Stuttgart N-Club meet is close….

Posted on November 3, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Only a couple of weeks and the ESNG visit to Stuttgart will be under way.

There is more to plan this time with two vehicles going to the show.  We’ve had to decide what will go in which vehicle, and organise the food for the social on the Thursday.  Fortunately Derek has completed the two new boards needed for the show!

There are two new ideas at the show this year.  Firstly, a ‘behind the scenes’ tour, where visitors can go behind the layouts and see how they are built and operated.  Nice idea that could be emulated at UK shows?  But I hope our visitors speak English!  Secondly there will be a section of the circuit with a procession of trains from various countries, together with a commentary and PowerPoint presentation.  We have come up with this for the UK and available stock:

  • Pre-grouping
    • Queen Victoria’s Jubilee train.  A flight of fancy by Derek behind an LBSC Terrier.
    • GWR 14xx 0-4-2 plus autocoach.
  • Grouping
    • LMS locomotive plus private owner goods train.
    • Southern N-Class 2-6-0 plus Maunsell coaches and luggage stock.
    • Southern goods train, plus Terrier.
  • Nationalisation
    • Battle of Britain 4-6-2 plus Bulleid coaches.
    • British Railways standard 2-6-4 tank plus goods train.
  • Modernisation
    • Class 33 diesel plus BR Mk1 coaches (in all 5 liveries carried by this design classic)
    • Blue Pullman
  • Privatisation
    • Virgin Voyager DMU
    • Class 60 diesel plus steel wagons
    • Eurostar EMU

Not entirely representative, but a flavour of British railway history.

ESNG will be well represented.  We have 5 members there for the whole time, and another 2 (plus my Michael, who appears out of the woodwork for ESNG shows) for part of it, and another 3 (plus the hon. auditor) doing a day trip on Friday.

Michael and I fly out on the Friday night, and have Saturday and Sunday there, flying home Sunday.  Saturday and Sunday are (naturally) the busiest days at the show, but the hall is big enough not to seem too crowded.  I am unlikely to have the Wi-Fi available to live-blog the show, but I suspect Allan will mail me pictures from the first two days (hint) and I’ll write it all up when we get home.

ESNG appears in the N-Club magazine, below, along with the show poster.

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Abingdon & District MRC Exhibition 31 October 2015

Posted on November 1, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

I’ve just had a week off work, and a morning at a model railway show to finish off the week seemed a good idea.  (I had aimed to get lots of modelling done, but I seemed to have spent more time socialising!)  Looking at the model press, the Abingdon show seemed to have over 50% 2mm and N gauge exhibits.  So off to Didcot – a slightly long but simple drive – to the Civic Centre, that is a very pleasant modern venue, and ideal for a model railway show.

I understand the theme of the show was to give ideas of ‘home sized’ layouts.  So there were plenty of – if not all – small layouts and N gauge, as noted, was represented by 6 layouts.  There were two layouts I especially liked.

City Basin Goods modelled a typical city freight station, once common in many large towns, but now totally extinct.  I’ve mentioned before my soft spot for passenger full brakes and luggage vans, so this layout was very much of interest.  The freight station combined the shunting found in a yard with station platforms – a good prototype to model.

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Barton Hill took up the well-worn theme of a diesel loco depot to good effect.  The main lines in the background were used effectively not only to feed engines into the yard from the local station, but also to run the occasional DMU between the fiddle yards at either end of the layout.

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And an honourable mention for ‘Dead End Yard’, a tiny ‘Inglenook’ shunting layout.  Operating a layout like this all day takes stamina!!

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2mm was represented by ‘Freshwater’ and ‘Burnham on Sea’, both inspiring examples of 2mm fine scale modelling.  But I forgot to take photos of them – too interested in the modelling I suspect!

Also of note was, Little Hister, an O gauge branch terminus.  Pretty standard in many ways, but some good modelling and nice rolling stock.  I suspect most O gauge layouts will soon have a Dapol ‘Terrier’ on display – what a lovely model (though I prefer the adjacent G6.)

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There were also representatives from OO, EM and Z gauge, and a few trade stands.  All in all a very nice small show in an excellent venue.  Well worth the drive!

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Off my trolley – Toronto 1995

Posted on October 30, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

As I carry on digitizing my slides and old family photographs, I continue to come across pictures I never knew I’d taken.  Not least these two very smart Toronto PCC cars, taken on a 1995 visit to Maxine’s family.  I’d forgotten I’d seen these fine looking trolleys, but there again I hadn’t caught the traction bug back then – I was soon to join ESNG (not quite in existence then) and start modelling in N gauge.

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And a double-stack container train.  We had a long wait at the level crossing….

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Of poor quality, but with lots of interesting stock and details, are these two pictures of Norwich Thorpe shed and station around 1965.  It’s notable just how busy the station is, and there are plenty of new diesels and DMUs on display.

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Software malfunction?

Posted on October 28, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

This blog is not political or commercial.  But this picture deserves an audience!  Thanks to David (who sells VW campers) and was about to take this photo into the office when I borrowed it.

Anyway, I’ve decided that my next car will be a VW.  If they’re that clever…..

vw

 

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Not true – I prefer Thomas!

Posted on October 26, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Another Facebook contribution from Allan…..

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Actually, I don’t think this is true.  There’s nothing wrong with Thomas the Tank Engine and I might prefer an LBSCR E1 class and a 4-4-0 to an American monster.  I was brought up on Thomas, as was no. 1 son Michael (who wouldn’t eat dinner unless watching a Thomas video.)  Anyway, I bet the American ones don’t come with Ringo Starr and the original TV series had some excellent modelling to look at!

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ESNG meeting – 21 October 2015

Posted on October 24, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Another fairly busy evening with 10 members present.  But no chairman.  Once again the 2am milk round defeated him!

There were plenty of trains on the move.  I had a train of MicroTrains coaches running.  I realised I had 8 of them, having picked up a few here and there as potential Lehigh Valley rebuilds.  Neil had seen the light and was running sensible trains – SECR grey and Southern green N 2-6-0’s and Maunsell coaches.  Plus a nice pre-nationalisation good train, Paul’s inevitably bullet train, and Graham’s Super Chief.

Meanwhile, Duncan had taken time out from landscaping his Nm layout to come and sort out final planning for Stuttgart.  It’s less than a month away now!  We worked through transport, catering, presentations and the like, and things seem moderately under control.  I’m looking forward to another visit, and will enjoy a couple of days with my son, Michael, who is coming out too.  One year I really will go for the full 4 days, and visit Stuttgart itself – I have yet to get far beyond the Messe exhibition hall!

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Odd modelling idea #692

Posted on October 22, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Thank you, Duncan, for this wonderful link.  It is all in German, but a link to the UK Evening Standard gives this interesting text….

The strangest football stadium in the world? Train line runs through the ground of a Slovakian amateur team

There are a number of things that could potentially distract football players during matches – but a train hurtling its way past a pitch during a game has got to be perhaps the most unusual – and distracting – of them all.

However, that is the reality for Slovakian amateur team TJ Tatran Čierny Balog, who play their games next to a railway track that regularly has trains making its way past the ground – even during matches.

A video uploaded onto social media by a fan attending a game involving the Slovakian team shows just how focused players must be as a steam train travels along the length of the pitch during a match while spectators sitting in stands just in front of the track watch on.

Aside from the fact that a train goes right past the ground, the noise made by the engine coupled with the steam emitted from the train prove to be the ultimate distraction for players – although supporters certainly seem to enjoy the show with many taking pictures and indeed videos of the unusual scene.

So would you like to model a railway, albeit a small narrow-gauge line BETWEEN the football pitch and the spectators in the stand.  I guess it wouldn’t really work for 4 track N-mod though – the bullet trains would affect play!

 

 

 

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A little personal conceit…

Posted on October 20, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

I received this picture from my eldest daughter, currently on holiday in San Francisco.  Nice to see the family name at ‘Bartlett and 23rd’.  Perhaps this could be a feature of my future interurban layout?  Whatever the location.

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Apart from the personal touch, the street scene is interesting, as the buildings are not so different from a standard DPM kit – you could get away with those buildings anywhere.  Which reminds me of a recent post on the Model Railroad Hobbyist forum with a picture of Lancing, Iowa by Bob Bochenek.  This is pure DPM!

DPM

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King’s Cross, January 1970

Posted on October 18, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Scanning some more old photographs, I came across these pictures of King’s Cross on a raw January day in 1970.  My camera was awful, so apologies for the fuzzy focus.  But I’d forgotten what a great place the end of the platform at King’s Cross was.  Most trains were locomotive hauled and Deltic’s were very much in evidence.

The station throat and diesel stabling point set the modelling mojo working.  All very compact, despite the size of the terminus.  Oh to go back to 1970 with a modern digital camera!  I’d settle for that, though perhaps a few years earlier with a station full of steam and A4’s would be even better.  Enjoy….k1 k2 k3 k5 k6 k7 k9 k10

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Just like the real thing….

Posted on October 16, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Allan sent me this little gem…

Did you see or hear about this yesterday?  A Southern 455 EMU comes apart between second & third coach.  Luckily was an ECS movement into Victoria.

For ECS read ’empty coaching stock’?  When the same thing happens on our layout (or indeed yours if you like) we can say that we’re modelling a typical and prototypical Southern Railway movement.  Or course, if you’ve fitted Dapol Scharfenberg couplers to your stock, you will already be familiar with accidental uncoupling!

uncoupling

 

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