Side On Saturday

After gallivanting around during August, mainly in Wales, life is returning to its usual rhythms and routines. 

Following an early morning shift at work this morning, I was able to pop over to Wheal Ponder this afternoon where I found ‘Boadicea’ and ‘Princess’ in action. As is traditional in some parts on a Saturday, side on photos were taken. 

Despite being neglected for a month, a flick of a couple of switches putting power and lighting on, and the layout ran just fine with no attention to track or wheels thanks to the liberal coatings of graphite that have been put on previously. 

‘Wheal Ponder’ is proving that less is definitely more as I enjoyed shunting the clay dry, running a train of empty wagons up to the quarry and a turn on the passenger train. Suitably relaxed, the power was switched off and I returned downstairs from the attic. 

Running sessions like this, albeit only half an hour or so long, helps reinforce the need in my mind to ensure that my next layout (there’s currently ideas for two or three whirring around in my over active mind) keeps true to this mantra. 

Whilst I continue to ponder my next step, there are a few little jobs to attend on ‘Wheal Ponder’. So far I have resisted the urge to add an extra train set with the other cassette I’ve got, the three I currently use maintains my interest and fits well in the fiddle yard. I fear that adding a fourth will just clutter things up too much. Better to keep the same sets and shuffle the loco pack with a couple of spares. 

My running sessions have proven that the layout is best suited to the smaller 0-4-0 locos, the bigger ones run fine and are enjoyable to operate at home, but their running is not as faultless as the Fletcher Jennings trio. The Dapol B4 under two of them is a superb runner and the other on a kit built chassis enjoys a chunky flywheel. 

However, only one of them is fitted with a proper Bachmann coupler, which thanks to my lumpy bumpy track is essential for shunting the clay dry. The thin wire loops on the others look better in photos but can cause couplings to ride up, generally resulting in their allocation to the passenger and granite trains. 

‘Wheal Ponder’ has an exhibition in late October, so could do with another four coupled loco with the proper couplings fitted to provide some reserves of motive power. There’s about half a dozen or so potential choices to fill this void, it will be one of the quicker and easier builds that will be the choice to make given the time available. I’d hoped that the Bachmann Quarry Hunslets would fit the bill, but such is the lead time for Narrow Planet nameplates, it’s unlikely that their alter egos will arrive in time for them to be weathered and personalised ahead of the layout’s next outing. 

Operation has shown that I only really need one of the two low sided wagons for the brick traffic and I could do with an extra wagon for granite traffic. So, on the workbench currently is a granite sets load with the glue setting. There’s also a rather colourful wagon waiting in the wings that I shall reveal once the Dulcote has dried, it’s a case of the railway listening to its most important customers… it’s being used as a test bed for painting stock using acrylics as I attempt to move away from smelly enamels and has been a useful test piece.

It’s safe to say that after an unsurprising post-Burton lull, with the added distraction of full size railways, my modelling mojo is re-awakening with the onset of autumn.