This time last week were just having a well earned pint in Spooners once we had packed up at the end of the Festiniog Railway 2025 Modelling day.

This year an electrical fault at our usual venue precipitated a move up in the world to the Ganolfan just by the harbour and, of course, Harbour Station. This was a big move with a bigger hall to fill and a much bigger rent to cover! I am please to say it was a roaring success, rent covered, small profit made and the same hall booked for next year.

There will be a gallery of general photos at the end of this piece. I was doing my usual sort of demo with a number of tasks to complete. I had my demo and display setup with me. The tiered stand features the same loco in three scales (16mm/ft, 7mm/ft & 4mm/ft) to try and explain the difference between scales whist the layout has things running with the added amusement of lap counters.

On the workbench was the usual untidy mess featuring electric gravity trains, loco chassis and a 7/8 scale diesel.

Some freehand jig saw work on a bit of old baseboard back at Phil’s sorted the cutting fixture and ground plane and Phil’s brass solder was where he actually thought it was.

Day 1 was spent doing a lot of talking so the lack of progress didn’t really show to the casual viewer. The chassis I intended to build was all prepped and taped together ready for solder and the slate wagon parts all marked out ready for cutting.

Of course Day1 ended with a pint in Spooners. Well it would have been rude not to what with it being just next door.

The 3 ton etched slate waggon had a hole cut through its floor to allow the electric gravity simulator to be installed. The test drive unit is only 9mm gauge but it was standing in for the 14mm gauge unit currently being made.

I decided not to try the bending up of the etches at the show as the order they’re done in is critical and needs concentration.

I have since bent it up at home which validated that decision as it required extensive use of the “Fitters Phrasebook” and a fair bit of panel beating to get it to look half decent.

For those with a fear of soldering there is a plastic version with the drive fitted to a Chivers Finelines 3 ton slate waggon. Again the 9mm gauge drive is used as a demonstrator.

These slate waggons will have a resin cast load with a hollow cut into it to hide the works and a weight whitemetal brakesman sat on top to add a bit of weight

The other project for the weekend was to build one of my own Agenoria kit chassis for the Penryhn Port Class Hunslet [Gwynedd, Lillian or Winifred). I wanted to solder it up using my resistance soldering unit hence the need for a ground plane.

Further up you saw a piece of wood butchered for the job.

Here its been covered in kitchen foil with a piece of etch cast off and a clamp holding it in place at the top. The was to hold the foil in place and give a good electrical connection with a rigid bit to clip the wire to.

Resistance soldering is done by passing an electrical current through a joint that has been prepared with a little solder and some flux. The advantages of it are that the foil provides one contact on a flat surface whilst a carbon probe holds the bits to be soldered together. Nothing happens until you press a foot switch. When you do current flows, the joint heats up and the solder melts. Take your foot off and it cools with you still holding it together with the probe.

As the solder only melts in the join its a very clean finish. The only messy bit on this are the ends which I soldered with a normal soldering iron.

The reason for building a chassis was to inform the planning of an upgrade to our kit.

The show was a success and we’ll be doing it again next year. The dates are 16-17th May 2026

The following photo gallery consists of photos taken by Roger Dimmick and first published on the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways Facebook page

Rather than just go to Wales for the weekend as I hadn’t been since November I stayed over a few extra days to catch up with friends and to sort out the EDM Models Porthmadog Office.

No, we’re not relocating but as I spend a lot of time at Phil’s, previously with a laptop set up a computer upgrade elsewhere has allowed me to cascade some kit to Wales that saves me squinting at a laptop screen.

Then the best bit of news and, to some extent, what the extra days were about, I passed my FR Drivers Medical and will be driving at the June event.

–* this is a little predictive in that all of me bar my wonky leg has passed but the improvement is such that I will be OK by late June subject to a telephone conflab with the FR Doc