I’m walking backwards for Christmas – 3

Posted on July 28, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

Mainly train remains today….

Spent the day on a tour of the closed lines on the IOM. Sunny. Left hotel early to catch the closed lines tour we had booked, which was basically Douglas-Peel-Ramsey-Douglas with 2 side trips.

The fine entrance to Douglas station….

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Union Mills Station.  Home too of the much lamented N gauge loco manufacturer.

My favourite IOM loco – and the only 0-6-0T.  Caledonia at the site of WW1 internment camp.

Peel.

Kirk Michael viaduct and station.

Queens Pier Ramsey is being rebuilt and this train is just standing at start of 50 metre stretch.

Allan did manage to find another train running!

Curragh Wildlife Park – compare the market.com but no sign of the wombat.  (Meercat thinks – what are these strange creatures watching me for?  Are they edible??  Am I edible???)

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I’m walking backwards for Christmas – 2

Posted on July 27, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

And so to the next day.  The English summer continues….

Wet and Windy all day till this evening. Bus into Douglas then MER to Laxey then up to Snaefell where visibility was limited.

Douglas Bay.  Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside?

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And on to a wet Laxey….

But the trams look good, rain or shine….

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The less said about the top of Snaefell the better….

Wet, windy and misty.  A funny point and the the area where the tram stop had specific paving stones.

Back at sea level…

It turned out a lovely evening in Port Erin for the first gathering of the transport week.

Then this turned up.

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I’m walking backwards for Christmas – 1

Posted on July 26, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

Allan & Ron have returned to the Isle of Man for the transport week.  So this week we’ll have photos of trains, trams, and perhaps even horses.  And no doubt there will be a picture of some interesting local delicacy (food or drink, that is….)

The holiday started in Liverpool via Chester…..

Travelled today by train to Chester via Liverpool for our overnight stay prior to catching ferry tomorrow morning.  Long journey to Liverpool because of engineering working and waits of up to 20 mins at major stations.  No ticket check until we got to Chester.

Next morning…..

Heavy rain. Sitting in departure lounge for ferry.

The same rain that wrecked England’s chances in the Test Match.  I blame Allan & Ron!

Chester station.

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Gerry & the Pacemakers’ boat – Ferry across the Mersey.

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IOM ferry from departure lounge.  Is that an icebreaker on the bow, for the English summer?

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And so to a miserable looking Calf of Man….

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However, the day improved with some solid trainspotting (and riding!)

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To round the day off, we went for the last round-trip on route 28, Port Erin to Calf Sound. When we got there we were talking to the driver about the up coming transport week, Only to find out he owned 3 Ribble Leyland Leopards. He then asked if we would like to see the Leyland PD2 (I think) in the garage at Port Erin on our return. Now that was a no brainer….

More next time…

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ESNG meeting – 23 July 2023

Posted on July 24, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

A busy club afternoon, with a whole 11 members attending – even with the Cha(i)rman on holiday, and Lucas failing to wake up!  It was especially good to have a visit from Paul and John, and to have lots of Paul’s new Japanese trains running – just like old times.  And there was quite a lot of competition for the DCC track, too….

But first, Simon was showing us the 3D Simon clone printed by Modelu.  It conjours up the rather narcissistic idea of populating your layout entirely with models of yourself.  Nasty….  It also prompted the comment that some members would probably have to pay for OO models due to the volume of plastic needed.  I’ll move quickly on….

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Good to see some Japanese bullet trains (amongst others) on the main line….

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In contrast, Phil and I were running railcars…

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Old and new UK goods trains….

Japan….

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Europe….

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And the UK…

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The usual (and unusual) suspects.  Now we’ve got DCC, everyone seems to be constantly looking at their phones…..

And good to see Brian…. And his camera….

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Pevensey Bay MRC Show 15th July 2023

Posted on July 22, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

Mr Dawes sent me a few pictures of the N gauge layouts at this show.

Crilvington Town by Kevin Leggett of the WSNG. is still under construction.

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Chilcompton Tunnel by Alastair Steele.  I really liked this layout.  Very, very, simple, but scale trackwork and a great place to watch the trains go by.

And Swanswell NSE by Phil Gardner.

And on Sunday it was buses….

Popped down to Godstone Green on Sunday for the low floor running day. Saw two and went to get a tea and a sandwich. When I got out there were people everywhere.

Looks like a touch of the ESNG’s here…..  Some trackulence and Bill Osbornes wrecker…..

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ESNG meeting – 19 July 2023

Posted on July 20, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

We started today’s meeting with a working afternoon.  Five members started off, to be joined by another later.  An afternoon of variable success.  I managed to get the last bits of railway out of the church office.  The last two old (25 years) corners went to the tip, and I salvaged the timber from the carrying frames.  The canal scene has always been the best corner scenically, so we managed to prise out the canal scene from the rest of the board.  I hope to use this in an NCI module.

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The rest of the afternoon was less successful, as Derek and Derek tried to work out how to put the wheels on the carrying trolley for the new corners.  Next time, we hope to have the answer!

Come the evening, we were joined by yet another member, to run a few trains.  I put my new Ferry Wagons on the track.  Despite some fettling, they are still running stiffly, and could do with a little more weight.  But they do look good.

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American steam from Simon….

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An attractive short goods from one Derek….

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And some European stock from the other one….

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Back again Sunday afternoon….

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Non-action update!

Posted on July 18, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

Sorry for the lack of posts recently.  My modelling mojo (and writing mojo) had run a bit low.  I have managed to buy myself two more NGS Ferry Vans, making four in total.  Lovely models….

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The models are not as free-running as one might wish, mainly due to the wheel flanges catching the detailed brake gear.  A few minutes work with a scalpel pared a little plastic away from the brakes, and they seem to run better now.

Enthused by this, I returned to the loft on Saturday for another modelling session – and promptly sliced my thumb with a scalpel.  So I’m now taking a few days off for a little healing to occur!

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However, I have managed to pick up a few new books to read (or at least look at the pictures.)

I have an excellent book on the railways of Jamaica, so I couldn’t resist this one about Trinidad.  It’s fascinating, with a standard gauge main line, plus narrow gauge sugar cane and refinery railways.  Plus a lot of social history.  

I will never get around to building one, but a tropical model railway has many attractions – not least the mixture of UK and US stock found on the Caribbean railways.

 

 

Next up, two Isle of Wight albums.  Both full of fine colour photos of the island lines in their later days – but early enough to include the Newport and Cowes lines. 

Lastly, Bob Essey’s book on the M&GNR.  I have a soft spot for this line, the ‘other’ Norfolk railway apart from the Great Eastern.  It might be the locomotive livery – a golden brown that looked lovely passing through the yellow gorse of north Norfolk’s heathland.  And they had some lovely ‘oddities’, especially their 4-4-0T tank engines.

 

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There will be some blogs over the next few days – we have a couple of ESNG meetings coming up.

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ESNG meeting – 9 July 2023

Posted on July 10, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

A busy railway weekend.  Friday night, Allan, Derek and I paid a visit to the West Sussex N Gauge club, partly to discuss Stuttgart plans.  We enjoyed a pleasant drive through the countryside to get there, and saw a number of old friends.

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Sunday saw 10 ESNG members gathering, and plenty of trains moving, especially on the DCC track once Sean had done something magic with it.

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The treasurer was doing a little woodwork on a new trolley – it’s to move corners into the cupboard, rather than to move the aging ESNG members around the hall.

There seems to have been a local Pendolino delivery.  One Virgin, two Virgins, three Virgins.  Reminds me of an old joke that I won’t repeat on this blog!

Varied DCC running….

On the main line….

Derek’s prototype Deltic with 14 coaches behind….

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And my tanker train headed by a Jinty….

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Finally, Brian produced an excellent video.  This one includes a sound track from the DCC track!

Of course the evening ended with a curry – and a chance to admire the Ruchita’s new mural on the end wall of the building.

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A Talent in the Family

Posted on July 8, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

My niece Lois, who is a fully qualified doctor, has a side line in fine art.  Most of the family were amazed that she opted for a medical degree, rather than art.  But it does make sense to qualify in a skill that’s in demand, and keep the art for a hobby – at least for now.

Lois recently exhibited a few pictures, and also arranged for some to be available as a print.  To support the family business, I couldn’t resist this print of her local station in Manchester, at night.

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I’d really like her to part with this one, of Manchester Piccadilly.  The overhead and the signal are very well observed.  Perhaps we’ll make a railway modeller of her yet!

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Meanwhile, in Berlin, Ruth is still generating jigsaws.  She didn’t design this one, but it does include some of her local area that I know well.  The eagle-eyed will spot the yellow U-Bahn, the canal, and the pink area heating pipes.  The very astute will also spot Ruth (with a suntan), Cory, Daddy & Enya (disgracing herself!)

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Michael sent me this post.  The changing face of Thomas….

So, to stop the family adverts, here’s the longest model railway in the world.  And I have difficulty maintaining a few feet of N gauge…..

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ESNG meeting – 5 July 2023

Posted on July 6, 2023 by snitchthebudgie

Well, it was the evening everyone was waiting for – the ESNG AGM.  Nine members braved this event, whilst another ten wisely gave apologies for absence!

It was a pleasant and amiable meeting.  The existing committee was returned very quickly, there being no other (voluntary) nominations.  Meetings will stay one the same days each month.   Ideas for next year’s exhibitions were discussed.  It was agreed to dispose of some of the old bits of modules currently lurking in Mr Atfield’s garage.

Perhaps the only weighty item was the lack of new members, and any way we could change that.  And I’m afraid that there were no great ideas.  It’s just a problem that most organisations have these days.  And we also wondered whether we could exhibit externally a bit more.

So, with that out the way, you might like to go trainspotting on the Southern in 1992….

Or enjoy this excellent model of the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway…

https://www.facebook.com/modelsoftheRHDR

Or a Class 37 with endless new wagons behind…

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