Covid-19 diary #1

Posted on March 20, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

No, I haven’t got it (yet.)  But what better for an introverted, anti-social railway modeller than social distancing?  Having closed down/suspended a model railway show, a model railway club, and a church in one 24-hour period, it was time to do some serious modelling.

As I recently blogged, the Kuritu Line is up and sort of running again.

As I had broken the layout cover, that doubled as a lighting pelmet, I’ve been building a new one.  This is to be fixed to the layout, in shadow-box form.  It will make the layout a little larger to transport, but will be a lot neater.

So construction started by removing the existing end boards, and building new ones.  The side pieces for the shadow-box were split into three, as my car wouldn’t easily take the 6ft of ply needed to do the sides in one piece.  And this way took less wood.  I’m painting the insides of the ends matt black.  I’ve lost the end backscene, but hope that this finish will allow the eye to ignore the end of the world.

The other end needed a viewing port to operate the layout from one end.  Getting the holes drilled in the end for the manual point operating dowels wasn’t as difficult as I expected.

And this evening, I added the first side rail.  The metal angle is there only to keep the wood straight until the glue goes off and I add some fixing screws.

Main problem during construction has been one of the trestles under the layout collapsing, but it survived….  And today, I ran out of 6mm ply.  Should I social distance, or is plywood an essential for life.  I settled for a quick run over to HomeBase.  Their timber isn’t as good as Champions in Dorking, but it will do the job.

More in a few days time!

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A strange situation….

Posted on March 18, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

What a different world we live in all of a sudden.  I spent Sunday evening and Monday talking to people and closing down (1) The NGSE show, (2) East Surrey N Gauge Club, and (3) Our church.  My phone was red hot with texts, emails and WhatsApp messages.  With respect to the show, I was pleasantly surprised by the string of good wishes and even offers of cash that appeared from exhibitors and potential punters.

It’s difficult to see where this is all going.  Certainly, a string of model railway exhibitions -have cancelled – though that is trivial compared with the potential loss of life – possibly of friends and family.  Businesses will suffer, so I warmed to the idea of ordering on-line the ‘essentials’ you were going to buy at NGSE (or any other show), and help the retailers.  I have done just that.

We will all miss club nights.  I must confess that most ESNG meetings are special because of meeting good friends – the trains have become an added bonus.  And what will happen to the ESNG Curry Club?  Will Miles survive a lock-in without curry????

But silver linings, I am finding time for a little railway modelling.  Hopefully, reports will follow in future posts.  And the timing of a purchase of an Amazon Firestick was perfect.  Originally bought because of terrible 4G interference – even with a filter – on the TV, it now means Mrs Bartlett, if locked-in, can watch all 397 episodes of ‘Death in Paradise.’  Whilst I bemoan the lack of rugby….

And I have found the appropriate album to listen to in the present crisis (haven’t heard this since my university days!)

It also occurs to me that COVID-19 is a bit like the children getting nits at school – you immediately start itching whether you get them or not!  Every cough, headache or any temperature immediately starts you thinking!!

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NGSE 2020 – cancelled

Posted on March 16, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Very sad, but with the deteriorating Corvid-19 situation, we have no choice but to cancel – even if it’s before the government decides to shut down any large gatherings.

Hopefully, we’ll have another try next year….

 

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Mega-Eric?

Posted on March 14, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

From Facebook, a mega-roundhouse in Altona, Hamburg.  This would make quite some model – even the coaling facilities are on the grand scale….

But did you spot the best bit – the overlapping turntable.  I’d never seen one of these before, prototype or model.  It would be a feature of any layout!

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ESNG PlayDay – 8 March 2020

Posted on March 12, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Sunday’s PlayDay was well attended, with 10 members there, plus Sean’s Lucas.  Derek brought round the new club corners, to wire up some leads….

And also one of his new ‘super dashboards’.  This one will link up with Peter’s station….

And elsewhere, trains we run.  We had a fair size circuit set up, as Paul and Dave brought along some new boards….

Sean’s engineer’s train, nicely weathered.

And Network SouthEast passenger.  Made more realistic by the blue-gray coach amongst the toothpaste liveried ones.

I had spent a few hours adding a little weight to my Conflats and gluing the containers in place.  A train of 25 wagons behind a Hymek made an attractive train.

And Paul had his usual selection of bullet trains, including one repaired by Kato in Tokyo.

And Brian filmed it all….

And on Monday, more progress on the fiddle yard – we’re getting there!

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Down by the seaside

Posted on March 10, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

We’ll start the post on the beach at Lancing.  A grey day, but bracing rather than unpleasant.  But why was I there – and what’s this doing in a railway blog?

Well, the beach car park was recommended for the Wealden Railway Group exhibition.  A pleasant little show, concentrating on their tag line – “Railways you can live with” – small and micro layouts to the fore.  Here are just a few of the exhibits that caught my eye….

Greenford Broadway modelled the London Underground in 3′, with a fiddle yard at either end.  I liked the authentic 4-rail track, the LUT steam locos, and at the extreme right is a neat model of an old wooden escalator.

This little ‘O’ gauge switching layout is almost pointless – just the one point and a sector plate to reach the other tracks.  Another neat design, allowing a large scale in a small space.

This was a trader’s stand, but I liked the scenic work….

And there was lots of narrow gauge.  Three layouts are shown below.  Can you spot the coffin wagon in the third photo?

In case you missed it!

I then drove a mile up the road from Lancing to Sompting, to drop in on the West Sussex N Gauge group open day.  Lots of modular layouts and lots of old friends to talk to – and a very respectable sausage bap, rivalling the Wealden bacon roll….

This looks like an interesting layout in the making….

And plenty of completed layouts on show….

Overall, a pleasant morning!

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ESNG meeting – 5 March 2020

Posted on March 8, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Again, starting Monday’s fiddle yard session.  All track down, and all point motors fitted.  And we’ve learnt to fit point motors with just 2 ESNG members!  Next stop – wiring!

And at Wednesday’s meeting, 8 hardy members braved the rain and Coronavirus – including Paul with a selection of new, and repaired, Japanese stock to run.  I think at least 3 of us just came to socialise, but the others successfully filled the tracks….

Look familiar?

 

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Down memory lane

Posted on March 6, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Ten years of so ago we were on holiday in Queensland, Australia.  I came across these two delightful videos of sugar cane railways.  The first is special, as we were held up at the level crossing in the first scene of the video whilst a little train crossed the road.

And we spent a fun hour or two around Tully, admiring their smart little locomotives.

What a great prototype for an unusual model?

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Kuritu is back!

Posted on March 5, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Several years ago, I bought Ian Milroy’s little Kuritu, an N gauge Japanese tram layout, as he was retiring it from the exhibition circuit. I finally got space in the railway room for it, and having put it up, to my amazement it all ran perfectly!

There is a little work to do – one point isn’t working, and I managed to break the rather flimsy layout cover when I put it up (should have asked Maxine to help me).  But it all looks rather good……

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NGSE – 2020 – Exactly a month to go!

Posted on March 4, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

All is on track for NGSE 2020.  We’ve lost a trader, but replaced them with two others.

We’ve obviously had a couple of questions about coronavirus.  Obviously this needs monitoring carefully, but we’ll be going ahead unless the number of cases really explodes in the UK, especially in our region, or the government gives firm guidance (some hope) on whether to hold smaller gathering like our show.

And, hijacked from Facebook, here are a few of the layouts that Sean has booked for the day….

           

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