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MERIONETH MERCURY
Autumn 1976
Journal of the Merioneth Railway Society. No. 6
Autumn 1976
Journal of the Merioneth Railway Society. No. 6
The Western Model Railway Society's Exhibition.
The main recent event in the Merioneth Railway Society's Exhibition calendar was our participation in the two-day Exhibition held in Ealing Town Hall on September 10th and 11th 1976, in celebration of the WMRS's 40th birthday.
As a matter of fact we nearly didn't go, since tentative arrangements had been made a long while previously and nothing had been heard since then - so we wondered if the date was still on. Actually it was, and a few telephone calls settled all the details.
Behold us then, a roughly clad party of tough-looking individuals assembling at Ealing Town Hall shortly before 6 pm on the evening of Friday September 10th. Outside was a 15-cwt van loaded down to what, had it been a ship, would have been its waterline, with our portable layout, specially designed for exhibitions. This masterpiece, which has grown over the years, is now 45 feet long and requires a space of 45' x 15' for its display. For those of our associate members who have not yet seen the line in action we should say that at one end there is a very good replica of a Welsh slate quarry yard (based on the yard at Aberllefenlli at the top end of the Corris valley), with a small loco yard at the other end. In between is a curved viaduct and a passenger station. From the latter passenger trains leave and proceed to the fiddle yard at the rear via a deep cutting. The yard has three tracks with a turntable at the far end and life has become much easier since its construction! There are also three controllers - one for the fiddle yard, one for the central section which includes the passenger terminus, and one for the slate quarry yard. However, both of the outer controllers can be switched on to the main controller so that a slate train can be run from one end of the line to the other without stopping - if full, from the quarry end: if empty, from the fiddle yard end.
The line has been shown at various exhibitions and seems to be popular. It is a standing advertisement for large-scale modelling; since it works well, and normally does not require quite as much cleaning as layouts in the smaller scales seem to require. Anyone who has had anything to do with exhibition layouts knows that dust and fluff and general dirt always seems to
As a matter of fact we nearly didn't go, since tentative arrangements had been made a long while previously and nothing had been heard since then - so we wondered if the date was still on. Actually it was, and a few telephone calls settled all the details.
Behold us then, a roughly clad party of tough-looking individuals assembling at Ealing Town Hall shortly before 6 pm on the evening of Friday September 10th. Outside was a 15-cwt van loaded down to what, had it been a ship, would have been its waterline, with our portable layout, specially designed for exhibitions. This masterpiece, which has grown over the years, is now 45 feet long and requires a space of 45' x 15' for its display. For those of our associate members who have not yet seen the line in action we should say that at one end there is a very good replica of a Welsh slate quarry yard (based on the yard at Aberllefenlli at the top end of the Corris valley), with a small loco yard at the other end. In between is a curved viaduct and a passenger station. From the latter passenger trains leave and proceed to the fiddle yard at the rear via a deep cutting. The yard has three tracks with a turntable at the far end and life has become much easier since its construction! There are also three controllers - one for the fiddle yard, one for the central section which includes the passenger terminus, and one for the slate quarry yard. However, both of the outer controllers can be switched on to the main controller so that a slate train can be run from one end of the line to the other without stopping - if full, from the quarry end: if empty, from the fiddle yard end.
The line has been shown at various exhibitions and seems to be popular. It is a standing advertisement for large-scale modelling; since it works well, and normally does not require quite as much cleaning as layouts in the smaller scales seem to require. Anyone who has had anything to do with exhibition layouts knows that dust and fluff and general dirt always seems to
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accumulate on the tracks of any line - in fact, should one visit a line before it is open to the public one invariably finds the operators cleaning away like mad. Well, so do we, in moderation; but it is nice to know that one has only to switch on and the train will start; usually, if one is not too ham-fisted, without a jerk.
We were surprised to hear that we were regarded as the "star turn" of the Exhibition. I think this must have been on account of size since there were several other layouts on show, all very splendid, including a 4mm scale line with mixed-gauge track, standard and narrow. As one who, in his 4mm scale days did this (only it was narrow and narrower in my case) I was much encouraged by the sight of this. Digressing for a moment, the successful construction of mixed-gauge track (if you like track construction that is!) is a most satisfying activity. In my 4mm scale days I did a good deal of this. Perhaps someone will try it in 16mm scale someday.
The exhibition, which was the first two-day show mounted by the WMRS, turned out to be highly successful and the organization was gratifyingly efficient especially in the matter of transport of large and awkwardly-shaped layouts and in the equally important matter of the provision of meals and light refreshments for the exhausted operators.
We were very pleased that some of our Associate Members were able to be present, including the group known to the Society as the "Salisbury contingent". They paid a visit to a club meeting on Friday evening a few weeks previously and entertained us quite as much as we entertained them! So we were glad to see them again.
We should like to thank: all those who helped us with this Exhibition - our own members and associates, and the members of the WMRS, whose Exhibition it was and who thoroughly deserved their success. We were told that no less than 3,300 persons attended this show, and for a comparatively small local exhibition that is no mean feat. Congratulations WMRS.
News from Northolt.
The permanent layout is progressing apace. Its first form will be an out-and-home line with a return loop, just like the R.H. & D.R. (although not quite so long!) and at the time of writing (October 1976) the track-bed for the loop is complete, enough sleepers to complete it have been wrung out of Ray Wyborn (thanks, Ray - those 277 sleepers you have just given me will do the job nicely) and tracklaying has started. About half the loop has been done so far with the somewhat potentially dangerous result that the present end of the track is out of sight of the control panel in the shed, so that unless someone is stationed at the
accumulate on the tracks of any line - in fact, should one visit a line before it is open to the public one invariably finds the operators cleaning away like mad. Well, so do we, in moderation; but it is nice to know that one has only to switch on and the train will start; usually, if one is not too ham-fisted, without a jerk.
We were surprised to hear that we were regarded as the "star turn" of the Exhibition. I think this must have been on account of size since there were several other layouts on show, all very splendid, including a 4mm scale line with mixed-gauge track, standard and narrow. As one who, in his 4mm scale days did this (only it was narrow and narrower in my case) I was much encouraged by the sight of this. Digressing for a moment, the successful construction of mixed-gauge track (if you like track construction that is!) is a most satisfying activity. In my 4mm scale days I did a good deal of this. Perhaps someone will try it in 16mm scale someday.
The exhibition, which was the first two-day show mounted by the WMRS, turned out to be highly successful and the organization was gratifyingly efficient especially in the matter of transport of large and awkwardly-shaped layouts and in the equally important matter of the provision of meals and light refreshments for the exhausted operators.
We were very pleased that some of our Associate Members were able to be present, including the group known to the Society as the "Salisbury contingent". They paid a visit to a club meeting on Friday evening a few weeks previously and entertained us quite as much as we entertained them! So we were glad to see them again.
We should like to thank: all those who helped us with this Exhibition - our own members and associates, and the members of the WMRS, whose Exhibition it was and who thoroughly deserved their success. We were told that no less than 3,300 persons attended this show, and for a comparatively small local exhibition that is no mean feat. Congratulations WMRS.
News from Northolt.
The permanent layout is progressing apace. Its first form will be an out-and-home line with a return loop, just like the R.H. & D.R. (although not quite so long!) and at the time of writing (October 1976) the track-bed for the loop is complete, enough sleepers to complete it have been wrung out of Ray Wyborn (thanks, Ray - those 277 sleepers you have just given me will do the job nicely) and tracklaying has started. About half the loop has been done so far with the somewhat potentially dangerous result that the present end of the track is out of sight of the control panel in the shed, so that unless someone is stationed at the
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end of the line to yell out "stop!" there could be an accident. In fact, there was an accident. I was testing the line with a loco and four coaches and get the train safely to its temporary terminus. Then I crane-shunted the loco, attached it to the other end of the train, returned to the control panel and switched on. Two seconds later I realised, to my horror, that I hadn't reversed the polarity, by which time two coaches were off the track and had fallen 4ft to the ground. Fortunately, no harm was done because (i) the said ground was soft after the recent rain, and (ii) they were my coaches anyway. Still one does not want this sort of thing to happen and, given a few fine evenings, it won't happen again since by that time the loop, even if still incomplete, will have enough track on it to run trains into view again.
It is hoped to get this portion of the line complete and working by the winter. Next year's programme envisages the completion of the line by the construction of the other terminal in an exiting shed - plans are ready.
Closely associated with the foregoing report is the announcement that Dave Bradwell - Northern Dave - is back from the USA and in full working order. This is fortunate because he knows all about electronics -(a subject which I couldn't even attempt to define!) and has given me the circuit for the loop – a ways more complicated in 2-rail than in 3-rail. At least I used to think so, but I have now learnt that a great deal of trouble can be avoided by the use of a diode. This cunning beast has the peculiarity that it will pass current in one direction only and will continue to do so even when the polarity of the supply has been reversed. There is a strong element of magic here in my opinion but we might as well take advantage of it since it is there. So by having a separate section of line fed through the diode a train can continue peacefully on its way while the operator changes the polarity of the rest of the line in readiness for its return to the non-diode-controlled main line. Clever, isn't it?
D.A.B.
end of the line to yell out "stop!" there could be an accident. In fact, there was an accident. I was testing the line with a loco and four coaches and get the train safely to its temporary terminus. Then I crane-shunted the loco, attached it to the other end of the train, returned to the control panel and switched on. Two seconds later I realised, to my horror, that I hadn't reversed the polarity, by which time two coaches were off the track and had fallen 4ft to the ground. Fortunately, no harm was done because (i) the said ground was soft after the recent rain, and (ii) they were my coaches anyway. Still one does not want this sort of thing to happen and, given a few fine evenings, it won't happen again since by that time the loop, even if still incomplete, will have enough track on it to run trains into view again.
It is hoped to get this portion of the line complete and working by the winter. Next year's programme envisages the completion of the line by the construction of the other terminal in an exiting shed - plans are ready.
Closely associated with the foregoing report is the announcement that Dave Bradwell - Northern Dave - is back from the USA and in full working order. This is fortunate because he knows all about electronics -(a subject which I couldn't even attempt to define!) and has given me the circuit for the loop – a ways more complicated in 2-rail than in 3-rail. At least I used to think so, but I have now learnt that a great deal of trouble can be avoided by the use of a diode. This cunning beast has the peculiarity that it will pass current in one direction only and will continue to do so even when the polarity of the supply has been reversed. There is a strong element of magic here in my opinion but we might as well take advantage of it since it is there. So by having a separate section of line fed through the diode a train can continue peacefully on its way while the operator changes the polarity of the rest of the line in readiness for its return to the non-diode-controlled main line. Clever, isn't it?
D.A.B.
The Population Explosion.
by Ray Wyborn.
by Ray Wyborn.
Without people railways wouldn't run, but how many times do we see a nice layout devoid of figures? In the smaller scales it is quite easy to populate our stations but in 16mm scale there is nothing produced commercially (that's one of the fascinations of this scale - you have to do everything yourself).
The Merioneth Railway Company had only one undersized Dol-Toy figure when I joined the group so I set about experimenting with different media to see if I could produce some reasonable items of population on a mass- production basis. A modelled figure was the first requirement but, not being a sculptor I found this very difficult. However, I finally made a
The Merioneth Railway Company had only one undersized Dol-Toy figure when I joined the group so I set about experimenting with different media to see if I could produce some reasonable items of population on a mass- production basis. A modelled figure was the first requirement but, not being a sculptor I found this very difficult. However, I finally made a
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reasonable representation of a head and torso. This was moulded in plasticene, but as a modelling medium I found that it marks too easily and you can't make and keep nice sharp edges. Requirement No. 1 had been attended to, so now l needed a mould. I tried plaster, but didn't get on at all well with it due, I think, to my impatience. Colin Binnie suggested cold-cure silastomer rubber which I duly purchased; and this material proved to be ideal as it produced every detail of the original - too ideal, because it showed up every knife mark and unwanted blemish.
The casts were made with dental plaster. One cast was cleaned up with scalpel, file, and scraper, and a further mould was made. From this several bodies were cast and while in a soft state all flash was removed and a hole was drilled through the shoulders and hips to take two pipe-cleaners for the arms and legs.
After the head had been painted the bodies were dressed in soft materials gleaned from my wife's sewing box. Some were sewn, others just stuck on, but all looked rather stiff and awkward. These Mark 1 versions lasted through three or four exhibitions but could hardly be ca11ed works of art. A Mark II version was therefore made using paper hankies for the clothing but when painted it wrinkled up very badly split at the slightest touch.
Taking a leaf out of the model soldiers' book I decided that a complete figure would be the answer but alas! my modelling skills were just not up to it. If Mr. Frankenstein had created the thing 1 produced I think he would he would have put it down at birth. I was stuck with it so I made a mould and produced twins. One resides in the mould like a latter-day mummy while the other has gone I know not where. So much for Mark III.
At about this time my wife's Women's Institute decided to enter an "Heirlooms for Tomorrow" competition. Their entry was to be a diorama of our village as it was 100 years ago. The figures, to a scale 1" = 1', would be cast in plaster, and they would need about 70 of them. Surely one of those arty-crafty ladies would be able to produce a good basic figure - plus others to 16mm scale. A meeting was arranged at our cottage and nine eager beavers set to work with plasticene, modelling tools, a silhouette to the correct size, and a noise level which would have shamed the London Zoo parrot house.
The results of their labours were appalling; not one of them turned out anything even remotely resembling a human being. The best of them looked like Polynesian fertility dolls while the worst would have kept our more "avant garde" modern sculptor critics guessing. Once more I was thrown on to my own resources.
The stimulus to do something a little better came when I had to give a lecture at the engineering course weekend at
reasonable representation of a head and torso. This was moulded in plasticene, but as a modelling medium I found that it marks too easily and you can't make and keep nice sharp edges. Requirement No. 1 had been attended to, so now l needed a mould. I tried plaster, but didn't get on at all well with it due, I think, to my impatience. Colin Binnie suggested cold-cure silastomer rubber which I duly purchased; and this material proved to be ideal as it produced every detail of the original - too ideal, because it showed up every knife mark and unwanted blemish.
The casts were made with dental plaster. One cast was cleaned up with scalpel, file, and scraper, and a further mould was made. From this several bodies were cast and while in a soft state all flash was removed and a hole was drilled through the shoulders and hips to take two pipe-cleaners for the arms and legs.
After the head had been painted the bodies were dressed in soft materials gleaned from my wife's sewing box. Some were sewn, others just stuck on, but all looked rather stiff and awkward. These Mark 1 versions lasted through three or four exhibitions but could hardly be ca11ed works of art. A Mark II version was therefore made using paper hankies for the clothing but when painted it wrinkled up very badly split at the slightest touch.
Taking a leaf out of the model soldiers' book I decided that a complete figure would be the answer but alas! my modelling skills were just not up to it. If Mr. Frankenstein had created the thing 1 produced I think he would he would have put it down at birth. I was stuck with it so I made a mould and produced twins. One resides in the mould like a latter-day mummy while the other has gone I know not where. So much for Mark III.
At about this time my wife's Women's Institute decided to enter an "Heirlooms for Tomorrow" competition. Their entry was to be a diorama of our village as it was 100 years ago. The figures, to a scale 1" = 1', would be cast in plaster, and they would need about 70 of them. Surely one of those arty-crafty ladies would be able to produce a good basic figure - plus others to 16mm scale. A meeting was arranged at our cottage and nine eager beavers set to work with plasticene, modelling tools, a silhouette to the correct size, and a noise level which would have shamed the London Zoo parrot house.
The results of their labours were appalling; not one of them turned out anything even remotely resembling a human being. The best of them looked like Polynesian fertility dolls while the worst would have kept our more "avant garde" modern sculptor critics guessing. Once more I was thrown on to my own resources.
The stimulus to do something a little better came when I had to give a lecture at the engineering course weekend at
Page 5
Hassocks on modelling and painting figures. I had seen in the model shops some plastic figures of racing drivers and mechanics constructed to a scale which turned out to be 1" = 1'.Having purchased one for the sum of 85 pence I made it up and turned half of it into an Edwardian gentleman and left the other half as a driver complete with red overalls. I made the additions with Plastic Padding and Plasticard sheet, finally painting with Humbrol. After the lecture I took a long hard look at the figure and decided to try once more to carve a 16mm version. Starting with one of the basic head and torsos I realised where I had gone wrong and proceeded to whittle away. I found that I could add to the cast by wetting the figure, then dipping a damp paint brush into fresh powdered plaster and applying it like paint. After about four hours' work I realised that what I had was a very passable head (he's had one of those for years! - Ed). All I needed now was the rest of the body.
Two sticks of plaster were next cast in kitchen foil, laid side by side below the cast torso and a slurry of plaster then poured over the joint. When set it was attacked with a scalpel and a jeweller's saw until it resembled the shape of the plastic figure. The plaster was still slightly soft at this stage so I put it aside for a week while I had a go at the arms and hands. I thought that a straight joint at both shoulders would give me a certain flexibility in producing final figures but I have now settled for one fixed arm and one moveable so as to cut down the time taken on finishing models. Further hours of painstaking work on the body followed and when I had finished all the carving a two-part silastomer rubber mould was made and a cast was taken in plaster. Results were not quite as good as I had hoped and quite a bit of filling was needed before painting. However, the result was 300 times better than either Marks I, II, or III. Now that I had a decent basic figure I set out to vary the range by taking several more casts. Using the scalpel I removed coats and shirts, bent men's arms, sat them down and finally turned one into a woman - standing and sitting. I cast arms, both left and right, bent and straight. I will have to make more moulds to add to the six I already have but that will be when finances allow as the moulding rubber costs about £5 per pound, which is enough to make approximately three moulds.
The figures cast in dental plaster are very brittle and any knock is liable to break off an arm or leg. To stop this from happening I have tried some figures cast in fibreglass resin. First, I tried a shell casting but the resin had no thixotropic qualities and ran to the bottom of the mould so I added a filler of dental plaster which seems to fill the bill.
Hassocks on modelling and painting figures. I had seen in the model shops some plastic figures of racing drivers and mechanics constructed to a scale which turned out to be 1" = 1'.Having purchased one for the sum of 85 pence I made it up and turned half of it into an Edwardian gentleman and left the other half as a driver complete with red overalls. I made the additions with Plastic Padding and Plasticard sheet, finally painting with Humbrol. After the lecture I took a long hard look at the figure and decided to try once more to carve a 16mm version. Starting with one of the basic head and torsos I realised where I had gone wrong and proceeded to whittle away. I found that I could add to the cast by wetting the figure, then dipping a damp paint brush into fresh powdered plaster and applying it like paint. After about four hours' work I realised that what I had was a very passable head (he's had one of those for years! - Ed). All I needed now was the rest of the body.
Two sticks of plaster were next cast in kitchen foil, laid side by side below the cast torso and a slurry of plaster then poured over the joint. When set it was attacked with a scalpel and a jeweller's saw until it resembled the shape of the plastic figure. The plaster was still slightly soft at this stage so I put it aside for a week while I had a go at the arms and hands. I thought that a straight joint at both shoulders would give me a certain flexibility in producing final figures but I have now settled for one fixed arm and one moveable so as to cut down the time taken on finishing models. Further hours of painstaking work on the body followed and when I had finished all the carving a two-part silastomer rubber mould was made and a cast was taken in plaster. Results were not quite as good as I had hoped and quite a bit of filling was needed before painting. However, the result was 300 times better than either Marks I, II, or III. Now that I had a decent basic figure I set out to vary the range by taking several more casts. Using the scalpel I removed coats and shirts, bent men's arms, sat them down and finally turned one into a woman - standing and sitting. I cast arms, both left and right, bent and straight. I will have to make more moulds to add to the six I already have but that will be when finances allow as the moulding rubber costs about £5 per pound, which is enough to make approximately three moulds.
The figures cast in dental plaster are very brittle and any knock is liable to break off an arm or leg. To stop this from happening I have tried some figures cast in fibreglass resin. First, I tried a shell casting but the resin had no thixotropic qualities and ran to the bottom of the mould so I added a filler of dental plaster which seems to fill the bill.
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Page 7
These moulds turn out quite clean mouldings without any residual surface tack. I fill up each half of the mould, then, when they have gone off slightly, I press then together. This results in a line of flash which has to be cleaned off with a scalpel. Attaching the arms at first caused a slight problem but this was finally overcome by the use of Plastic Padding.
This substance - the hard variety - is very difficult to work as it sticks to any tool while in its sticky state, yet being almost unworkable once it has hardened. The secret is to catch it just as it is going off and cut it with a very sharp, clean scalpel blade. Anything less than this will cause drag and the padding will break up.
The manufacturing process hardly aspires to mass production but at least, having made the moulds, I can turn out figures quite reasonably. The enemy, of course, is time and it would be completely uneconomic to produce them commercially. If anyone is interested in purchasing any I can, probably make them to order in fibreglass resin, painted, at about £1-25p each. Available at the time of writing are the following:-
1. Woman standing.
2. Woman sitting.
3. Man in jacket standing.
4. Man in shirtsleeves and waistcoat, standing.
5. Ditto, sitting.
6. Man in station uniform, guard or perhaps postman.
Proposed figures are:-
7. Man in overalls, standing.
8. Man in coat (seated passenger).
Any requirements by members can be added to the range - given time:
Ray Wyborn.
These moulds turn out quite clean mouldings without any residual surface tack. I fill up each half of the mould, then, when they have gone off slightly, I press then together. This results in a line of flash which has to be cleaned off with a scalpel. Attaching the arms at first caused a slight problem but this was finally overcome by the use of Plastic Padding.
This substance - the hard variety - is very difficult to work as it sticks to any tool while in its sticky state, yet being almost unworkable once it has hardened. The secret is to catch it just as it is going off and cut it with a very sharp, clean scalpel blade. Anything less than this will cause drag and the padding will break up.
The manufacturing process hardly aspires to mass production but at least, having made the moulds, I can turn out figures quite reasonably. The enemy, of course, is time and it would be completely uneconomic to produce them commercially. If anyone is interested in purchasing any I can, probably make them to order in fibreglass resin, painted, at about £1-25p each. Available at the time of writing are the following:-
1. Woman standing.
2. Woman sitting.
3. Man in jacket standing.
4. Man in shirtsleeves and waistcoat, standing.
5. Ditto, sitting.
6. Man in station uniform, guard or perhaps postman.
Proposed figures are:-
7. Man in overalls, standing.
8. Man in coat (seated passenger).
Any requirements by members can be added to the range - given time:
Ray Wyborn.
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The War Department "L Class Wagon.
by S. L. Baker.,
by S. L. Baker.,
CONTINUED
In this issue we publish the promised drawing of the Hudson bogie as used on W. D. wagons.
Assuming that you have all made the body for the wagon already(!) mount it on the bogie to the height shown on the bogie drawing as I believe that the overall height shown on the drawing in the last issue to be incorrect.
The drawing shows the wheel handle on the handbrake as used on some wagons, while others had a normal locomotive-style handle.
The photograph below shows the underside of a Hudson bogie. From this the operation of the brakes can be seen together with the pivot and supporting framework.
In this issue we publish the promised drawing of the Hudson bogie as used on W. D. wagons.
Assuming that you have all made the body for the wagon already(!) mount it on the bogie to the height shown on the bogie drawing as I believe that the overall height shown on the drawing in the last issue to be incorrect.
The drawing shows the wheel handle on the handbrake as used on some wagons, while others had a normal locomotive-style handle.
The photograph below shows the underside of a Hudson bogie. From this the operation of the brakes can be seen together with the pivot and supporting framework.
Nostalgia Time No. 1
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Does anyone recognise the photograph below? If any of you went to the Model Railway Exhibition at the Central Hall, Westminster, during the early 1960s (I think it was in 1963 - Ed.) you ought to recognise it as the tipping dock of the Abermarsham layout.
This line was built by Roger Marsh and David Newham, and the photo here reproduced features Roger’s engine "Boxer" a caricature of a Festiniog Railway engine by George England & Co. The Granomac wagon had a false back through which the gravel shot from the tip wagons. It is from part of the original Abermarsham layout that our present layout emerged. (And Stuart might have added that it was from this line and the work of David and Roger that the Merioneth Railway Society developed. - Ed.).
This line was built by Roger Marsh and David Newham, and the photo here reproduced features Roger’s engine "Boxer" a caricature of a Festiniog Railway engine by George England & Co. The Granomac wagon had a false back through which the gravel shot from the tip wagons. It is from part of the original Abermarsham layout that our present layout emerged. (And Stuart might have added that it was from this line and the work of David and Roger that the Merioneth Railway Society developed. - Ed.).
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The Festiniog Railway Ashbury Carriage
by S.L, Baker
Festiniog Railway's two-compartment Ashbury coaches were similar to those on the Festiniog and Blaenau. They could hold 12 passengers and were said by Vignes to be "de beaucoup préférablés" when compared with the earlier knifeboard carriages.
The Drawing shows the first-class coach. The Third Class coaches had the middle pair of windows replaced by a wooden panel and the central two ventilators replaced by a double-length single one.
I have not yet found any photographs of the Second Class coaches so cannot comment on their design. They lend themselves to being constructed in Plastikard or similar material and I am about to start making some in cardboard and wood. The cardboard will, of course, be well treated with shellac (yes, you can still get shellac if you look for it) (and if you can't, use "knotting", slightly diluted. It's the same thing, ready made-up. - Ed.).
This hardens the cardboard and produces a smooth wood-like finish ready for painting. Photos and description to follow, if you don't get too bored.
FOR SALE
Two "Brakeman" 12volt DC transformer-controllers, each comprising 1 transformer and 2 controllers. Brand-new manufactured for sale in this country. £10 each. Apply to R.G. Wyborn.
SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 1977
Finally the Treasurer reminds you that subscriptions become due on 1st January 1977. Please make all cheques/postal orders payable to Mr. S.L. Baker, and not to the Merioneth Railway Society, as the Society, being small, does not have its own Bank Account. Despite rising costs, subscriptions will remain at £l for 1977 so please do not make us waste money sending out reminders. Thank you.
The Drawing shows the first-class coach. The Third Class coaches had the middle pair of windows replaced by a wooden panel and the central two ventilators replaced by a double-length single one.
I have not yet found any photographs of the Second Class coaches so cannot comment on their design. They lend themselves to being constructed in Plastikard or similar material and I am about to start making some in cardboard and wood. The cardboard will, of course, be well treated with shellac (yes, you can still get shellac if you look for it) (and if you can't, use "knotting", slightly diluted. It's the same thing, ready made-up. - Ed.).
This hardens the cardboard and produces a smooth wood-like finish ready for painting. Photos and description to follow, if you don't get too bored.
FOR SALE
Two "Brakeman" 12volt DC transformer-controllers, each comprising 1 transformer and 2 controllers. Brand-new manufactured for sale in this country. £10 each. Apply to R.G. Wyborn.
SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 1977
Finally the Treasurer reminds you that subscriptions become due on 1st January 1977. Please make all cheques/postal orders payable to Mr. S.L. Baker, and not to the Merioneth Railway Society, as the Society, being small, does not have its own Bank Account. Despite rising costs, subscriptions will remain at £l for 1977 so please do not make us waste money sending out reminders. Thank you.
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