Since I started running the layout on a frequent basis (as opposed to now & again / hardy ever) a year ago I've always had a floodlight and a camera (my little Canon Ixus 750) on standby. This means that I'm capturing photos of the layout under normal operating conditions, sometimes recording ordinary run-of-the-mill everyday trains and events and sometimes special workings. This means that the railway is being recorded under much the same conditions as a prototype railway would be. Apart from pausing operations for the duration of the photo, nothing is specially posed or arranged. I'm going to post some of the photos here, starting with this view from the running session last night of a pair of NWNGR locos at Mynydd-yn-Bwlch. 'Russell' has just arrived from Tawell-Llety with the down passenger. 'Snowdon Ranger' arrived earlier from Rhyffedd Coed, did some shunting, waited for the down train and is now in the process of setting back out of the loop in order to continue on the journey to Tawel-Llety where, among other things, she will collect three empty coal wagons.
Looks great Tigger, what chassis on the loco,s. they are fine looking machines? Love the rocks too. Mike
I'm not sure you'll welcome this intervention Tigger since we have discussed your use of the Welsh language before but there comes a point where your use of it makes no sense whatsoever. In your most recent posting, you refer to Mynydd yn Bwlch. This translates as Mountain in a Pass. I know that it is your layout and that you're free to call it whatever you wish but you have also, through this forum and your website, made your layout and its 'Welsh' language names a matter of public knowledge and I cannot let this disregard for the Welsh language pass any longer without comment. If these are the words you wish to use, then clearly Bwlch-y-Mynydd (The Pass in the Mountain) is the name that makes sense. It is a name that is quite common around Wales and therefore would resonate as being authentic. I simply fail to understand why you feel at liberty to publicly misuse the Welsh language in this cavalier fashion. Do you believe that it is not entitled to any respect because it is not your language?
Perghaps it is the joys of Google Translate?
Mynydd yn Bwlch = "Mountain Gap"
Bwlch-y-Mynydd = "Gap-the-Mountain" !?
"I simply fail to understand why you feel at liberty to publicly misuse the Welsh language in this cavalier fashion. Do you believe that it is not entitled to any respect because it is not your language?"
Rhobat, I sincerely hope your posting concerning the Welsh language was intended to be humorous. If that was indeed the case, a few smilies would have helped.
If you are being serious I must ask you if it is your intention to self appoint yourself as 'Welsh language brain police' on this board. This issue could have been better served by a PM.
The answer of course is a total ban on non Welsh speakers from modelling Welsh railways. Oh yes, I forgot, then we would not have the Taly Llyn or Festiniog running today.
On the other hand, if this was humour, it was bloody funny! ;D
We are off for a visit to Dolgelly tomorrow BTW. :)
As evidence for the defence, I present:
http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=dylanthomasandthemapofllar (http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=dylanthomasandthemapofllar) ;D
A fairly common name of the "Dunroamin" variety round here is Niaroo, Nia Roo or Nia-roo. Now work that one out!
Sorry folks you lost me there, I was looking at a picture of locomotives and something happened. now I have no idea what anybody is talking about ???
Ah; its in Welsh boyo.
"Sorry folks you lost me there, I was looking at a picture of locomotives and something happened. now I have no idea what anybody is talking about "
It is all about the technology of reading all the posts in the thread from the last time you visited.
Mike, many thanks for your kind compliments. The locos are Chivers kits and sit on bog-standard Arnold (S-R) and Minitrix (Russell) Chassis. This, of course, means that the motion is wrong and in the case of Russell, the frames are in the wrong place! The spirit is there and the great thing with the old Chivers kits is that they were basic. It was an easy job to drop them on a chassis and then spend hours on the enjoyable 'fiddly bits' (and in the case of Russell that also meant putting the maker's plate on the Westinghouse pump!). The rocks are good old cork bark with an earth-mix to fill in the gaps. The mix was painted with a mix of Humbrol colours to approximate the cork.
Jeez Tigger, I for one wouldn't know there was a question over authenticity, they look great and the motion appears to set them off a treat to my eye. You have a great eye for detail and achieve a high standard of representation, congratulations. I have to say, I find the 009 membership posess some great modeling skills.
Mike
Deja vu! I've just been reading about the slate wall seen in the photo in the latest 009 Society News. It is most effective, though the web photo (or perhaps my monitor) does not show up the texture half so well as the photo in the 'News.
Edit: I've just noticed the two step stones below the gap in the cap stones that make up the style as described in the article too.
Seems you need to rename the station Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddoll
Quote from: GraemeD on February 18, 2012, 03:53
Perhaps it is the joys of Google Translate?
Mynydd yn Bwlch = "Mountain Gap"
Bwlch-y-Mynydd = "Gap-the-Mountain" !?
Quote from: pilotfriend on February 18, 2012, 08:34
If you are being serious I must ask you if it is your intention to self appoint yourself as 'Welsh language brain police' on this board. This issue could have been better served by a PM.
No I wasn't being humorous and have no intention of appointing myself to anything. But I don't think respect for another language is a difficult concept to understand and ensuring that the language is used properly is a sign of that respect. There are plenty of layouts built by non-Welsh speakers that do just that. Given that Tigger has taken such care in the construction of his railway (I never cease to be amazed by the scale of Cefn Glas and the images it creates of the train set against the landscape) why not simply extend that level of care to the invention of Welsh place-names? However if we are seeing a new fashion in the way that railway stations names are devised, perhaps we can look forward to layouts called Pool of Livers, Ton of Hams by South and Tree of the Coven.
Quote from: pilotfriend on February 19, 2012, 11:37
Seems you need to rename the station Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddoll
Then Rhobat, your post was not bloody funny but bloody laughable.
Tigger's attempt at Welsh may well have been erroneous but he tried.
Respect for a language starts at home. Welshification Brain Police is not the way, particularly the way you worded it. If you really think that it was done 'out of lack of respect' you live in another world. That is why a polite PM would have been appropriate.
The day the Welsh can agree to one common language from North to South is when IMO it becomes credible. It would help too that the English did not have to pay taxes to support Wales. Portmadoc council refused to go to the opening of their bypass. Why? Because someone forgot to send an invitation in Welsh. Who do you think pays for bi-lingual road signs, sending all government literature in Welsh and English? Certainly not Welsh taxpayers.
Enough Said. On another note:
I hated the DVD by BRM which was of terrible filming quality. We have far better ones and BRM has now included one of ours on their website. They were embarrassed too.
JdF
Thank you for clarifying things Rhobat but before we return please allow me to exercise my 'Right of Reply'.
When, as a 14-year-old with a very basic understanding and enjoyment of the Welsh language but no idea of its nuances or syntax, I found descriptive words that, at the time, seemed appropriate for the railway that was to become a life's work. I shan't go into the details here of how I constructed the names using the very basic Welsh-English dictionary I'd picked up in Blaenau.
As the years passed I slowly realised that the names were not constructed correctly and I started to make plans of how to retain the spirit and meaning but to alter them to something better. By then however, the layout was becoming known and to change its identity didn't feel right so for good or bad I stuck with them. Trust me; it has bugged me ever since which is why some of the later additions of places (Tyddyn-Glas for example) have been pinched off maps of an appropriate mid/west Wales area.
I was given a bit of a lift last year when I was contacted by a Chris Lewis, another native Welsh speaker who'd seen my website and was intrigued by the place-names. On apologising to him for bastardising the Welsh language he actually offered me some plausible reasoning behind the constructions I had chosen. Rhobat, I do have a respect for the Welsh language and if I'd been looking for names in more recent years I'd have chosen well. I have four books on my bookshelf to try and ensure I don't make the same mistakes again; although I am now rusty, at one time I could hold a (very) basic conversation in Welsh. Years ago I even copied the phrase 'Nadolig Llawen A Blwyddyn Newydd Dda' off a WHR card so I could use it on Christmas cards to Welsh speakers. Unlike many of my fellow Englishmen I actually make the effort to pronounce things correctly, whether they be place-names in Wales, Scotland or the Isle of Man, or when I'm trying to hold a (again, basic) conversation in France.
I could go on but that's more than enough. I do hope I've set out my stall properly.
I started to become active in the Forum because I wanted to inform, inspire and perhaps assist my fellow 009 modellers. This was a direct result from my rejuvenated interest in 009 modelling after a long time out and is indeed a far, far cry from four years ago when I had become so despondent with it all that I very nearly scrapped the entire railway and left the Society to pursue my other passionate interests of horology and 7
Good man yourself Tigger, very eliquant.
One of the pitfalls of using a language which is not one's own is that despite one's best efforts not to cause offence offence is taken. As a non-Welsh speaking native - ok I can probably pronounce written Welsh with a passable Vale of Gamorgan / Cardiff accent but not have a clear idea of what I'm saying - it is good to see someone at least make an effort, unlike an aquaintance of mine who was adamant that the castle just north of Cardiff was "Castle Coach" despite being told by myself and my (English) wife how Castell Coch should be pronounced.
Whilst place names and prononciation are one thing grammar is something else and is only ever really mastered by those who are native speakers, have spoken a language well for some time or those very lucky few who just have a talent for such things. Unfortunately I am none of these so have to settle for the occasional 'fix' of my native language being spoken wherever I can get it...
Quote from: Tigger on February 19, 2012, 17:02
I would like to think that folks would be pleased should I continue to post photos of the L&TR on this thread.
Hear here (both of which rhyme with pier*) David!
*English is just too wyrd for words!
Quote from: JulienW on February 20, 2012, 11:22
Hear here (both of which rhyme with pier*) David!
I guess that would make me a fairly short pier then...
Thanks Julien and for continuity, here's a photo from last night. The extra goods vehicles are now making their presence felt because the trains are now consistently longer and here Russell has had to collect a couple from the siding at Rhyffedd Coed and spot them in the platform road for convenience before returning to shunt a couple of vans into the siding. At the tail end of the train are the three new (and now empty) loco coal wagons making their way back to Llanmynach from the loco shed at Tawel-llety.
Incidentally, as I mentioned earlier, these are not specially posed photos - which is why the lamps are on the wrong ends of both the loco and the brake van. It's just TOO fiddly to swap the lamps around in normal operations but they'll always appear correctly in posed photos.
Also Mike, a combination of canny lighting and camera angle and you can't actually tell it's an inside-framed model of an outside-framed loco!!
I have to say that I am finding this whole business extremely irritating.
BRM have had a continuing thread in readers letters telling us we should not model graffiti as they are illegal. We now have a 'wounded Welshman' because an English modeller tried, best effort, to write in Welsh 38 years ago. This is political correctness gone mad! To think that Tigger felt it necessary to apologise to Rhobat is absurd. My answer would have been "Rhobat, pull up your big girl panties and get used to language mangling", but then again, I am not known for politeness. At least Tigger tried.
English is constantly being mangled by people who have moved here and no one expects apologies. The native English in any case are scrupulously fair when it comes to foreign langauges as they mangle every one of them as do the French, in point of fact!
Rhobat should be proud that an Englishman chose to model a Welsh railway. He could easily have chosen an English one.
Political correctness ranks higher than the law of the land these days, it would seem. This even applies to the now FF in Festiniog Railway even though it is incorporated by Act of Parliament as the Festiniog Railway.
Tigger. I am shocked and disgusted that the model people on your railway do not reflect the varied diaspora of our multi cultural society. Shame on you! ;D
Let us just get back to the original intention of the thread which, if I recall rightly was to be a series of photos of a layout which is not on the exhibition circuit and can only be shared if the owner wishes to do so by internet and magazines.
Damn, Russell was pig ugly cut down!
Can I please ask members to stick to the topic of the board. I would suggest that if anyone has any issues to do with foreign language names, they take it up with the original poster by means of a Personal Message.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Alan
Membership Secretary
Quote from: pilotfriend on February 20, 2012, 12:33
"...Let us just get back to the original intention of the thread which, if I recall rightly was to be a series of photos of a layout which is not on the exhibition circuit and can only be shared if the owner wishes to do so by internet and magazines..."
Indeed! Thank you John.
Quote from: pilotfriend on February 20, 2012, 12:33
"...Damn, Russell was pig ugly cut down!"
I agree completely; Russell was certainly an ugly loco after the FR had a go at her! I was never going to build the model but this version appealed to a friend of mind as it put us in mind of the steam locos on the Central London Railway.
Meanwhile and to continue the thread, here's an illustration of the Cefn Glas mountainside which Rhobat mentioned earlier, with Russell (the other version, much nicer!) returning down the valley with a short goods.
Incidentally, running times on the layout are interesting. Generally the trains take comfortably over a minute station-to-station and a complete circuit (such as those run by a non-stop slate train) can take up to 3
Never fails to raise a smile. :)