The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[Andrew]

Hi all!

No garden action to report, but here's some full-size inspiration (for me, if no-one else!) courtesy of last weekend's Welsh Highland 100 gala. A trip to Porthmadog is long and expensive, and I hadn't been for years, but a gala specifically setting out to recreate the same scenes I'm trying to reproduce in the garden was too good to miss!

I couldn't afford to travel on all three days, or to stay for that long either, so I spent the Friday watching the trains, and Saturday riding on them - and it was fantastic. Unfortunately, the WHHR's newly-restored Baldwin failed just before the event, but there was still loads to enjoy.

Here's a selection of photos, largely taken through mist and rain!

Travelling through the misty mountains up to Rhydd Ddu behind Russell was really quite magical, and I loved travelling in carriages I've built models of - it felt quite surreal. I spent some time hanging out with the lovely Lilla too, and find that my mouse wants to keep taking me to the Roundhouse website today, which is worrying...

Cheers all,

Andrew.

[Peter Butler]

Super atmospheric pictures Andrew, so glad you made it there for the special occasion.

[Phil.P]

Andrew, Peter,

As you missed the Baldwin running, some video put together from it running in the past few weeks:

https://youtu.be/g4_ZImI88NM

Phil.P

[Peter Butler]

She's a cracker!!! At first I wondered about the planks in the cab back sheet, but then I realised they were not on the wartime prototype (unless fitted by crew of the day) so they are to protect crew of the present without adding a permanent metal panel, thus altering (and spoiling) the appearance.

[Phil.P]

I like they have kept the works plates of 794 on the loco..

After all, it is a monument to the service of both locomotives.

Phil.P

[ge_rik]

Great photos, Andrew.
At first, I thought the first photo was a postcard from the 1930s - the colour tones, lighting and chap in the cap give it a 30s feel

Rik

[Andrew]

I like they have kept the works plates of 794 on the loco..

After all, it is a monument to the service of both locomotives.

I looked right at the works plate on Saturday and didn't notice that!

Thanks for the film.

The railways are offering the chance for event ticket holders to ride for free behind the Baldwin when it's up and running again, so hopefully I'll be back in Wales before too long...

[Andrew]

She's a cracker!!! At first I wondered about the planks in the cab back sheet, but then I realised they were not on the wartime prototype (unless fitted by crew of the day) so they are to protect crew of the present without adding a permanent metal panel, thus altering (and spoiling) the appearance.

I usually like engines with neat lines, but for a loco with so many pipes and domes etc, she is surprisingly lovely, I think.

On the original 590, the wooden cab back was a 1920s addition to cope with Welsh weather. It doesn't add much to the loco's looks, but I'm sure the crews appreciated it! I think the reproduction version is removable for warmer days, but I may have got that wrong...

[ge_rik]

Andrew, Peter,

As you missed the Baldwin running, some video put together from it running in the past few weeks:

https://youtu.be/g4_ZImI88NM

Phil.P

I hadn't realised that she would have such a distinctive chuff. Is it something to do with the stove pipe chimney, do you think?
Love the echoey whistle when in the cutting by Nantmor

Rik

[FWLR]

Superb photos Andrew,

We are going to Carnarvon this Friday for 7 days and it's on Anne's itinerary for visits and it's one I will enjoy a lot I'am sure.

[Andrew]

We are going to Carnarvon this Friday for 7 days and it's on Anne's itinerary for visits and it's one I will enjoy a lot I'am sure.

It's magical, you're gonna love it!

[Old Man Aaron]

Fantastic. Time-warp photos are the best kind of photo.

[Andrew]

Hi all,

Here are a few photos of the new observation car's first run. I now consider this my "poshest" train, with the matchboard carriages with varnished window surrounds all complementing each other, and the observation car too, of course. The original WHR was hardly a "posh" railway, but I'm not going to let that worry me - I can do "grotty and worn out" pretty effectively! Actually, the top half of the line was like that, and I didn't have the time/patience/energy to sort it out, so this inaugural run only made it as far as Penlan.

Pretend you haven't noticed that the station canopy at Trefechan is trying to emulate the curve of the observation car's roof!

Cheers all,

Andrew.

[philipy]

Great pics Andrew. You should be very proud of your "posh" train.

[Peter Butler]

Beautiful pictures Andrew, they all look so good together. You have made a superb job of them.

[SimonWood]

Very envious of the couple sitting right at the front of the observation car with a superb view of Russell. Makes me wish I was 9cm tall.

[Trevor Thompson]

Andrew

Lovely photos - particularly of your own train. The observation car is very nice!

Trevor

[StuartJ]

Very nice. The third photo in particular is very evocative of the real thing.

[Andrew]

Morning all,

After the fanciful observation car fun of recent weeks, this weekend it was back to more realistic 1920s WHR operations, with a Baldwin-hauled slate train.

The first attempt, on Saturday, went pretty badly, after I'd got all the wagons out and coupled them into a train only for it to start raining. I pushed the wagons into the tunnel for a little protection, but it seems the cat had the same idea, because she came bursting out of the far portal, leaving scattered wagons in her wake. It took a significant amount of effort to retrieve them all once the rain had stopped, but fortunately they only sustained relatively minor damage.

On Sunday, I tried again, with rather more success, starting with a run up the line with the empty wagons - a rake of largely Welsh Highland vehicles, with a few Ffestiniog ones thrown in too. It made for a relatively realistic rake, I think, but photos of goods trains on the old Welsh Highland are rare indeed...

At Clarach, for some reason (because I don't actually have a quarry, perhaps??!) the slates for transportation had been neatly stacked on the platform:

The loaded slate train was a first for my line, they've all been empties until now. At last, we can start making some money!

You might have spotted that the Baldwin was running without its rear spectacle plate. The 15 year old R/C batteries have given up the ghost, so I was operating it manually. It's a challenging line for that sort of thing, and I'd not run this loco for a considerable time, so it wasn't the smoothest run ever - I'll clearly have to practice more!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[philipy]

At Clarach, for some reason (because I don't actually have a quarry, perhaps??!)

So time to stop messing about with fancy observation cars for the pampered public, and get yourself a quarry built and properly generate some revenue!!