything remotely like it ever ran on the Welsh Highland or Ffestiniog, but I was thinking of pictures I'd seen of standard gauge trains, with a passenger brake and a motley collection of vans, or perhaps even the Night Mail - "the gradient's against her, but she's on time!"

With that in mind, I'd prepared "Palmerston" for the run, the closest I've got to a Scot or a Patriot or whatever, on the grounds that it's red and has a tender and, perhaps, a certain gravitas? And then it snowed, and so I really had to run a Christmas train, but there was no way I was going to pit all that new and expensive Roundhouse hardware against the elements - and so "Daisy", my trusty Regner, was rostered instead.

The first task was to clear the line. I don't have a snowplough, but the Regner's cowcatcher sort of works, in combination with its brute strength and robust construction. Accompanied by just a guard's van, "Daisy" charged off up the line, driving growing piles of snow before it until it could go no further, at which point I'd scoop the accumulated heap out of the way, and reverse the loco a little to charge at the next drift - it all felt a bit "Snowdrift at Bleath Gill". Or Ivor the Engine. Fun, either way.

Here's "Daisy" arriving at Penlan:

With the line more or less clear, it was back down to Trefechan to collect the rest of the train - three goods vans and passenger brake No 2. For the first time that I recall, the loco struggled to pull the train I'd coupled behind it. Those vans contain quite a lot of lead, and the line was covered not just in snow and ice, but in leaf slime as well. The train slipped and struggled its way up the hill, finally arriving at Penlan, where I decided to terminate the working - apart from anything else, the loco had been working hard for some time, and must have been running low on water. The good folk at Clarach will have to wait a little longer for their Christmas parcels.

I got cold, and wet, but I had fun. And "Palmerston"'s still fueled, oiled and watered, ready to go. Next weekend, maybe???

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Peter Butler]

Beautiful snowy scenes Andrew, I love the wagon train, looks just right!
Yesterday, here in Carmarthen, we experienced 'pebble-dash' ice so solid it wasn't possible to open my car doors. On our journey past Bristol there was snow on the M5, closing one lane, but by lunchtime at Taunton it was cold but clear. You seem to have been 'lucky'? with the snow.

[Andrew]

You seem to have been 'lucky'? with the snow.

To be honest, I didn't venture beyond the back garden yesterday! It was definitely the "right kind of snow" as far as running trains is concerned, a thin layer of light and powdery stuff. There was rain in the afternoon, and so there's no snow left today.

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi Andrew,

Fantastic pictures of a working railways again. I've always had a soft spot for van trains, so I really liked your photos of the 'Santa Special' postal service.

All the best,

SVLR Andrew

[LNR]

Yes, as Andrew said great pictures and it certainly sounds like fun clearing the line in the first place. Unfortunately something I doubt I'll ever get to do down here.
Grant.

[FWLR]

Great photos Andrew, love the train with those vans.