The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[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 6133 times

Overgrown slate wagon.jpg (415.15 KiB) Viewed 6133 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a good clean up with an old paintbrush, but the Mamod guards van is rusting beneath the paintwork and will need to be withdrawn for some serious TLC at the end of the running season, and the closed van is in a very bad way and has been removed from service straight away.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 6133 times

MOTTLITTs 2.jpg (357.94 KiB) Viewed 6133 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 6133 times

Inspection car climbing bank.jpg (429.39 KiB) Viewed 6133 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 5583 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 5583 times

Daisy in the cutting.jpg (385.44 KiB) Viewed 5583 times

In the trees.jpg (388.33 KiB) Viewed 5583 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 5583 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 5583 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

[bazzer42]

Nice to see the line back in action. I acquired a Willi and a Konrad in the last 12 months and enjoy the regner experience.

[tom_tom_go]

Good stuff Andrew, glad to see the line in action again.

[daan]

Nice photo's and a superb locomotive. The thriving vegetation gives the line a lot of extra atmosphere!

[Dwayne]

[Andrew]

Hello all,

With the track more-or-less clear and a couple of coal wagons needing a test run, yesterday seemed like an opportunity to run a train. The coal wagons, a bogie open and the ex-FR brake were duly assembled at Trefechan:

Wagons waiting 1.jpg (382.51 KiB) Viewed 5298 times

The plan was to steam Baldwin 590 and so to run a vaguely plausible WHR train (coal empties from the siding at Beddgelert perhaps), but I couldn't find that engine's transmitter anywhere, so I pottered around a little while I pondered the problem. It was quite productive pottering, erecting a shelf for stripwood and other materials in the storage space under the house, but the little train in the station just had to keep on waiting patiently for an engine - probably the Regner again, I thought, or perhaps I'd stick with the WHR theme and take Russell from its box, despite its being nominally withdrawn for overhaul...

Wagons waiting 2.jpg (297.16 KiB) Viewed 5298 times

The problem was, having created the new shelves under the house, I'd displaced a whole load of firewood that I'd stored there, so I had to chop that up. And then it wouldn't fit in the wood store, so I had to rearrange that - noting the location for a future siding while I was at it, of course. While I was doing all of that, the wagons stayed sitting quietly in the platform, making Edward Thomas's Adlestrop look like Clapham Junction...

Wagons waiting 3.jpg (356.26 KiB) Viewed 5298 times

And then, finally... I packed everything up and went indoors. Well, there was rain in the air, and things that needed doing in the house, and the train could wait for another day - after work one day this week perhaps?

Sometimes I find I don't actually need to run a train at all, that a little rolling stock minding its own business atmospherically in a siding and catching my eye as I potter about the garden is more than enough, and a lot less troublesome. Perhaps I should sell all those expensive engines - who needs 'em anyway?!

Enough of this self-indulgence - pictures of more "proper" trains soon, I promise!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[tom_tom_go]

I know what you mean Andrew not always needing to run a train.

I sometimes just like inspecting the track on my line or have a wagon parked up in a siding all day.

[Lonsdaler]

Not self indulgence Andrew, just another way to enjoy a garden railway - also one which I indulge in!

[IanC]

I agree. There's something theraputic about railways, even without any trains moving. I just love being on or near a railway.

Ian

[BorisSpencer]

+1 for not needing to steam-up to enjoy the railway.

I find recent the battery loco from GRS is perfect for just trundling around slowly with a its tippers in tow.
I just catch sight of it from time to time as I'm pottering, and also hear the clickity-clack as it passes over certain sections of track.

[Dwayne]

Great set of photos.