Felixstowe Area “N” Gauge Group
AUGUST 2021 NEWSLETTER


NEWS FROM MEMBERS
Trevor - Clubroom access and events
The clubroom is now open normally with no restrictions on numbers or any need to pre-book your visit. We do still need members to sign in and out when they attend the clubroom.
This is in place for track & trace reasons, but we intend to retain this for the future (in line with other clubs / groups).

We have now confirmed the booking for our Open Day. Saturday 30th October at the Welcome Hall. Kevin Hart has again arranged the layouts for this event.
Orwell Model Railways will attend, but Ray & Carol are not sure if they will be able to join us.
This will be a normal public event. Obviously we are assuming there will be no further Covid restrictions so we may need to amend plans if this changes.


MEMBER'S NEW TOYS (1)
I had a surprise delivery last week. The GWR 56xx loco I’d pre ordered from Revolution (Sonic) models dropped through my letterbox. I’d originally ordered late 2019 and with Covid the delivery date has been slipping back a bit.
The 56xxs are Collett designs introduced to mid 20s for use in the South Wales valleys. They are powerful tank locos and specifically built for coal traffic. Reading about them they could be a bit unstable running in the forward direction, so crews normally ran bunker first on loaded trains and chimney first with empties. The locos did migrate to other Western Region locations and duties when coal traffic diminished. 200 were built and were only withdrawn 1962-65.
The model looks very good and up there with other current new models. On the images below I did spot the cab roof and coal load could be sitting down slightly better, but I’d no noticed in normal viewing.
The only thing that can catch your eye is the bright metal pins on the DCC socket in the cab. A touch up with some black paint or marker pen would easily fix this.
On the track Revolution recommend a full running in of 1hr each way at medium speed. I’ve done this and the loco ran without any issues on my test circle and at the end the slow running was good. As with most 0-6-0 locos you can detect a very slight side to side movement as it moves but still better than many locos I’ve seen.
I bought the model as a pre order, but the locos are also available from Rails of Sheffield (at a slightly higher price, £109) and I’ll probably get another one in the later BR livery.



MEMBER'S NEW TOYS (2)
Two years since I placed the order, my Revolution Trains 0-6-2 Western Tank has finally turned up.
Nicely detailed it runs well and the weathering looks good. It has a rather ungainly and unbalanced look to it but nevertheless, a fine addition to my collection of ex GWR locomotives.



MEMBER'S NEW TOYS (3)
And here’s another one!
I finally received last year’s birthday present from my wife….



NEW TOYS (4)
I had a pleasant visit to John's train shed last Sunday, and he asked me to take photos of his loot from the WWG meeting.
Don’t ask me what they are, I don’t have a clue, but John is like a dog with two tails because he got all four (beautiful runners) for £114 the lot!





LAYOUT DONATIONS – Trevor
As you know Ted Cotton sadly passed away at the start of the year. His family have been sorting through his model railway items and have kindly gifted some of them to the Felixstowe group.
The most significant items are two layouts; Clifton Creek and Woodbridge (with shared fiddle yard). We also have a partially dismanted layout Kyson (based on Aldeburgh) along with box of assorted items and some tools.
Our intention is get one of the layouts up and running so we can display this in memory of Ted at the Lions event 16th October. Ted has supported this event for many years, either with his model railways or fairground models.
Clifton Creek has some more significant meaning for the family, hence we will concentrate on getting this working. This layout did come in a crated form so much easier to take out for exhibition. Some of us did successfully get the layout and fiddle yard erected (after some trial & error with legs).
Whilst we don’t have the power pack / tranformers, we did manage to get some of the electrics working with temporary feeds. I’m currently working on adapting the layout for use with the PSU we have for Sutherland.
Clifton Creek comprises a two track main line running from the rear fiddle yard across the front of the layout over a viaduct / bridge crossing an estury. There is no station on the main line. Towards the rear there is a branch line which has a hidden fiddleyard on one side, this leads across another viaduct to a two platform terminus station on the other side. This is currently under manual control, but we can see that automation had been fitted and we have a selection of Heathcote modules to do this.
The layout is all controlled from the fiddleyard and designed for single person operation. Below are a few images of the layout (apologies for the quality).
The Woodbridge layout is currently in its sections, and we need to sort out crating this to aviod damage. We believe that the fiddle yard used with Clintons Creek is also used with Woodbridge. We will check this at a later date.
These are two very nicely modelled layouts and will be a significant addition to the layouts that the club can use at events.