Bron Effans

Old faithful Since commencing the construction of the layout, I have grown quite a healthy collection of locomotives for the railway. I have a grand total of 9 locomotives at the time of writing. There are 5 steam and four diesels, a healthy collection by anyone's standards. These have all been purchased on a second hand basis to try and limit costs but some of them are feeling their age and are going to require some serious maintenance this year. The Prince, one of my favourite locomotives, has developed a fault with the motor. It regularly sparks when in transit. From what I have been told, this is a symptom of a serious fault which is going to  require some heavy maintenance. I am in two minds whether to attempt the repair myself or outsource it to someone else. That decision will be made later in the year as other motive power projects are destined to arrive on my workbench.  New arrivals I took the decision in late 2019 to sell on my version of Dolgoch for ...

Well here we are everyone, the end of 2019. I have had an incredible almost-year since starting my layout at the end of May. I have experienced several highs and lows that can be associated with building model railways but I have not lost the love for it. Bron Effans has grown from being a small project to a much larger endeavour which I hope will bear much fruit in the coming 12 months. I have built up quite a collection of rolling stock and have built up my skills to tackle the next phase of construction.  Scenery Scenery is still a bit of an anathema to me. It is something that I need to do but I keep putting it off in favour of more interesting pursuits such as carriage building or working on one of my locomotives. I have made it a goal to progress with the scenery over the first few months of the year so that the layout will at least begin to resemble the little corner of Wales that I am trying to represent.  Everything is prepped in essence I simpl...

After the successful conversion of 2070 I decided that it was high time I converted another member of the new arrivals into another carriage based around the WHR livery. I liked the difference in window style with them being large single panes much like those on the Winson carriages on the WHR.   I started the conversion process by basecoating it with the usual red base paint and attempted to try my hand at freehand painting. Ultimately it yielded mixed results.  Freehand basecoat Tape blocked basecoat. I replaced the windows and it looks like it belongs on one of the WHR rakes, despite it's European pedigree. This carriage will be known as 2080. 2080 and 2070 together. Both carriages together in Effans Uchaf.  Next week I will be turning the third Liliput example into a mock Pullman carriages. All three carriages will need interiors building, which I will be attempting in the new year.  

I was in the attic hunting for the Christmas decorations the other day when I came across this little treasure. It is an old Graham Farish Duchess chassis. I must confess I thought I had disposed of it some time ago and it has made me wonder if there is a place for it on my layout in some capacity.  The chassis on the line I have a few ideas as to bodyshells that I could buy for this chassis but no clear idea yet as to what I am going to do. I do have a Prairie chassis that I was going to use on a Troodos locomotive kit at some point. I am wondering if this chassis would fit the bill better as it has a pony truck which could come in handy on such a large tender engine. The possibilities are endless.

I have recently had the opportunity to acquire a pair of Liliput European Narrow Gauge bogie coaches. I bought them from a fellow member of a 009 group on a popular social media platform. I bought two with the intention of creating my own version of Bodysgallen and a rendition of Coach 2060 on the Welsh Highland Railway.  I have so far reliveried one of the carriages into my own rendition of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway livery, using Indian Red and Cream. The pictures below show the carriage in it's basecoat before I add the first layer of Indian Red.  Side by side with Vale of Elan to show of the differences in size. Sat in the station, ignore the large red splodge. The brush slipped. I still need to make some alterations to this model as the WHR coaches have gangways to allow passengers to seamlessly transfer between the carriages.  The more astute amongst you will be aware that my carriages are actually too long to be accurate r...

Over the last few weeks, I have been trying in vain to sell off the bodyshell of the Green Arrow observation coach. In my mind this has been a totally fruitless task as it would seem nobody wants to take on such an involved restoration, which I suppose is fair enough.  Mid restoration - The first time I have therefore decided that I am going to give it one more meaningful shot at life on the railway. In the coming weeks it will have it's external livery removed and I intend to paint it in a mock Pullman style, which will hide some of the imperfections more effectively and also possibly rebogie it. The previous bogies having been donated to the bogie wagon.  The carriage as it is at present - Minus the bogies. All this is up in the air at the moment as I seem to have created a massive 'to do' pile of rolling stock and scenery for the layout.  At present I have no plans or desires to purchase any new rolling stock for the line. At last count I now own 15 car...

  After last month's debacle with the ballasting, I was somewhat reluctant to carry on with the scenic aspect of the layout but thought that it would be worth it in the end.  I decided to turn my hand to the backscene of the layout. A daunting task because I possess almost no artistic skill whatsoever. However, a bit of daring do and some dumb luck on the first coat has yielded some pretty impressive results.  white undercoat Closeup of the green A typical blue "Welsh" Skyline... I hope I have gone for some rolling hills and a nice clear blue sky to begin with. I  need to add more detail to it but it has added a lot to the layout and gives it some much needed depth.