A little PS from Allan, with some more narrow gauge photos….
Rheilfford Eryri / The Welsh Highland Railway…..
Rheilfford Ffestiniog /The Ffestiniog Railway…..
This should be the last locked down meeting. Who knows what lies ahead, but I hope that we can have some relatively normal club nights for a while. We’ll keep windows and doors open, keep a little distance, and anyone is welcome to wear a mask. But hopefully we’ll be free to run some trains. Paul, as ever, reported on Facebook….
Another ESNG running session this afternoon. Last one before we can hopefully abandon the rule of 6. All went well, I hope to take a 20ft module along to the next Sunday meeting I can get to which will be sometime next month.
We soon had the layout built and trains in the fiddle yard….
Paul ran his usual selection of Japanese stock….
Allan and Neil ventured into Europe….
I tested my GWR railcar – a great second-hand purchase in the rarer red and cream livery, and ran in my tan coloured Western – a very smart Dapol special edition.
And we also had an American contribution from Graham.
So, next meeting will we get more than six members attending?
Brian continues with his Dutch layout….
N Gauge – Netherlands Arriva and Breng GTW units by Piko. Part of a small layout that includes scratch-built models of station buildings in Doetinchem.
No club meeting on Wednesday, due to half of the six due to attend having football-related excuses. I declined to stand in for the missing members for obvious reasons. I commented after the event:
Worth missing ESNG for!
However, Derek, Derek and Chris met up at Mr Atfield’s for a non-football related tea and chat, so the evening wasn’t without a meeting. I dropped round for 20 minutes to say hallo, then home for the real action!
At least Sunday’s kick off doesn’t clash with the final. Amazingly, Mr Dawes says that he’ll miss the curry to get home for the match.
Ian responded…..
It certainly was Jon !!! – never experienced anything like it, just amazing!!
Roll on Sunday eh, I think it will be an almighty encounter but hopefully we will get the job finished – they deserve it.
Watching the team sing Sweet Caroline with the crowd at the end was priceless 🙂
However, the remaining three members did get together, and had a very successful meeting. Derek (Atfield) writes:
Three intrepid members escaped the attractions of sport on 7 July and met at mine for cha and a chat. Joined by the secretary for a few minutes before he succumbed to the football bug, discussion ranged from trains to boats to hovercraft and flying and back to trains and the repairs needed to keep the club modules serviceable. Membership numbers and attendance levels were also discussed. Like all unscripted meetings, it overran considerably – Mr Apps blamed his watch battery for failing at 9.30 but I suggest the rule of 3 applied (two people get a job done quicker than one, but three will always find something else to talk about). We ended our meeting after a final cuppa about 11.15!! Chris went home with a coupling to repair a Farish wagon and Mr Apps with his tail between his legs to repair his wife’s anxiety.
Fortunately, Sunday’s kick off is 8:00pm, so the afternoon meeting will go ahead!
It was most interesting visiting the workshops and storage sheds and seeing what treasures were tucked away there.
Bulleid’s malachite green can look very smart. This O2 is a fine locomotive and I’m bound to like it – it’s almost an 0-4-4T version of my all time favourite G6 0-6-0T.
In the workshop, carriage restoration continues. This is helped by the fact that many of the old, and sometimes original, carriages were sold off as sheds and stores and summerhouses during the 1920’s and 1930’s when newer stock arrived. Some of them have returned home! Like a number of other railways, replacement running gear comes from old Southern Railway 4-wheeled utility vans – a few of which were used on the island for passenger luggage during late SR and BR days.
Inside the sheds there’s a wonderful selection of old coaching stock….
And Ryde pier trams, old and older….
And, of course, a Terrier….
We did manage to visit a number of other places, and also meet up with two sets of old friends who had retired to the island. Here are a few pictures of the rest of the stay.
All in all, the IOW is a magic place – just look at the ice cream menu where we stayed. (It’s bubblegum and candyfloss flavour really – mainly consisting of e-numbers.) It must have been 15 years since we were last there, and I hope we get back soon.
My turn to post my holiday snaps now! Maxine and I had three very pleasant nights on the Isle of Wight. Great to get away after 18 month or so at home, and the weather was kind to us.
The ferry crossing is fun in itself – though I wasn’t convinced by the sat-nav!
We stayed on the southern tip of the island, an easy walk from St Catherine’s lighthouse – a beautiful spot…
But of course, my real reason for a trip to the IOW was to visit the steam railway. Maxine may have thought rather differently, but probably guessed this to be the case. We had an excellent run on the line. Not hauled by a Terrier or O2 tank, just the more modern 2-6-2T, but we did get a ride in the 1880’s Stroudley 4-wheeled carriages. And a very COVID-safe approach – each booking gets a compartment to themselves.
The early train left soon after we arrived. I love the classic Southern Railway rail-built signals.
And then it was time for our excursion. I like the way that Haven Street is in the middle of the line, and the loco has to run round twice on the trip.
A halt at the signals before finally entering Haven Street again at the end of the run.
A delightful little line, and I hope that they can extend the track through to Newport, as is planned. Next post, I’ll share some of the interesting rolling stock in the shed.
Don’t forget to add this to the diary for July – the N Gauge Forum virtual exhibition. I’ve got my American switching layout in the show. Not as good as the real thing, but a lot safer than a real exhibition. I’m pretty sure that I will be avoiding TINGS this year, though if Germany will actually let me in, I might consider Stuttgart and a visit to Berlin to see my daughter.
Last epistle from the Dawes brothers, with the usual weather reports…..
Day 12
Cloudy and damp with outbreaks of sunshine. We drove to Caernarfon for a 5 hour Welsh Highland Railway round trip to Beddgelert where we had a 90 minute layover – low cloud on way out with some sunshine on way back.
The old – Caernarfon Castle
The new – Caernarfon Station
Typical North Wales weather…..
Day 14
Wet day. Drove to Porthmadog for return trip on Ffestiniog Railway to Ddualt before driving over to meet some friends in Wrexham. Tomorrow, long drive home.
Just in time for the next ESNG meeting….
Well, a big thank you to Allan and Ron for supplying all the material for the blog for a couple of weeks – during my supposed blog holiday! There are are few places visited that I’ve added to my bucket list. Normal blogging service will now return very soon.
Day 11
A cool sunny day. Today we drove from Blackpool to our last hotel of our holiday in Rhyl, North Wales. We are staying at the Rhyl Seafront Travelodge, which lives up to its name. Like the Kidderminster Travelodge there is a pub for meals across the car park. Our last 3 full days will be spent of the narrow gauge railways of Snowdonia.
Day 12. Ron reports….
A cold wet day. We drove round the coast to Porthmadog for a round trip on the Welsh Highland Railway before returning via the Conwy Valley
Allan adds…..
Just thought I’d send you a couple of photos from the Welsh Highland Railway at Beddgelert Station. Just had a pleasant trip up from Porthmadog. Sitting here in the carriage in the rain wait for the return trip to Porthmadog. Ron gone for a walk into the village. Could not be bothered. Hopefully will do the Caernarfon bit tomorrow.
Seen on Porthmadog Harbour Station. What did he do to upset them?
Day 10
Overcast with dampness in the air this afternoon. A lazy day travelling round the Blackpool area by bus and tram.
Blackpool and Fleetwood, days 9 & 10.
Day 9
Onward, ever onward!
Cloudy start turning sunny in afternoon. Drove from York via Sandtoft Trollybus Museum to Blackpool. Having checked in to our sea front hotel we did a full round trip on the trams. From stop outside hotel to Fleetwood, where we had a meal before travelling to other end of the line at Starr Gate. Then back to stop outside hotel.
Just the pictures from Sandtoft today. Blackpool next post.
| “Stuttgart 202… on Stuttgart 2025 – 4… | |
 | Jonathan Caswell on Stuttgart 2025 – 4… |
 | Chuckster on Brockenhurst show 2025 |
 | snitchthebudgie on Potpourri #1130 |
 | Paul Ingraham on Potpourri #1130 |
esngblog 