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Bron Hebog & Minffordd

@bronhebog.bsky.social
360 followers 204 following 448 posts

Railway modeller based in Scotland. Best known for 009 layouts of Dduallt and Bron Hebog (Beddgelert) and our latest project Minffordd

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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Exactly a week ago we were dismantling Minffordd at the end of the Troon exhibition, this afternoon it was reassembled (without fiddle yards) ready for various running repairs and fettling to be carried out before its biggest outing yet to the NEC in Birmingham in November.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“On an exhibition layout it’s important to strive to always have trains moving.”Discuss.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The last train has departed. The next chance to see Minffordd running is in 2 months time at the NEC in Birmingham.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Younger viewers may struggle to believe this but every word is true! 50 years ago if you wanted to remove a massive steam engine from a display plinth you laid temporary tracks and arranged a special train. Today there is no way it would be done any way than by road!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Set up done for the Ayr Model Railway Group show on in Troon this weekend. All quiet in the yard now but there will be so many trains tomorrow you won’t know where to look!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Steam’s last gasp on the Cambrian - a Standard 3MT tank heads off down the bank from Minffordd.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Shortly, some unsuspecting volunteers are going to discover it’s their job to empty this lot out…..
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Picking up the empty mineral wagons from Minffordd Yard - part of the job for the crew of the daily freight train on the Cambrian Coast.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
A bit of ‘Coal Hole’ action on Minffordd. If you like it please subscribe to our channel. 🙏
youtube.com
Ffestiniog Railway Minffordd Yard ‘Coal Hole’ in 009
YouTube video by Bron Hebog & Minffordd layouts
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Did you know we also have a YouTube channel for our layouts? Lots of content from the last 10 years + .We could use a few more subscribers 😉
youtu.be
Cambrian Coast Compilation
YouTube video by Bron Hebog & Minffordd layouts
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Here’s Britomart starting a short train of empty slate waggons out of Minffordd Yard before coasting along the Mineral Line and then getting a little tap on the regulator. You can get some nice effects when DCC locos are ‘driven’. Am I changing anyone’s mind here?
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Magic? Or just magnets? Yes, you CAN do hands-free shunting with 009! To be honest , was sceptical about the plan to make the Greenwich couplings work automatically on the narrow gauge tracks on Minffordd but they work brilliantly!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The nation’s favourite Quarry Hunslet ‘Britomart’ moving some slate waggons around in Minffordd Yard today.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Do you like to conjure with ‘what if’ scenarios? Like, what if the Ffestiniog never had to abandon its original route and build the Deviation? Here’s how I think it could have turned out differently 👇
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Alternative Histories
What if the Ffestiniog Railway never had to give up its old line and tunnel?
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
A steam loco in its last days. This is a Dapol Churchward 43XX mogul. As it came the engine was very shiny out of the box - now it’s the complete opposite! It really looks like a loco which is nearing 50 years old - built during the Great War and soldiering on into the diesel age.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Went rummaging in the loft tonight looking for something - didn’t find it, of course! - but I did come across the one photo of the only time I saw the APT at London Euston. I was still learning about composition on my antique Kodak Instamatic. 🤣
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The shed crews on the Cambrian had a reputation for doing the best job they could with their famous ‘Manor’ locos. So that’s why we got our Dapol Manor to look as if the lads had given it some attention with an oily rag to go with the trademark white paint.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I promised more grime and I meant it! Here’s a truly grotty Hornby BR Standard 2MT made to look like it hasn’t seen a shed cleaner in a looong time thanks to professional weathering. What was already a superb model now looks even more the part on Minffordd.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Had my first opportunity to examine the exquisite weathering makeover work on some of our locos. A favourite is the Collet Goods in rather scruffy condition. For what is essentially a Mainline product from the early 1980s it still stands up well against contemporary models.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
First experiments using the Consist function on the NEC Powercab system. Mary Ann & Moelwyn charging the bank out of the depths of Minffordd Yard making a right cacophony! More practice required until we achieve operating ‘consistency’.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
First experiments using the Consist function on the NEC Powercab system. Mary Ann & Moelwyn charging the bank out of the depths of Minffordd Yard making a right cacophony! More practice required until we achieve operating ‘consistency’.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Recently a follower asked if we’d considered connecting our layouts into some sort of Mega-Ffest experience? Well, could we? 👇
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Joined-Up Thinking
Could we create a mega-Ffestiniog layout?
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Could this be the summer of 1962 at Minffordd Yard?Someone go tell Mr Garraway the new locomotive has arrived…
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
They say you can’t have too much of a good thing. Does that include Penrhyn Ladies? A blog update on our latest arrival 👇
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Identical Twin
Modelling the most famous delivery to Minffordd Yard
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The crowd-pleasing party piece on our first 009 layout Dduallt was the gravity slate train. It would be wonderful to run this on Minffordd but it might be a challenge too far to adapt tiny slate waggons for DCC control.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The video clips of Minffordd have been well received and some more followers have signed up - welcome! - so I thought you might like to see a reminder of how we started our 009 Ffestiniog modelling adventure with our first layout - Dduallt - built around 35 years ago.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Alighting from a Ffestiniog train at Dduallt and watching it circle around before leaving you in complete solitude in the mountains is something I suggest should be on every railway enthusiast’s ‘Bucket List’. (Someone once made a rather nice model of this, you know 😉)
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Another of those things which makes the wonderful Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways unique - the mixed-gauge crossing of the Cambrian Coast Line at Porthmadog.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I’d hoped to hear more thrash up the hill before it came into view - but worth going out late to see my first loco-hauled train on the Cambrian in more than 20 years & my very first at Minffordd. Great to see the Belmond Britannia Explorer using the line.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
It’s always worth hanging around for the empty stock moves at the end of the day at the FR’s Harbour Station, you can see the strangest combinations.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
It must be nearly 50 years since I was last at the Vale of Rheidol (I was too young to remember) and I love that this livery has come back! There are so many places to see GWR livery so if you’ve got something unique, flaunt it!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Now Moelwyn works on DCC we can test how much it pulls up the hill on Minffordd? Answer: Not a lot! But doesn’t it sound nice and look good!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Small Birminghams. Or Bug Boxes. Perhaps the most famous narrow gauge carriages ever? On Minffordd in the 1960s we show these hard at work on the relief ‘Flying Flea’ service to mop up every shilling and penny in the summer peak to plough back into rebuilding the FR.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The hardest working shunter in showbiz! Our ‘Simplex tractor ‘ Mary Ann is a real crowd-pleaser at exhibitions with its unique look and sound. This WW1 veteran helps us to make sure there’s always something moving on the layout.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Is it worth paying a pro to weather your models? Take a look and decide for yourselves. More pics and explanation on the blog.👇
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Weather Update
Investing in professional weathering for our OO steam locomotives
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Last Days Of Steam. Manors and Dukedogs may be the locos you most associate with the Cambrian but look in a book of photos from the 1960s you’ll see a lot of BR Standard 4MTs. This one is calling at Minffordd with a Down service for Pwllheli.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I’ve been getting reacquainted with my workbench and picking up on a scratch building project 👇
bronhebog.blogspot.com
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Pick-up Goods Train. Minffordd was - and remains - a minor halt for passenger trains on the Cambrian Coast Line. This place was built for swapping freight between narrow and standard gauge. It makes for a lovely slow shunting scene in the foreground on our layout.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Minffordd in the 1960s. Change here for Festiniog Railway trains to Penrhyn & Tan-y-Bwlch, or all stations on the Cambrian Coast Line to Pwllheli.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Main line and Mineral Line action at Minffordd.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Trench Warfare! Now we have a second WW1 veteran joining our Minffordd fleet, but which is your favourite? Mary Ann or Moelwyn? 🗳 Vote in the comments 👇
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Moelwyn with sound! I reckon the yard shunting is going to be even more the most appealing operating job on Minffordd now we have this as well as the Simplex to play with!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Our favourite 009 diesel is back with us safe - and now with sound!!
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Moelwyn Returns!
Moelwyn returns with a new power plant and sound!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Is it worth waiting (and paying more) for a new model, or just refurb the one you’ve got? I genuinely can’t decide. What would you do?
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Upgrade Or Replace?
Convert an old model to DCC or splash out on a new one?
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Great British (Model) Railways. Is @countbinface.bsky.social onto a vote winner?? bronhebog.blogspot.com/2026/07/coun...
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Count Binface And The Toy Trains
The future of model railways is on the ballot in Clacton!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
There’s brave, and there there’s putting a favourite model in the post brave 📦😬
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Mute Moelwyn No More - Hopefully
Moelwyn's departed for a digital upgrade!
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
A very pleasant surprise to open the latest issue of the Ffestiniog Railway Society Magazine and see a lovely photo of Minffordd gracing the foot of the editorial page.
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
The finishing touches on the Princess project - now the heiress becomes the spare-ess. bronhebog.blogspot.com/2026/07/roya...
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Royal Renumbering
Our Princess has had an identity swap
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
We’ve had to keep quiet about this for a while - hope you’ll be able to make it along!
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Minffordd's First Show In England
Our biggest show for Minffordd yet revealed
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Bron Hebog & Minffordd @bronhebog.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
A ‘Blue Peter make’ for your middle railway collection. ✂️📦
bronhebog.blogspot.com
Model Railway Miser Tips
Making use of unwanted office supplies
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