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.