Bron Effans

The construction of "The Banana" is going very well. I have begun to customise the locomotive by adding some walls to the two cabs on the locomotive. It has proven to be a rather fiddly kit to construct as the walls kept moving. However it now fits well on the chassis and I am hoping to prime it tomorrow ready for painting in a mock Network Rail livery.  Test fitting all the components Now with cab walls fitted.  I haven't yet found a suitable wagon to pair with the locomotive. I am considering trying to scratch build something using some ideas that I found in a magazine to build a driving cab on a MK1 coach. That is going to wait for now and "The Banana" will remain an inspection vehicle for now.  I am also going to be ordering some custom plates for it to have the name in Welsh. Which would make it "Ffrwchnedd".

A few weeks ago, I purchased a bodyshell from A1 models with the intention of using it as Diesel No. 10. I had successfully built it, painted it and was rather happy with the results. Diesel No.10 was a solid looking locomotive for my layout.  However, something had caught my attention. I had been in contact with Simon from Slimrails about the possibility of him having a copy of Harlech Castle for sale. The Ffestiniog diesels have always been eye catching and I leapt at the chance to own my own version of one.  As a result of this, Diesel No 10 has had to be left on the wayside for now, as the chassis I have for it is a best fit for the Slimrails kit. I have built the new diesel locomotive and have yet to think of a suitable name for her. I'm away this weekend so painting will have to wait. I am going to give this lovely locomotive one of my favourite liveries which is of course BR Brunswick Green.  Mid-construction. Undercoated and running. ...

  I have finally started my summer break from work. The warm weather has meant that going outside isn't perhaps the wisest choice so I have retreated to the cool of the man cave to build on Bron Effans. There has been a lot of progress this week and I am going to break it into four sections. The railway I have finally completed the track work for the layout. I have changed the plan slightly to give myself two sidings at the station. One at the extreme end of the station for rolling stock storage and another at the entrance to the station for Locomotive storage. I have yet to work on the conductivity of this section as I have found that there are a few hiccups with the first siding. I am going to try Electrical paint on the joints between all pieces of track to try and encourage efficient running.  The station and fiddle yard are now complete. I am, at some point, going to build a traverser for the fiddle yard. I just want to get the visuals of the layout sorted...

I love the first Dundas carriage that I built for the railway. I have ordered two Vale of Rheidol Carriages, using the funds raised from the sale of the Langley Lynton carriages. I am hoping that they will be more suitable for the railway, as the Lynton carriages were far too large for any of my stock to handle.  Ultimately, they will be lighter and easier to manage than the original  Carriages that I had purchased as they were all brass kits and were exceedingly large. I am thinking of using them as a second rake with a Vale of Rheidol style brake van.  I think I am going to divert from my standard mock Carmine and cream livery and try and replicate something along the lines of the Vale of Rheidol's current GWR style livery. I haven't really decided as of yet but then I am sure I will by the time they arrive. It just depends on how the line construction progresses and how tempted I am to try and reproduce the livery of the Scottish Highland Line trains with a green a...

I have been doing some thinking and had a few discussions with members of the 009 modelling group on social media.  The Kato 106 chassis, while nippy and reliable, just cannot handle heavy loads. So it is back to the drawing board in a sense. I purchased the boxcab body shell with the intention of creating my own Funkey style locomotive but it just would not suit hauling a large rake of carriages. The Kato chassis is not designed for heavy loads of more than one other piece of rolling stock. I have decided that it is going to form my engineering train for the permanent way department. I have altered the A1 kit and will wait till my summer break to build it. I need to find a suitable wagon to pair with the locomotive in a sort of semi permanent arrangement, so I will probably keep the N gauge coupler on one side of the locomotive so that it acts in a similar fashion the Permaquip unit on the Vale of Rheidol Railway. The picture below shows what I am intending it to look lik...

So I have nearly finished my work on the two Budget model railways carriages that I bought in May. I have to admit I am struggling a little bit with the roof on one of the carriages. It has warped a little bit and does not fit snugly into the cavity at the top of the roof. I am pondering employing my wife's hairdryer to remedy the issue and it should sit more flushly with the line of the roof.  In terms of painting, there has been some good progress made. It has taken several coats of paint to make it appear as solid as I want. The bodyshell is quite porous so a lot has seeped into the gaps. Overall it has been quite a straightforward kit for my railway and they do look quite good. The picture below is from a couple of days ago but it does show how I have started to line the detail on the carriages. The mock "Carmine and Cream" livery looks quite effective from a distance. 

The other day I mentioned that I had ordered myself a Bachmann Baldwin "590" for my railway. I have always had a fascination with these wonderful looking locomotives and bit the bullet and ordered one for the layout. It arrived the other day and looks completely magnificent. I cannot fault this model in any way shape or form. It has a superb amount of  and the way that it runs is simply fantastic. It is also quite a bit bigger than any of the other motive power so it will have no issues in hauling a full set from the fiddle yard to the station.  Pulling the full rake of carriages Double heading with No. 1 As it turns out my second purchase of the A1 boxcab diesel was not as large as I had thought. It is a lovely model and I am not in anyway complaining about it. It is just is not as bulky, compared to the other two diesels. I am going to put this on hold for a while and convert it into a permanent way inspection vehicle, much like the Permaquip on the Vale of Rhei...

I have just placed an order for a kit that will allow me to begin building my station. I have ordered a copy of the Corris Wayside Station from Norfolk Heath. It is a laser cut kit which will fit in with the 'country station' aesthetic that I am trying to build with the railway.  Image Courtesy of Norfolk Heath 009 Facebook page. In other unrelated news, I have since sold my Liliput Zillerbahn Locomotive and the set of Langley Lynton and Barnstaple Carriages. These were a knee-jerk purchase and didn't really fit in with my railway. The money that I have made from these sales has now been redirected onto the aquisition of new track for the railway.  I am due to visit Hattons next week where I will be seeking advice on Electrofrog points and purchasing the last two track items I need for the track infrastructure. This will mean that I have a complete station with run around loop and two sidings.  I am toying with the idea of a third siding by the station...

Ive been going on about this for some time, but I have actually managed to sort the track out for the layout. I have been agonising over how to set out the run around loop and have fought the flexitrack tooth and nail. It really is not my strong suit.  Ignore the N gauge points, they're just for show. I have revised the original plan of the layout to include two sidings and a more concise station layout. I am not going to bother with the larger mainline points, as I really don't have adequate room on this layout. I had originally intended to create a curved profile station, much like Beddgelert. That is beyond me at this point in time. I have instead elected for a simpler, straighter run around loop that is capable of holding a five carriage train in one platform and a shorter three or four carriage train in the second platform. I'm using two old N gauge points to demonstrate how the station area will look. Four carriage train in the shorter platform. ...

After successfully selling off the three Langley Lynton and Barnstaple carriages and the Lilliput locomotive, I decided that it might be wise to buy something newer so that I could ensure a reliable service on the line. I’ve always had a soft spot for the original Welsh Highland locomotives so I decided that I would invest in a copy of the Baldwin 590. I must confess I am not struck with the Welsh Highland red edition coming out this year. So I’ve ordered what must be one of the few remaining black editions. I’ve heard nothing but good things about these models and I can’t wait to get my hands on my own. It has broken the bank a little this month so no kits. But the focus of my time off in July is to sort out the track situation. All I need to complete Effans Uchaf’s trackwork is two more sets of points. So it’s looking like that will be the last big spend for a while. Just look at it though.... Image courtesy of Rails of Sheffield webstore.

I have made some good progress on the building of Diesel No. 10. The kit arrived in the post from A1 models. I have never built a brass etched kit before and I must say that I can’t wait to build my second one during my summer break. A1 models produce simple kits but they are incredibly easy to build and alter. I will be painting this over the weekend. I am thinking a black gloss livery. The next locomotive kit is going to be a little more adventurous. We are getting a BoBo diesel!

I find it wonderful how this model railway has gotten my creative juices flowing. It has given me a real sense of purpose and direction away from the distractions that the real world throws my way.  Last week I mentioned that I was going to stop buying locomotives and concentrate on buliding the line. Well, dear reader, I have failed in that respect. In my defence, I saw on that popular buying website, that there was a revised edition of the box cab locomotive that would be compatible with a Kato Bo Bo chassis. After a trying week at work I thought that I would treat myself and I have ordered one for myself and an appropriate chassis. Curse my lack of resolve. I am sure it will be worth it though. My plan is to adapt it as much as possible to make it look like a facsimile of Vale of Ffestinog. I am strongly considering a livery of BR Blue. Just because it is one of my favourite liveries. 

After my jaunt to the Rainford, meet the other week, I procured an old Graham Farish 08 chassis. It took me a while to find a suitable kit for the chassis, as most people have beaten me to the really elaborate ones. In keeping with my railway's theme of tourism, I have elected for a loco that would look suitable pulling passenger stock. To that end I have purchased the bodyshell for a Baguley style 0-6-0 Diesel locomotive.  Picture courtesy of Ebay. My first diesel locomotive on Kato 103 Chassis. I don't think that it will be as large as the other diesel, but I am keen to show a different style of locomotive with connecting rods. I am also thinking it would benefit from a lovely BR Blue Livery. However, that is possibly destined for another locomotive down the line. For now five locomotives is enough for my layout. I must concentrate on getting it built.

This weekend was rather mixed. I went to my first ever meet up of the 009 society in Rainford. I loved meeting new people and managed to get hold of a lovely looking Lilliput steam engine and a Graham Farish 08 chassis. I have also purchased some points and some flexitrack. Quite a successful Saturday. When it came to Sunday I discovered some limitations of the products that I had bought. The Lilliput, as lovely as it is, is old. It needs a lot of tender loving care to make it serviceable. The motor appears to arc when it is moving forward. I am hoping that this is only a minor setback, as I have painted it in Southern Green to emulate the Manning Wardles of the Lynton railway.  I have also decided, unfortunately, to sell my three Langley carriages as they are too big for any of my fleet to manage. I am instead going to concentrate on the aquisition of Dundas Kit carriages. I have seen the Bro Madog carriage kit and some VOR carriage kits that should fit the bill, so there is ...