Bron Effans

Work continues apace on the DMU with the arrival of the second Kato chassis for the second car of the unit.  It was very apparent, even on the ambulance bogies, that I would need to rethink the coupling situation and come up with something more effective. Fortunately, there was some brass rod left over from the Vale of Elan build which I created a basic bar coupling between both power units. This was attached to each of the N Gauge couplers to allow the bar some movement when traversing the sharp bend on the points.  I am happy to report that this has proven successful and the two power units provide a fairly rapid acceleration and steady crawl. The next step is to finish the bodyshells. I have had to order a new roof for car 2 as I have damaged the original but that’s only a minor issue.

In my continuing effort with the scenery I have made a simple crossing for the railway. The boards are made from mounting board for picture frames. I cut it into strips and glued it directly into the sleepers. My mistake was to leave the board unpainted before mounting which wasn’t a good idea. I have since painted over it in brown to simulate wooden planks. I think it looks rather good for a first attempt. Now I need to replicate this on the opposite side of the track to form my basic crossing. 

In the recent spate of scenic work, I have been frantically trying to get the railway starting to look something like a real place ready for the exhibition in April. I have been tackling the part of the layout that I really wished I had not included in the design and that is the retaining wall for the abandoned mine railway. I had my doubts about this as soon as I started to build it, but I convinced myself that it would be a good idea to build and would look part of the scene with the slope at the back for it to support. I have started to add to the realism with the use of plasticard to resemble a brick facade. There were some gaps so I have covered over with some small abutments made from offcuts of plasticard.

I have continued to build on my recent enthusiasm and continue construction of the country road/ track that will form the main access to the station. I have continued in much the same vein as previous construction with the coverage of PVA and then sprinkling the scenic material on top of the glue. This has thus far yielded some pleasing results for me. 

I have finally turned my attention back to the scenery of the layout and have started to lay down the "ground" on the layout. I used old tea again for soil and have laid a track using ballast which will be painted over to resemble a public bridleway. My original plan for Bron Effans was that Effans Uchaf, the station that I am modelling, was going to be a village terminus, something similar to the one at Alston on the South Tynedale Railway. As the layout evolved I found that modelling a small rural station was more to my liking and the road has now become an old bridleway, possibly used by the slate miners in the area when the line was constructed and it is now a path to the nearby hamlet of Effans Uchaf. Either way this layout continues to evolve. One day I will decide what I am building.  The bridleway is now set down all the way under the abandoned cattle creep bridge. I intend to dress it up as a rough gravel track for walkers and have a "volunteer...

I have been continuing to work on the DMU as it has been a really interesting project for me. Both cars are now more or less assembled and the first few layers of paint have been applied. I have had issues with the Railmatch BR Green paint owing to the fact that it is water based and has taken several layers to get right.  Both cars are shown below. The few people that have seen it have been impressed with the initial efforts, some commenting that it has the look reminiscent of a Class 319. There is still a long way to go with this model, as I am waiting on delivery of the second Kato chassis so that it will have a consistent look and will be able to fully move under it's own power with ease, Car A is currently on an ambulance chassis. I need to sort out some front skirts for both cars to replicate battery boxes and form snowploughs for the front, just like a BREL sprinter which is the look that I am aiming for. The lead car is currently on an ambulance chass...