‘Perfect Reflections at Kidwelly’
Another magnificent Robert Masterman photograph [a still from a video] showing Network Rail-liveried 97301 crossing the River Gwendraeth on the 13th. December 2013.
Used with many thanks.
Comment
The main [and sad] news event this month is that our 2020 exhibition, planned for late September at the Margam Orangery, has had to be cancelled. The reasons for this will, of course, be obvious: we just don’t know where we will be with regard to the pandemic by then and, as such, the risks remain too great. The exhibition planning group delayed the final decision for as long as they felt prudent, but concluded yesterday that there was no other option. Our exhibitors and traders have already been told, it was important to let them know personally before breaking the news on a wider basis. We will be returning all deposits paid by our traders and will negotiate with The Orangery – when we can – for our paid booking to be passed onto next year for the 2021 show.
This news, disappointing though it is, will probably not come as a great surprise to you all. I’d add also however that our largest exhibiting layout had already pulled out some weeks ago for understandable reasons at their end, the venue is closed and we do not know when it will reopen, hotel accommodation for distant visiting exhibitors could not be booked and, even if the current restrictions are significantly relaxed by the Autumn, large events and mass gatherings may still not be permitted. Consequently, the decision not to go ahead had in many ways been taken for us by other circumstances. So, for the time being at least, the hobby has to remain at home whilst we look after the health of ourselves, those around us and the wider community.
I’d like to thank the exhibition planning group for the work which they put into the initial organisation.
What to do?
Keep modelling! I know that a number of you will have used the lock-down to build new stock or work on your layouts. I’d like to use the June newsletter as a ‘Members’ Special’ to showcase your efforts so get your phones out, send me a photograph with a brief description, and I’ll include it in the June newsletter.
I already have an article on weathering stock from Ian Stevenson, but there must be much more out there, too. So go on, I dare you….
An odd corner in the railways of South Wales
I recently came across a set of photographs of the end-on junction at Brynamman which I had not seen before. They are in the possession of Richard Parry, and he has given me permission to reproduce them here. Photographs of this area, beyond those in books, are extremely scarce and I thought that the junction would make an interesting subject for inclusion in this newsletter. First however, an extremely potted history to provide some context…..
This 1920s Ministry of Transport map shows the two stations in Brynamman approached by the Llanelli Railway/GWR from the west and the Swansea Vale/Midland/LMS from the east. The road separating them is carried over the line by a bridge and the end-on junction is in that area.
Whilst small tanks [Panniers and Jinties] could pass under, the bridge was too narrow to allow normal passenger stock to pass through and only freight had the use of the line there. One of the photos shows this, clearly.
For Brynamman, the railway arrived quite early: the Llanelli Railway for goods in 1842 [and for passengers in the early 1860s] and the Swansea Vale for passengers in 1864. Both had a moderately combative relationship which did not really settle down until the GWR and Midland took over. Coal was obviously the main source of income for both railways and passenger receipts cannot have been that great. From August 1929, as an economy measure, both stations were supervised by the GWR Stationmaster [the reaction to this of the LMS staff has not been recorded]. The stations were renamed with the suffixes ‘East’ [LMS] and ‘West’ [GWR] in early 1950 with the ‘East’ closing to passengers during the same year. The ‘West’ followed in 1958 although both routes remained open for goods until final closure in 1960.
A 1908 diagram of the junction taken from The Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram Book.
[For modellers, Hornby released a model of one of the wagons from the Black Mountain Colliery some years ago.]
Brynamman West, looking towards Ammanford. Pannier 7776 departing on the old GWR line with a passenger train on the 19th. May 1958, three months before closure to passengers.
A 1955 shot of an autocoach at Brynamman West [possibly a rail tour]. The line branching to the right travels on under the bridge to join the LMS and pass Brynamman East.
Photo: Historical Model Railway Society print purchased on eBay.
Brynamman [GWR] again, but not designated ‘West’. However, the photo is dated March 1956 and so, presumably, as the only remaining passenger station in Brynamman, British Railways saw no further need for the suffix.
Note the loading gauge placed to ensure that nothing out-of-gauge travelled under the bridge.
The complex of lines that approached the long-closed terminus of Brynamman East [LMS] has been photographed many times. This photo is dated the 14th. August 1958, two days before the GWR station closed for passengers.
The GWR station can be seen in the distance, beyond the narrow bridge. The photographer missed the extremely tight catch points just below the bottom left-hand corner of the photo, a pity.
And finally, a somewhat over-exposed photo of the old LMS terminus station, Brynamman East, taken on the same date as above.
Both this and the photo above were purchased via eBay and so the original photographer is unknown.
I am extremely grateful to Richard Parry for giving permission to use these scarce photographs from his collection.
The club’s 2020 wagon commission
As there will no longer be a show to launch the 2020 Dapol commission, an update on the plans for delivering orders is due.
Conditions permitting, Noel Blows will be in the FOYD car park on Wednesday the 3rd. June, between 11am and 12pm, to give out wagons to those who have pre-ordered and paid. Members who have not already ordered or paid can still attend to purchase wagons at that time.
For those who have already paid and included postage with their order, Noel will post their wagons out on the 1st. June 2020.
If you wish to avail yourself of this opportunity, please could you either phone Noel, or e-mail him, to advise that you will be attending .
Any change to this proposed arrangement will be notified to members as soon as it is known.
Ready-to-Run in the ‘50s – Part Two
This month, the lesser known firms of Kirdon and Hugar Models.
Hugar Models were founded by Hugh Gardner before the last War and produced wooden buildings in O and OO gauges for model railway use as well as other items of scenery for, amongst others, Britains. The battlefield scenery they provided for Britains, for use with that company’s well-known lead soldiers, is now highly sought after by collectors and good examples hammer for very high prices.
Something of a cottage industry, and employing ex-servicemen, Hugar Models were rather basic and blocky, but colourful and decorated with printed paper. The advert opposite, from a 1939 model railway magazine, shows the sort of thing that they produced.
By late 1943, the sale of all metal toys was banned and the factories manufacturing them were put over to producing munitions for the war effort. Hugar, spotting a gap now left by Meccano [Hornby] and Trix, tried to fill it briefly by producing a Southern Railway EMU made out of wood with paper overlays. The train ran on a solid wooden track, into which metal rails had been pressed. The driving car had a metal motor bogie but the quality, overall, was poor and the model did not perform well. These models are now extremely rare, their basic and fragile construction ensuring that many did not last for long. Those that do exist often have replacement motor bogies and now run on more modern, reliable track.
This six-car set is a rare survivor and shows the pick-up shoes under the driving cars. The photo is used with acknowledgement and thanks to the Southern Electric Group.
When on sale, the set was released as a three-car unit and this photo shows one, modified with Triang couplings. The origin of this photo is unknown.
The three-car EMU appears to have been Hugar’s only foray into rolling stock production and the company quietly vanished after the War.
If Hugar took a cheap and cheerful approach to their products, Kirdon tried something altogether different and aimed their productions at a more discerning market, the scale modeller. This may also have reflected changing modelling values and expectations in the ‘50s of course.
This advert, from a late-‘50s Model Railway News, shows two attractive models produced by Kirdon at the time, a Derby Lightweight DMU and the famous LMS 10000 Co-Co diesel. Kirdon also produced an 08-type shunter, an N2-type 0-6-2 tank, possibly a smaller North British-type 0-4-0 diesel shunter as well as American box-car kits, transformers and items of scenery.
Attractive though the two models opposite were, their drive units left more than a little to be desired and each was powered, essentially, by little more than a motor driving a shaft through a belt which, in turn, drove the bogies through rubber belts: neither a recipe for efficiency nor longevity.
The Co-Co diesel was often re-motored by modellers using Triang power bogies or even re-wheeled Jinty chassis.
The drive mechanism for the DMU, minus its flexible bands. The obvious weakness in this approach is clear as the bands will stretch and break.
A similar system also used by Lone Star in their treble-O-lectric locos: I remember them being virtually uncontrollable and they flew along at top speed!
A boxed example of the plastic LMS Ivatt Co-Co prototype. This was available in kit form also. This was the first and last r-t-r model of this interesting locomotive until FIA Trains produced their brass model in 2007 and both Bachmann and Dapol produced their own models somewhat later.
Kirdon’s other Achilles’ Heel was price: they were expensive, too expensive to compete at a time when modellers – particularly younger modellers – wanted cheaper locomotives with more reliable mechanisms. The door had already been forced open by that precocious newcomer Triang who, by 1960, had control of 50% of the OO market. In 1958 you could buy a Triang Princess set for less than 50/- [£2.50!], how could Kirdon’s unreliable Ivatt 10000 compete at £5/15/3d?
For Kirdon, it would soon be all over and, like Gaiety, Hugar and many others, they would be consigned to history and the later collectors’ market..
Finally………..
Gwion Rhys Davies has told me that he will be hosting a 2 hour show live with the Who’s Counting Rivets team this coming Sunday [between 2 and 4pm] with several short feature videos on various topics (Weathering, 3D printing, Model Railway Tech, etc) as well as some behind the scenes from the Great Model Railway Challenge and a special scratch build challenge with Charlie ‘Scratchbuilt’ Johnson.
The live stream will be hosted on YouTube here.
And their Facebook event can be found here.
Be sure to watch it!
Best wishes all and take care over the coming month