Bron Effans

After building the platforms out of Balsa and MDF, I was still unhappy with the finish of the platforms. I have since attempted construction with some wall filler material to create a flat surface. I created a mould using insulation tape to hold the filler and to help me give the platforms a uniform height. I think you will agree that the outcome looks pretty ok. There is only one end of the station that fouled a locomotive on a test run which will be rectified once the filler has completely set. The raised section of the platform; this will soon be sanded flat. Overall view of the station. Carriages using the newly created platform 2.   Below is an image of all of the rolling stock with a new addition to the railway, the embankment where I am going to build a small mine railway which will have an interchange with the siding at Effans Uchaf. This is a rather large divergence from my original plan but I have borrowed the idea from "Lower Peak Wharf" The layout ...

In my haste to make progress with the scenery of the layout I caused some serious issues with the railway. Firstly, I  creatd a power outage at the headshunt end of the layout. All of Platform 2 was dead and the headshunt would only work if the line on platform 1 was live. Secondly, my painting of the boards and sleepers had left the condition of the track in a terrible state. This was a combination of not masking over the rails and being generally clumsy with my efforts. After several days of self chastisement and grumbling, I sat down to tackle the bull by the horns. This proved to be a much more involved task than was first predicted. I needed to remove the entire headshunt and clean or replace the fishplates on the entire section of track.  After a few hours work, involving relaying, testing and cursing my lack of experience, the line worked again. The railway is now ready to be ballasted, a task which will require the utmost care and patience. This is a job that I hav...

Progress has continued apace on Bron Effans over the last few weeks. I have sourced some miniature people to populate the carriages with and have added them to the Bro Madog Carriage and the observation carriage. I bought some cheap pre-painted figures off a well known auction site as a quick way of getting multiple figures. I was concerned about the size of them, when they arrived, but they don't look too out of place in the carriages.  I have never used figures on my layouts before but I am glad to be using them now. They seem to add another dimension to the tiny world that I am trying to construct.  The observation carriage with two families travelling inside it. A rather busy Bro Madog Carriage The finished Observation carriage There are still a few people that I wish to add to the Bro Madog Carriage. However, I have been able to stick the roof onto the Observation Carriage which means that one rake of carriages is complete. I just need to add the be...

I bought a Bro Madog Eistedffod Carriage kit to replace the larger observation carriage that I had purchased as a restoration project. I have to say this is a really good, if fiddly, kit from Dundas. It has an excellent level of detail and looks great, even after only one coat of paint.  The seating sprue. I built the kit in a day and added the seats the day after. The seating was unlike anything that I had built before, owing to there being two different sizes of seating and an aisle. After some minor damage inflicted on one or two of the bars by my clumsiness I managed to create convincing looking seating in the carriage. I plan to make this my new observation carriage for the NWNGR rake on the line. It will be paired with my Carriage 24 to represent rolling stock that is used on the Welsh Highland Railway. I must say that I am proud of the way this kit has turned out. I just need to add some extra details to it to make it stand out and then it will be ready to enter traf...

I have finished the Guard's van for the Vale of Rheidol rake on the railway. I am very happy with the green and how the whole thing has come together. I must confess that I found it a bit more tricky to build than the two carriages, but I am incredibly happy with the results.  I just have a little bit extra to do on the roof lining and then I can finalise the detailing on the carriages. I have a set of figures on order that will be used to populate this busy tourist train. 

My assault on the to do list has been very enthusiastic of late. I have managed to begin the long and oft-put-off task of ballasting the tracks to give the railway some semblance of reality. After consulting friends and many many different videos on Youtube, I have hashed out a system of laying ballasting based on ideas from one or two different sources.  Decisions decisions  My first issue was to decide on a suitable type of ballast to use on the trackbed. I used Countryscenics ballast from Carnforth Model shop to lay on the track. The coarse one, in my opinion looked too large for use on a narrow gauge railway so I opted for the finer stuff. Precision tools at work.  I opted to lay the ballast using a teaspoon and a flatbrush to make sure that it fit comfortably between the sleepers.  Diesel No.3 and Castell Carndochan on a ballast train in the station. 590 sits in the station after the ballast has been laid dry.  Once I was happy wit...

The other day, I was doing some work on the scenery and was mapping out where I am going to add details such as grass and ballast etc. I painted the areas I wanted in the colour I planned to use. I couldn't resist the chance to take some 'arty' photos for the railway's social media accounts. I must say this little change has really added to the dimension of the railway, it is starting to feel like I am making good progress with what I am creating.  'Dolgoch' arrives with the morning service train. 'Ziller' takes on water at the water tower after a punishing trip up the valley. Vale of Elan prepares to return down the valley with the VoR rake. Castell Carndochan awaits the right away to begin its trip down the valley. The Ffrwchnedd waits in the siding for the service trains to depart before it starts it's next inspection trip of the line.

The observation carriage has finally been completed and it is one of my favourite pieces of rolling stock on the line. If i do say so myself. The smaller Dundas carriages, to me, evoke the victorian heritage of many Welsh narrow gauge railways and I could not pass up the opportunity to add another of these fine examples to my collection.  I have once again painted it in the matching mock carmine and cream livery to go with the other smaller bogie coach that I have. The glazing was completed very quickly, owing to the small size of the carriage. I have gone to town with the detail on this carriage there is a 'newlywed' couple in a loving embrace in the main observation compartment and there is a section of seating at the back for the guard and other staff to make use of. I plan to add a handbrake wheel to this section and a guard figure, when it arrives.  Here is a picture of the carriage running as part of a small passenger train hauled by '590'...

The station at Effans Uchaf was initially designed to have a small siding at the western end of Platform 1.  The original siding.  However, I have accrued quite a large collection of rolling stock and would seek to show it off as much as possible. I  decided that this would be extended to act as a siding or, if necessary, a third platform for passenger services to depart from. This was completed using a length of flexitrack, my nemesis, to create a longer siding which will unofficially be known as platform 3. The newly formed siding. I just need to pin it down. I have also built some buffer stops for all three of the sidings. These have been constructed from sleepers that came with the Norfolk Heath works Station building. I was sent a very large quantity so thought it opportune to use them as buffer stops. They have been glued together and painted brown to blend in to the scenery more effectively.