The South Wales collieries inspired PHILIP COGGAN to revisit his memories of working in them and create this compact scene in ‘OO’ gauge.Photography, Philip Coggan
Pen-y-Bryn was a project that started about 30 years ago. I wanted to create a 4mm scale layout based in South Wales and of my memories of when I was a young man working at Ogilvie and Oakdale collieries as a hydraulic roof prop repairer and a painter, signwriter and glazier.
Being able to visit all parts of the colliery – including underground – helped a lot with the model building but it had to be greatly reduced in size. Pen-y-Bryn fictional colliery was a bit of a challenge as I only had about 3ft in which to construct it. I have managed to fit the scratchbuilt headgear in which had to be built rather flat, as it was positioned against a wall. The offices, machine/engine/blacksmith/electric shops, screens, washery and yard are all there, albeit in a tight space.
The whole layout area would not be large enough to cover all the colliery – we forget how big these places were. To put it in context, the yard and sidings alone would take at least 18ft to model.
Above: Depot staff engage in conversation at Pen-y-Bryn shed as several locomotives stable between duties…
