W51132 in lined green leads W50852 in blue livery as they depart Llanbradach on Thursday the 13th. April 1967 with a Penarth to Rhymney service. Note the Permanent Way Department’s clerestory coach in the background.One of Robert Masterman’s evocati… — W51132 in lined green leads W50852 in blue livery as they depart Llanbradach on Thursday the 13th. April 1967 with a Penarth to Rhymney service. Note the Permanent Way Department’s clerestory coach in the background.
**One of Robert Masterman’s evocative colour photographs from 53 years ago, and used with thanks.**

Comment

Each month, because of the lock-down, it gets just a little more difficult to provide items of interest for the newsletter. For once though, I’m really happy to be able to include a lot of members’ contributions in the monthly edition. Some of these, because of their length, will be found in full on the club’s website in the Blog section: an electronic link will take you there. Others, because they are simply photographs of modelling undertaken during the lockdown, will be included in here. Keep sending in your contribution though, it helps to make the newsletter more varied and is a good opportunity to display what you’ve been up to whilst the club has been closed.

And on that point, a brief update on progress towards reopening the club. Discussions have taken place with the overall management of The Gordon Moore Centre with the aim of allowing a limited reopening of SRMG. We had hoped to be able to offer members access on a strictly controlled basis over several days a week with maximum numbers attending carefully monitored. Unfortunately however, we were advised that this would not be possible for the time being. After taking into account Welsh Government guidance, the overall plan for the Centre is to determine when as near-a-return to normal would be possible and then to arrange for the entire building to be deep-cleaned before any activities recommence.

This is disappointing for all I know, but we have to accept that within our membership, and certainly within the wider user group of the Centre, there are a number of extremely vulnerable individuals whose safety and health must be a paramount concern. So, for the time being I’m afraid, we cannot return. I do visit once a month however, to check on our premises, and can report that nothing is amiss.

Continuing closure will quite naturally raise the issue of monthly subscriptions and it is perfectly reasonable to ask what is the club going to do about this. I would stress again that when the club does reopen, any who wish their subscriptions paid for the period of closure to be refunded have only to ask: it is guaranteed that they will be repaid without quibble. It would help greatly however if those still paying their subs could continue to do so as reinstating what could be many dozens of standing orders could become a considerable administrative burden. The guarantee of repayment on request will always be there, so you have that as an absolute safeguard. If, however, you wish to stop paying until we reopen then obviously you are absolutely free to do so. To assist in monitoring our subs however, if you wish to cancel your orders for the time being, could you let the Treasurer [Ted Hylton] know? That way, he will know that it is not a bank-generated error.

Many, many thanks for your patience!

Tickets please…..

It has been awhile since I have included this topic in the newsletter but it’s back again and this month sees a bit of South Wales’ Wartime history: a Workman’s 3rd. Class weekly season ticket for travel between Pontypridd and Tremains Platform. The ticket was issued on the 29th. August 1943.

Tremains Platform served the huge Royal Ordnance Factory at Tremains in Brigend. Known officially as Filling Factory No2, it was possibly the largest ordnance factory in the UK and, during its peak, it employed a staggering 40,000 people. It had over 24 miles of internal railway and Tremains Platform, a large purpose-built station, was erected by the GWR to assist with the transport of employees. It is highly likely that the original holder of this ticket worked there for the War effort.

The site of the factory is now an industrial estate and also home to South Wales Police HQ. The station was closed in 1965.

Ready-to-Run in the ‘50s – Part Three

This month features a truly extraordinary offering from Ever Ready, the battery and torch manufacturers and, at the time of writing, there is a complete set of this train on eBay, for a price north of £200.

This set, Ever Ready’s only foray into the world of OO model trains, was produced in 1950. The models, pressed out of war-surplus aluminium sheet, were loosely based on the Bakerloo line stock of the time. Today, sadly, the motor bogies and the motors themselves have largely succumbed to zinc pest and collectors usually replace them with Triang or other motor bogies.

But why did Ever Ready make them in the first place? It is probable that, as manufacturers of batteries, they sought to provide products other than torches into which customers could use their product. I have read however that much later, in the 1970s, Ever Ready denied all knowledge of this model until they were presented with an example!

Whatever the case, these underground units have a certain naïve charm and are highly collectable today. Have you one in your loft?

What have you been doing?

Some photos of members’ modelling over the last 12 weeks or so…..

Definitely not railway-related are Simon Durrer’s radio-controlled large-scale Land Rovers

He’s actually built [at least] two, and all sorts of other nonsense. Here’s the second, and a shot of a T Gauge railway that he’s building, as well……

Ian Stevenson has been busy with various N Gauge projects, here a kit-bashed and partially scratch-built water tower, a coal dray [in brass], a signal cabin and a small diorama…..

Next, a contribution from David McDowell, a collector of our limited-edition private owner coal wagons.

This viaduct shot is from his home layout, Grassington Town, a ‘what might have been’ theme based firmly in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Sentinel Y1 is pulling an articulated pair of LNER suburban coaches.

In the Members’ Projects section of the website are some photos and a description of Niel Clements’ railway build, Bow Junction. I have to say that your build is admirably neat Niel. Opposite, a taster in the shape of the control board. I’ll ignore the fact that it’s the Late and Never Early Railway……

Link : Bow Creek Junction

Finally, something which I knocked up out of an old Triang Trestrol, parts of a broken Oxford Rail rail gun and a static Oxford Diecast Isle of Man tank engine. It never existed of course, but something like it probably did!

In due course, the railway-related models above will be archived in the appropriate section of our website. If I have omitted to mention any other contributions [I may have], many apologies but do please let me know for inclusion next month.

Next, something which would have greatly interested our late member, John Rogers

I recently came across an album of sensational and historic photographs of the narrow gauge Cavan and Leitrim section of the Irish railways, Coras Iompar Eireann. The CIE was just 10 years old when these photos were taken, but these hugely atmospheric images might well have been captured 50 or more years earlier. The photographer was John Wiltshire and in September 1955, he and a friend set of from south Wales on a holiday to record the railways of Ireland. I am able to reproduce them here with great thanks to and the kind permission of Peter Fortune and the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society [south Wales branch].

Ballinamore Shed and Workshops, with Classes 3T, 4L, 3L and 5T at rest. 15th. Sept. 1955

On the same day, a Class 2L mixed train is seen at Arigna. The station closed in 1959

The Club website

There is a new project to view on the website. As well the articles by Messrs. Clements and Stevenson [links above and below], there is a build blog showing how to update the venerable Triang Maunsell L1 Class 4-4-0. The donor model for this project was last produced in 1970 but is one of Triang’s better offerings and, as no-one else has produced an r-t-r L1 since that time, it is worth upgrading. The article shows how this can be achieved easily.

The completed model is shown below.

Link : 50 years on: updating the Triang Maunsell L1 Class loco.

Also, on the website, in the Blog section, is a profusely illustrated article by Ian Stevenson, on modelling and weathering stock. Next month we’ll feature an article by Mike Sarsfield, on options for modelling the Gwili Railway.

Link : Going Loco in Lockdown

The 2020 wagon commission

A reminder from Noel Blows that stock in all three gauges remain available. Any who wish to purchase some should contact Noel on 01792 368768 / 07775 895054 for all details. Wagons can be collected from Noel’s home in Newton or purchased by post for those who do not wish to travel just yet.

Finally, some railwayana

Gwion Davies acquired this item recently. It is a shunter’s lamp dating from the 1980s and belonged to someone who worked for 34 years on the railways in and around Swansea Docks. It is in working order.