The High Weald Light Railway (HWLR), ex B&MLR

[Tom]

Sorry, just me being impatient as usual Thanks i did go for something different as everything/ most thingsi have seen was/were either in red grey or green so i opted for something a little different

oh and a note on the perfection, i warn you i do have really bad OCD so everything has to be perfect or very near to

Tom

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Why not perfect the art of weathoring? Then your perfect rolling stock would look even better...

[SillyBilly]

The livery on the slate waggon is very novel, but I like it.

[Pendo Pilot]

The Blue is a nice variation from the norm indeed. As Zach (k) says thought a bit of weathering would look nice if you feel like it.

[Tom]

Hi All,

I looked at the thread but forgot to reply thanks for all the nice comments , I have come to the decision that im going to weather the Binnie stock with some of that Real Rust stuff.

All hands are on the decks as the HWLR's stock will be given a run at the Longmead Branch next Saturday. The owner Terry Collins is opening up the line for all the Locals on the 1st Saturday of each month.

The Slate wagons are nearly complete so they will make their debut at the meeting, and hopefully the same for the VoR Guards Van, it still needs its Handrails and Steps, Vac Pipes and Door Handles and Window Frames put in with the Taillamp put in too.

So everythings really busy at the moment but then that mean's lots of photos

Cheers

Tom

[Tom]

Hi All,

As the Title suggests, I visited Terry Collins today and his railway The Longmead Branch, and what a brilliant day I had, sadly rain stopped play but there was lots of running happening too  :D

The morning started with a tour around the line and picking up pine needles off the line as there was millions of them! Then a quick explanation on the signals and how they worked and how the railway was generally run, The Breakdown Train was the first train of the day to be run out and round to the harbour siding at Cherwell, I did get warned about toads and running them over and what mess they make in the locos gearboxes, sadly after only 3-4 of running i managed to find one in the Blackbird Tunnel which got caught between the track and the buffer beam (time of death 10:24am ) after logging it in the accident book the train continued on to the sidings were it was uncoupled and ran LE back to the Shed,

The next train to run was the passenger train and this ran without any hitches and met up with my waiting goods/quarry train, this managed to get up the bank to Pug Halt from North Tonbridge then to the other side of Blackbird Tunnel before the train divided on route back to Cherwell, A rescue attempt was made but this failed as you will see in the photos.

We had a few more run rounds and then rain stopped play  :(

So heres the Pics:

The Passenger Train


One of Terrys 3 Planet Classes:


A visiting Loco from Pete, Now Pete left Bristol at 06:00 this morning and got to the Line at 10:25. This loco was the one that pulled my Stock and SKYE (D.I.T) and i had the privalaged to run it and a very nice loco it is too.


This was Petes Cattle Van he also brought down but it didnt get a run




So heres the Accident that occured when the train divided on route to Cherwell, Peter Jones CDR was uncoupled and run LE to the rear of the left behind stock but unfortunatley hit the stock really hard which caused this jumble of wagons
Sorry for the Blurryness of the photos




and heres the other half of the train in the platform at Cherwell:



the reason the crash happened was the driver had taken a sneaky kip in one of the slate wagons  :D

and heres a picture of SKYE still unfinished stabled in the Goods Lane at North Tonbridge:



A picture of both lanes full with stock at North Tonbridge:



Another photo of that very sleepy driver:



And a final close up of SKYE:



sadly the camera batteries ran out after this, but i hope you enjoy the pics i have taken.

Overall i had a great day and was my first time of driving a loco around a track, cant wait to go back in 4 weeks time, and a great big thank you to Terry and Pete who taught me a lot today  :D

Also the 0-6-4 arrived today  :D  and pictures will be taken once the weather has stopped being so foul  . Many plans are being made for this loco but i will share these in the next post  :D

Enjoy

Cheers

Tom

[90733]

Looks like fun Like were both in the railway visiting game now Tom, me going to one next week, you one in 4 weeks
Skye is looking brillinat too
Glad the 0-6-4 arrived too, you like?

[Tom]

Yeah even though there was only 3 of us there it was a fantastic day! and cant wait to go again, me thinks there will be lots more trips to the Longmead Branch in the near future!!

Thanks, just need to get SKYE her motor now and shes fit and ready to go! i do like the 0-6-4 very much thanks for giving me first dibbs on it it was a shame, if the postman had delivered it 20mins earlier i could have taken it with me but it arrived on the doorstep as i was waiting for the bus up to Terrys

Tom

[Tom]

Hi All,

So here's the pics of the new loco its an 0-6-4, with track pick ups but will be converted to take power from a battery box but it will only have the power of an 0-6-0 as that is all the chassis is, as the other 0-0-4 is a non powered bogie. It needs alot of work but theres some other mods i want to do to it before it enters service on the HWLR. I will take it to the Longmead Branch for a run on the first week of November and I dont know what the overall colour will be yet.

Enough said here are the pictures:







As from the photos you can see that I have already removed the Buffers, and the Water Tank Covers these are just 2 things that are going to be redone The initial plans are to put 2 headlamps at the front and 1 at the rear of the loco, possibly raise the cab roof 1-2cm to give it a bit more hieght, smokebox handles on the smokebox door and anything else i can think of that can be done

Feel free to comment with any other suggestions

Cheers

Tom

[90733]

Strange, looks very familar

[Sir haydn]

I'd wip the cab off at the hight it joins the tanks and put a higher roof on. or change the profile like the cut down version of russell. I'd swap the smokebox door for an essel casting and maybe lenghten the chimney. some nice coal in the bunker too!

[Tom]

Thanks Sir Hadyn

I forgot to add the Coal Bunker in, that was another reason for raising the roof to give enough room to put that in. Will the Essel Smoke Box door be the right size? and where would i get a taller chimeny from? Does anyone reckon i should change the dome aswell?

Cheers

Tom

[taliesin001]

Lots of castings available here...
http://www.grsuk.com/index.asp?info/welcome.htm

[Tom]

Hi All,

Thanks for the info Taliesin, i wish i had known about them sooner,

Anyways, Lots has been going on the HWLR, another loco has been brought so i now have 3  :D It is a Lollypop Farm Loco which had 20% off in the Glendale Junction Autumn Sale.

SKYE the lines loco recieved her motor yesterday, it has since been fitted and she runs really well, so she is now fully operational but still needs some paint here and there but will be ready to make her first powered run at the Longmead Branch on Nov 6th
Something else i am hoping to have ready for that weekend is my Gravity Train, as im sure Terry said one had never run on the Longmead Branch before, so far it consists of 5 wagons but i am still waiting on 2 and this total will soon rise  :D

My Binnie Slate Wagon, Flat Wagon and GVT Granite Wagon arrived this week as well, im really suprised by the size of the GVT Wagon as it is MASSIVE! I have taken some photos of its size compared with Skye  :D  

So heres the photos, Enjoy!:

SKYE and her half painted Driver


The Flat Wagon and Slate Wagon with their first coat of brown for the floor

Comparison of size with SKYE and the Flat Wagon:



Has anyone got an idea of what colour the roof should be or should i just keep it white?

Cheers

Tom

[spooner]

Roofs are generally black/gray but white for royal train engines.
But it YOUR RAILWAY so do as you want.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

He he, I like white rooves due to GER nerdiness and just the fact that white rooves are sooo silly! Nearly everyone on here disagrees with me views though!

[Tom]

Haha Mr Bond, i thought a comment about white roofs would be one its way from you

[90733]

Very nice
Also whats wrong with white roofs

[Pendo Pilot]

Also whats wrong with white roofs

Generally white roofs are just daft! Look good when leaving the paintshop & then thats it as the dirt builds up. A very un railway like colour in my mind, like having a cream carpet in a cow shed really.

[Pendo Pilot]

Indeed it will Keith, especially passing all those euroshuttles etc etc. Nice film of grime all over.