T he Llangunllo Files
Its a pleasant summers day down in Mid Wales. The little used road over the railway is becoming over grown, and those grass verges are in need of some trimming. The hills in the distance look very inviting, could the occupants of the car be heading for a picnic? Meanwhile work goes on in the dairy, I wonder how many more years it will survive, and what will happen to the railway when it finally closes its doors?
I ntroduction Si n ce I d el et ed by ol d bl og a l ot of p eop l e h ave been k i n d en ou gh to say h ow m u ch th ey en joy ed i t , an d m i ss th e r egu l ar u p d ates. I 've been asked m an y ti m es i f I i n ten d r etu r n i n g to t h e bl oggi n g com m u n i ty, an d th e an sw er to th at i s n o. I n stead I h ave been l ook i n g f or ot h er w ay s of r ecor d i n g, an d sh ar i n g m y m od el l i n g. I h ave kep t a l i m i ted p r esen ce on tw o f or u m s, w h i ch h as en abl ed th ose w i th an i n ter est i n L l an gu n l l o, to stay abr east of d evel op m en t s on t h e l ay ou t . Bu t I w an ted som eth i n g a l i ttl e d i f f er en t, an d m or e p er son al , so I h i t u p on th e i d ea of p u bl i sh i n g an occasi on al n ew sl etter . W h eth er i t takes of f , or n ot r em ai n s to be seen , bu t at l east I w i l l h ave a r ecor d of m y m od el l i n g f or y ear s to com e. T h i s f i r st i ssu e i s ver y m u ch an ex p er i m en t as r egar d s i ts p r esen tati on , an d n o d ou bt som e ch an ges w i l l be m ad e as I d i scover m or e abou t th e p u bl i sh i n g sof tw ar e. Geof f D ecem ber 20 17
M ost of y ou w i l l be aw ar e t h at L l an gu n l l o i s based on r eal m i gh t h ave been r ai lw ay, th at w ou l d h ave l i n ked th e W est M i d l an d s w i th Sou t h , an d W est W al es. Cr eat i n g m y ow n sl i ce of M i d W al es, an d th e r ai lw ay t h at cou l d h ave p assed t h r ou gh i t h as been a r eal ly r ew ar d i n g ex p er i en ce. I t s n ot ju st been a case of a r ai lw ay m od el l i n g p r oject, f or I 've l ear n ed so m u ch abou t an ar ea t h at I l ove. I t s soci al h i stor y, t op ogr ap h y an d oth er t h i n gs of i n t er est. A l l of w h i ch t h at h as h el p ed t o gi ve L l an gu n l l o an i d en t i t y, an d t h e al l i m p or t an t at m osp h er e. M y t r ai n s r u n betw een act u al p l aces, r ath er t h an f i ct i on al on es, an d y es, I 've f ou n d t h at 'l ess i s i n d eed m or e'.
When I deleted my blog, the station building was a simple card mock up based on the building designed for Limekilns station on the New Rador branch. A building that was never built, instead a smaller one to the same design as those at Stanner, and New Radnor was built. Even the name Limkilns was dropped in favour of Dolyhir. This is my interpretation of the building, as long as I manage to capture the characteristics of a building then I'm happy.
I i m agi n ed L l an gu n l l o st ati Header on as bei n g som e d i st an ce f r om t h e v i l l age i t ser ved . Ju st l i ke t h e r eal on e on t h e Ex L N W R Cen t r al W al es L i n e. T h e f aci l i t i es ar e ver y basi c, a si n gl e si d i n g ser v i n g both good s sh ed , an d a sm al l coal y ar d . I n t h e er a I m od el , l i vest ock ver y r ar ely t r avel l ed by r ai l , com p et i t i on f r om r oad t r an sp or t h ad p u t p ai d to t h at. So t h e ol d cat t l e d ock l i es d er el i ct , an d over gr ow n . T h e v i l l age i s d eem ed to l i e bey on d t h e st at i on , i ts l ocati on bei n g m ar ked by t h e ch u r ch t ow er i n th e back gr ou n d . N ow i n i ts f i n al d ay s t h e st at i on i s becom i n g som ew h at n egl ect ed . N o d ou bt i t Since leaving Presteign trains would have been climbing almost continually along the Lugg w i l l soon becom e y et valley. The real Llangullo station marked the summit of the Central Wales line, so I've tried an ot h er u n st af f ed h al t, to capture the feel of the railway at this point being high up, in a rather desolate spot, and bu t f or n ow i t s i n t h e well off the beaten track. ch ar ge of a l ead i n g p or t er M og Ed w ar d s
This is all there is to the goods yard, its the sort of place that most of us will have passed through at one time or another, never giving it a second glance. Being in such an exposed spot, having to work there in typical Welsh weather, wouldn't have been very pleasant at all. I doubt the crane sees much use these days, as for the goods shed, well its probably rented by Henry Stephens, or a local farmer as a store. There are no coal storage facility's here, coal being shovelled directly from railway wagon to the merchants truck to be bagged and weighed. He would most likely have a secure storage compound near his home, where an Alsatian would stand guard. Once clear of the points, the driver of 4678 will set back into the loop, uncouple the brakevan, which is a new, modified and detailed Hornby AA15 'Toad' , and shunt the yard. Not that there will be much to shunt, just a case of exchanging empty coal wagons for full ones today.
M ost good s sh ed s on th e K i n gton Br an ch w er e on th e l ar ge si ze, an d f ar too bi g f or th e good s y ar d at L l an gu n l l o. W h i ch d u e to th e l ay ou ts w i d th i s r at h er cr am p ed . So I h ad to cast th e n et f u r th er aw ay f r om h om e. T h e si m p l e r u st i c, ti n good s sh ed , th at on ce stood at L l an si l i n Road , on th e l ovely Tan at Val l ey br an ch bei n g an i d eal f i t . T h e sh ed i s to an u n u su al d esi gn , h av i n g d oor s on th e en d of th e bu i l d i n g r ath er th an ar ou n d th e back . A r eal sp ace sav i n g d od ge i f ever th er e w as on e. I ts a ver y att r acti ve str u ctu r e i n m y ey es, so i t f i tted th e bi l l p er f ect ly. L i ke th e stati on , th e y ar d i s becom i n g over gr ow n , an d h as seen bett er d ay s. Good s tr af f i c i s i n d ecl i n e, bu t H en r y St ep h en s w h o w as a r eal agen t f or th e O l d Rad n or T r ad i n g Co. sti l l r ecei ves w agon l oad s of coal , bagged l i m e an d oth er good s.
Could those be the blue remembered hills of Housman's Shropshire lad in the background? We are certainly looking in the right direction towards Knighton, which isn't far from the border. The ruined building is assumed to be the remains of a weighbridge office. There being mines, and quarries in the area at one time, most having been worked out, and abandoned long before the railway would have arrived. Since this photo was taken more weeds, and long grasses have sprung up, no need for a weed killing train, a few hot cinders from the chimney of one of the branch engines will do nicely.
T h e r ev i sed r i ver bed , an d br i d ge m od i f i cati on s
O n e of t h e bi ggest i m p r ovem en ts th at I 've m ad e w as t o op en u p th i s en d of th e l ay ou t . St okes Far m w as su p p osed to act as a v i ew bl ocker , bu t i t bl ocked w ay too m u ch . So I r em oved th e f ar m , r er ou ted t h e r i ver , an d m ad e ch an ges to th e l an d ar ou n d th e ar ea. O n ly th e secti on f r om t h e l evel cr ossi n g t ow ar d s th e si gn al box su r v i ved . For t u n at ely f or m e I 've n ever h ad a p r obl em i n ch an gi n g th i n gs i f I 'm n ot h ap p y w i t h t h em . I f y ou d on 't p u t t h i n gs r i gh t , t h en t h ey w i l l on ly bu g y ou
Tod ay th e scen e i s m u ch m or e op en , an d th e r i ver i s i n f u l l v i ew. T h e tr ees m ask w h er e th e l i n e p asses of f st age, an d on to th e L l an bi ster Road sect or p l ate. T h ou gh th e l ay ou t i s th e sam e l en gt h i t n ow l ook s l on ger , w h i ch i s cer tai n ly a bi g ad van tage on su ch a sm al l l ay ou t. I w as con cer n ed abou t t h e t r ees bei n g an ef f ecti ve v i ew bl ocker ? I th i n k th ey ar e, becau se bei n g p osi ti on ed h i gh on t h e r i ver ban k , t h ey ar e at th ei r w i d est w h er e th e l i n e d i sap p ear s of f scen e, th u s m ask i n g th e ex i t bet t er . A n ot h er i m p r ovem en t w as to m od el th e r i ver br i d ge on a p r ototy p i cal ex am p l e, i n th i s case on e t h at st i l l ex i sts on th e ol d d i su sed br an ch betw een Bl aen au - Bal a n ear M aen tw r og.
T h e r eal br i d ge i sn 't f ar f r om M aen tw r og, an d i s ty p i cal of a BR p r essed steel tr ou gh br i d ge. T h ou gh m y m od el i s n ot an ex act r ep l i ca, i t d oes f ol l ow p r ototy p e p r acti ce. O n e l esson th at I l ear n ed y ear s ago w as n ot to m ake th i n gs u p , bu t to cop y th e r eal th i n g as cl osely as p ossi bl e. I ts f i n e to to m ake m ake sl i gh t ch an ges to th e basi c H er e's t h e br i d ge d u r i n g con st r u ct i on . T h e d eck , p i l ast er s, an d abu t m en t s ar e al l sep ar at e p ar t s an d bei n g gi ven a d r y r u n bef or e assem bly. T h e abu t m en t s ar e 3m m f oam boar d . I h ad n ever u sed t h e m at er i al bef or e u n ti l m y good f r i en d I ai n Robi n son sen t m e a f ew sam p l es. I ai n
al so took p h otos of th e r eal br i d ge f or m e. T h e m i x of br i ck p i l aster s, an d ston e abu tm en ts i s tr u e to p r ototy p e. A s i s th e d eck , w h i ch w as m ad e f r om sty r en e, an d p ar ts f r om th e W i l l s occu p ati on br i d ge k i t.
d i m en si on s, as l on g as th ey d on 't u p set th e basi c p r op or t i on s of an y st r u ct u r e th at i s bei n g m od el l ed . I t s al so i m p or tan t n ot to m i x ston ew or k . M ost w i l l h ave com e f r om a l ocal qu ar r y, so th e col ou r an d st on e w i l l be th e sam e on al l of th e bu i l d i n gs an d str u ctu r es i n th e ar ea bei n g m od el l ed .
A close up of the bridge in situ, it took around thirty coats of gloss yacht varnish before it came to life. I must have spent at least a month building it up, as it is essential for each coat to dry before applying the next. I added a sluice gate, as the Lugg often bursts its banks. In days of yore it also supplied a mill race, or so I'm told by Ellis Roberts the signalman, and tenant of one of the allotments. It passes under the road, and allotments in a culvert, to emerge at the foot of the embankment further down the line.
This is the scene today looking towards Llanbister Road, with 1455 about to shunt the yard. I think the trees in the background mask the scenic exit well in this view.
It was this scene based on St. Marys crossing that started the whole Llangunllo project off. Whilst the signal box is pretty accurate, apart from the window frames. The rest has been created by using a little artistic licence. An advantage of small layouts, is that they allow time to be spent on adding the smaller details such as point rodding. I used Modelu stools, Brassmasters cranks, compensators, and MSE square rod this time .
The idea of creating a scenic storage area has worked well for me with my somewhat limited operational needs. Its certainly opened up some interesting photo opportunities, and also adds to the illusion of increased layout length. At the very least I would recommend extending the backscene around the storage area.
W el l t h at 's abou t al l f or n ow, th e l ay ou t h as com e a l on g w ay si n ce th i s p h oto w as taken i n Au gu st 20 16. Esp eci al ly w h en i ts com p ar ed to t h e on e on t h e cover . I 've r eal ly en joy ed th e jou r n ey, w h i ch i s som eth i n g th ose w h o seek i n st an t gr at i f i cat i on m i ss ou t on . A s f or th e 'l ess i s m or e' ap p r oach , i t su i ts m e ju st f i n e.
I h aven 't a cl u e as to w h en th e n ex t i ssu e of th e L l an gu n l l o Fi l es w i l l ap p ear . To m e th er e's l i ttl e p oi n t i n p u bl i sh i n g an y th i n g, u n l ess I 've som eth i n g u sef u l , or i n ter esti n g to say. Geof f
Copyr igh t 2017 Geof f For st er