The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Thu May 21, 2015 4:07 pm

It looks very nice and ive just ordered some of the adhesive , im having difficulty finding the chippings though , anyone know anywhere I can get it in the west midlands?
Cheers
Joe

Soar Valley Light · Post by **Soar Valley Light** » Thu May 21, 2015 9:03 pm

Petere, Andrew and Phillip,

Thanks for the information and pointers. I shall bear all this in mind when the great day comes to start laying track. Roll on!

All the best,

Andrew

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Thu May 28, 2015 8:48 pm

Hello again,

I've been cracking on with scenic work at Clarach, the upper terminus of the (WH)WHR.

The barrow crossing has been completed, the track ballasted, and a "platform" surface applied:

The platform is supposed to look like the ones on the McAlpine-constructed (ie non-NWNGR) bits of the Welsh Highland, a simple gravel surface separated from the track by a simple plank or strip of wood. It's 4mm scale ballast (blooming expensive!) mixed with sieved earth, with added earth at the back and ends where the graveled bit is being reclaimed by Mother Nature. Both ballast and platform surface are held in place with SBR which seems to be working well, although there's some cracking on the bits that are just earth which will need a little more work, as does the bit at the back.

It's all a little tidy and perhaps a bit bland at the moment, but some more detail and natural weathering should help sort that out. At some point I'll disguise some of the rear fence with some slate too...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Dr. Bond of the DVLR · Post by **Dr. Bond of the DVLR** » Thu May 28, 2015 9:04 pm

Simple and brilliant, crying out for some bits of the ballast to be stained black by oil.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Thu May 28, 2015 9:09 pm

Well i think its certainly worth the expense it looks great its a shame most garden centers dont do grey chippings to this size

Soar Valley Light · Post by **Soar Valley Light** » Thu May 28, 2015 10:43 pm

I agree with Zach. It's great!

Dwayne · Post by **Dwayne** » Thu May 28, 2015 11:28 pm

Looks really good.

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 11:06 am

Hello again,

I thought I'd share some pictures from last weekend, when the (WH)WHR ran a photo-charter of sorts, a series of runs designed to help me get some nice shots of my John Turner locos to share with their previous owner.

We started early (well, for a Sunday) to catch the morning sun on Penlan Bank, running a double-header with both engines. It was a little chaotic (incompatible couplings and two engines to look after, only one fitted with R/C) but with a bit of help from my 11 year-old daughter we managed:

More photos later, when Photobucket's behaving better... I hope...

Cheers,

Andrew[/img]

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 12:47 pm

Ok, looks like Photobucket's back, so here are a few more shots from the weekend...

In the afternoon the locos ran singly and were turned to face downhill, most unusual for the (WH)WHR, but more traditionally photogenic in the afternoon light:

I got another couple of "group shots" too. Here are the locos cooling down after their runs:

And here's Joy leaving the tunnel to enter Trefechan while Sir Donald rests in the platform at Clarach:

All good fun... If I'm honest the locos aren't ideal for the sharp curves and steep gradients on my line (thoroughbreds on a route that requires pit ponies), so they won't be replacing Russell and Co on regular duties, but they do look lovely - just the thing for high days and holidays...

All the best,

Andrew.

Big Jim · Post by **Big Jim** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 2:09 pm

That does look rather nice and atmospheric.

Soar Valley Light · Post by **Soar Valley Light** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 8:28 pm

Beautiful loco's Andrew. I'm really impressed!

Andrew

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 10:02 pm

Soar Valley Light:111499 wrote:Beautiful loco's Andrew. I'm really impressed!

Andrew

They are lovely, aren't they? As you can see though, they need some larger rolling stock, they tower above my FfR and WHR carriages. I'm thinking of building some of the smaller IoM and Irish 3' stuff...

Cheers,

Andrew.

IrishPeter · Post by **IrishPeter** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 11:34 pm

The perfect coach for Caledonia would be F39 - the brake-composite she used to run with on the Foxdale branch. She is also the shortest IMR bogie coach at 30 feet!

Peter in AZ

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Fri Jun 12, 2015 2:44 pm

IrishPeter:111503 wrote:The perfect coach for Caledonia would be F39 - the brake-composite she used to run with on the Foxdale branch. She is also the shortest IMR bogie coach at 30 feet!

Peter in AZ

Yes, I agree, the lovely F39 is on my short-list!

The glass-sided ducket would be tricky to make, but that only seems to appear in certain guises (the red and cream liveried ones?), so I think I'll leave it out... Will probably go for an "E" van first though...

Cheers,

Andrew

IrishPeter · Post by **IrishPeter** » Fri Jun 12, 2015 8:48 pm

The glass in the ducket is modern (1979) and has now been removed (2015), as has the extra window between the rearmost 3rd class compartment and the double doors into the guards section. She has also been returned to c.1890 MNR livery rather than the modern (1950) maroon and cream she is wearing in your shot. For a lot of her career after 1905 she was painted plain brown, with class letting on the doors and the number at cant rail height. She was repainted to red and cream about 1954, at which point she seems to have found a new job as the Peel-St John's-Peel shuttle as she was the only brake-luggage-compo on the IMR, though the line had plenty of brake compos.

Peter in AZ

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 9:28 am

Very helpful, thanks Peter! I'll look at some more recent photos... Might go for the 50s livery though, I do like that red and cream...

Cheers,

Andrew

IrishPeter · Post by **IrishPeter** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 5:58 pm

My earliest memories are of F39 in red and cream in the late 1970s when she was used as a mess coach, and was oft times in Birkenhead siding at Port Erin along with F10 and F11 which were the PE spare carriages at the time. Prior to that she had been converted to a camping coach by Lord Ailsa in 1967. It was probably that repurposing that stopped her from being stored at St John's and lost to the 1975 fire! Unless they have done something about it F39 had the sort of handbrake that was either on or off. Four turns would lock the wheels - not very helpful on the long descent from Port Soderick before the vacuum brakes were reinstated, which is why you tend to see her in mid rake in photos from the 1980s. They never could quite get it to stay adjusted so that it would brake the carriage without locking the wheels.

When it comes to painting a potential model of F39, Accy's four wheelers are painted in the colours used in the late 1950s and 60s. The 1950 version of red and cream was brighter, more like what is in use today. The red livery has always worn well, which may explain why it returned after being displaced by the old LNWR style scheme from 1983 to 2000. The Lake and Off-white livery can look rather sombre on IMR carriages which do not have a panel between the windows as the only off-white is above the windows, and the purple tinge to the lake would disappear after a couple of seasons leaving it looking dark brown; almost black.

Peter in AZ

RichMQR · Post by **RichMQR** » Sat Jun 20, 2015 10:50 pm

Your pictures a few posts back are wonderful. Very atmospheric. Real plants look so good. Somehow scale doesn't matter and the views look just right

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:45 am

Hello again,

The last couple of days have seen me starting some little improvements to my line which should make it easier - and more enjoyable - to operate.

First up was to extend the loop at Trefechan to enable me to run-round longer trains - a train of three full-length Welsh Highland carriages wouldn't quite fit before. There's no room to increase the overall length of the loop, so to increase its usable length I swapped the existing large-radius Peco point for a smaller one - a visual compromise, but worth it I think... I had to extend the width of the trackbed a little to fit the new point and haven't tidied up yet, but here's Margaret undertaking some shunting over the new pointwork yesterday afternoon:

As you can see I've added a second point which will facilitate stage two of my improvement programme, adding a much-needed second siding at Trefechan, a job for the next few weeks...

Cheers all,

Andrew.

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Mon Aug 03, 2015 10:15 pm

Evening all,

I had today off work so decided to run a train this afternoon.

Since I wanted to give my new WHR "box" slate wagons a try the first job was to stash the manky old trucks that live in the tunnel (MOTTLITT??) out of the way - a task made easier by my newly-laid siding:

Clearly there's still a lot of scenic work to do (starting with moving that grotty old bucket) but the MOTTLITTs seem quite at home:

Having assembled the slate train, the first runs took place behind "Margaret", my RH Little John, while Regner "Daisy" raised steam:

And then Daisy took over:

Running round and shunting a single guard's van to the rear is a bit of a fiddle with a manually-controlled loco, so after a while the MOTTLITT Mamod guard's van was added to the other end of the train:

That's all folks - a very pleasant little run...

Cheers,

Andrew

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The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

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