An update to this blog is severely overdue, it appears.   I hadn't realised it had been so long since I had last posted. There's been no big leap forward since the autumn but there have been developments in a number of directions. Rolling stock acquisition continues steadily. The most recent arrivals are a suitably ragbag selection of carriages to represent the final few years of steam haulage on the Cambrian, made up of various ex-GWR designs from Collett and Hawksworth. A Standard 3MT, with an authentic Machynlleth identity, has joined the fleet, along with one of the new Hornby ..read more

As you will know already if you follow the Bron Hebog social media posts, we have (expensively) succeeded in backdating one of the new Bachmann Blanche models to condition which is appropriate to the era we are depicting on our new Minffordd layout. (Yes, I know that's a picture of Linda.  Read on for the full story.) I was forewarned that Bachmann would only be producing a model of the loco as an FR machine in post-1971 condition with the pony wheel and the elegant piston valve cylinders. But in the early days of its new life as a passenger loco, Blanche retained its original, chunky, s ..read more

There's not been a tremendous amount happening on the layout for the last couple of weeks, which explains the lack of posts. Most of the action has been on my workbench at home where I've been getting on with the main Cambrian station building. With the main walls made and joined together I thought it would be wise to pop over for a test fit to check that will sit nicely in the space we've left for them. The value of making the cardboard mock-ups was underlined because it fitted perfectly, as did the signal box. In fact, I don't mind saying I think they look rather good.   ..read more

As well as work on the Minffordd project there are still occasional developments on the 'test track' at home. If you're going to have a 'test track' then there's no harm in doing a little scenic work to turn it from something purely functional into a more of a feature in the room. However, it is definitely not a layout for boys, big and small, to play with, wipe that thought from your minds.. I've been tempted to try out some of the Dapol working semaphores and decided now was the time to splash out on an LMS bracket starter signal for the inner loop. These beasties are motorised with a chunk ..read more

This week has seen very satisfactory progress on the latest building project to make the Minffordd signal box / ground frame cabin. The main structure is complete and the biggest remaining construction task is to form the steps up to the door. As I wrote in a previous post, the first job was to create a master for the window frames which could be cast in resin in multiple. Once they had cured and been cleaned of flash they were built into an outer styrene frame. The front and the sides of the cabin were built around these with a laminate structure with wooden slat effect styrene and em ..read more

I've decided to tackle the Cambrian ground frame building next, and thought it would be best to tackle the hardest bit first - the window frames. These are a fun challenge, but very fiddly to fabricate from strip sections which are no more than 0.5mm square. (That's a 1p piece in the picture, for reference.) So what I've decided to do - much the same as with the saw tooth barge board in the previous post - is to make a master from I can cast copies, I'll need four of each for this project. Notice that I've not called it the 'signal box', because although the pretty little cabin on the statio ..read more

The Minffordd Weigh House has no shortage of challenges for the scratch builder who wants to make their effort look halfway like the real thing. There's the very neat dressed stone blocks and quions, which are a distinctive feature, as well as the diamond-shape slates on the roof. And once you've found a way to replicate those you look at the finishing details, such as the barge boards, and run your fingers through (what remains of) your hair wondering how on earth you're going to produce that distinctive toothy look. Fortunately, this is where resin casting makes things much easier. All I ha ..read more

We've been back just over a week but already the bulk of the destructive alterations to the layout we decided were needed after our research visits are in hand. The 'extra' scenery between the FR mainline and the bottom of the exchange yard, has been hacked away to make room for both of the Maenofferen sheds. The point work at the end of the upper run-round loop has been lifted so the turnouts can be repositioned to allow a connection to the siding which squeezes between the large and small shed. At the other end, the original square bridge beams have been hacked out and I spend the weekend ..read more

It's not often you return from a research site visit happy that you're going to have to tear things apart, but that's the unusual situation we find ourselves in after our week in Wales. One of the objectives was to have a good poke around Minffordd Yard, and run the tape measure over some of the buildings, and also to plagerise from the beautiful diorama of Minffordd which is now kept in the museum at the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. Our number one concern was about the Maeofferen slate sheds which are a prominent feature at the bottom of the FR's yard. We'd reached the reluctant conclu ..read more

I mentioned in a post last week that putting an authentic slate roof on the Minffordd weigh house was going to have to be done the hard way, and this is it. My means of replicating the distinctive diamond pattern is to patiently cut and stick rows of very thin card which, with the aid of a scalpel blade, has been shaped into regular pointed slates. To make this a little - just a little - easier, I have a photocopied template which gives me around 20 rows on an A4 sheet. It stems from a project a number of years ago - another favour - to make a 7mm scale model of the 'Bobby Hut' replica wh ..read more