Pont-y-dulais, 3rd March 1981...

Forty years ago today this period photograph of Pont-y-dulais is full of character...

The ex BR Class 03 has been hired from Gwent Coal by the NCB - the Peckett it has replaced can be seen in the shed. Our photographer has cycled down at the start of the day to capture this transition, that was to prove short lived, and the miners strikes of 1984 spelled the beginning of the end for the colliery this NCB back-water in South Wales served. It wasn't quite the end of industrial service on the branch though, as the Planet Industrials chemical works began taking rail traffic again in the late 1980s and I hope to feature more about this in a future blog.

Of course, this is my micro layout, and the 03 is a detailed and repainted Bachmann model I completed about a year ago - the focus stacking hasn't been as successful as I'd hoped but it some how adds to the character of what, in my head, is an old slide photo taken on an Olympus OM10! I hope this goes some way to sharing the enjoyment I get from this wonderfully small and characterful layout, and how with a change of stock the entire feel of the place can alter from 1970s coal to 1980s dieselisation. If you'd like help conceiving your own micro layout, or work on a particular prototype model, then get in touch for a personal proposal. In the meantime more soon...