esngblog

You will recall a while back, I posted Allan’s holiday snap of an interesting building in Switzerland made out of old containers…..

And how I had bought a bag of cheap containers at TINGS…..

Well, I found the site of the building on Google Earth, that gave some clues as to size and the layout of the sides not shown in Allan’s photograph…..

So, I’m please to present a slight flight of whimsy, a model of East Surrey N Gauge’s new headquarters.  If only, they all said.  It took a few evenings to build, and the number of containers was reduced to match the number I had bought.

The building is located in it’s own grounds next to a main line for a little trainspotting.  And parked in the grounds is an ex-SCNF Cinema Coach, used for showing railway films (and perhaps the occasional French art cinema production when no-one is looking.)

A disused signal box is located by the level crossing – perhaps a future preservation project.

Of course, the new ESNG headquarters must have a branch of the Ruchita curry house on site to keep the members fed and watered.  It was a preserved Red Star Parcels building (courtesy of Graham Farish), but it has been taken over for more important things.

I’m quite pleased how this has all come together, in about a month or so.  There is more detailing to complete – I need to add people and vehicles to give it a bit of life, and crash barriers are a must for the road bridge.  I bought some plastic ones from a well known supplier, but they were unbelievably fragile.  I may need to use 4mm bullhead rail soldered to pins to give a more robust structure.  Still, this is good enough for Stuttgart next week, and I can add the rest of the detail before the ESNG show next April.

And last job was to build a ply cover to store the module and hopefully get it to Stuttgart in one piece!

This has been a most enjoyable little project – not least in that it hasn’t been too serious!  No prototype, no concerns about operation, just good clean fun!!

Over the past three years or so, my N-club modules have made slow progress.  Totalling 3.6m in length, along the loft wall, they represent Rochelle Park on the Lehigh Valley.  The layout has got to the point when it is ready for ballast and then scenery.

The trouble is, I’m just finding it too big to enjoy.  Over the last three years, I realise that I actually LIKE small layouts.  So the 800mm module on the right has been dropped off, and is being developed as a stand-alone N-club scenic module.  And I’ve really enjoyed working on a single, small, board, with a clear idea of what I am trying to portray.  (All will be revealed in a week or so, as I am taking the board to Stuttgart.)

So do I scrap three years work and does it matter?  In one sense no, as I have had a lot of fun building and learning as I have built the modules.  And it wouldn’t be a total scrap job.  I was wondering whether to keep the left hand end board, drop the second left one out, and then relay the sidings on the 1200mm board.  This would then make a 2m long switching layout – perhaps something like this, that I recently posted about….

The double track N-club main line would still run along the front of the layout and not need rewiring.

If I do this, what could I improve in my modelling?  I think the key thing would be better trackwork.  PECO is not bad, but doesn’t look that good and the clearances are very coarse.  Also, code 40 rather than code 55 rail will improve things.  If it were a UK layout, FineTrax would be a good option, but I might have to think about making my own track on copper clad sleepers.  I’ve done it before (when I was at school….) and no doubt I could relearn these skills.  Add a limited amount of weathered rolling stock, with the new Microtrains Scale Couplers, and a couple of locomotives, and I’ll have just about the right length of operating session.

And maybe DCC and sound???????

I’ll let you know what I’m going to do, gentle reader, when I have some idea myself!

Well, it’s been quite some week……

The new budgie has been named ‘Busta’, as he spends his whole time trying to break out of his cage…..

And sit on the lampshade…..

Chantelle, my youngest, completed her music course at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, having deferred it for over a year due to illness.  All delivered with half an hour to spare at 2:30pm, having picked the dissertation up from the bookbinders.  I think she only had 2 hours sleep last night, and finished an essay in the car to upload at ACM…. Still, she got there, and it should be good enough to get her degree. I am now less stressed!

She did a final set at ACM for her exams, and this was excellent.  Forgive the proud father who has attached the YouTube video (20 minutes), taken on my phone…..

And on the principle – if you want something done, give it to a busy man – I’ve made a lot of progress on my N-club module.  More photos to follow, and it should be seen in the flesh (without the snow scene) at the Stuttgart meet….