As the long winter evenings draw in, and the year 2015 enters its home straight, it is time for me to sit down and take stock of my garden railway activities over the last four months or so. Although the MVR itself has seen few trains during this time, I have actually been active on a number of fronts.
Russell has been on something of a "Grand Tour" this year. After her memorable visit to Llechfan, detailed in my last post, she has also enjoyed a couple of outings in my current neighbourhood in the South of England. In late July she made an appearance on the Little Corris Railway. It was a real pleasure to run on such a beautifully-detailed and landscaped line. Our host kindly offered me the use of his Vale of Rheidol Railway coaches, and everyone agreed that they made a good match for Russell. After all, the VoR is famous for its large 2-6-2Ts! Personally, I hope that the full-size Russell will visit Aberystwyth one day, but until then, this will have to do...
Russell has been on something of a "Grand Tour" this year. After her memorable visit to Llechfan, detailed in my last post, she has also enjoyed a couple of outings in my current neighbourhood in the South of England. In late July she made an appearance on the Little Corris Railway. It was a real pleasure to run on such a beautifully-detailed and landscaped line. Our host kindly offered me the use of his Vale of Rheidol Railway coaches, and everyone agreed that they made a good match for Russell. After all, the VoR is famous for its large 2-6-2Ts! Personally, I hope that the full-size Russell will visit Aberystwyth one day, but until then, this will have to do...
Also visiting for the day were two Accucraft locos, a W&L "Countess" and a very striking yellow Edrig! Perhaps, if the VoR had not been privatised, Network Rail might have used such a loco for maintenance trains...! Continuing the Rheidol theme, I was very taken by our host's battery-powered loco Derwenlas, which spent the day on standby outside the shed. This is a model of the VoR's Bagnall 2-4-0T No. 3, and was built from a Perfect World kit. This happens to be one of my favourite narrow-gauge prototypes; in fact, it is at the top of my wish-list for future MVR motive power (although I would prefer to have a live steam version...and 45mm gauge, course). Alas, the state of the MVR's finances means that this will have to remain a dream for the foreseeable future...
Russell's final outing of the summer was on 14th August. The Fareham & District Society of Model Engineers kindly agreed to host the Hampshire Area Group of the 16mm Association for an evening meeting on their 32mm tracks at Segensworth. This time, Russell ran with the MVR's 32mm gauge ventilated van and brake coach, which made their debut at Llechfan. The locomotive put in another faultless performance, but I had some difficulty with the couplings between the van and the coach (unfortunately, neither is fitted with the MVR's standard centre-buffer couplings). I may have to make a special coupling adaptor for them; now where did I put my paperclips?
Also in operation was the most handsome Edrig conversion I have ever seen. Its design was inspired by the Hunslet and North British-built 2-6-2Ts of the Kalka - Shimla Railway; this Indian hill railway has received far less attention among the 16mm fraternity than its 2' gauge counterpart, the Darjeeling Himalayan. The Edrig is quite a beefy design by 16mm standards, so the choice of a larger-gauge prototype results in a well-proportioned loco.
While Russell has been on her travels, I have used my occasional visits back to Buckinghamshire to catch up with some trackwork. In October, I finally tackled a job which I have been putting off for a very long time: realigning the Box End end of Horseshoe Curve. Long-term readers of the MVR website may remember that we actually hired a contractor to build the railway back in 2004. Although most of the railway was (fortunately) planned around large-radius curves, our builder was anxious to keep costs down. Therefore he quite literally cut a few corners, using old LGB R1 curves that we already had in stock. Naturally, these tight curves became an operational nuisance when larger rolling stock (notably B1) was introduced.
The Rutton station re-modelling project had already given us to opportunity to eliminate one of these curves. Now, I decided that it was finally time to tackle Horseshoe Curve. The left-hand photograph below, taken in 2009 just after the removal of the large conifer that once stood inside the curve, shows the original track layout. At the Rose Halt end we see a smooth, flowing curve that wouldn't look out of place on a standard-gauge main line. The, at the Box End end, the line suddenly encounters a short, sharp, awkward curve. Even by the standards of narrow-gauge railways, it looks totally illogical!
Fortunately, the breezeblock trackbed was wide enough to allow the curve to be eased slightly. Therefore the old R1 curve, and its straight approaches, were ripped out. I then dug out a few more of those old R1 curves from our stockpile and, using the technique showed to me by CP during the Rutton re-modelling, straightened them out to approximately R2. This has resulted in a much more natural-looking curve, and B1 now runs over it perfectly. As can be seen, though, this section of track is long overdue for re-ballasting!
The Rutton station re-modelling project had already given us to opportunity to eliminate one of these curves. Now, I decided that it was finally time to tackle Horseshoe Curve. The left-hand photograph below, taken in 2009 just after the removal of the large conifer that once stood inside the curve, shows the original track layout. At the Rose Halt end we see a smooth, flowing curve that wouldn't look out of place on a standard-gauge main line. The, at the Box End end, the line suddenly encounters a short, sharp, awkward curve. Even by the standards of narrow-gauge railways, it looks totally illogical!
Fortunately, the breezeblock trackbed was wide enough to allow the curve to be eased slightly. Therefore the old R1 curve, and its straight approaches, were ripped out. I then dug out a few more of those old R1 curves from our stockpile and, using the technique showed to me by CP during the Rutton re-modelling, straightened them out to approximately R2. This has resulted in a much more natural-looking curve, and B1 now runs over it perfectly. As can be seen, though, this section of track is long overdue for re-ballasting!
mLater in the month, work began to reinstate the MVR's electrical track-bonding. The re-modelling of Rutton station, and the re-alignment of Horseshoe Curve, had forced the track bonds to be cut in many places, but until now I had not had time to reinstate them. Assisted by my Grandfather (whose soldering skills were invaluable!) work has progressed over a couple of working sessions. Unfortunately it has proved to be a slower job than we anticipated, and the run-round loop and sidings at Rutton have still not quite been completed. Nevertheless, reliable electrical contact has now been restored around the entire length of the main line, and we were able to celebrate our success by giving Albatross and Lyn and airing - their first runs in over 12 months. (See the photo gallery for more pictures.)
Now that the winter evenings are drawing in, it is time to be thinking about indoor projects. Sadly, I have decided to shelve our sheep wagon and tank wagon projects for the time being. This is because these projects both require me to manufacture my own wooden components, and my current "digs" in the south of England don't have a suitable workspace in which I can do this. Therefore, I have decided to focus on plastic kits, which are cleaner and easier to assemble.
It so happens that I have recently had the opportunity to acquire a number of kits and parts from a member of the 16mm Association who sadly passed away. Among these are two GRS Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway wagon kits, a flat wagon and a cattle wagon. Being (in my opinion) the archetypal British narrow-gauge country railway, the W&L has been a strong influence for the MVR; indeed the aforementioned sheep wagon was inspired by a W&L prototype. Therefore, the chance to acquire two more W&L wagons to run alongside her (eventually!) was too good to pass up.
I have decided to start with the flat wagon, since it will (hopefully!) be quicker to build. Our friends the Woodrow Light Railway already own an identical flat wagon which has run on the MVR in the past, so by delving into the MVR archive I can show you what the end result will look like. In this 2004 shot, the W&L wagon is second from left.
It so happens that I have recently had the opportunity to acquire a number of kits and parts from a member of the 16mm Association who sadly passed away. Among these are two GRS Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway wagon kits, a flat wagon and a cattle wagon. Being (in my opinion) the archetypal British narrow-gauge country railway, the W&L has been a strong influence for the MVR; indeed the aforementioned sheep wagon was inspired by a W&L prototype. Therefore, the chance to acquire two more W&L wagons to run alongside her (eventually!) was too good to pass up.
I have decided to start with the flat wagon, since it will (hopefully!) be quicker to build. Our friends the Woodrow Light Railway already own an identical flat wagon which has run on the MVR in the past, so by delving into the MVR archive I can show you what the end result will look like. In this 2004 shot, the W&L wagon is second from left.
However, I have not yet taken any photos of the future wagon V2 yet because there is very little to show - so far I have only got as far as gluing the bufferbeams to the wagon floor. Nevertheless, I hope to be able to show you more progress before the year is out...