The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[FWLR]

Great photos Andrew and they do look good.

How do you get so many photos to load please. I have tried with Dropbox and Flicker but I some how get it all wrong, just me I think, but once I have done it, it all becomes clear and easier...

[Andrew]

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!!

I am sometimes tempted to flog Russell, the Baldwin etc and buy myself a fleet of Quarry Hunslets...

[Andrew]

Great photos Andrew and they do look good.

How do you get so many photos to load please. I have tried with Dropbox and Flicker but I some how get it all wrong, just me I think, but once I have done it, it all becomes clear and easier...

Thanks Rod!

I don't know whether it's the most logical method, and it is a little time consuming, but I send myself an email from my phone, attaching the photos I want (I can send about 4 at a time via my Yahoo mail). Then I save the thumbnails (not the actual image file) to my PC and upload those to the forum - they're about the right size and quality.

Hope that helps?!

[FWLR]

Thanks Andrew,

I will try that later.
Just taken our car for a checkup on it’s tracking, hope it’s serious and blooming costly

[ge_rik]

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!!

I am sometimes tempted to flog Russell, the Baldwin etc and buy myself a fleet of Quarry Hunslets...

But then it wouldn't be the WHR any more. Did any of the quarries served by the railway have their own quarry Hunslets?

Rik

[Andrew]

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!!

I am sometimes tempted to flog Russell, the Baldwin etc and buy myself a fleet of Quarry Hunslets...

But then it wouldn't be the WHR any more. Did any of the quarries served by the railway have their own quarry Hunslets?

Don't worry Rik, I won't really do that!

Funny you should ask about Quarry Hunslets and the WHR... I don't think any of the WHR-served quarries operated the classic QHs, but the Cilgwyn quarry, at the end of the Bryngwyn branch, was home to larger Hunslet saddle tank Lilla - the lovely green livery she currently sports is the one she wore there. In 1928 she was sold to the Penrhyn railway, lowered down the incline and dispatched to her new home via the WHR. What if (that classic modeller's phrase!) there was an accident on the incline, and while she underwent a protracted repair at Dinas the Penrhyn deal fell through, leaving the WHR with a loco on their hands? And what if, during testing, she was found to be the perfect motive power for the (imaginary) Clarach branch, a branch which made just enough money to make purchase of the loco viable?

The real "what if" here is "what if I flog some older locos I don't/can't use anymore and cough up for a Roundhouse model of Lilla?" It's very tempting, especially after riding behind the real thing back in June. And, vitally importantly, if I do, should it be in black, green or WHR red??!

[StuartJ]

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!!

I am sometimes tempted to flog Russell, the Baldwin etc and buy myself a fleet of Quarry Hunslets...

But then it wouldn't be the WHR any more. Did any of the quarries served by the railway have their own quarry Hunslets?

Don't worry Rik, I won't really do that!

Funny you should ask about Quarry Hunslets and the WHR... I don't think any of the WHR-served quarries operated the classic QHs, but the Cilgwyn quarry, at the end of the Bryngwyn branch, was home to larger Hunslet saddle tank Lilla - the lovely green livery she currently sports is the one she wore there. In 1928 she was sold to the Penrhyn railway, lowered down the incline and dispatched to her new home via the WHR. What if (that classic modeller's phrase!) there was an accident on the incline, and while she underwent a protracted repair at Dinas the Penrhyn deal fell through, leaving the WHR with a loco on their hands? And what if, during testing, she was found to be the perfect motive power for the (imaginary) Clarach branch, a branch which made just enough money to make purchase of the loco viable?

The real "what if" here is "what if I flog some older locos I don't/can't use anymore and cough up for a Roundhouse model of Lilla?" It's very tempting, especially after riding behind the real thing back in June. And, vitally importantly, if I do, should it be in black, green or WHR red??!

Go for it! You clearly want to!

[Old Man Aaron]

Red, just to be different!

*Comment may contain bias due to favourite colour

[Andrew]

Hi all!

As I mentioned on my Rolling Stock thread, I don't really know why I stopped my Hudson toastrack project halfway through - I do know why I restarted it though. That was because I rode in the real thing at the Welsh Highland 100 event back in June. On the day I rode on the FR's No 39, it was being pulled by Welsh Pony, in a little rake that also comprised the Ashbury "Summer Car" and passenger brake number 5. It was a lovely little train, just "right" somehow, so I thought I'd recreate it for the toastrack's first proper run. My version's not the same in every detail (a different loco for a start, but the same shape!), but I think I captured the essence of it. Watching it snake up the bank, it reminded me of the "Woodland Wanderer" services the FR's been running for the last few years too.

I'll try to squeeze in one more passenger run before the weather really takes a turn for the worse, then the buildings will come in and it will be "goods only" until Spring...

Cheers,

Andrew

[BertieB]

It all looks great, really neat.

[FWLR]

Nice them Andrew, just looks right behind the other coaches and the loco too.

[Old Man Aaron]

Bucolic perfection.

[Andrew]

Thanks for the kind words chaps, much appreciated!

Each year, come the autumn, the (WH)WHR gives up on passenger services, and this weekend's sunshine seemed the perfect opportunity to mark the occasion.

Having finally outshopped three very long-term carriage projects this year, the train pretty much chose itself. Between them, the observation car, Ffestiniog brake composite and Hudson toastrack have taken over twenty years to complete! It's commitment, if nothing else...

So, back to occasional goods trains for me (not that passenger services are especially regular!), and long winter evenings of new projects and catching up with the maintenance backlog...

Cheers all,

Andrew.

[FWLR]

Thats why we do what we do isn't Andrew, to love the hobby no matter how long things take. We never finish adding to the rolling stock or buildings in some why do we.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Fantastic Andrew, the whole train is a credit to you, in a lovely setting.

[Peter Butler]

A beautiful set Andrew, worth the wait and a great addition to the fleet.

[Lonsdaler]

Your line has matured beautifully and blends well into the garden, and the time and effort put into those carriages has been well worthwhile. As they say - Rome wasn't built in a day!