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This is the blog of the East Surrey N Gauge model railway club. Find out about our club activities here, as well as news and views on N-gauge railway modelling.-
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Category Archives: Hints and tips
The fear factor
One of my regular blog reads, ‘Motorised Dandruff’, has been very quiet recently. However, I found I could identify with this recent post: The major problem I have is one of perfectionist block (I think that’s what its called). I … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design
Tagged hints and tips, layout design, model railway
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ESNG N-Mod track?
Here’s a picture I found in an old magazine I was reading, that reminds me of our N-mod track. It even has the correct 4-track configuration….. In fact, this does look very much like a model railway. Reading Iain Rice’s … Continue reading
Posted in ESNG, Hints and tips, Inspiration, Prototype
Tagged inspiration, N gauge, prototype, railway
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Book review – “Compact Layout Design – Iain Rice”
One of my favourite reads is an Iain Rice layout design book. Hidden amongst the slightly bumptious and wordy – but always entertaining – text, there are always inspiring photographs, clever construction techniques, prototype information and neat track plans. And the … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design
Tagged book review, inspiration, layout design, railway
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There could be some truth in this?
Sent to me, so I’m unable to give credit where credit is due. But I suspect it could be very close to the truth”
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design, Weird and wonderful
Tagged hints and tips, inspiration, model railway
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Shunting scrabble
I am always impressed by the realistic operation of US model railroads, compared to what we do in the UK (see my recent post on ‘Time’). I even recently read a Model Railroad Hobbyist article where the layout had padlocks … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design, Operation
Tagged hints and tips, layout design, model railway, Operation
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Adventures in time and place #2 – Location, location, location
A number of recent blogs and articles have had me thinking not only about time, but also about place. There are two aspects to this – can the location of your model railway be identified before a train arrives – … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design
Tagged hints and tips, layout design, model railway
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What colour(s) is track?
I’m getting to the stage when I will need to start painting and ballasting the track on my modules. Looking at the albums I have in my possession, one can see that it’s not a matter of a spray of … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Jon's layout ramblings, Layout design
Tagged hints and tips, layout design, model railway
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Adventures in time and place #1
No, this is not a review of the latest episode of ‘Dr Who’. Rather, there have been some interesting posts recently on how ‘time’ and ‘location’ work when we are building a model railway. I’m a sucker for these ‘philosophical’ … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design
Tagged hints and tips, layout design, model railway
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Southern Railway Coach formations
With the advent of the excellent Dapol Southern Railway Maunsell coaches, we’ll need to know how to put together a realistic formation. I came across this useful information on the Worsley Works etched ‘scratch-aid’ and kit site (originally from the … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Prototype, The trade
Tagged ESNG, model railway, N gauge, prototype
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Ideas matter
This is from another thought provoking post by Mike Cougill on the OST blog… Our craft suffers from a scarcity of ideas. Ideas that change our image of what the hobby could be. When Frank Ellison suggested that a model … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design
Tagged hints and tips, layout design, model railway
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