Friday Update: Thirty Five Twenty-five…

It has been holiday time this week which has somewhat restricted work output this week, looking back at the photos I have taken, progress has been slow. A few things to share and reflect upon however, so well worth a coffee break read...

The Burry Port and Gwendraeth project has been ticking along over the past few weeks - and with the 03s pretty much done (bar the problematic headlights) thoughts turned to the fleet of mineral wagons to go with them. I had already 4 Farish MCOs in 'stock' - and picked up a couple more of the latest release alongside purchases for commissions in this period - a further pair turned up second hand from eBay purchases... and alongside this I have built up some 21T wagons (for sale now, by the way, below).

The eight 16T hoppers have a wonderful feel of Paul's 40ft brown box cars on Maple River - but are somewhat lacking in visual impact in terms of length - so I'm hoping to collect at least another 4, possibly 6, which gives the option of two shorter rakes, or one BIGGER train for the 03s to haul. These lovely Farish models are all TOPS labelled - at some point, if the FOD layout comes to pass, I'll need a heap with pre-TOPS - such is life!

On the bench I have been pressing on with the Talyllyn 009 commission. Not pictured is a fourth coach (that is missing a wheel bearing, so I'll have to buy a pack of 40 to replace it!). These are the usual Humbrol 220/62 with 85 for the strapping, and 110 interior and footboard. The Dolgoch is a 'current' livery, so is more of BR green with Fox 'yellow/black' lining - next up is detail painting. The custom etched plates from Light Railway Stores and decals from Endon are ordered...

The Class 47 was out and about on Monday (pictured below) - a nice 'prize' for the morning walk after Railex... since then the weather has turned to un-ending drizzle on and its still falling now... that said, it has been lovely to hear the DMU services Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday and I'm hoping for a dry weekend to watch the Pannier and Class 14 on weekend trains - whilst having a beer at the station!

Finally - I have been building some 21T wagons for the BP&G project - these are 2mm association mouldings on Dapol chassis - which aren't 100% accurate but run well. I've added ties between axle boxes, levers on the chassis of the hoppers and door bangers on the boxes. Painted and weathered with COAL-21 markings (I believe they should be COAL-HOP for the hoppers but I didn't have any of those) they do not have couplings fitted. The 21T are modified from the 'as built' design by removing some ribs and cutting the hopper base supports to recreate the rebodied prototypes. These are finished to a high standard but didn't seem to 'fit' with my vision for the BP&G project - so they are FOR SALE!

Yes, a rake of 5 unique, handmade 'James Hilton' wagons from my personal collection - yours for just £100 including UK delivery - or I'd happily trade for 6 Farish 16T minerals of the later tooling. Get in touch in the usual manner if you're interested. I have fitted an NEM mount to one wagon, and can include enough NEM mounts for the other 4 - or you could remove these, and fit DG.

Sold - £100 including UK delivery

The weekend beckons and I hope to welcome back the sunshine - I'm looking forward to a few days mental quiet, perhaps away from social media and the internet - so I'll write a few blog posts now, whilst the dogs are asleep and then perhaps it will be time for another coffee! I hope that, wherever you are and whatever your situation you can enjoy time with your love of model railways and have a few moments to reflect upon how lucky we are to have a hobby that entertains, soothes, captures our imagination and is so passionately shared with many others across the world. Until next time, more soon...

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