Trens Tranvía

This is quite a long blog post, no long films but a number of shorts in quick succession, so you might want to make a brew and get a plate of biscuits before settling down to read and watch.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As regular readers will know, Esquina del Fuego is the terminus of the Tranvía Lago Fernandez. The line runs as a roadside tramway for most of its route and sees a busy (by Sierra Oculta standards) sequence of trains on weekdays.

There are no freight trains on Saturdays but paths TLF#11 and TLF#12 are operated as additional loco hauled passenger trains.

On Sundays the only trains to run are TLF#1, TLF#2, TLF#7 and TLF#8 with an additional summer only mid day round trip using the mail paths TLF#9 and TLF#10 to give three trains in each direction, all operated by a pair of the Ferronor Division’s Scania railbuses.

The station does not have a run round loop, loco hauled trains are backed out of the station to detach the engine then the coaches or wagons are allowed to roll back down by gravity, the tramway being on a falling gradient for the last couple of miles as it gets closer to the lake.

The first arrival on a weekday is the early morning passenger, TLF#2, from the junction with the Ferronor Division main line at Puente Guia.

After running the stock around the train departs as TLF#1 to the junction where it connects with a southbound train to San Fernandez.

The mid-morning down passenger, TLF#4, is operated by the tramway’s Drewry Car. No shunting is required as the railcar can be driven from either end but up train TLF#3 has to wait at the station until the postal railcar, TLF#10, arrives.

The up mail, TLF#9, follows the Drewry Car back to Puente Guia. Both up railcars pass the down goods, TLF#12, at Ciudad Embridadora.

After picking up the empty van the crew set out a loaded one in its place.

With the train reassembled loco No.8 heads back to the junction as TLF#11.

The Drewry Car reappears later on the afternoon passenger trains, TLF#6 and TLF#5.

The final trains of the day, TLF#8 and TLF#7, are loco hauled passengers, having connected out of a northbound train from San Fernandez at Puente Guia.

The last up train usually just caters for a few straggling tourists on its return run.

The cast of today’s puppet show are all unpowered dummies. The loco (green line on the graph) was once motorised using a Lima HO scale diesel power bogie but, with traction tyres and only four wheels to pick up power, it has never run well. It now rides on an old Wrenn wagon chassis. The Drewry Car (grey line on the graph) is a shortened T&S Models scratch aid kit on another old wagon chassis, this one by Tri-ang, and the postal car (red line on the graph) is parts from two Matchbox Yesteryear models riding on a relatively new Hornby brake van chassis.

The tracks are part of a job lot of second or third hand Peco with steel rails, liable to rust but that’s no problem because they’re not electrified.

Post Script on the TLF videos.

I am all too aware that my hand was clearly visible under the bridge during filming. This is because I had misplaced the puppet rods intended for use with the larger micros such as Esquina del Fuego, Norte and Puerto Tablon so I borrowed a shorter one from San Fernandez Wagon Repair Depot. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, perhaps if I’d thought to look on one of the other layouts I might have found the correct tool for the job. When I was putting stock away upstairs this morning I spotted two long puppet rods on Puerto, too late for yesterday afternoon’s filming!

The short puppet rod used while filming was made specifically for the wagon works where it is of ample length. Ah well, better luck next time.