Garden Railway Forum

Hello all, and Happy New Year!

It's a bit of a tradition with me to try to start the new year with a running session, however brief, but this year's mild weather encouraged me to really go to town.

Here's the scene before lunch (an equally traditional fry-up...), with no fewer than three locos awaiting their duties. "Margaret" sits down in the siding at Trefechan, ready for any shunting that might be required, while up at Clarach "Palmerston" and "Daisy" wait for the appearance of the gas match:




"Palmerston" was the star of the show, hauling an all Ffestiniog rake for the first time - it must have turned right by mistake and headed up the Welsh Highland instead of terminating at Porthmadog...


"Daisy" had been rostered as a stand by substitute, but the opportunity to run her was too good to miss, so she trundled the goods up and down too:


All in all it was pretty successful, but I've still got lots to learn about the England. When I can maintain steam it runs beautifully and is very powerful, hauling that heavy goods up the line without problem, but I'm struggling to keep the gas lit - a partially blocked jet maybe? I plan to wait until my wife's away for the weekend then steam it on the rolling road on the kitchen table so that I can sort out the jet if that is the issue, then really get used to running it when I'm not squelching around a boggy garden...

Anyway, hope you're all enjoying New Year's Day!

Andrew.

Andrew wrote: ↑Sat Jan 01, 2022 3:48 pm "Palmerston" was the star of the show, hauling an all Ffestiniog rake for the first time - it must have turned right by mistake and headed up the Welsh Highland instead of terminating at Porthmadog...

Not without precedent, it seems ....
Palmerston approaching Beddgelert

Source - https://www.welshhighlandheritage.co.uk ... rston.html

Rik

Nice picture! I think that's from just after full reopening in '23...

Palmerston and Co were definitely regulars on the Welsh Highland, it was the goods train consisting of just FR wag(g)ons which seemed less likely - I couldn't resist though!

Andrew wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 12:54 pm Palmerston and Co were definitely regulars on the Welsh Highland, it was the goods train consisting of just FR wag(g)ons which seemed less likely - I couldn't resist though!

Now you've set a challenge .......

Rik

The best I can do is one of the curly roofed vans at Snowdon Station (now Rhyd Ddu) Rik

Ok - Clutching at straws, but I am assured that the second wagon in this train is a FR coal wagon
.... and this FR van is at Beddgelert
Rik

ge_rik wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 3:00 pm Ok - Clutching at straws, but I am assured that the second wagon in this train is a FR coal wagon

Dunno about the second one (could be the non door side of a WHR coal wagon, like the first one?), but the fifth one is, and I think ownership of at least some of the WD opens remained with the FR...

ge_rik wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 3:00 pm .... and this FR van is at Beddgelert

Yep, definitely - the wagon next to it is a FR one too.

That's the intention behind my FR wagons, to ring the changes in otherwise WHR rakes - representing either "through" loads, or wagons that have been borrowed/pinched by the Welsh Highland. I don't think it likely that many full rakes of FR wagons would have travelled along the WHR beyond the flour mill in Porthmadog, or Croesor Junction for slate trains, but I could be wrong - photographs of goods trains on the Welsh Highland are very few and far between!

Passenger trains seem to have been pretty varied - lots with just WHR carriages, some with a borrowed FR brake, some a greater mixture, and some composed entirely of FR stock. I get the impression there was more variety before the crossing of the Cambrian Coast line became problematic (mid 20s as I recall) and then again after the FR took on the lease in 1934.

Once I've finished a few more carriages, I've got a plan for a manual "random passenger train generator" based on rolling a dice/die (whatever the singular for the little cubes with numbers on is). The idea is that probability will dictate it most likely I'll end up with a WHR rake typical of the majority of photos, with less common but still realistic formations coming up a little less frequently, moving on to the theoretically possibly but unlikely, and finally, every now and then, completely impossible trains, eg those featuring my NWNGR 4 wheelers that were scrapped long before the WHR opened.

For goods trains, I'm developing a card-based version of your system Rik, with randomly drawn cards determining the loads to be carried (and so which wagons could be used), and "rules" dictating that FR wagons will only be used when no WHR alternative is available. If I can "load the deck" correctly, again I should end up with broadly prototypical trains most of the time, with less likely formations shaking things up every now and then...

Neither of those cunning plans stop me from running whatever I want whenever I want, of course, but - believe it or not - they are intended to be fun! The goods train version (or rather the wagons for it...) should be ready this year, so we'll see...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Sounds like a plan to me.... The random element sometimes throws up some interesting combinations.

Rik

"Palmerston" looks right at home on your line.
Singular for "dice" is "die". Looking forward to hearing how you get on with the traffic generators. A tricky thing to work out, those..

Hi Andrew and Rik,

I'm just catching up here.

That photo of Russel at the head of a rake of wagons is a real beauty. I've no doubt it was just the WHR version of a 'mega-shunt' but the thought of it with a brake at the rear, setting off along the line is really enticing!

It was carrying freight that led to the invention of railways and has almost always been the prime earner. It's also the most fascinating aspect of railway operation for me. That is why Andrew's idea of randomly generated loads, rather than randomly generated train formations, appeals to me so much. This reminds me of the opening sequence of the BTF film Train Time, where the commentator points out that it is the wants and needs of people that move traffic - not locomotives! (I think I got that right - time I watched it again!). I love the Andrew's idea, the thought choosing the wagon to suit the load adds another level of enjoyment to an already diverse hobby!

SVLR Andrew

Glad you like the idea Andrew!

I've started work on it by drawing up a list of wagons, and another of potential loads, to work out how many cards I'll need. I plan to test run the system on paper until I've got something that seems to work ( or I give up on the idea!), I'll start a separate thread when my progress is a little more concrete...

In the meantime, I'll have to look out that BTF film...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Hello all!

Yesterday, I spent much of Easter Sunday sorting out the garden - cutting up apple tree branches pruned months ago, mowing the lawn, and tidying the borders through which the railway runs. A trip to the garden centre is in order to replace some plants which haven't made it through the winter, plus the moth-ravaged box bushes, but it's looking OK.

Today, I found myself with a tidy-ish garden, a few hours of spare time, a Roundhouse Small England and a dozen slate wagons. There was only going to be one outcome:


Cheers all,

Andrew.

Veeerry nice, Andrew.

Lost for words to say Andrew only one thing to say really.
......................BRILLIANT

Looking amazing Andrew! What a very atmospheric Railway you have, I like it!

Delightful pictures Andrew. The mix of different types and condition of the slate waggons looks very natural.

Excellent!! Those England locos are so photogenic!

Rik

Hi Andrew,

A very suitable way to spend the time, if I may say so. That's a very nice looking train in a very nice setting. I managed to clear some vegetation from my own line this weekend but it only revealed how disappointing my track is! Yours on the other hand looks very nice, well established but keeping nature reasonably at bay. The run round picture is particularly nice (IMHO). The MYOB looks good and you seem to have it in check. I'm not sure what the shrub behind the station building is but it looks very much in scale. Thanks for another potent dose of encouragement!

SVLR Andrew

Thank you for the kind words folks, they're much appreciated.

I feel I cheated a bit with this one, using some VERY selective camera angles! My favourite spot to photograph/watch the trains is usually Penlan Bank, where the Mind Your Own Business had grown up against the low wall that supports the railway in such a way as to create a fairly convincing (and rather attractive) embankment. Alas, our new-ish cat has discovered that the springy MYOB is the perfect location to carry out Her Own Business, with disastrous results. I need to find a way to discourage that! As I mentioned, some other plants in key locations have also died back, leaving barren areas where things used to look relatively lush.

On the plus side, that's encouraged some more creative photography, aided (as Rik notes) by the England's good looks - with that lovely little tender it looks good running backwards too. At some point I'll try to line it, but in the meantime that lovely maroon's so intoxicating that it doesn't feel like it's essential...

Next up, in the coming weeks, will be the first passenger train of the year - probably with Palmerston (again!) and the Ffestiniog rake of carriages...

Cheers all,

Andrew.

Morning all,

I was away this weekend (rode a Blackpool tram in Heaton Park, Machester, very nice), but trundled a little train around the the lower half of the line yesterday pm, largely because i thought it would look nice steaming under the cherry blossom, which is just beginning to fade.

So here's the (Windmill Hill) Welsh Highland, doing an impression of an industrial tramway. It's quite convincing - maybe I should flog all my Welsh highland and Ffestiniog stuff and buy some little saddle tanks. That Cranmore Peckett is particulartly lovely...

Cheers,

Andrew.