Running – Moel Rhos

Lights

A couple of weeks back I posted a photo from a late night steam running session which took place back in May 2020. The top photo on this post is taken half an hour later the same evening. By this point it was pretty dark, and you can see to good effect the illumination provided by the light mounted above the smoke box.

Late night steam

I was pleased with the effect on this photo which was taken during an evening running session in May 2020 at around 9.15pm. The low light forced my phone camera to slow the shutter, and a panned round with the loco to keep it in focus while the background blurred.

2023 in garden railway visits…

Looking back over the garden railway year, one particular pleasure has been our South West Wales 16mm Association Area group resuming a substantial programme of garden railway visits after lockdown shifted us online in 2020, and while we had some good meetings in 2021/22 it was only this year we got back to monthly (sometimes even twice monthly) gatherings in each others’ gardens.

Boxing Day 2022

No trains running on the Moel Rhos today, unfortunately. But they were, exactly one year ago, last Boxing Day.

Here’s an album of photos from Boxing Day 2022.

Christmas Eve 2020

Merry Christmas everyone! Dipping into our virtual meet-ups from 2020/21 again, here’s a set of images from Christmas Eve 2020.

Looking back at lockdown virtual meet-ups

Back in 2020 lockdown came just in time to disrupt our (the South West Wales 16mm Area Group) programme of monthly meet-ups. But with everybody stuck at home – and in their gardens – what else was there to do but work and play trains? Our solution was to keep going with the monthly meet-ups, but to do them online…

Gone Visitin’

Last month, stock from Moel Rhos (the Millie and half a dozen small wagons) paid its first visit to another private railway. The Brockhampton & Umbridge Railway is a superbly detailed railway in a beautiful setting, populated by some incredibly fine modelled stock. Continue reading Gone Visitin’

First Run

When there was a short break between rain showers this afternoon I nipped out and steamed up the Millie for her first run on the railway. Continue reading First Run

Video: Driver’s Eye View

So here it is, filmed on test run day (25 May), a complete circuit of the line in 2’39” shot from a train hurtling along at a scale 4 to 5 mph. I’ve found it’s an excellent way to view all the flaws in your track laying. Continue reading Video: Driver’s Eye View