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Messages - John L Dobson

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166
Lovely sunny day here again today - I went to Pont Croesor to get a few more photos. First train of the day crossing the Glaslyn and running onto the road crossing, with Cnicht in the distance behind the loco...

167
There's video of the first train at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=996VPNO8yPo

168
The 10.00am train from Caernarfon made history today by running through to Pont Croesor, as will all trains from now on. This followed commissioning of the traffic signals for the two adjacent level crossings (no fewer than eight wig-wags were needed - see below!) and brings the length of the WHR to 22 miles - and you can actually see Porthmadog in the distance!

The official opening ceremony - attended by the 'great and good' - will take place next Wednesday 26 May.


169
I believe the Lyd project is an FR project.  While it may visit Woody Bay, its home rails will be the FR/WHR.

You are quite correct - it's being built at Boston Lodge by the FR and much of the funding is from people involved with the FR. However, it will almost certainly visit Woody Bay soon after completion. Running trials are planned on the FR/WHR from early autumn.

170
So how exactly does Quirks & Curiosities work, logistically?  You obviously have a lot of visiting equipment.

* Is it by invitation only or can anyone show up with a piece of 600-mm equipment?
* Does the FR pay for part of the shipping costs or is it on the visitor?
* Does the visitor bear the cost of insurance or the FR?

I'll check with the GM and get back on this

171
Thanks for the info about the SR&RL's railcars, Stewart. I found a photo of no. 3 at Carrabasset that clearly shows rolled-up side curtains, as well as a shot of no. 2 similarly equipped. Worth considering since it's authentic?

I also saw a photo of the Vose car replica in Wales that showed it being turned around on a self-contained turntable. The turntable appeared to be hydraulic, apparently powered by the car's electrical system. There was also a head-on photo of that Land Rover with a big cowcatcher pilot!

There are a lot more photographs of these railcars - and the other Quirks and Curiosities that attended the event - at http://www.roger-dimmick.fotopic.net/

172
Hi John,  Thanks for the post.  That's a really nice looking T.  It looks just like the car Supt. Vose car had on the SR&RL.  His car survived the scrapping of the railroad and is in the MNG collection at Portland.  The railcar has been to Sheepscot during the annual picnic.  It's a real comfortable ride.

I like the name "Quirks & Curiosities", it sounds like something on the menu at Freds Kitchen.   

Hey, maybe the WW&F should have a Quirks & Curiosities event,     Stewart

Hi Stewart

I think Adrian's Model 'T' inspection car is based quite closely on the Vose design - he's been a Sandy River fan for years and has a dining car loosely based on the Rangeley as part of his garden railway rolling stock.

Also at Quirks and Curiosities was a rather more modern version of the breed, from the Statfold Barn Railway:

173
An important milestone in the creation of the replica Lynton & Barnstaple 2-6-2T 'Lyd' was passed when she was steamed for the first time during the 'Quirks & Curiosities' weekend on the FR in early May. She didn't move under her own power, however, as there is still some work needed on the valvegear.


174
We have noticed, over the years, that one of the defining characteristics of narrow-gauge railway enthusiasts is a powerful thirst...

This year some friends of the FR volunteer who is also proprietor of Porthmadog's Purple Moose, Real Ale, micro-brewery decided to do something about it - and this vehicle appeared outside Spooner's Cafe-Bar at Harbour Station...!

175
Over FR Society AGM weekend (1-3 May) the FR organised a 'Quirks & Curiosities' weekend, attracting weird two-foot gauge machines from far and wide. One of the oddest was 'Gherkin'. This is a bogie from one of the mail-carrying cars from the (now closed) Post Office underground railway in London married to a portable DC gen set. It proved to be remarkably powerful - and fast! Some FR members are now speculating about the possibility of building one or more  diesel-electric railcars  - if there are enough of these bogies still available. (the green 'passenger car' in the picture is one of the FR's fleet of Hudson bogie wagons of WW1 origin)


176
We had a Ford Model 'T' railcar at the recent "Quirks & Curiosities' event on the Ffestiniog. This is the one built fairly recently for Adrian Shooter's garden railway in Oxfordshire.

Here it is at Porthmadog on 1 May:

177
Other Narrow Gauge / Re: Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
« on: April 30, 2010, 12:36:45 PM »
The RH&DR isn't by any means the only 15" gauge public railway in UK. One of the earliest was the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, a conversion (in 1917) of a closed 2'9" gauge railway running 7 miles from the Cumbrian Coast into the Lake District, which belonged for many years to a granite quarrying company and carried tens of thousands of tons of ballast for the main line railways. It's been a tourist-only railway since the 1950s and has some very interesting narrow-gauge (rather than scaled down standard gauge) locomotives. See: http://www.ravenglass-railway.co.uk/

178
There's also a sequence on U-tube showing the ceremony at Dinas:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Festshopman

179
UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / No.87 in blue
« on: April 27, 2010, 02:37:17 PM »
I got a good shot of No.87 on the Royal Train today.  The only slight disappointment is that she wasn't carrying the traditional Royal Train headcode (3 marker lamps across the top of the buffer beam and one at the top of the tank)


180
I'd read that she was coming but wondered when it was.  Security must have been wonderfully tight.

Yes, it was. I'd parked in the Tesco car park in Caernarfon so that I could walk to one of the foot bridges over the line, only to be met by a woman PC who told me I wasn't allowed on the bridge itself. Fortunately I was able to get a good view from the steps up to the bridge. Although the Pullman wasn't at the end of the train the Queen was pretty easy to spot - she was wearing bright pink (see attachment)... The train engine was No.87, looking wonderfully clean and sparkling in her new midnight blue livery.

See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/8644646.stm about 3/4 the way through the video, where she unveils the new name for the Pullman.

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