ESNG meeting – 16 December 2015

Posted on December 19, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Another busy evening, and I again took home the Brighton Belle unopened.  We had 10 members present, plus a most excellent chocolate cake from Miles and Sue.  The cake went home smaller, and we went home larger.  It seemed to be a UK-free evening on the circuit, with a variety of Japanese, American and Continental stock on view.  Pride of place went to Paul’s Christmas special, with a snowman and (out 0f gauge) Christmas tree on low-loaders, and Thomas, Annie and Claribel being towed to the scrapyard.

And after the weekend’s exhibition, it ‘clicked’ how to lay out the main school hall for the 2016 ESNG show.  No N-club, I’m afraid, but an ‘L’ shaped layout much as we set up at the weekend.  This will allow me to complete the square with the ‘L’ shaped Azuza Street layout.  Come the New Year, it will be time to start emailing exhibitors and to start the final run in to April.

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Welsh Highland Railway

Posted on December 17, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

My old colleague Roger sent me these lovely shots of trains on, and views from, the Welsh Highland Railway through Snowdonia.  I’m also told that the pub in the background is wonderful, and as the banner claims, won a pub of the year award.  Long way to go for a pint, though…..

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Cool(ings) Runnings

Posted on December 15, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Last weekend ESNG spent two days exhibiting at the Garden of England Model Fest, at Cooling’s Garden Centre, located at the whimsically named Pratt’s Bottom, near Sevenoaks.  A new show, aiming to make some money for charity, it was held in the same greenhouses where Cooling’s run craft fairs.  Not a bad venue, although it did get a bit cold and dank overnight, and there was a drip through the roof, that fortunately didn’t hit anything vital.  It was also bit ‘cool’ on the first day, but they must have put the thermostat up a bit on the Sunday!  The glass roof did mean that the lighting was good, but I wouldn’t want to do a show here on a sunny summer’s day – though there were roof blinds.

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We took an end-to-end N-mod circuit, that ran well on the whole.  The curves at one end were a bit tight for some trains, and the end-to-end set up meant that it required concentration to keep more than two trains one the move.  Eric went ‘Southern’ with a selection of locomotives that might have been seen in British Railways days in the South-East.  One pleasure of the show was the higher percentage of families visiting the show.  No hyper-critical grouchy old modellers, but plenty of young faces fascinated by the trains.  Except for the one who spat on the track….  At least his mum brought him back to apologise and had a baby wipe handy to apply TLC to the track!

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There were a number of other railways scattered through the hall.  Fiddlers End shows what you can do on a narrow shelf in ‘N’.

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The local Orpington club brought their test track along, and provided us with a procession of ‘O’ and ‘OO’ trains to watch.

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A little narrow gauge whimsy of a narrow gauge line in Victorian London.

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The last week of London trams past through Charlton Village.

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The Great Western in Wales.  And an interesting idea for a ‘set piece’ for a layout – repainting a coach in the paint shop.  They appear to be applying grey overcoat over the chocolate and cream….

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Elsewhere there were plenty of other hobbies on show, including Meccano (I sold my childhood box to an enthusiast) and ships.  Also there were radio controlled trucks, doll’s houses, and a range of trade of various types.  Derek and I spent too much, as we took pity on the traders who didn’t seem to be doing too well.

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Overall, I think the show just about broke even, perhaps not helped by a lack of publicity.  But ESNG had a fun couple of days playing trains, talking to visitors, impressing children, and maybe getting a few show invites for next year.

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Off my trolley – Southern Pacific San Fernando Valley branch

Posted on December 13, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Not quite ‘Off my trolley’ but in the vicinity.  Some while back I looked at the Pacific Electric station at North Hollywood as a potential modular layout.  Running closely parallel to the Pacific Electric at this location is the Southern Pacific San Fernando Valley branch.  I came across the ‘Rails West’ website via ‘Andrew’s Trains’.  Here there are two articles on the SP branch.  Although there are few references to North Hollywood, and the photos come from a post-PE 1970’s era, they give an excellent overview of the area, and the traffic on the branch, all recorded by the blogger’s friend B. Smith.  These articles can be found here and here.

The author sets the scene:

The San Fernando Valley inside of and adjacent to Los Angeles has a rich history. A number of Indian tribes lived there prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1769. Missions dotted the landscape. The Valley became part of United States in the late 1840s. The Southern Pacific arrived in the 1870s. Wheat and other commodities produced in the Valley were important sources of traffic. Overtime, the SP spread across the Valley.

The second post describes the traffic in and out in great detail, almost car by car:

The San Fernando Valley Branch in 1973 was an interesting operation with a lot of traffic. There was a wide variety of shippers and a good deal of team track traffic. B. Smith, the author of the below profile he wrote in 1973, talked to owners/managers of each business/industry located along the tracks as well as the Southern Pacific Railroad’s area manager who allowed him access to the railroad’s records. Here is some of what he learned. It gives us all a glimpse into 1970s to probably the late 1980s-early 1990s operations when single car traffic was still common and embraced by larger railroads. The diversity of the team traffic business really caught my eye.

About North Hollywood:

SP records show the following companies using team tracks from January thru October, 1973:

North Hollywood Team Track average 6 cars per month (3 to 15 per month)
Capital Insulation
Sta-Soil Corp. – wood fiber
Valley Moulding Co.
Valley Sales (lumber)
Village Cycle (motorcycle parts)

North Hollywood Glass and Mirror Co. moved to the present location 35 years ago so a spur track could be extended into the warehouse to facilitate unloading. Relies more on trucks now but still needs the railroad, especially for shipments from the eastern US. Shipments of jumbo plate glass require rail because it is too big for trucks, but demand for jumbo plate glass has been declining. Receives an average of 5 cars per month

But the conclusion is a sad one:

The Van Nuys area had four fuel dealers served by rail in the past. There was also a feed warehouse, now torn down. Canoga Feed was no longer in business, and George Milling Co. had recently gone out of business, although I had seen a grain car spotted in their spur track in May, 1972. The San Fernando Valley was becoming totally urbanized. No longer were there small farms and orchards nor the keeping of chickens, goats, horses, or cows. Older tracks of small single family homes were being replaced by apartment complexes, thus the need for a lot of lumber and building supplies.

To finish, I’ve reproduced a couple of my favourite photos from the blogs.  The first black-and-white one is very evocative of local goods, whilst the second shows some very modelable industry (is it North Hollywood?).  The final colour shot is good to show the ground colouring and tones.  There are plenty of others in the original blog.

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Today’s local. Trains ran daily in 1972.—©photo by B. Smith

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SP’s San Fernando Valley branch had many building supply firms served by sidings and team tracks. All inbound loads, outbound empties.–©photo B. Smith

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Team track in Reseda. –©photo B. Smith

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Model Railway Journal no. 243

Posted on December 11, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

The Model Railway Journal was once a regular read for me.  Nowadays, as I am less a scratchbuilder, I just pick up the occasional copy when it looks interesting.  Issue 243 was one such issue, with a lot of interest for modellers of any skill and scale.

.  MODEL-RAILWAY-JOURNAL_NO-243.jpeRichard Harper’s P4 layout based on the Sidmouth branch in early BR days contained some inspiring modelling.  This is a new layout that hasn’t appeared in the model press, so there are no photographs I can reproduce, except the magazine cover above.  However, I came across these photographs of some of the locomotives that he has built for the layout on the Scalefour Society site.  Attractive models of attractive small locomotives.

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The main take away point I got from the article was the size of the station.  Slightly compressed, the layout  is 5.7m long in 4mm scale, for a well appointed single line branch terminus.  It reminded me that most city stations, for all their complexity, take little more room than a sprawling branch terminus.

Next to read was Gordon Gravett’s article on painting a backscene.  His scenic work is some of the best around (and his books on scenery are recommended.)

Then Tim Peacock described building an ex-LNER articulated twin-coach suburban set, and the joys of having your own design produced as an etched kit, or scratch aid.  I’ve always rather liked these articulated designs, and found the article full of good advice.

Lastly, an article by Mick Simpson on building a 2mm fine-scale turnout using one of their Easitrac beginners kits.  These have been developed in much the same way – and with plenty of discussion with – the ‘N’ gauge ‘Finetrax’ kits.  Both use code 40 rail and pre-formed plastic bases, to make construction as easy as possible.  Another very interesting read, and one day I must have a go at one.

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All in all an excellent edition, and I think I shall have to start reading this journal regularly….

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Odd modelling idea #2748

Posted on December 9, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Here are a few more, “Believe it or not” scenes to add to your layout.

We’ve all seen strange animals on layouts, such as dinosaurs and alien landings.  Definitely a case of Rule 1 – it’s my railway.  But how about this, reported in the Daily Telegraph?

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A man who discovered a five-foot goanna [lizard] climbing across the side of his house in Australia said he “couldn’t have been more shocked if a Martian had landed”.

Eric Holland, 80, was working in the shed in his back garden when he heard a banging noise and emerged to discover the giant reptile splayed across the side wall of his house.

He said the creature’s claws “had to be bloody 40 millimetres [1.6 inches] long at least”.  “It blew the cobwebs out of me,” he told ABC News…. My yellow streak started to show and I jumped back in the shed….

“I’ll be wearing my long pants and my big boots outside, that’s for sure.”

And a new set of underwear, I reckon….

If you can’t cope with monster lizards, how about this donkey in the back of a police car?   It reminds me of the story of a preacher who recruited a real donkey for a Christmas service – and didn’t realise that most donkeys have weak bladders.  And please let me know if you have a source of ‘N’ gauge donkeys.  Derek needs some for his latest module!

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And lastly, what to do with all your spare PECO points.  Think of all the time and money saved on wiring and point motors.  From SCNF, via N-Gauge Forum…

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First look at new Crossrail trains

Posted on December 7, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

I’ve been a bit short of prototype posts recently – too many exhibitions to visit, I guess.  So here’s an article from the Telegraph.  These new Crossrail trains are due to enter service on the new cross-London line in 2017 and will have free Wi-Fi and 4G access – you need never miss an ESNGblog post (assuming I am still writing by then!)  The Telegraph reports:

TFL has unveiled designs for the new Crossrail trains due to enter service from May 2017.

Constructed by Bombardier, each train be will be one and a half times longer than the longest Tube, with nine walk-through carriages providing space for 1,500 passengers, and four dedicated wheelchair spaces.  With just 50 seats per carriage, 1,050 of those 1,500 potential passengers would have to stand.

Running between Reading to the west of London and Shenfield to the east, the train’s boast features including intelligent lighting and temperature control systems, and will use up to 30 per cent less energy through regenerating electricity back into the power supply when braking.

London mayor Boris Johnson said: “It’s fantastic to think that these sleek new trains will soon be transporting millions of people across our great city and beyond. They’re feature packed, eye-catching machines that showcase the best of British design and engineering. They’ll add vital capacity to our rail network and will help to ensure our economy continues its onward journey full-steam ahead. The largest construction project in Europe is another tantalising step closer to becoming a brand new working railway for the Capital.”

Go, Boris!!!!

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ESNG meeting – 3 December 2015

Posted on December 5, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Plenty of trains running tonight, with 10 members present.  Allan cried off, as he was not feeling well – well, at least his knees were out of sorts.  Graham and Simon managed to both bring their Kato Santa Fe Super Chief trains, so we had them both running and looking most impressive as they passed.  Derek tried out a few Stuttgart purchases.

Peter brought along a very nice Farish N Class in SECR grey.  All we need now is the birdcage coaches to match – they seem to have dropped right off the Bachmann production schedule.  And Paul had some interesting goods trains to show.  Phil was running a mixture of UK trains.  I had brought along my new, blue, Brighton Belle (a Black Friday bargain at less than half price direct from Hornby), but didn’t seem to get around to getting it out of the boxes.

Derek (the At) and myself spent some time planning for our next exhibition.

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Nice and local.  I gather this garden centre got an award for best of the year.  And that the accommodation is used for craft fairs, and is OK, if a bit cold.  From the website, it looks a multi-hobby show, but there are a fair number of layouts on show, and some reasonable trade.  We shall have a pleasant weekend running trains.

After a number of attempts to design a modular set up, we’ve opted for this one.  End-to-end, as our gate module for access into a continuous circuit is not working very well, and we didn’t think the Cha(I)rman’s knees, or indeed my knees, would survive a crawl under!  So we’ve got much the same circuit as we put up in Stuttgart.  Today I found that this is ideal, as we have been allocated a space with two long sides and one short visible to the public.

No doubt I’ll post a report of our exploits after next weekend.

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Folding baseboards from down-under

Posted on December 3, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

I do enjoy exploring modelling sites from other countries.  Invariably, they approach the hobby rather differently, and give new ideas for a UK based modeller.  Following links between sites, I came across Gav’s Workbench, Gavin Thrum’s site.  Gav has built layouts based on the South Australia Railway, the LMS, the GWR, and now the Virginian Railroad.  Truly a cosmopolitan modeller!!

Of interest to me, Gav produced a clever folding baseboard design with a very nice Australian switching layout on top.  He cites CJ Freezer’s ‘Minories’ plan as inspiration, but there is an extra fold in this board to include the fiddle yard as well.  I’ve reproduced the layout plans below, and a couple of photos, but do have a read of his site.

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I have come across a number of other small folding layouts.  Bryon Henderson designed this little N gauge switching layout for Model Railroad Planning.  Lots of operation in a 6′ x 1′ layout.

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The wonders of Warley

Posted on December 1, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

The big Warley MRC show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham didn’t clash with Stuttgart this year.  So less than a week after returning from Germany, I was off to Birmingham.

I forgot my camera, so I’ve no detailed record of the layouts, just my thoughts from the day.  But for those who would like to see a few pictures:

  • The Daily Telegraph has a set of photographs that nicely capture the atmosphere of the show (not the same atmosphere as discussed on the N-Gauge forum thread describing lack of deodorant and back packs at Warley).  The pictures are mostly of larger scale models, and there are a couple of dodgy captions, but it’s a good record.
  • Said N-Gauge Forum thread has some photos of the N-gauge layouts and trade products (on later pages after the chit-chat).
  • Discussion and a few photographs on RMweb.

My day started on the 7:18 from Redhill to Victoria, meeting up with Peter and Malcolm, two retired work colleagues, but still (amazingly) good friends.  A transfer across central London on the Victoria line left plenty of time for the first coffee of the day at Euston.  Then north to Birmingham on a Virgin Trains Pendolino unit.  First time I’d travelled on one of these.  I was very impressed by the high speeds and the noticeable tilting of the body on bends.  Less impressive was the lack of elbow-room due to the narrowing body to allow it to tilt.  It seemed like the railway equivalent of Concorde.

We arrived at the show before 10:30, and after identifying the coffee stand and arranging a meeting point for lunch – simple, ‘See where it says “BAR”‘, I set off around the show.  General impressions were that they had rented some extra hall space, and left wide corridors between exhibits – a most welcome improvement since I last was there.  I made the mistake of starting by circumnavigating the outside of the show, and was left wondering where the 96 layouts were.  This was because they were grouped together, mainly in blocks, and mostly in the middle of the hall.

However, there was plenty to look at in the trade, though little to buy.  I later discovered that my ESNG club-mates were shovelling (literally in one case) continental coaches into their bags at £5 a time.  I have no interest in German railways (although I was tempted by a ‘Flying Hamburger’ yet again in Stuttgart.)  There was an excellent group of ‘Small Suppliers’ stands selling interesting bits and pieces.  And I was again sorely tempted by an ‘O’ gauge Dapol Terrier, and by the ‘O’ gauge Heljan modern image stock.  Their Deltic may cost £500, but it is a wonderful model.  In the end, I picked up a UK parcels van and 4 US Microtrains wagons.

Soon time for lunch and a pint and pulled pork roll.  I think Peter only visits model railway shows for culinary items that he is not allowed at home.  Then off to explore the layouts.  There were good groups of ‘O’ gauge, narrow gauge, TT, Irish and American layouts, with plenty of everything else in between.  A tap on my shoulder was Cha(I)rman Allan, suggesting a cup of something.  I found the other ESNG members there, so the 6 of us sat and compared purchases.

It’s difficult to think of standout layouts.  There was a lot of very good modelling on show, but some of the best models seemed to be having too many derailments.  I think my two favourite layouts were the two circular ones on display.  I really like this format.  ‘Brafferton’ was a 6′ diameter 2mm fine scale branch line.  ‘Circle Line’ was even smaller, a simple double tracked modern image layout just 4’3” in diameter.  I’d probably have to go on a diet to operate it from the inside.

Our journey home was very quick, 2 1/4 hours door to door.  A Virgin Trains diesel unit took us south to Watford Junction, where we changed onto the West London line and a Southern train down to Clapham Junction.  From there it was a train to Redhill, and I was fortunate enough to walk straight onto a bus home.

All in all a good day out with good friends.  The Warley show seemed a lot better than last time I went, when I was slightly disappointed.  ESNG are exhibiting again in 2 weeks time, but after that I think I shall give up model railway shows till well into the new year – and try and build something of my own!

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