Good evening to our blog fans (if we have any still bothering after these long gaps between posts!)

I do apologize, but not a lot has happened on the modelling front, especially after losing our railway room here in Pentrecagal. Maybe things will look up in the new year.

Aside from that, the Cardi-Bach Society held their annual Christmas dinner at Y Bont last Tuesday. Fourteen of us sat down to a traditional Christmas fare provided by Ami and her staff.

Excellent food, excellent staff, and excellent company. I didn't take obvious photo's but managed to grab a couple with 'phone when no one was looking (except Rob...!)

And one from the other side of the room...

Back to Chuffering, a couple of weeks ago, we had a day trip up to Mikes farm in the hills above Llangadog to assist with preparing Mike's big 3mm layout. This has been dormant for several years due to essential work needing doing to the barn - as well as remedial work needed on the house, and that covid business interfering with everything.

However, between tea and cake breaks, as well as a delicious lunch, we did manage a little bit of layout work!

Here are the Gandy Dancers sorting out one of the finer points...

 

 

Since then, various Chuffers have been busy on miscellaneous modelling.

Pat produced this fine model of  an MG,a plastic kit that had been moldering away in a cupboard since the late eighties.

Not to be out-done, Colin came up with this little flat bed slate wagon for the Teifi Gorge stock...

I came up with this paper and card model of a GWR engine shed for Derrick Howells layout:

And down in the Taf Valley, tucked away in Login Station House, Chuffer Pete has produced a veritable plethora of models - scratch built from plastic and card, the Station Masters house for his Lynton layout:

Also scratch built, the steps and platform for access to the Lynton coal loading facility:

Built from brass etches, and yet to be painted, a selection of platform accessories:

(not the pound coin, thats real)

And finally two period motor lorries, built in white metal and plastic, and beautifully painted:

And there we leave it for this year - not a lot happened on the exhibition front - lets hope the New Year sees us out and about more.

Hwyl Fawr,

Shaun.

Good evening blog-watchers... hasn't been much to watch, has there. Missed September altogether, and now October's damn near gone as well. I can't come up with a reason for the lack of Chuffering - I guess too much other stuff going on.

I have had to relinquish the spare bedroom as a layout room, due to it going back to being a full-time bedroom. Consequently Teifi Gorge had to be packed up and stored in the garage, and the 7mm NG layout now resides in the loft above Emyr's garage.

No exhibitions since Pat's Bala do, though we did have a Cardi-Bach film and slide show at Theatr Mwldan, where we put on a layout demo with Cardigan layout and Kilgerran, together with a photo montage and a collection of artifacts.

Very well attended, with 170 attending the film show.

Emyr presenting:

To an appreciative audience:

The set-up in the foyer before the show:

Back to Chuffering - I returned to my first love - constructing buildings. This time for Derrick Howells layout up in Beulah:

Patrick meanwhile has been really progressing with his Glyn Valley style tram loco.

It now has all the ancillary pipework, together with a coat of paint and rather smart coach-lining, done with an old fashioned bow pen.

He has also scratch built a 7mm NG cattle wagon from plasticard and coffee stirrers:

And to prove that it's scratch built, here is the second one he is making, showing the various component parts:

 

 

 

A close up of the working hinges, made from brass wire and tiny pieces of insulation plastic from electrical wire.

The evening was spent at Colin's, and after a fine repast of pork pies, salad, cheese rolls, olives and crisps, we settled down to watch some Youtube - one in particular was of an Irish/Welsh character making a 'flash boiler'. "I made one of those" said Colin... Off he trots, and comes back with this:

Aluminium, with an asbestos lining (spare boiler tubes by the side of it)

Below is the gas jet system for heating:

And turning the whole thing over shows the boiler tubes inside:

All of this Colin made from raw materials, forming the boiler tubes around a broom stick, and using the needle from hypodermic syringes for the gas jets.

The resulting steam is used to power a steam turbine...

Next time we meet at Colin's he is going to power it up!!

Hwyl fawr,

Shaun.

'Evening all... Monday August 22nd already. Chuffers tomorrow at Pat's, so I thought I'd get this post out of the way.

Two Chuffer meetings have come and gone, as well as the Walk'n'Talk through Cilgerran last week.

That proved very successful - I don't know what the final count was, but I believe it was well over 20 walkers. Colin joined them, whilst Pat and I set up the Kilgerran Layout in the Village Hall.

Everyone returned tired, thirsty and hungry - and my word did the catering ladies look after them! a teapot that never ran dry, and more cakes than even Pat could tackle. The ladies were ably assisted by some of the younger generation, and it was a real pleasure to see such polite and helpful youngsters (though as I'm approaching eighty, perhaps they weren't as young as I imagined!)

 

Films of the Cardi-Bach were shown during tea, and the layout performed faultlessly, despite it's age.

No pictures of the hall, but we do have one courtesy of Michael Hine of the walkers posing in the grounds of MicroPharm before trekking through the undergrowth to the permanent way hut remains.

 

 

 

Back with the ChufferDuffers, we haven't really done a great deal, the mini heatwave that we experienced slowed things down somewhat!

At Pat's he showed us his latest acquisition - the very latest version of Stephenson Rocket and train. An exquisite model, ready for DCC (which us dinosaurs still well clear of...)

 

Herewith a still picture, with the train on Pat's 'Heritage' layout:

 

 

 

I have a short video clip of it running, which I'll tack on to the end of this post. For some reason they take an age to transfer, so I like to finish off with them - I can walk away and let it get on with it.

We were treated to a jug of iced pink gin before settling down to railway videos and grilled chicken joints with stir-fried vegetables and rice, washed down with some liquid from France made from grapes.

Following week we were here at Pentrecagal.

Up into the spare bedroom-stroke-railway room to check over the two layouts, Teifi Gorge and the un-named 7mm narrow gauge.

Despite the heat of the last couple of weeks, they had suffered no effects at all, and both ran remarkably well from the off, requiring very little track cleaning. Loco's needed a bit of wheel cleaning and TLC, but overall we are quite pleased.

Back downstairs I showed Colin and Pat my first tomato from the greenhouse, which was cause for some ribald hilarity:

Pat has been messing about with a very old white-metal 7mm tram loco body, as we had discovered a 00 gauge loco amongst some of my stuff - it needed Colins attention to get it operable, and we decided it would be a good donor chassis for the body that Pat is fettling.

Here we have it:

We finished the evening with a Chicken Korma and Cobra lager (for authenticity, you understand) and for a change watch some Youtube videos on guided tours of obscenely priced 'super' yachts. Prices being in the millions, rather than thousands. How the rich spend their money...

Here is that video clip:

Thats it for now - more in a few days time (perhaps...)

Nos da,

Shaun.

Hello! A warm welcome to the first Chuffers of August.

 

We met here at Pentrecagal last night, and actually knuckled down and did a bit of railway modelling - or to be exact, brushing up on previous modelling. Kilgerran Layout has been brought out of hibernation, and in readiness for a public showing on August 15th in Cilgerran hall, we thought we ought to see if it still worked after being laid-up for the best part of four years!

 

Getting ahead of myself here.

First of all was a 'show-and-tell'. Colin has made a tipper wagon in 009 gauge (it doesn't tip. Colin disappointing us) This is the brake side:

and if we turn it around, the tipping side:

Working or not, it is still a work of art, you have to agree.

Patrick meanwhile has been beavering away at making an 0 gauge cattle wagon from scratch (and coffee stirrers) We may have shown parts of this previously, but Pat has cunningly made an operating access ramp, making the hinges from the insulating sleeve of electrical wire, and a strand of wire.

Not good images, but I think they illustrate things:

Back to kilgerran layout. The track and scenery required a lot of cleaning - several spiders had taken up residency, and quite a bit of dust around. Gentle vacuuming and an overall airbrushing with matt varnish brought things back to life, plus refreshing the meadows with static grass.

Tracks thoroughly cleaned, loco's given a quick once over, and everything worked... after a fashion...

A faulty transformer, and a couple of dry soldered joints were put right, and things are on track (!) for the Show.

At Cilgerran Hall! - 

Where we first exhibited as the ChufferDuffers back in 2012 (Pat and Colin had shown Cardigan as a work-in-progress at Aberaron the previous year) This was the Cilgerran Show:

It was marking the 50th Anniversary of the closure of the Cardi-Bach, and we had Cardigan layout connected to Kilgerran. (Rowan Atkinson can be seen peering around in the centre)

 

We went on to show various layouts at 30 exhibitions over the next eight years (missing two due to Covid). Mostly it has been the three of us when possible, and checking my records, Pat has been in attendance at every one! Thanks must go to his wife Mary, as she filled the gap at least three times if not more.

'Teifi Gorge' has been the layout exhibited the most, closely followed by 'Maes Y Gof'. 

We've made a total of 9 layouts over the years, (actually make that ten, as there is one more layout yet to be finished, once more an 7mm NG layout) 

They are all still extant, except for 'Dyffryn Y Tyllau' an 009 rabbit warren which was last seen in pieces at Hermon tip!

Here it is before the axe fell. A nightime scene, instead of the usual pale blue and cloudy sky...

And there you have it - a potted history of the Chuffers last ten years...

Just to finish, a quick video of us testing out the Kilgerran layout last night, before settling down for some well earned quaffing, plus a chicken jalfresi...

I guess that's it for this one.

Hope to give you a report on the outcome of the 15th C-B walk and talk, plus the showing of the layout.

Cheerio,

Shaun.

 Good evening everyone - just made it for a July edition of the Duffers.

Have to say, we haven't done a great deal in the last few weeks, what with the weather and other things going on. We have been meeting though, but it has been mainly social - drop of wine, bit of food, and watching various things on Youtube. 

Very good report from Paul Lewin, the Ffestiniog General Manager, on the state of play regarding the Ffestiniog operations. Very honest and upfront about all aspects.

We have done a little bit regarding model railways. With the Cilgerran Festival week coming up in August, Cardi-Bach Society Chairman (he is a man not a person - to hell with political correctness) Emyr will be leading a 'walk and talk' about the C-B from the entrance to the Wildlife Centre through the village and along part of the old line where the station used to be. Culminating in tea and cakes in the village hall. It is intended to have the model of Kilgerran layout operating for the event, so we now have it in the garage at Pentrecagal for a clean-up and to check operation. Here it is:

The track is taped over while the scenery is cleaned and refreshed.

It will also be on display in Theatr Mwldan on October 8th, when we have a Cardi-Bach film show and exhibition!

Pat has done a little bit of fettling with his 0 gauge Lister engine:

and he also tidied up the self propelled slate wagon:

I don't know if we showed this running, but there is a small motor cunningly hidden under that cargo of slate. This can be seen running at the Bala Exhibition at the end of September, when Pat will be showing his 'Gorsaf Maes Y Gof' layout.

Staying with small motors, remember us showing you this one that Colin acquired?

It was given a body:

Taken into the paint shop, and then given a driver:

And finally had it's test run on the practice circle!

Thats about it for now - hopefully have a bit more to report in the coming month.

Hwyl fawr,

Shaun.

 I have to offer apologies to all the fans of ChufferDuffers for the paucity of blog postings over the past few weeks - It's been due mainly to nothing much happening! (apart from a bit of fuss over a dear old lady in a sparkly hat and her dysfunctional family)

We have had meetings, but not much modelling. A lot of good eating, and copious quaffing of red wine, but not a lot of attention paid to railways, except for watching DVDs and Youtube...

Anyway, back to the here and now. Patrick and Mary are off to Burton-on-Trent on Friday to the 0 Gauge exhibition, where on Saturday they will be showing Pats 7mm layout, ' Gorsaf Maes Y Gof ', which we have featured here on Chuffers, and has been successfully shown at several venues over the years. We wish them a safe journey, and a good time at the Expo.

The Cardi-Bach Society are meeting at a members farm on the 14th, where Derrick has a large layout in a barn, and also a 20 foot 0 gauge layout of the old Aberaeron station. Hopefully pictures of that in the next posting.

Last Night Chuffers met at Colin's, and this posting is unashamedly devoted to Col's work, which we all know and admire.

To kick off, he has made a guards van, ostensibly to feature on the Teifi Gorge. Here it is in it's raw state:

 

 

This is barely an inch high, and yet he managed to glaze the ducket...

Then it was off to the paint shop - 

 

 

Last night Colin had his test loop set up, together with a selection of his scratch built 009 locomotives:

 

 

In particular, notice the white plastic rectangle over on the left.

Here is a close up:

It is a very tiny motor and chassis, which can be made up as a loco using the kit pictured below. Whether Colin will get the kit, or make his own version is yet to be decided.

Here is a short clip showing the motor going around the test track:

Quite impressive for it's size!

Also on show-and-tell was this N gauge platform newsagents kiosk, laser cut, and already stained.

Finishing this post with a picture of Colin's take on the famous 'Dolgoch' locomotive that epitomizes the well known Talyllyn  narrow gauge railway.

Cherrio,

Shaun.