AK&ALR update - Geographic changes and a new company is born!

If you haven't already, please read the main thread here to get the full background on my planned layout.

Having spoken to someone who knows this area in amazing detail, I decided to move the main quayside to a much more advantageous and sensible place. He also made the suggestions of the best route to get the line to Abberley given the quite substantial height difference in the two places. This has had the effect of splitting the line up into different routes instead of it being a single linear line, which I am more happy with as it adds interest! :)


I have also decided to satisfy my need for narrow gauge by adding a small section to the goods yard of the station. Here is the history of my fictional NG line:

The Mamble & Rock Railway

The coalfields to the south-west of the Wyre Forest required more transport when, in 1860, the never finished Leominster Canal was finally drained. The earlier tramways were then converted in 1870 to a 2ft narrow gauge network. Steam locomotives were purchased and the lines were extended to link all the major collieries at Mamble, Pensax, Hunthouse, Rookmoor & Old Hall. The line then travelled north to meet the Tenbury to Bewdley line, and when Areley Kings station was built an extension south-east via Heightington was built.

This put the Wyre Forest coalfields, mainly controlled by the Aston family, in direct competition with the Earl of Dudley who used the AK&ALR to provide the local area with his coal. In the 1890s the two collieries at Rock, Rookmoor & Old Hall, closed down and this had the knock on effect of traffic on the line decreasing. Much like the AK&ALR it serves the rural communities in moving produce and livestock to the towns and larger railways.

Motive power on the line includes a De Winton Vertical Boiler and Quarry Hunslet, both having worked on the lines for years, and a newly purchased Kerr, Stuart Wren.


Thanks for reading and look out for more updates soon! :)

Project status list, also known as I need to stop getting distracted!

I thought it a good idea to make a list of all my projects and what their current status is.

Worcester Midland Shed 1921 - On hold indefinitely.
This was my first planned project when I made my return to the hobby, based on a fictionalised history of the railways around Worcester. Set around an enlarged version of the real Midland Railway shed it was formed on the premise that due to rivalries the OWW was absorbed into the Midland Railway rather than the GWR.

This project is on hold until I get both the space and resources necessary to attempt a large layout, but it is still a long term goal I really want to achieve.

Bachmann Donald & Douglas detailing - Will get done
This has been something I have wanted to do for a long time, based on the work of  SudrianRwyModeler on Twitter. I will be super detailing the pair and hopefully repainting them into blue livery so they are more based on the ones from the RWS. I have now added Wilbert & BoCo to the to-do list. Wilbert is the DJ Models J94 limited edition that will need a face while BoCo will be done using a Heljan 28 and Bandai Tecs Face. This model will be an as-built RWS/TVS hybrid style model. I might add Bear to the list in the future.

Skarloey & Rheneas 1865 - Will get done
This one has been on the list for a while and is one of the priority items on the list. Readers of my old blog will know I plan to turn the Bachmann models of Skarloey & Rheneas into their 1865 versions from the RWS, which includes using ERTL faces to replace the awful CGI ones!

 

Cros-ny-Cuirn 1865 - On hold for now
My plan to model the Skarloey Railway of 1865 is currently on hold, but may be revisited in the nearer future. My plan would be to model the station of Cros-ny-Cuirn based on a hybrid of the RWS and TVS versions (also shown on my old blog).

 

Triang Nellie Conversion - Will be done first
This will be the first project I tackle, and will be my first loco conversion. It was originally inspired by an article in Railway Modeller, and has changed from the original plan after seeing some other examples of the conversion based on the Electrotren chassis. The best example is by RMweb member Nile in his thread found here.

AK&ALR - Planning stage
This will be my first proper layout, a fictional tramway turned light railway on which my Nellie conversion will eventually work along with other small locos. You can find the thread about it here and any future updates will be posted both on the thread and here on the blog.

009 Micro dock - Still a maybe
I'm still not 100% about whether this will see the light of day, but I am thinking of making a micro/box-file type layout of a dock/quayside in 009 to use my Bachmann Baldwin on.

Hornby J15 - GER Y14 - Will happen if I can afford a J15
This is something I have wanted to do for a while, and If I can afford a suitable Hornby J15 at some point I will be backdating the model into a GER Y14 which looks like a pretty simple conversion. The Hornby model in question is R3230 as it has the earlier GER style cab.

There is one more long term item/project that some people already know the full and rather annoying history of, but that will be in another blog entry. Thanks for reading!

I left my heart in Mid-Wales!

After far too long (22 years to be precise) we went on holiday to Mid-Wales from the 5-8th of August. Many happy childhood holidays were spent on the narrow gauge railways and sandy beaches of this beautiful part of the country. As time went by we started visiting various other places on holiday and sadly Wales got forgotten about.

Well enough was enough and we decided it was time to go back and see the all the sights long forgotten, and many new ones along the way!


Day 1

After a very pleasant journey through the wonderful marches and the stunning Cambrian Mountains we arrived at Aberystwyth in glorious sun!

It really is a marvellous seaside town, a proper old-school resort. A walk along the front and some of the best chips we have ever had made the visit complete, and we set off to see a show that could not fail to impress.

We arrived at Bwlch Nant Yr Arian not far from the coast just in time to see the incredible sight of Red Kites feeding. The only way to experience it is in the flesh, pictures cannot do the sight and sound justice! Seeing these amazing creatures in such numbers was a true delight and one I HIGHLY recommend!

It was then time to set off to our hotel, but on the way we travelled via Devil's Bridge and made a stop at the Vale of Rheidol Railway. While we did not travel on the line, it is a wonderful place and it was marvellous seeing one the locomotives up close. 

We then got some amazing views of the Rheidol Valley as we continued our journey and made it to our accommodation for the night.

Day 2

Started as a slightly dull affair weather wise, but nothing was going to dull my spirits of the day that lay ahead. Probably the main reason for the holiday was to visit the Talyllyn Railway again as I could barely remember my visit as a young child.

When we turned up at the station and saw our train was to be Dolgoch and there were some of the Victorian coaches in the train, that was the icing on the cake!

Travelling in Victorian coaches behind a Victorian engine is just the most fantastic experience, and the Talyllyn is the most magical railway! It is far and beyond my favourite preserved railway and it is my hope to get to volunteer on it one day. :)

We also got to see Edward Thomas, Tom Rolt and a very brief glimpse of Douglas in it's RAF livery. After spending an enjoyable couple of hours there we set off to our next destination, the Corris Railway which I have never visited.

On the way though we drove up the road that parallels the Talyllyn Railway and stopped off by the awe-inspiring Lake Talyllyn. I have never been to such a beautiful and idyllic place in my life! I've been to the Lake District, and found it frankly disappointing. Lake Talyllyn has the stunning beauty of it but without the mass of tourists ruining it. I could have stayed there forever!

Then we travelled through even more stunning valleys and arrived at the sweet little Corris Railway. We had just missed the train, but happily looked round the shop with it's model railway version of the line and the tiny museum, that is in the process of being refurbished. I purchased some 009 wagons kits and some books and was happy to think my money was going towards their Falcon build and the re-building of Corris station. Anyone in the area should go and visit this marvellous little place!

We drove back along the Lake Talyllyn road just to take in the views again, and made a stop on the way back to the hotel in Aberdyfi. This is the quintessential little seaside town that we spent so many happy childhood times in. It was like meeting a long lost friend, and we spent a very enjoyable time wandering the front and of course eating ice-cream! ;)

On the way back to the hotel we passed the Dyfi Osprey Project, and knew we could not pass up the opportunity to see even more magnificent creatures. We added that to our list to do the next day....

Day 3

Was a very drizzly morning so we revised our plans a bit. We decided to head for Porthmadog first and then do everything else in the afternoon when it was due to clear up.

We drove along the road that parallels the Cambrian railway line running along the coast. This was mainly as I wanted to see Barmouth Bridge and Harlech Castle on the way.

I must admit to being a bit disappointed as we got more into North Wales. It became quite dull & rugged, and the places less attractive. It really felt like an area that had suffered with the loss of industry.

It also took a LOT longer to reach Porthmadog than we had expected! We did get there just in time to catch a SAR Garratt crossing the road from the Welsh Highland which was something I really wanted to see. I was also lucky that the loco pulling the Ffestiniog train was a Double Fairlie, one of my favourite types of locomotive!

By the time we left and made the long journey back down to mid-Wales we had run out of time to do some of the other things we wanted to do, but were very happy as our next stop was the Osprey Project by the Dyfi Estuary. This stunning nature reserve is a must for anyone on holiday near Aberystwyth.

We walked across to the excellent 3 tiered hide that overlooks the Osprey nest, and there in the distance were three pretty much fully grown young Osprey! What a sight it was to see these rare birds on and around their nest. I managed to get some half-decent shots at the maximum zoom level of my basic digital camera, including one of dad Monty bringing sticks back to the nest.

I encourage people to follow the project here!

Very happy with what we had seen, it was time to return to our room for the night. On the journey back we stopped briefly at the Dyfi Furnace, an amazing preserved 18th century Iron furnace.

When we arrived back at the hotel, we were greeted by an VERY welcome surprise....a Hummingbird Hawk Moth! What a stunning little creature it was! :)

Day 4 - homeward bound

We had decided to visit Borth Zoo on the final morning before we set off for home, having run out of time the day before, but the weather forecast was sadly against us. We said goodbye to our hotel and set off.

On the way back we passed the Vale of Rheidol Railway again, and spotting another of my favourite types of loco simmering in the yard we decided to pop in to get some shots.

And with that we made our way back through the stunning scenery and into England. It's amazing how quickly you forget but the second we crossed the border the roads turned to utter garbage! Pot holes and bad repairs everywhere! The roads in mid/north-Wales were superb, so smooth even on smaller mountain and coastal roads....what a difference! Also the drivers are FAR more rude and aggressive in England, no idea why.

The inescapable conclusion

I LOVE MID-WALES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I YEARN TO BE IN MID-WALES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything about the place was fantastic! The area was stunning, all the people we met were lovely, it has a completely different feel to it than where I live. It has a magical feel, an ancient feel. There are huge parts of the land that feel like you could have stood there 3000 years ago and it would have looked that same! Not to mention all the wonderful narrow gauge railways! We have decided that when we move it will definitely be to mid-Wales, no question!

Obviously I would miss Worcestershire, but you just cant get a rural life in the country anymore without piles of cash. Plus it's getting more and more built up around here.

So my advice to everyone is, VISIT MID-WALES! At some point in your life, you MUST go there! YOU MUST!

Next time we wont wait so long to go back to Wales, and there is still the Bala Lake and Welshpool & Llanfair railways to visit! ;)

I will posting some videos on Twitter and please follow this link to see the rest of my photos from the holiday (at least the ones I am happy with).

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! :)

Small, far away things 2.0

This is the 2.0 version of the Small, far away things blog I started last year to chart my 009 modelling. I deleted the blog along with pretty much all my online accounts when I suffered a mild nervous breakdown in February, but I did think to backup the blog luckily so my original posts are safe.

This new blog brings together my old one and my main online profile of The Midland Mole (as some people from RMweb will know me).

I will trying to post fairly regularly both with railway (real & model) related content and various others things that I think are interesting. My first new post should be up tomorrow about how I fell in love all over again with a part of the country I have not visited in over 20 years! ;)

Also for anyone interested my Flickr account is here where I will be posting pictures I take during my travels and at shows: https://www.flickr.com/photos/165755585@N05/