Bron Hebog

Our turn in the spotlight today previewing the @modelrailscotland.bsky.social show!

Getting It Straight Converting a Peco 'Prince' into 1960s straight frame condition.

A focus on one of the FR loco fleet for Minffordd on the blog today 👇

Of course, if you’re planning on visiting Model Rail Scotland next month you’ll want tot make a bee line for Minffordd. We’re going it be Stand B1 at the right hand side of the hall.

Recreating Minffordd Station How I researched, designed and scratch built our model of Minffordd Cambrian station building.

There was a request to know more about how we made this - happy to oblige 👇

Mucking It Up More experiments with dry brush weathering to make read-to-run models look a little more work weary.

Weathering. One of those jobs which needs a deep breath and a ‘brave pill.
Today’s blog ⬇️

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus from Bron Hebog.
May all your red dragons be articulated with fire in their bellies.
(Best fit a quality spark arrestor, mind)

Regional Identity The 1960s was a very colourful period on the Cambrian Coast Line which give us all the excuse we need to buy more stock!

We’ve been unable to resist the temptation of chocolate (and cream) - don’t judge us!

New blog post ⬇️

A Layout Makes Work For Idle Hands Testing the opportunities for running more trains on Minffordd with our new fiddle yard extensions.

New blog UPDATE

We started out building a layout but seem to have ended up with some kinda model railway exhibition job creation scheme 😂

Beep Beep!

A wee teaser clip of the wee Wickham Trolley on test - to see the full movie see the updated blog post 👇

bronhebog.blogspot.com/2026/02/more...

More Wickham Trolley Testing Making adjustments to a OO Bachmann Wickham Trolley to improve its performance and traction by adding extra weight

This amazing little model has been having some important tweaks since I first showed it off two weeks ago.
Here’s the explainer 👇

You’ll never regret it!

Cambrian Coast Icons - DMUs The trains I remember seeing on the Cambrian Coast Line as a child were the DMUs - and only DMUs - because of the woodworm saga of Barmouth Bridge.

These were the Cambrian trains of my youth, but us modellers don’t have many options for some of the other 1st gen DMUs which ran there - this is my wee plea to the likes of @accurascale.com @rapidotrains.co.uk @bachmanneurope.bsky.social Heljan & Hornby.

Finishing Touches Adding those little details that properly complete our scratch built model of Minffordd station buildings on the Cambrian Coast Line.

Do you ever imagine being able place yourself on your own layout?

I often think the bench in front of the ground frame cabin at Minffordd must have been a lovely spot to sit and watch the world go by.

Click to read more about this scene.

The Most Important Building The most important building on our layout is probably the most overlooked. Here's more about the model and how I made it.

Size isn’t everything! Looking at our new layout you might not even notice this building or know about the vital role it played.

Minffordd Gallery A selection of images of our latest exhibition layout Minffordd, We will continue adding to this gallery so keep checking back for more images.

New on the website tonight the start of a collection of our favourite images of Minffordd so far.

Click to take a look 👇

Fiddle Yard Expansion The story of a project to double the capacity of the fiddle yards on Minffordd so we can run more - and longer - Cambrian Coast trains.

What everyone’s been waiting for - capacity for more loco hauled trains on the Cambrian Coast Line!

(Alas, in miniature only, sorry)

Model Train Movies A collection of videos of our layouts Dduallt, Bron Hebog and Minffordd running at exhibitions.

I’ve updated the blog with an easy link to some of the best films and footage of our @festrail.bsky.social layouts that you’ll find on the web.

So, what's next? Our plan for a new 009 Welsh Highland to display our collection of NGG16 locos and scratch built rolling stock

On a roll with the rebooted blog - today some thoughts to share on our next project.

The Making of Minffordd - 10 reasons why Exploring the inspiration and motivation for our new OO/OO9 layout of Minffordd on the Cambrian Coast Line and Festiniog Railway

Curious about why we built Minffordd? 🤔

The Making Of Minffordd - Baseboards and Trackbed Designing the baseboards and laying track on the Minffordd 00 and 009 layout project, tracks on multiple levels and using Peco bullhead track.

Seeing how I reactivated the dormant blog at the weekend, would you like to see a return to more regular posting?

Here’s something looking back at the early stages of the Minffordd project and how we set about making this complex little layout.

bronhebog.blogspot.com/p/the-making...

Remarkable to think it’s already two months since we packed this monster away in Manchester.

Oh, your post suddenly makes me feel old. I remember seeing these new on the Cambrian in 1986 and thinking the old DMUs threy replaced were SO old! But I now realise those 1st gen DMUs were only 25 years old at that time. But I was a child and a year seemed like an eternity…

Wiring up the new fiddle yard points with the boards on their sides allows a perfect bird’s eye view of the Cambrian station at Minffordd and the entrance to the exchange yard.

Minffordd will be on a 3 nation tour in 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 & 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 hopefully the shows will be near enough & big enough to tempt our UK followers to come and see it running. First opportunity at Model Rail Scotland next month in Glasgow.

New header image.

That’s a lot of reading!

Here We Go Again Minfforrdd layout of the Cambrian Coast and the Festiniog Railway in the 1960s with DDC control and sound

A rare update to my blog - the first in nearly 2 years. bronhebog.blogspot.com/2026/02/here...

It maybe wishful thinking but from the US political commentary I listen to over here it sounds like more of your fellow citizens are beginning to believe the evidence of their own eyes (and wallets) again. Time will tell.

Yes

What’s this burbling into view here? A new curiosity piece to play with on Minffordd at Model Rail Scotland next month. Just arrived with us today and getting a first test on the club’s Kirkconnel layout.