A weekend of Welsh steam for the NWAG
A weekend of Welsh steam for the NWAG
This weekend just gone, the North West Area Group of the Association of 16mm Modellers have been enjoying our 2nd weekend away. After a trip to the Isle of Man last year focusing on 12inch/foot NG trains, this time we visited two 16mm scale Garden lines in North Wales. This all came around after we managed to wangle a group visit to the famous Clywyd and Dee Railway, and PTLRsam then asked Dave at the Wigfa and Llanrwst Railway if we could visit the day after. Most members stayed overnight in Llandudno and rode on the Great Orme Tramway on Sunday morning, but due to transport logistics (my uncle could only do Saturday, and my dad could only do Sunday) I didn't partake in this and got to know the M6 and M56 quite well.
So to the photos, first up the Clywyd and Dee Railway owned by one of the founder members of the 16mm Association.
Upon our arrival, I got Criccieth Castle out to test track/stock compatibility. Thankfully all went well.
The first of many heritage locos, Lady Jayne, an early Lady Anne.
PTLRcecil bought along a few locos for the weekend, Gunevere was out first. As you will have seen by now, the C&D is a spectacular line, fully fitting in to the garden which looks like a Welsh moorland. It's also very long, main circuit over a scale mile with a long branch to the loco sheds.
There is also a 45mm circuit, which itself is pretty big. The resident Roundhouse Carrie was running on this, passing trains on the 32mm circuit.
Matt brought along Gwyn Murphet which racked up a high mileage over the weekend.
The Carrie on the 45mm circuit, which it is hoped to extend in the future.
Not owning a heritage loco, I went for a slip eccentric pot boiler to give the feel of one. Gwydion behaved impeccably, as always.
LMSjools' Merlin
Gwydion passes through the main station, the junction with the line to the shed area is just beyond this point, I was crouching in the middle of the triangle for it.
An Archangel Sgt Murphey with dummy outside valve gear, owned by Bonfire, one of the locals.
A very rarely seen piece of PTLR motive power making its way back to the shed.
Black Beauty getting to grips with a 5 car train.
Ingleton Mountain Railway Linda at the far corner of the railway
SLR south Merlin Mayflower
Ayepad Ed also didn't have anything heritage, so he went for brute power instead with his Rheidol tank
Near the end of the afternoon, I also tried brute power with Scafell. Alas there weren't any more coaches available.
A very big thanks to John of the C&D for letting us all visit, it was a real privilege.
The weather at the C&D was generally very good, however things were rather damp for the W&L the following day....
So to the photos, first up the Clywyd and Dee Railway owned by one of the founder members of the 16mm Association.
Upon our arrival, I got Criccieth Castle out to test track/stock compatibility. Thankfully all went well.
The first of many heritage locos, Lady Jayne, an early Lady Anne.
PTLRcecil bought along a few locos for the weekend, Gunevere was out first. As you will have seen by now, the C&D is a spectacular line, fully fitting in to the garden which looks like a Welsh moorland. It's also very long, main circuit over a scale mile with a long branch to the loco sheds.
There is also a 45mm circuit, which itself is pretty big. The resident Roundhouse Carrie was running on this, passing trains on the 32mm circuit.
Matt brought along Gwyn Murphet which racked up a high mileage over the weekend.
The Carrie on the 45mm circuit, which it is hoped to extend in the future.
Not owning a heritage loco, I went for a slip eccentric pot boiler to give the feel of one. Gwydion behaved impeccably, as always.
LMSjools' Merlin
Gwydion passes through the main station, the junction with the line to the shed area is just beyond this point, I was crouching in the middle of the triangle for it.
An Archangel Sgt Murphey with dummy outside valve gear, owned by Bonfire, one of the locals.
A very rarely seen piece of PTLR motive power making its way back to the shed.
Black Beauty getting to grips with a 5 car train.
Ingleton Mountain Railway Linda at the far corner of the railway
SLR south Merlin Mayflower
Ayepad Ed also didn't have anything heritage, so he went for brute power instead with his Rheidol tank
Near the end of the afternoon, I also tried brute power with Scafell. Alas there weren't any more coaches available.
A very big thanks to John of the C&D for letting us all visit, it was a real privilege.
The weather at the C&D was generally very good, however things were rather damp for the W&L the following day....
"What the hell is that?"
"It's a model icebreaker sir."
"It's a bit big isn't it?"
"It's a full scale model sir....."
"It's a model icebreaker sir."
"It's a bit big isn't it?"
"It's a full scale model sir....."
So, onto the Wigfa and Llanrwst Railway, a line we've visited before so we all knew what to expect, including alas the heavy rain! After nattering in the AbbeyBach works for a bit, we bravely ventured out and started running trains....
PTLRcecil had also packed Caradoc in the car, and it was unleashed at the W&L, continuing its World Tour of NWAG and friends.
Meanwhile PTLRsam got out his Archangel Darj, which looked quite at home crossing Bryn-y-felin
Lady Jayne leads Corrie the Carrie from the IMR through Bwlch Pennant.
Lady Jayne then went double heading with Gwyn Murphet on the resident goods train.
PTLRcecil had packed yet another engine, Gussie the Mike Beeson modified Beck.
Gussie in the pass
Gwyn Murphet, out solo. By now, my camera lens was fogging up, making the conditions look much worse then they were.
Gwydion was again sent from the ANLR, with a goods set as high winds were causing problems for passenger trains.
It wasn't actually that foggy....!
Gwyn Murphet in the Welsh gloom...
The grand finale, Caradoc and Gunevere double heading. The sun was virtually out now, although it was still raining. And my lens was still fogged.
Last engine out, PTLRsam's Marmaduke, which didn't like the wind.
Thanks to Dave for letting us visit again.
A great weekend for the NWAG, thanks to PTLRsam for organising it. Now, where next....?
PTLRcecil had also packed Caradoc in the car, and it was unleashed at the W&L, continuing its World Tour of NWAG and friends.
Meanwhile PTLRsam got out his Archangel Darj, which looked quite at home crossing Bryn-y-felin
Lady Jayne leads Corrie the Carrie from the IMR through Bwlch Pennant.
Lady Jayne then went double heading with Gwyn Murphet on the resident goods train.
PTLRcecil had packed yet another engine, Gussie the Mike Beeson modified Beck.
Gussie in the pass
Gwyn Murphet, out solo. By now, my camera lens was fogging up, making the conditions look much worse then they were.
Gwydion was again sent from the ANLR, with a goods set as high winds were causing problems for passenger trains.
It wasn't actually that foggy....!
Gwyn Murphet in the Welsh gloom...
The grand finale, Caradoc and Gunevere double heading. The sun was virtually out now, although it was still raining. And my lens was still fogged.
Last engine out, PTLRsam's Marmaduke, which didn't like the wind.
Thanks to Dave for letting us visit again.
A great weekend for the NWAG, thanks to PTLRsam for organising it. Now, where next....?
"What the hell is that?"
"It's a model icebreaker sir."
"It's a bit big isn't it?"
"It's a full scale model sir....."
"It's a model icebreaker sir."
"It's a bit big isn't it?"
"It's a full scale model sir....."
- andymctractor
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- Dannypenguin
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Nice photos, thanks for sharing
Dan
Visit the PFLR website - http://poultonfarmlightrailway.webs.com/
Dean Forest Railway Society website - http://dfrsociety.org/
Visit the PFLR website - http://poultonfarmlightrailway.webs.com/
Dean Forest Railway Society website - http://dfrsociety.org/
Personally, I love the "foggy lens" shot - they have bags of Welsh atmosphere (!) and make a change from the usual garden railway photos.
I also really like your penultimate C&D photo. It captures something of the atmosphere of the Rheidol's famous rock cuttings near Devil's Bridge - while the two track gauges are reminiscent of the parallel SG and NG lines at Aberystwyth!
I also really like your penultimate C&D photo. It captures something of the atmosphere of the Rheidol's famous rock cuttings near Devil's Bridge - while the two track gauges are reminiscent of the parallel SG and NG lines at Aberystwyth!
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Lovely photos of lovely railways, thank you! The foggy one of your Millie in the station looks like it was taken in the sort of drizzly weather I became very used to when living in Aberystwyth...
Both lines sit so well in their surroundings. They do make me wish I had a little more space though - it's difficult to take a photo of my line without a whopping great fence panel in the background, even if I reckon most of us do possess a great ability to mentally Photoshop out such things when viewing photos of garden lines...
Andrew.
Both lines sit so well in their surroundings. They do make me wish I had a little more space though - it's difficult to take a photo of my line without a whopping great fence panel in the background, even if I reckon most of us do possess a great ability to mentally Photoshop out such things when viewing photos of garden lines...
Andrew.
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Of course, there is always the option of genuinely photoshopping them, replacing any out-of-scale elements with a background from a real-life photo! However, even if one has an extensive collection of one's own real-world photos (as I do), it can be difficult to find a landscape that looks right and matches the weather conditions of the original photo.Andrew:99153 wrote:Both lines sit so well in their surroundings. They do make me wish I had a little more space though - it's difficult to take a photo of my line without a whopping great fence panel in the background, even if I reckon most of us do possess a great ability to mentally Photoshop out such things when viewing photos of garden lines...
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There is now some video from the weekend on Youtube. It's not my video, so I take no blame for the titles, which are something of an NWAG in joke with Barnacle Bay Charlie who made the video.
http://youtu.be/8h8R0fw0lA8
More should be on youtube next week hopefully.
http://youtu.be/8h8R0fw0lA8
More should be on youtube next week hopefully.
"What the hell is that?"
"It's a model icebreaker sir."
"It's a bit big isn't it?"
"It's a full scale model sir....."
"It's a model icebreaker sir."
"It's a bit big isn't it?"
"It's a full scale model sir....."
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