Stuttgart 2018 #1

Home from Stuttgart, and the lounge is again full of railways.  They will go upstairs to the loft tomorrow, when I have a little more energy.  We had another excellent week at the Stuttgart N-Club International meet.  On the whole, the layout behaved very well, though there were a few electrical issues needing rewiring as we went along.

Today, we have a some pictures of the ESNG modules.  Wednesday was spent setting up.  Or rather, most of the day was spent freezing in the hall with all the doors open, and waiting for the French junction to arrive, so that the Austrians and ourselves could add our twig off the branch.  If we could get here through the French fuel protests, surely they could?  We left the hall at 8pm with a few problems unsolved, but a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast meant that we had soon got things moving, and were carrying out some final running tests.

It was Terrier week for ERIC.  I brought along my collection of Dapol tank engines, in a range of liveries.

   

Pride of place went to ‘Earlswood’ on the turntable.  We even sold three ESNG wagons at the show – though I’m not sure whether the Hon. Treasurer can handle Euros….

A long American goods train crosses Derek’s Channel ‘Tunnel’ from Europe, changing from right hand to left hand running.  I’ve nicknamed this board the ‘Eddie Waring’ board, after the great rugby league commentator who was a great fan of the ‘Up and Under.’

The same train passes my airfield.

The layout crossed my new bridge module and turned through Derek’s corner board.  My bridge needed a little fettling at first, but settled down to run reliably.

We also took my clubhouse board.

A few vehicles brought the bridge to life.  I have to decide whether to glue down these American vehicles, or change them between shows.  The bridge could be in almost any country, but the lack of fences by the track does suggest the USA.

Allan explains the joys of modular modelling, whilst that long goods train passes itself on the end loop of our section.

Ian looks as if he has been operating for too long and is getting confused.

Past our modules, Ollie had a run of his boards.  He managed to get a little modelling done through the show.

We were joined by Richard from the West Sussex group, who added his N-mod ‘Crosswater Village’ to our modules.  Packed full of detail, this little layout always had a train on the move.

   

We were linked to the outside world by a junction under a mountain.  I know that this is Austria, but putting a double junction underground didn’t seem the best idea!

Beyond the junction came the Victoria Falls bridge.  (‘Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.’)  You can just see the bungee jumper…..

Next post, we’ll look at some other modules.

Posted in ESNG, Exhibitions, N Club International, Out and about | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Stuttgart – 2013

Last of these old pictures – 2013.

                                 

Hopefully next week there’ll be a report from 2018!!

Posted in ESNG, Exhibitions, N Club International | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Stuttgart – 2011 & 2012

First 2011…

   

And then 2012….

                          

Posted in ESNG, Exhibitions, N Club International | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Stuttgart – 2010

Whilst I am in Germany, I thought I’d post some old Stuttgart photographs taken prior to me starting blogging.  We start with my first visit in 2010.  Some things look just the same.  Some of us look rather younger…..

                                 

Posted in ESNG, Exhibitions, N Club International, Out and about | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Off to Stuttgart

Off to find a tin parrot at Gatwick later, for ESNG’s annual pilgrimage to the Stuttgart N-Club International meet.  A full report will appear next week, but here are a few pictures of ESNG from past years.

Beer is always important…..

In those days we had enough strength to lift the gate….

They said they were ESNG members – but I have my doubts, unless Mr Apps was trying to collect the subscriptions again….

2015 was the high visibility year – you could spot these two a mile off….

It was also the last time my Michael came out to the show with me…. (Please ignore the Chairman in the background.)

Did I mention the beer……

And last year.  We were just a twig off a branch, but the usual suspects were there….


I don’t normally have a shopping list for Stuttgart, having resisted buying any European models (even a Flying Hamburger) in previous years.  However, I’ll be looking out for a second-hand Roco BR-80 tank engine.

And why would I want one of these?  The chassis fits in a white metal USA tank kit that I picked up from BH Enterprises at a recent show.

Posted in ESNG, ESNG meetings, Exhibitions, N Club International | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

On my workbench – module complete

I’ve finished my little module for Stuttgart, and built the box for it to travel in.  It just needs the white line down the middle of the road, and I’m waiting for the appropriate pen in the post.

 


Here are a few shots of Paul’s Kato layout from the Scout’s exhibition.

     


And also from Paul, a credit card catastrophe…

Posted in ESNG, Exhibitions, N Club International, On my workbench | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Wittering Wednesday

Brian sent me another interesting video.  Good to see stream passing our local station.  I always forget to look and see what is passing through.

Thought I’d share Clan Line passing through Redhill on Friday the 9th November on the Belmond circular tour of the Surrey Hills, bearing a commemorative wreath of poppies.


And for the prototype for everything department.  Would this make a challenging animation?  A poor landing by the balloon, that probably scared the cr*p out of anyone using the facilities!


And you can now order the RevolutioN Sturgeon PW wagon.  Expensive, but no doubt it will be as good as the Class B tankers – RevolutioN are also no doubt learning from each release they make.  Do order some and get the numbers high enough for them to go into production – because I want three or four of them!!

Posted in Inspiration, Out and about, Prototype | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

ESNG PlayDay – 11 November 2018

Puts our hobby into a little perspective on Remembrance Sunday…..

Our family was, perhaps, fortunate – I had two grandfathers who fought in WW1, and my father was on the Normandy beaches in WW2 – and they all came home.  (One daren’t think too closely about this – if any one of them hadn’t, I wouldn’t be writing this.)  It is good to remember those who fought and lost their lives for the freedom that we enjoy.  I only question why it is the politicians of all nations, who sent their soldiers to war, who get to lay the wreaths in peacetime?

I’d better move quickly along….

After a fortifying curry, where Miles again significantly reduced the profit from the lunchtime buffet, we moved on to the afternoon PlayDay.  Only seven of us there, and we especially missed Paul, selling things with Mr Brightwell at Eurospoor.  But we got a good circuit together.

It was good to see some progress on Dave’s station, that will be most impressive when it is complete.  He has made extensive use of European buildings, but these make good UK city structures.

 

In character was Allan’s very old Lima German airport express unit, that ran better after a little oil and general lubrication.

Also in the old Lima department was Derek’s Deltic-O-Meter.  Note the new cab fitting on the right, that is a current meter to check the track.  Perhaps this will catch on with Railtrack????

I ran my Warship and a parcel’s train.

 

Brian was running this little Terrier with a goods train.

Two of Derek’s Eurostars.  An 8-car ‘shorty’ on the left, and a most impressive full length unit on the right.

Here, the full length train passes Allan’s Class 37 and silver bullets.


And Brian’s view of the afternoon:

Posted in ESNG, ESNG meetings | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

On my workbench – a little distraction

With Stuttgart two weeks away, I had to admit that my modules just weren’t going to get finished.  Actually, I was beginning to lose interest in them again.  But I wanted to take something new along, so I thought I’d try and complete a little 400 x 400mm board to add to my two existing N-club modules.  A Walthers ‘Art Deco bridge’ forms the basis, and this is progress after one of the two weeks.  A bit of ballast, contours, and ground cover, and a box for the board, is needed.  I think that this is attainable next week, despite a few other things going on.

The interesting thing about this little module is that I have thoroughly enjoyed building it.  Perhaps this just confirms that I really do like little projects, and small, attainable layouts?

A little ‘believe it or not’ scenic item – spot the spelling mistake outside this Surrey school, and would you dare put it on your layout, then claim that it was a deliberate mistake?

And for the Webcam connoisseur, how about a live feed from the End of the World railway, in Argentina, in deepest Terra del Fuego.  The map shows the Beagle channel, and a nearby glacier.  I happened to surf by with three small steam locomotives in the station.

Posted in Jon's layout ramblings, On my workbench | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Redhill Brick & Model Show – 2018

Last Saturday was spent locally, supporting the 17th Reigate Scouts in a new venture for them, a Lego and model show.  We were not sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a very pleasant and relaxed day – not least due to the opening hours of 12-4 giving a bit of a lie in before setting up.  It was really just like an extra club PlayDay, with spectators. We were well looked after and fed and watered – what more can one want.

We soon had a simple N-mod layout up and running at one end of the Scout hall.

Paul brought his Kato along with a simple – for him – layout.  We were also well placed for teas and coffees and food!

Down the other wall was the ‘adult’ Lego display, with a wonderful mechanism that transferred small balls from one end of the mechanism to the other, then returned them on the train.  A fascinating bit of work, that worked well all day.

At one end was this interesting Lego cityscape, made up of individual boards.

 

In the other hall there was more Lego, some fine matchstick models, and Robot Wars….

 

Back to the trains – we ran the usual eclectic mix of stock.

     

Dave’s canal basin had a rather overscale visitor, as part of the ‘Spot the Homer’ competition.  Any resemblance to any ESNG member is entirely coincidental…..

They hope to hold the show again next year.  We’ve said we’d be interested in exhibiting again.  OK, there weren’t other railways to look at, or shops to spend money at, but it was good to feel that ESNG were putting a little bit back into the local community.  And 80% of the visitors (there were plenty) were youngsters and far more enthusiastic than the average model railway enthusiast!  Perhaps we sowed a few seeds for the future?

Posted in ESNG, Exhibitions, Out and about | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment