Pwll Dylluan Railway (owlpool)
The PDR started as a circle of track a Feldbhan loco and some rolling stockfor my son when he was 5 - he's now 19
We moved outdoors about 10yrs ago and built an oval main line, through a shed with sidings, and featuring a canal accessed by a headshunt, a tunnel, a causeway and bridge with a station and a coal mine
We went "live steam" about 5-6 yrs ago with a Katie, and now have a Russell and a Caradoc
This necessitated a shed avoidance line to make the minimum radius R3
Last Year we started a major project - a highland extension taking off from the higher part of the main line and ascending the field via horseshoe bends and a spiral - 60mtrs of track later we have gained our objective, the rockery - 1.5 mtrs vertical gain
This year we have a lot of hard landscaping to do and more digging and tracklaying to have a run around loop around the rockery, and a mine on the said rockery. Plans are afoot for a water feature and a mountain, and improving the rudimentary intermediate and upper stations.
Intermediate station with horseshoe bend behind
cutting on one of the bends
the original oval seen from steam-up siding level
- - --- - -
Katie and coaches in headshunt siding to canal:
another view of the main line, in snow
I confess to this being a favourite
A trip up the highland extension
A run yesterday in the cold to test Buzzard [Katie] after a repair - replacement crank pin from Roundhouse - one fell out a week or so ago.
1. from the miners' halt near the junction with the main line, looking up at the bends
2. between the horseshoes
3. at the intermediate halt / passing loop
4. entering the spiral
5. on the spiral
6. at the top station - currently a run-around loop, this will be replaced/extended by a return loop around the rockery when the weather improves. We expect to uncover a mine on the rockery
points -
a. I need a better camera
b. would this be better in a separate thread ? landscaping / tracklaying?
-- 15/2 - replaced some of the earlier photos with better ones
overall view
coming out of the cutting
I need to get on with the stone lining before the grass starts to grow
silhouette
the junction, mine and different track levels
Track power yesterday
steam and snow still favourite though
a [very] schematic trackplan
out on the line 9/4/10
Russell in new livery, with new slate/rock/conifer landscape
mole trouble
running yesterday
Buzzard [katie] goods train
Russell in the lined cutting, slate waste infill
both trains meet at the busy, refurbished and landscaped top station
looking up the hill at the inclines and 2 new station buildings
Running at the weekend, 5/6/10, Russell with W&L style timber train
would look better with logs though
quite a few modifications with recycled slate on cuttings, embankments, and as in-fill
Improved log train (see p40 in Cartwright's W&L book) - the bolsters worked well on the bends
would be better with brown rubber bands
I've got some chain somewhere to link the unhitched wagons
low leve photo by my son - he takes the best ones
links:
link to GSC article