You think the track is bad on our N-mod layout? Just look at this video. Now I know that the telephoto lens makes things worse, but some of these lines are pretty awful!
Well, it’s thanks to Allan and Ron for entertaining us for the past month with pictures of Switzerland, and giving me a break from blogging. I’ll try and get back into the swing of things now, starting with two quotes from Model Railway Journal.
From Jerry Clifford’s editorial….
The experience got me thinking about exhibiting in general and the expectations of paying public in particular. We are in the entertainment business but, for me, the role of the exhibitor is to educate and inspire, as well as entertain. The flora and fauna of the social media are regularly full of comments and complaints about the running, or lack of it, on exhibition layouts, and whilst I agree that those of us who put ourselves up in front of the paying public are there to entertain, I do feel that many see that entertainment in only one dimension – the trains. Setting the scene and creating the context through which our trains, both historical and geographical, can perform, is every bit as important as the trains themselves. I, like many others, put a huge amount of time and effort into the research and realisation of my miniature slice of reality and would hope that it could hold a spectator’s interest, for a few minutes at least, while they await the next bit of action.
Another view on the ‘entertainment .v. scale modelling’ discussion. As ever, I’m convinced that the best exhibitions have some of each type of layout.
And Richard Ellis on how to make manure – ‘O’ scale that is!
No scene where real horse-power was used would be complete without a smattering of fresh manure. This is really fun to do, simple, yet effective. The raw ingredients are sieved sharp sand, sieved soil, a blob of PVA and a dash of washing up liquid. Mix them all together into a paste and leave for a few minutes to start to go off. Then apply in manure-like deposits to the road surface, being careful not to overdo it and keep it to scale. Now drop a very small amount of superglue in one or two places at the edges and sprinkle some sieved soil over it. The addition of some straw (brush bristles) is also effective for adding texture. Now leave it all to dry, preferably overnight. In the morning, take a scriber or similar blunt instrument and abrade the surface of the now rock-hard manure. This will have the effect of knocking off any loose bits but also where it has scraped the surface the colour is instantly transformed to a much lighter shade – almost gingery. If you make a habit of studying real manure, you will see that it is far from a uniform colour and high in texture. This method, I think, gives a passable [Ed: Hope this wasn’t meant as a pun] representation.
If any readers can do this in ‘N’ gauge, I’d be most interested – and probably slightly in awe of the modelling skills involved.
Day 14
Day 13
Another scorcher. Rode on more postbusas than trains. Took trains to Ilanz changing at Reichenau Ramins. From Ilanz we made our way by postbus as to Davos changing at Laax, Chur and Tiefencastel. We took the nostalgia train back to Filisur. Luckily we got seats in one of the open air panoramic wagon but unfortunately the Crocodile was not at Davos to pull the train.
Reichenau Ramins
Chur station from Postautostation
Chur Postautostarion
Lenzerheide
Davos
Views from Arisen Viaduct
Day 12
Another sunny day. Today was an out and back journey by train to St Gallen. When we got there we visited the large model shop but Allan found nothing he wanted. Then Allan returned to station to do some grieving whilst Ron went for a walk round town and do some shopping. We met up got a late lunch time snack on the balcony of the Mirror Restaurant which is above the station.
St Gallen
Views from balcony of Migros restaurant
Bahnhofplatz St Gallen
A few trains in the pictures today!
Day 11
We left from an overcast and blowy Viznau by boat to Luzern and then on by train changing in Zurich and Chur to Filisur, where it is warm and sunny.
Views from Vitznau landing stage
Hotel Grischuna, Filisur
Albulatal from Filisur Station
Crocodile with historic service train
Glacier Express at Filisur
5pm train to Chur arriving at Filisur
Allan chips in on the Stoos trip….
Here are some extra photos from yesterday trip to Stoos. The cabins stay horizontal as you go up the track which is said to be a gradient of 110%.
One photo is taken looking under the next cabin.
Don’t think I’d want to do this one immediately after lunch! It looks more like a ski jump than a railway…
Day 9
Another very hot day. Set off by bus to Rotkreuz changing at Kussnacht. We then took train to Zurich and following a couple of train journeys we took a boat down Lake Zurich to Rapperswil for train back to Kussnacht.
Drama on the journey back. We saw a man lying on his back by a level crossing and then the train came to a stop. The driver and guard walked down the outside of the train before extracting a mangled bike from under the train. The train then continued on its way. We were late into Kussnacht and were pleased to seen our connecting bus waiting for us.
Zurich
Kussnacht on Lake Zurich
Rapperswil
Day 10
Still no rain but overcast today and breezy on Lake Lucerne.
First thing today we headed by bus via Schwyz to the recently reopened Stoosbahn, which is the steepest funicular in the world. It was an experience! Shortly after leaving the valley station it is like going up a wall in an outside lift. After visiting Stoos we descended and caught a bus to Schwyz Bahnhof for trains to Luzern charging at Arth Goldau. In Luzern Allan settled down to do some grieving [not more grieving? Ed.] whilst Ron went into town to walk round. We returned to Vitznau by boat. Now have to repack our cases for transfer tomorrow to Filisur.
Stoosbahn
Stoos
More pictures of the Stoosbahn next time, from Allan.
Luzern
Our AGM was last night, and 10 hardy souls came along to enjoy the highlight(?) of the year. At least we don’t charge subs for this meeting!
Still, it was a useful and laid back time. The committee got elected back again, despite attempts to promote Graham as Chairman. Perhaps he needs to improve his tea making ability to really qualify for the post? I keep threatening to resign as exhibition manager, but the only way out seems to be a large loss at a show!
A few useful discussions (between the backchat) did occur. I think that we now have the general structure for the Open Day in October, and I need to get some publicity out fast. Stuttgart and next years NGSE show seem to be moderately under control. It was suggested that we invest in some modelling tools such as a static grass applicator, to be shared between members. We’ll look at this one, and work out how to manage the loan system, so things don’t go walkies. It’s usually not deliberate, but us aging modellers have terrible memories….
So onward (but not necessarily upward) into another year…..
Day 8
By Allan…..
Sitting here on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon watching trains. Sitting in platform one is the Gothard Panoramic Express. Or us old farts remember it as the William Tell train. You start your journey in Luzern on a paddle boat then you change at Fluelen to the train over the Gothard.
When the five coach train left today you could have got every one in one coach. Todays paddle boat for the trip was Stadt Luzern, the flagship of the fleet. She will be withdrawn at the end of the year for major work. They hope to have her back in service in 2021.
Have included a photo of one of the paddle boats as I didn’t see Stadt Luzern today.
And by Ron…. (hope they agree where they’d been)
Another hot day.
Caught bus to Kussnacht only to see our connecting train to Arth Goldau standing in the platform. By the time we got onto the platform the train had left. We had to wait 30 minutes for next train and luckily on arrival we got an immediate connection on train through the Gotthard Base Tunnel to Bellinzona. We then returned over the old Gotthard route to Fluelen with a change at Erstfeld. We left Fluelen on boat back to Vitznau.
Fluelen
Bauen
Schiller Stone
Tribe
M&S Weggis leaving Beckenreid
Beckenreid
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