The (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland Railway

[Andrew]

Hello again,

After two weeks away I returned from holiday keen to get stuck into railway building again.

The first task was to complete (well, nearly) the ballasting of the station area:





Like the last lot of ballasting it's a little pale, but should weather - and if it doesn't I'll paint it...

After that I turned my attention to extending the line again, clearing and roughly levelling the area for the lower terminus before laying down some track to give a rough idea of how much space I need:



The next stage will be to build a low wall to separate railway line and lawn...

While all that was going on I posed a train around the existing line, to provide inspiration as I worked - there are parts of the line (not many - there's not much line!) that are beginning to look as I'd like them to now...





The Bertie wasn't in steam for these photos but I had a lovely run with my Russell last night that that fired my enthusiasm for further construction, watch this space...

All the best,

Andrew.

[laalratty]

Nice work, I do like those coaches...

[Narrow Minded]

Coming along very nicely Andrew
The planned terminus looks great, and I especially like the second photo (with the old Koala Brothers station! )

[Keith S]

Allright, that's IT. I can't take it anymore. I'm buying a Roundhouse Bertie, and converting it to hackworth valve gear. I can't take looking at pictures of Berties a second longer.

[Andrew]

Allright, that's IT. I can't take it anymore. I'm buying a Roundhouse Bertie, and converting it to hackworth valve gear. I can't take looking at pictures of Berties a second longer.

Glad you're back feeling positive about all things 16mm Keith! I should probably confess that the Bertie wasn't in steam because it had failed - It's not run smoothly since I reassembled the rods after repainting, but I'm hoping to cure that this week...

Cheers,

Andrew

[Keith S]

It must be something simple. I hope you get Bertie fettled soon.

I haven't built or run a thing since June. I like 16mm because of my interest in live steam, and the locomotives are a compelling size. I need to get a garden before I can be particularly active with train-running, but I can still covet locomotives. I like the way "Bertie" looks. Some do not like the small smokebox, but I think the overall design is clever with the tank disguising the actual size of the boiler, which in turn makes the cab look as though the engine has a prototypical "marine" style firebox, which many small tank engines did have. Overall it's a nice model in my opinion. It looks very British. I also like those two green carriages. They look very nice, especially the red end on the balcony coach. I like models that make me wish I could ride on them.

[Dannypenguin]

...because it had failed - It's not run smoothly since I reassembled the rods after repainting....

Thats exactly why the only mod my Berties got is a pressure gauge, and hopefully a brass dome, nothing that requires taking apart...

[Andrew]

Hello again,

It's been a while, but there's a little more progress to report on my (WH)WHR. I've just taken a week off work and between rain showers and various jobs around the house I got this small wall built:



It's from bricks recovered from a house I one lived in that have been sitting around the garden for a decade waiting to be put to good use. Beyond the brick wall is another low wall built from old concrete blocks - these will be faced with slate. The idea is that the area behind the wall is levelled to form my lower terminus. For now I plan to cover the whole area with slate chippings, tidy it all up and just lay a very simple track layout while I take stock and plan the next stage... I hope to run a test train in a wee or two though...

Cheers,

Andrew

[Andrew]

Good evening...

A minor milestone was achieved this weekend when the Windmill Hill Welsh Highland was extended into the probable site of Llanbadarn, the proposed lower terminus. It's just a temporary set-up for now, a single line and a siding, with some very basic scenery to assess both the operating potential of an end-to-end line and the impact on the garden of the station site. If either prove undesirable the plan will probably change to a continuous circuit with just a single track through this area. Either way it will allow me to grow the lawn again in an area that's been a boggy dumping ground for far too long...

Anyway, here's yesterday's first train entering Llanbadarn with my son Jonah at the controls:



And Moelwyn a rest having reached the new end of the line:



Apologies for the poor photos, rubbish light yesterday afternoon. Incidentally, this humble train was known as "The Brendon Bell", as my wife has decreed that until regular operation starts all trains, even lowly works trains, must be named. So this one features a local street name combined with her maiden name...

Today saw the running of "The Steamy Brendon Bell", with loco No 3 getting a look in:





Moelwyn was in use again, on shunt release duties:



My youngest children enjoyed helping with that so much that when No 3 had run out of steam I let them loose with Moelwyn, setting them shunting puzzles to solve. One drove while the other acted as shunter and the pair of them had a lovely time - by the time we went in for lunch we'd all been playing trains for an hour and a half and could happily have continued for longer. So THAT's what it's all about...

Here's Daisy and Jonah working out how to deliver a load of timber to the wood store and then put the train back in the right order for the return journey:



Back to work tomorrow, but it's been a fine weekend...

Andrew.

[jim@NAL]

looking good I like the cutting

[Andrew]

Hello!

No wonder I had to dig so far to find this thread, it looks like I haven't added anything to it since November. Which is true of the railway too, but then it's rained pretty much every day since then...

That all changed this weekend, and the lovely sunny weather got me outside again, to survey the next stretch of line to be built, which will curve underneath the deck and then dive underneath the swing chair:




As you can see, it's hardly going to be a scenic delight, but there ain't any other way to get from the passing point to the upper terminus!

As we all know, running a train can help with motivation (as you can imagine from the above photos, I needed all the help I could get...) so Moelwyn and the slate wagons came out to play:



It was the first run for Jim, Moelyn's new driver - I think he was once supposed to look like Hannibal from the A Team, but I reckon he looks more like my late Uncle Jim, hence the name.

 

I managed to get the site into a workable state yesterday, and today started digging a trench for footings and a recycled brick trackbed - I expect that'll take a good few weeks to achieve, but it's nice to be back outdoors...

Andrew.

[kandnwlr]

Nice work, getting slate to improve the look of my line I found was a great excuse to get a parent to drive me to North Wales (although I'd drive myself these days), in particular the waste tips at Cwmorthin are very accessible. Not quite sure of the legal status of acquiring  slate this way though....

Yes, I'd wondered about liberating some waste slate from a tip somewhere.

Legally I guess it must be dubious, the stuff must belong to someone whether they want it or not.

Morally I reckon it's probably OK, depending on where it's from - if it's from a slag heap hundreds of feet high that's been there unwanted  for 150 years that would seem to me to be OK.

I don't know if there's an environmental consideration? Is a slate  tip an important eco-system? Would I risk disturbing the nesting place of the Lesser-Spotted Slate Warblers or distracting the endangered Purple Crested Slag Lizard from the task in hand during the important mating season? Dunno...

Of course it would cost a whole load to drive from Bristol to Wales, but I could do with a nice inspirational trip in that direction...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Do we have to wear hi-viz vests while collecting rock samples? The best investment I ever made was a geological map and hammer; let´s you know where something might be available closer to home. As for disturbing the habitat, I suspect that you´d have to take a tonne or so to have any measurable impact - I trust that we´re not in that business. BTW: If youi´re interested in looking for substitutes, then shale is not bad for slate - and it´s much easier to break into small pieces. Probably available closer to Bristol

[Andrew]

Thanks for the thoughts re slate etc. I'm still hoping to find my way to a slag heap at some point, but have changed my plans slightly too. The corner of the line where Moelwyn's standing is to become a tunnel, with the upper terminus above it - I was planning to use lots of slate in that area. Surprisingly I've found that removing the shed that the old line ran through and dropping it to ground level have had the effect of increasing its visual impact from the house, and I need to reduce this as much as possible in future building - so the upper station will be somewhat "slimline" in nature, a simple run round loop and platform, with plenty of planting. I plan to make wooden planters around he upper station to facilitate that, and think I'll face those with slate kitchen tiles - I picked up lots of those cheaply or for free. I reckon that should look OK, particularly once trailing plants etc start growing over it... Better get back to the present extension first, and carry on digging my little trench under the swing sofa...

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Andrew]

With the weather brightening up I've been back outside building. On Saturday I managed to lay the concrete footing that will carry the next section of my little line. Apologies, this may be the dullest photo ever taken:



Sunday didn't see any further work because we headed off to take the West Somerset to Minehead. Which was a lovely day out until I got what I thought was a smut in my eye on the way home - when it hadn't shifted by Monday I took myself to Bristol Eye Hospital's A&E where it turned out to be a piece of rusty metal - a bit of one of the 7F's boiler tubes?

Anyway, this evening I cracked on and laid some of the bricks that will form the latest bit of trackbed - no dull photos today because by the time I'd finished it was so dark I couldn't see the bubble in the spirit level. I'm off work next week so will hopefully get this part of the line finished then...

After that it's the final push to the upper terminus. I've just purchased the track for this, including the new-ish Peco small radius points to save space, and this evening I tried out the proposed layout on the kitchen floor. In theory the points are just a little tighter than my Baldwin will cope with, but it looks as though it should just about be OK...  



Bye for now,

Andrew

[laalratty]

That "worlds dullest photo" reminds me of a few I've taken of lines under construction...! Good to see things progressing though, and having just bought a couple of the 38 inch radius points, it is good to know what will and will not get round.

[Andrew]

That "worlds dullest photo" reminds me of a few I've taken of lines under construction...! .

I had a quick look before work this morning and realised why bricklayers don't generally work in the dark. The last bricks I mortared in look like they were layed by a monkey! I'm hoping that the next door neighbour doesn't peer over the fence - he's a DIY superman and probably already thinks I'm a hopeless bodger...

Good to see things progressing though, and having just bought a couple of the 38 inch radius points, it is good to know what will and will not get round.

I'll let you know re the points once I've tested them properly. I only pushed the Baldwin through them yesterday and there was a fair bit of resistance which suggests it won't enjoy them under its own power. Think it'll just about be OK though. It's possible that adding a short straight between the two points might help by mitigating the effect of the reverse curve they create, but that would also reduce their space-saving appeal. We shall see...

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Andrew]

Hello again,

Off work this week, and making some progress on the railway.

The final curve is taking shape, with bricks now in place on the foundations laid last week.

Here's the trackbed curving away under the deck:



And here's a bird's eye view:



I'm hoping to get the area tidied up and the track laid by the end of the week...

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

That looks excellent - I'll bet it was a dear to lay underneath the decking!

[TommyDodd]

Some features of this site look kinda familiar. Are you the guy who asked for WHR railway design suggestions on the NGGarden group a while back? (I replied, with something based on the General Undertaking).

[kandnwlr]

Hello again,

Off work this week, and making some progress on the railway.

The final curve is taking shape, with bricks now in place on the foundations laid last week.

Here's the trackbed curving away under the deck:
I'm hoping to get the area tidied up and the track laid by the end of the week...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Did you use child labour to lay that underneath the deck? So I´m assuming that you´re going to have a solution to potential derailments ...