Like the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway, some thirty miles to the south, the Ganllwyd Tram was but a brief spark flung out of the white hot furnace of late Victorian industry and commerce. Looking at what little remains of the Ganllwyd Tramway today the casual observer could be forgiven for doubting that it ever existed.

Monday 7 February 2011

Stocking up

Well after some time in the doldrums the Ganllwyd Tram is gathering some momentum. I've no doubt that it's mainly due to a possible début at this years Corris Model Railway Show (August bank holiday weekend), though I've also seen a rather natty photo of the Meridian Models 'Lancaster' coach in a fetching livery which I don't half fancy. Another prod in the right direction came from the acquisition of a Stenning kit of the Corris brake van. It's the van that's been the focus of this afternoons work. I decided that I wanted to model the van with the door open, so the first job was to cut out the door from the side with my piercing saw and tidy up the hole left.


Though the kit comes with a spare side, I chose to make a new door from scratch; one cut from the spare side would require a great deal of thinning down. I used a combination of scribed 20thou and microstrip for the new door.

Fitting the door to the side gave a pleasing impression of how the final van might look. I backed the portion of the door that overlapped its opening with a section of 40thou plasticard.





Not many more minutes work has brought me to the stage you see here, with the basic body complete. I have ideas for the interior, but that's for another day.