ESNG meeting – 5th December 2013

Posted on December 6, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

A fairly quiet evening again tonight – cold weather and Christmas coming soon, I guess.  Still, we did get a circuit running, as these photos show….

setup1 setup2

Trains running included Derek’s Kowloon Canton Railway train, a Kato model with double decked coaches and a loco at each end, that ran from Hong Kong to Canton.  This took me back a bit, to 1992, and driving on the Tolo Highway in Hong Kong.  If you timed it right, you could track this train for a couple of miles, as it was travelling quite slowly to find a path between the local Kowloon to Lo Wu stopping trains.

And that took me back further still, to 1985, and standing on Mongkok station with my 2 year old daughter.  Mongkok is in a tunnel, and in those days, the pig trains were still running from China.  Imagine a train of stock cars full of rather upset pigs at the end of a longish journey.  The smell lingered for at least 20 minutes after the train went by.

Never mind, there would be fresh sweet and sour pork available the next day….

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There is a prototype for everything….

Posted on December 4, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

rerailer

You thought that brown plastic rerailer was unrealistic?  (Photo, source unknown).

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Jon’s modules – a little simplification

Posted on December 1, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

As I mentioned in the last post, the design ideas in the ‘Missing conversation’ got me thinking about my LV modules.

As originally planned, the short line interchange had a loop and two more or less equal length sidings.  One would be for interchange of cars between main and short lines and the other would have industries set out along it.

route_lehighvalleybranch_interchangemap

But I although I liked this plan, something was not quite right about it visually.  I didn’t like the fact that I would have two or three buildings set along the back siding.  A bit of thinking and doodling came up with the modified plan below.

lvr_simplified

If I got rid of the short spur on the loop (saving a point), the first siding could be lengthened as shown above.  The second siding could remain as before.  This revision has, I think, two benefits.  Firstly, the industries and freight house (sketched in brown above) are now staggered and visually more interesting.  Secondly, the long siding will be more interesting to operate.  The left hand end will still be for interchange, but the right hand end will serve an industry.  To get to this industry, the cars in the interchange will need to be moved.  This is common on the prototype, but less so on our model railroads, where we tend to keep our shunting / switching simple.  This looks like a good modification to me.

Luckily,  I have only got as far as laying the left hand end of this board….

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Layout design – different voices – the missing conversation

Posted on November 30, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

I have recently discovered a series of digital (PDF) books that have provided new inspiration in modelling.  Mike Cougill models in P:48 (American O gauge 1:48, but with prototype gauge and standards).  He writes on the O Scale Trains magazine blog at http://www.ostpubs.com/.  His ‘Missing Conversation’ digital books can be purchased there give a fresh look at scale modelling including layout design.  Recommended even for N gauge modellers.

Some quotes that I particularly liked were:

If you don’t have enough space for a layout, stop adding track.

When it comes to a layout, what’s most important to you?

Exploring the questions of “why” in the planning of a layout takes us to a different place. A place where we might just discover what really matters to us about prototype railroading and the ways we represent that with this hobby.

Starting with the question of why instead of how begins to clarify the deeper meaning the hobby carries for each of us and once we’re clear in our understanding of that, choosing how to express that meaning becomes much simpler.

The reasons given for tearing out an existing layout center on issues of boredom. The challenge has gone or it was never there in the first place. The question acknowledges there are turning points in this hobby.

His latest publication, ‘Composing a scene’ describes how he removed sidings from an already small and sparsely tracked layout to improve its visual composition and its realistic operation.  It got me thinking about my modules – more in another post.

There are so many resources available at present to inspire realistic modelling.  And less track doesn’t necessarily mean less operational potential – again, that’s another post!

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ESNG meeting – 28 November 2013

Posted on November 28, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

We unloaded the fiddle yard and corners and other bits and pieces from the van on Monday night, Duncan having returned from Stuttgart.  Wednesday night we got it all out again to put up a (small) N-club circuit.

We were slightly low on numbers, but there were plenty of trains running.  A number of new purchases from Germany did the rounds, as did Paul’s Japanese stock.

Jon, Derek (the Apps) and Ian made a quick trip to St Joseph’s school to look at the options for catering at next year’s exhibition.  Derek will measure up this week, and I hope to get a first plan out soon.  Our new venue has the advantages of being on one level, with an on-site car park, and rooms that are probably easier to plan than at the Methodist Hall.

We will be meeting again next Thursday, as this meeting was put back a week.  We will also be holding meetings on the planned dates of 18 December and 2 January – the members present felt that few of us would be away, and we should keep to the same dates.

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“Looks like the junior/senior members have been operating again….”

Posted on November 27, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

junior_members (Photo source unknown)

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Hints & tips – Use templates for drawing turnouts

Posted on November 25, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

Most overly optimistic track plan sketches result from underestimating the length and overestimating the angles of turnouts. Templates preclude cheating and subsequent disappointment. They can be homemade or commercial.

CAD software ensures precision and produces high-quality printouts. There are several commercial design programs available for those who are willing to invest the time required to become proficient. Modelers who have personal computers may want to consider using CAD software, as the layering, ease of making changes, printouts, and 3-D rendering capabilities make it well worth climbing the steep learning curve.

The second most frequent cause of overly optimistic track plan sketches is improper alignment of the straight (tangent) track with the curves. Again, this can be corrected by using templates that ideally include transition easements between the tangent and constant-radius curve or by using CAD or layout design software.

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Pigeons, Sir??

Posted on November 23, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

pigeons3-D printing is quite the up and coming thing at the moment – although smooth surfaces are still a bit of a problem.  But you can buy some potentially useless items for your layout.  How about N-gauge pigeons?  They come in packs of 121 or 484. (Why 121?  11 x 11 on a sheet, I guess).  Perhaps Duncan could add some to the Houses of Parliament, though these don’t look fat enough for a London pigeon living on a diet of ham sandwiches and crisps.  See http://www.shapeways.com/model/499052/n-scale-1-160-pigeons-set-of-121.html

UPDATE – Only 3 pigeons were recorded on the Houses of Parliament…..

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Back from Stuttgart….

Posted on November 23, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

I went for two of the four days. The show finishes Sunday afternoon. Impressions below, and photos to follow…..

The show was up to the usual standard.  The N-gauge modular layout had its usual mix of very good, and perhaps more average, modelling.  There were some interesting HO and HO-m layouts as well, but perhaps not as good as last year’s, when two Dutch layouts really stood out.

The good:

  • Set up was very quick, as we weren’t on the end of a long line of modules and having to wait for everyone else.
  • Operation was fun, as we had control of a major junction.  It got a bit lively at times, with trains coming from three directions.
  • The Thursday night social was very good.

The bad:

  • The barrel of Sussex bitter ran out half way through Thursday night.  I guess we had too many vistors through the day testing it (to say nothing of the ESNG members). 
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Hey ho, hey ho, it’s off to Stuttgart we go

Posted on November 20, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

On a plane later to a very cold and possibly snowy Stuttgart.

I haven’t got the technology to ‘live-blog’ it, so I’m signing off till Saturday!  Remember, no ESNG meeting tonight, but one on the 27 November.

But here’s a picture to remind you what it’s all about…..

pint

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