esngblog

Back to the hall on Sunday for our afternoon meeting.  Great to have nine members attending – enough to be busy and sociable, but not too crowded in the hall.  Door and windows were open for ventilation, though we had to close the doors when the heavens opened!  The chairman also had to leave early as he was starting work at 11pm.  If he starts any earlier, he’ll meet himself coming home from work.  Paul commented on Facebook….

Back from an enjoyable afternoon with the East Surrey N Gauge Group. My module worked OK and my trains ran well. Also sold a few of my European wagons to help finance the purchase of some more Shinkansen sets later this year.

The usual suspects…..

Historic UK steam…..

Modern UK trains…..

The latest in multiple units, both prototype and model…..

And some European intruders…..

And Brian recorded it all on film….

East Surrey N Gauge Running Day 25th July 2021. Nice to meet more than six members indoors, with the windows and doors open, and another opportunity to film some N gauge train action. All eras, all regions of the world, had trains represented on the tracks – an interesting collection.

But not Antarctica, Brian?

First ‘open’ ESNG meeting, though the number of COVID cases locally has meant that we kept the hall well ventilated, and masks were welcomed, if optional.  So of course we got exactly six members attending.  And had a very pleasant evening running trains.  We had the usual selection of prototypes and continents, but there was a definite Southern bias, with a ‘C’ class and a ‘700’ class running…..

Modelling idea for the evening.  This picture of a Taiwan forest narrow gauge line looks uncannily like a pizza layout!  (From ‘Steam Railway’ magazine.)

And another video from Brian.  His path in N gauge is as varied as mine!

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on my N Gauge adventure for over six years and counting. My layouts have been varied in that time, from 1950’s-1960’s BR days, to British modern outline, to German, Spanish, Netherlands and European cross-border. Most recently using a single simple layout and adapting it according to whatever is on the rails. Never a dull moment and learning all the time. Thank you for watching and looking back on my journey.

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!