Silver Fox MRC show 2025 #1

I’ll try and catch up with the exhibition photos Allan has sent me.  We’ll go in reverse order, so start with the Silver Fox show – probably over two posts.  We’ll start with Shau Kei Wan (Hong Kong) tram terminal (OO).  Definitely comes first, as I’ve been there, done that a good number of times over the years.  Needs hundreds more little people, though.  I’ve never seen the place so empty!

Banbury (N) is an old favourite, and always worth a look to see what’s in the station.

Nakato International (N) is a Japanese racetrack, but a lot of fun!  Difficult to take a shot of a train without it blurring past at a blistering speed….

Branch line modelling at East Anstey (N).

Minimum space O with Barway Sidings, and some interesting scenery.

Heavy industry at Morfrail (OO).

A visit to East Anglia; Kimbolton (OO).

Sutton Bank TMD (OO).  Diesel depots can be a bit of a cliché, but this one is nicely done.

Probably Three Bridges (N)!  Love the sweeping curves through the layout.

And to finish for today, the ubiquitous Royal Albert Bridge!

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ESNG meeting – 24 August

Back for the Sunday meeting, and a whole eight members turned out for a little training.

Some modern Swiss (?) stock….

And some more European multiple units…..

A classic bit of the UK railway – a Deltic….

Brian has captured this parcels train just right.  Except perhaps that the GUVs should be more a shade of dirty brown rather than blue!

Some long US passenger trains from Simon….

And a rather shorter contribution from Brian…

The afternoon finished with the usual quality curry.  And once again, thanks to Brian for capturing the afternoon in glorious technicolour!

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On my workbench – N-club loops completed

I’ve been threatening to build some N-club end loops for several years.  Well, it’s finally happened!  We scrapped a puppet theatre at church, and it was made of nice 6mm ply, of sufficient size to cut the baseboard out in a single piece.  The board was constructed in my usual manner – screw the top to the loft floor to keep it flat, and build up the frame in-situ.  Some holes were added to the cross pieces to cut the weight of the thing.

And the final board…

With trackbed added.  N-club uses a 3mm thick track bed.  I use laser quality ply – expensive but accurate in thickness.  I wanted to use code 80 Peco Setrack for some of the loops, but N-club uses code 55.  The difference in height of code 80 and code 55 is near enough 1mm – so the code 80 sections used 2mm ply track bed.  The board was primed, and the loops marked out.  Nothing like a home made trammel for this job.

Next, tracklaying.  And checking the end of the board against another module.

Nearly there….

Point operation is manual, and a set of isolating switches allow trains to be held in the loops.  I like making a control panel with a choc-block between the switches and the wider layout.  Easier to wire up and correct if something goes wrong.  Typical Bartlett wiring – I had some nasty short circuits before reversing two wires!

Test run – nearly lost that Warship!!

And next job – tidy up the workbench.

 

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ESNG meeting – 20 August

Must ease back into the blog, but the summer church recess has been filled with work for the ESNG open day (more later) and lots and lots of gardening, catching up on things.  I believe that 26 large bags of cuttings have gone to the tip.  At least the brambles produced some good fruit before their demise!

However, Wednesday was a railway day, as we started with a working party.  A whole eight members turned up, including Richard and Brian.  The Derek’s investigated the wiring of the fiddle yard…..

Brian repaired some rolling stock, and Richard worked on his station module….

Others just sat and chatted and drank tea!

The Derek’s found the fiddle yard fault (eventually), having resoldered a few things, then found a broken connection in a plug. 

Work was followed by the usual chip supper.  Our local chippy was shut (probably Tommy’s annual holiday) so Allan tried the Salford’s one.  The portions of chips were GIGANTIC.  I ate some of mine and delivered the rest home for Maxine’s supper.  Allan took his home for a chip butty breakfast.

By the evening we had actually lost a couple of members, and no more came, so we ran a few trains and packed up early.

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ESNG meeting – 10 August

Slowing down my blogging for a week or two, though I do have photos from two exhibitions to post.  But on Sunday afternoon eight ESNG members turned out to run a few trains and talk a lot.  Dodgy looking lot…..

Richard, as usual, was first to run a train, a sleeping car express I reckon…

Brian’s 73’s were a bit hesitant running.  Not quite what they seem as one is a dummy.

Coal, ancient….

Modern…..

And somewhere in between….

Finally, Frank ran an intercontinental special!

We finished quite early and had time to try out the electrics of the fiddle yard again.  We left as puzzled as we were on Wednesday!

And more pictures, courtesy of Brian,,,,

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ESNG meeting – 6 August

Wednesday afternoon, four of us arrived for a working party, and joined by Ian Carter to talk about show catering.  My afternoon was spent checking out the wiring on the fiddle yard.  A dry solder joint on a microswitch seems to have solved the main board’s problems.  However, the extension board is still a puzzle – power is not getting through to two tracks, but everything seems to check out for continuity.  An investigation for next time…..

In the evening, numbers swelled to nine, but there seemed to be more talking than running.  So just the one photo, with the usual suspects in characteristic poses!


So I’ll add a few bonus photos.  This the most realistic model track that I’ve ever seen (HO).

Porthywaen Halt on the Tanat Valley Line in Shropshire, long after closure.  (John Williams).

This would make a lovely short train with heavy traction.  Rio Grande’s “Yampa Valley”  near Plainview, Colorado; March, 1967. (Ken Crist.).

Hook Spring 88 – Don Gilham.  The tube vehicle was LT’s track recording coach.

And for bus fans, an ex-London trolleybus in Georgetown, Penang, 1950’s.

G.T.M.T. stood for George Town Municipal Transport. This double-decker trolleybus was photographed on Duke Street, next to Dewan Sri Pinang.

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Just for a change, Shepton Mallet

Maxine and I managed a few days at the ‘New Wine’ church conference, that has returned to Shepton Mallet.  There were over 15,000 people camping on the Bath & West Showground near Shepton Mallet, Somerset, in the south-west of the UK.  Amazingly, it was lovely weather, and all Thursday’s thunderstorms missed us.

We stayed in Glastonbury, and dropped into the abbey to catch up with our nephew, who manages the café there.  A peaceful spot in the middle of Glastonbury’s eccentricity!

I took the usual pictures of the miniature railway that is on the Showground, run by the East Somerset Society of Model & Experimental Engineers.  Most of the main line is dual gauge 5″ and 7¼” gauges (just a little larger than ‘N’ gauge).  Each year at New Wine, ESSMEE open up the railway for several afternoons and offers rides for all and sundry.  Read more about this little railway at http://www.essmee.org.uk/ 

Most of the engines are the same as previous years, but they seem to have built an new turntable and loco sidings.  Sort of large scale fiddle yard!!

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Sevenoaks show 2025

Just a few pictures from the new Sevenoaks show, on a Sunday.

Once again, the very attractive Royal Albert Bridge (N).

In contrast, Gilly North’s Ribblehead.

St Mawes Jetty and Hoopers Hill (N).

Essex Brick (OO).  Freelanced and rather eccentric and all 3D printed.

Dinsdale 1830.  Note the track!

And a range of micro-layouts.

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Bluebell 200

Michael spent Sunday on the Bluebell railway for their 200 year celebrations – but as a punter not a volunteer.

Had a trip to Bluebell Railway to check out the inspiration train, the 3 coach museum, with interactive parts which is parked at Horsted Keynes, they also had their Terrier & 33108 diesel there for people to step onto and have a look, there is a bus “Karen, the train simulator bus” but it wasn’t working.

I had got the train pulled by the 200th Anniversary GB Railfrieght & Bluebell Electro-Diesel from East Grinstead to Horsted Keynes, then got the train pulled by Sir Archibald Sinclair (Battle of Britain Pacific) to Sheffield Park Station (which had an interesting Vehicle parked outside the station), and back to East Grinstead.

Will be back in Horsted Keynes tomorrow to help with Stewarding the Inspiration train, but was nice to have a ride on the trains, and a walk round and not be doing the volunteer work at the same time.

On loan from the London Transport museum.

Inspiration.

And a couple of videos….

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ESNG meeting – 27 July

Just a few pictures today.  I had to do some house clearing for my youngest, but slipped down to the club for an hour or so.  I then slipped away ready to watch the England ladies win the Euros – again!  But here are a few.  Neil’s container train.

Two generations of mail trains (one slightly blurred.)

A brake van special.

Modern material transport….

And Brian’s view.  The club members all seem to have had their injection of monkey glands.  I’ve never seen them move so fast……


Back at home, I’ve been having a mega-sort out in the railway room, before I returned all the NCI modules upstairs.  I put my lockdown micro-layouts back on the shelf together, and trains are running on the American one.

I also corrected the minor fault on Cazenovia, that the traffic on the bridge was all on the wrong side of the road for the USA.   Some wise guy told me this when I first exhibited it!  So I prised the cars off the bridge and stuck them down the other way around.

Next job will be to finish the loops.

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