YET ANOTHER 'CHUFFER' SPECIAL!

Once again a post that has nothing to do with the Card-Bach or railway modeling.

I thought I would put it up as it is of interest to several of our readers - in fact it is sort of interesting anyway!

As you know, the 18th-century bridge at Llechryd has been closed for quite a while now due to damage sustained from recent flooding of the Teifi river. Several of the supporting piers have been undermined by erosion, as well as being damaged by floating trees and other large detritus.

The latest news was that remedial work would start on June 29th...

I came home yesterday afternoon, and this was parked in the field by the bridge:

 

They had set up camp bang on time, laying down protective matting and depositing cabins and a power generator:

When I took my early morning walk the results of  Kaymac's endeavours were clearly visible:

They are diverting part of the flow to enable work to start on the first supporting pier:

(the damage can be seen at the bottom left of the structure)

The other side also had a dam and diverting barrier in place, and a heavy duty submersible pump employed to get the level down;

As the level dropped three of the men were netting every living creature that was in the catchment area, using a mild electric stun ring on the more elusive fish:

Everything that was caught was sympathetically handled, and carefully put back in the river on the other side of the barrier. Very impressive!

Thats it for today - I'll have a later report when more activity takes place.

Shaun.

Hello everyone.

As I mentioned in the last blog, this will be a special post, devoted to Chairman Emyrs' efforts at rebuilding a land rover.
Unless you are a petrol-head, you are excused from reading any further, and just keep an eye out for the regular blog, hopefully, next Tuesday!


AEJ491 is a Series 1 Land Rover originally built in 1950, and first registered in March of that year. The registration identifies it as being registered and sold in the old Welsh county of Cardiganshire, now known as Ceredigion.



This is an example of a 1950 Series1:

 (Genuine 1950/pre 1950 series 1 could be identified by the grille completely covering the front.)



AEJ491 led a chequered career with both commercial and private owners, at one time belonging to Emyr himself during the sixties.
Many years later the opportunity arose to purchase it once again, but in a very sorry state!

As much as possible of the original vehicle was salvaged and stored. The chassis stripped and sent to a local metal worker to be sand-blasted and prepped. It then came back to Emyr's workshop, where it was primed, boxes internally protected, and original spec paint applied.

The rear axle and suspension was taken apart, new bearings fitted where necessary and bushes replaced.
Suitably painted, the chassis and axle complete with springs are brought together...

The rear box, or body was removed in one piece and all of the fittings removed. A lot of dents knocked out, and several places required specialist aluminium welding.

The bulkhead had to undergo similar treatment, being in just as sorry a state as the rest of the vehicle:

Once repaired, sanded, primed and painted, it was ready to go back:

Quite a bit more renovation and repair work obviously took place before this picture was taken.
The gearbox and drive system was stripped down and several bearings and cog wheels replaced.
The drive system of the landrover up until 1952 was not straight forward, being semi-permanent four-wheel drive, which could be locked if required.

The three original seat backs were taken apart and rebuilt by a local lady who is an accomplished upholsterer.

The dashboard was refurbished with the appropriate instruments, which are still available, as is quite a lot of the 1950 specification parts, though at a considerably higher price than they were back then!

 

Also available are the tyres:

The engine has been rebuilt and now in place with most of the ancillary parts fitted:

The radiator and grill are yet to be fitted - most of the metalwork being original, Emyr having to rebuild the headlamps from the old remains,
Fortunately, a replacement grille was available:

As a fitting end to this post, we have a picture of the rear end!
A new canvas tilt and a refurbished number plate...
Obviously, there is still an awful lot more work still to be done - doors to be reassembled and rehung, lots of internal fettling, plus all the mechanical work tested.


We will have more pics and a video when AEJ finally hits the road.

If you got this far, thanks for following this special post, and I'm sure you'll join me in congratulating Emyr in his remarkable endeavours.



Cherrio,
Shaun.

Hello everyone - it looks like the situation vis-a-vis Coronavirus is easing just a tad... I just wish they would allow barbers shops to re-open. I resemble an old English sheepdog (a very old one).

On to Cardi-Bach matters. One of our members, Sue Allen, is also a local councilor for the Whitland district and has been working hard at getting some recognition and support from the County Councils regarding the development of the old Cardi-Bach line for public access.
To help towards the cause, she wondered if we would be kind enough to read and hopefully comment in the following link:

https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/council-democracy/consultation-performance/current-consultations/access-to-walking-and-cycling-active-travel/

On to Chuffer stuff.

Contributions from far and wide this week - first from the far North, Phil has finally completed cutting and fettling his hedge that borders the Festiniog line.
You may remember he had got this far a few weeks ago:

At that time he had filled 10 builder bags of cuttings. The final tally was 29!

 This was a 'before' picture that Phil had taken, and after his sterling efforts, we have an 'after' picture below.

This dry-stone wall is different to the usual FR pattern that has been employed elsewhere on the sides of the line - this is because the road you see on the right of the picture prior to 1864 was actually where the railway line is now, and the rails were over to the right-hand side.
Phil will explain in more detail when he can attend a meeting.



On now to Llanduesant. Mike has been busy with his renovation of 3mm scale rolling stock and sent these two photographs of rebuilt coaches.
The first is a GWR Collet full brake (waiting for door handles and transfers)

The second is a GUV or General Utility Van developed by British Rail.

A little bit South of HQ we come to Login, home of the Cardi-Bach Heritage building, and also the home of Peter, our Hon. Treasurer.
As you know, from documented stuff in the Chuffer posts, Pete is building as close to the prototype as possible the famous Lynton & Barnstaple NGR.
With only a very slight deviation from the original, Peter has sent in some images of progress so far, all of Woody Bay and associated buildings:

For the purists, the track configuration was similar to the original L & B, which they subsequently changed at a later date.
And as Pete quite rightly says: "My layout, my rules!"



Now a bit closer to home, just across the river in Cilgerran is the home of 'Herrington Light Industries' which we are all very familiar with.

There is a well known narrow gauge loco on the Talyllyn Railway called 'Dolgoch' :

Why buy an 009 model or kit when you are the proprietor of HLI ?

Here we go...

And a three-quarter view:

Still work in progress, with a bit more fettling and a trip to the paint shop.

Of course, if you don't have colins skills, a Dolgoch look-alike will only cost you £99.00 !


More pictures when Colin has completed the build.




Staying in Cilgerran, our Chairman (I should say 'chairperson' but I'm politically incorrect...) has been busy restoring a 1950 80" Series I Land Rover. First registered in Cardigan, still has the original number plate, and at one time Emyr owned the Landy for a couple of years.
A year or two ago the opportunity cropped up for him to buy it once again, but in a very sad state, so with no further ado, he set about bringing it back to its original glory.

The renovation is almost complete, and Emyr has sent me a whole bunch of 'before and after' photographs - too many for this post to do them justice, so I'll do a Chuffer special in a day or two devoted to Emyr's '80'


As ever, stay well.

Cherrio.
Shaun.

Good evening everyone, welcome to the third blog of June - and a distant light at the end of the lock-down tunnel. Here in Wales things aren't quite as liberated as England, but that could be all to the good.
Nothing of import on the Cardi-Bach front, I guess we'll have a meeting some time in August, all being well.


On to the Chuffering blog... Quite a busy one this week, with contributions not only from Pat, but from Mike up in Llanduesant, Peter in Login, and a bit of progress from HQ in Llechryd.


First of all though, a short 'birdie' video for Mary.
This time it's Woody, who comes frequently to the feeder outside my kitchen window, and now seems to accept my being the other side of the glass. The blue tits tolerate him, but all the same are a little bit wary.

Here he is:

Up in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons Mike has been busy rebuilding some 3mm coaches.
These are old Kitmaster kits of BR 'blood and custard' stock. Part of a four-car consist, Mike has so far fettled three of them, with new windows, bogies, some interior detail, and a repaint.
Herewith we have a picture or two...

No doubt one or two of us may well remember traveling in those as a matter of course.

Hopefully, we will soon be able to visit Mike once again and help him with the big 3mm layout that he has - (actually two - I forgot about the original one that came from North Wales)

Meanwhile I called round to Chessboard House for coffee and scones this morning, and Pat showed me his last week's efforts. Tremendous!

A coaling staithe and other bits and bobs have been added to one of the sidings:

While at the other end a yard crane and loading platform have made an appearance:

In the Hotel grounds, the annual classic car show is in full swing, with overflow vehicles having to park in the station yard.
The AA man is in attendance in the recruiting trailer, with his motorcycle combination parked in the opposite corner

 The village hall, opposite the station was open for the event, to provide extra catering and 'offices'.
The local ice cream van doing a roaring trade on the right.

Despite all the activity going on, the local window cleaner paid no attention, and carried on with his allotted task....


 

Just a few miles to the South of Cilgerran is Login, where the Cardi-Bach Society has our museum, on the grounds of Login Station - which is the home of Peter and Dawn, and where, in happier times they run their excellent tea shop. Sadly they have been thwarted by the lock-down, but it at least gives Pete a chance to work on his interpretation of the L & B railway.



It looks as if winter has come early to Woody Bay!

Peter has started to form the landscape prior to scenicing (odd word - my 'Grammarly' spell checker doesn't like it at all) he is recycling polystyrene packaging and a thick adhesive for PVC which is also a bit like filler.

  

 

I don't envy him the job of texturing/grassing/painting all of that. It's quite an undertaking.



To finish this weeks blog we pop into the garage at Tynant.
On the Llechryd extension all the track has been ballasted, and a station built out of card and paper:

Internal lights together with platform lanterns have been fitted. Just plonked in place to see how it looks.
To check electrical continuity after ballasting and cleaning, I ran a couple of our locos
(here is a picture of the stock box - they all need names really)

I digress... A short video of a local passenger train from Cilgerran through to Llechryd and back:

Followed by a short goods going into the Tinplate siding:

Thats all for this week - hope it was of some interest. I was going to post some pics of Chairman Emyrs Land Rover rebuild, but I shall save that for next week.

Cheerio for now,

Shaun.