Finally, its all in the car.

There was a time when we’d be at a narrow gauge show every month and the whole show packing circus worked to a routine. We do a lot less now and the 7mm NGA in June was our last.

I’m well out of practice!

I’d forgotten the disruption to normal operations a show causes particularly as I am taking the test track/demo layout. Like any flat surface it quickly becomes a shelf!  It first, and only other, outing was to the Trent Valley Group Modelling event in January. I promised then I do a load of upgrades but only completed some, like connectors on the wires instead of chock blocks this week.

In the original plan there would have been a lot more track on it than just the NG7-14 circuit its got so far. Maybe, I’ll add that as I haul it back into the model room.

There’s also been some frantic activity to get the development chassis for Lilla presentable for the show.

It would be fair to say at the beginning of the week I could have done without the show but now I can’t wait and am looking forward to it.

Its short notice with the show being tomorrow but the poster is below

I have a cunning plan.

There have been times when I wished I hadn’t but in a saga that has gone on for too long finally we may be getting there!

For a long while I have wanted to wheels to suit specific narrow gauge models as these are my speciality. They are poorly provided for by the wheel manufacturers although some progress was made when Alan Gibson Ltd was still run by Alan and the turned parts produced by the other two Alan’s in the Alan triumvirate.  Tyres weren’t a problem and Mr G produced injection moulded centres for several loco’s.

The likely sales quantities always made it difficult to justify the tooling for injection moulded centres but Mr G always did his best to help.

Time moves on inexorably.

• Alan G retired and sold the business.
• The Alans of AHB closed up the shop
• 3D printing matured and gave us an alternative method for the centres

If only I could get the tyres now.  Initial optimism was frustrated by deliveries taking over a year and needing nagging to get a burst of activity leaving me with a bunch of kit designs with no wheels and for a long while nowhere to go so they stalled.

A breakthrough was made back in May when, at a model “do” in Wales, I was introduced to a machine shop probably best described and a CNC machine enthusiast and collector looking to keep them busy. The second spur was Bachmann with their NG7 Hunslet and my need to regauge them. This resulted in my new CNC friend producing axle and bearings to match. The economical quantities means it makes sense to adopt these as a standard.

This lead me to wonder if he could do tyres for me. I figured it would be more expensive than my previous source and result in my having to buy them in larger quantities than I really need but actually getting them trumps cheaper but not getting them.

He wasn’t fazed when asked so it lead to some learning time with my CAD system to work up a spec then to get some samples and onwards to the first two diameters delivered.

The first two diameters arrived today in two different materials

The smaller tyre is sized for the NG7 Hunslet and some of my wagons and are mild steel.

The larger tyre suits Lilla, and a bunch of other engines, and is produced in Stainless steel.

The two materials have their pro’s and con’s. Mild steel is cheaper, takes to blackening, paint and so on but is prone to rust untreated. Stainless is more expensive but doesn’t have the rusting issue but lives up to its name if you try to colour it.

A simplification would be to say blackened mild steel for wagon wheels and stainless for loco wheels. The result of that might be that, over time, some of the diameters produced will be produced in both.

These two tyres plus the axles and bearings will be available from my website in due course. The tyres will initially expand to around ten diameters in the range of 9 t0 20mm covering a list of prototypes. The cost of production isn’t insignificant so it’ll take awhile to add them all.  If anyone wants a specific diameter I’d be happy to discuss getting that produced.

If anyone ever wonders why I regularly run off to Wales to play with steam engines then have a look at this view. This was around 10am on Saturday 19^th October 2024. I’d just backed double Fairlie James Spooner onto its set of carriages in 20 road at Boston Lodge and about to set off ECS to Porthmadog when I looked up the Glaslyn Valley towards Snowdon.

It didn’t last, it pelted it down during the loco servicing turnround at 14:00 (ish)

My Bygones Roster explored both unreasonable ends of the days. Friday on David Lloyd George we did a run to Blaenau with a Palmerston on the front with the Victorian Set and the boat (as far as TyB) on the back. It then involved Minffordd Shuttles and posing in the dark for photographers. Official book off 23:00 (aka Pub shut!) but part of the posing made the engine disposal ready and its was just HBF’d* in to the shed.

Got a pint at 22:35!

The late finish and what came on Sunday meant I was more of a spectator for Saturday but I did visit Boston Lodge for a bit of model research. More of that another time.

Sunday morning was unpleasant! Woken at 03:00 by rain hammering on the roof, up at 04:00, book on at 05:00 to prep James Spooner.

Sunday’s job was to provide the anti-gravity for the morning run of the gravity train. Leaving Harbour Station sidings at 08:00 we took the gravity train to just shy of the summit by the power station.

An interesting bit of working is then that the Single Line token is held by the person in charge of the gravity train whist the loco proceeds to Tan-y-Griseau without it. Once we phone in to report clear of the section the gravity train driver is given it with which to proceed downhill.

The second unusual bit of this diagram is that the passenger train with Lyd on it that went to Blaenau ahead of us (07:40 off Port) does a shuttle run down to TyG to meet us and we put James Spooner on the Blaenau end and top and tail the train back to Blaenau. We then return to Porthmadog with 22 coaches worth of engine on five diddy coaches. The payback for the 05:00 start is we’re done by midday and someone else gets the engine and is grateful we put its roof on during prep as the afternoon was soggy.

Over the week I drove all three double engines, JS more than once. Bygones was DLG’s last days for this season as its the first in for its winter maintenance. Its put away in the erecting shop on Sunday night and was off its bogies and in bits by Monday night.

Wednesdays job was a shuntathon leaving virtually no truck at Boston Lodge unturned. The aim was to put the displays and the vintage toys away in the old loco shed whilst removing all the tat we hid in there over the weekend. In putting Princess back in at the far end of 3 road an old friend was briefly out in the rain.

I did get a day out with the other woman on Tuesday on the Quarryman service starting from BlaenauWhilst it was a day out and I was the rostered driver I didn’t drive Blanche at all during the day. A combination of a fireman who should very soon be a trainee driver and a trainee fireman at the stage where he needs and element of “get on with it, sink or swim” meant I spent the trip as trainer from my seat in the tender.

I get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing them progress and helping them on the way. It can be slightly self defeating as I have a bit of a track record of having firemen with me as regulars, training them up for them to leave me to go on to driving leaving me to find a new one to train up.

Its not like I am short of Blanche driving having done over 1000 miles since the Covid year

(*  HBF, Hook off, book off &, well you can probably work the last bit out)