Felixstowe Area “N” Gauge Group
AUGUST 2022 NEWSLETTER



LAYOUT PROGRESS by Chris
At last, I have actually made some progress on the shunting layout.
When I last wrote about it, the electrics had all been completed, and the external sides had been 'contoured' and stained, it was just everything inside the perimeter that needed to be completed!


I've covered the layout with plaster cloth which will then be covered with a thin layer of filler, at last it's starting to look a bit more like real ground contours and not bits of plywood stuck up in the air at various levels. Once the plaster filler part has been completed, I'll crack on with the track ballasting, and see where the general land falls to then decide what building will go where etc.


This all started as a piece of track on a pre-used baseboard to see how good the Peco electro uncoupling devices were. I put in a bit of a gradient for good measure, and somehow have ended up with this layout which has eight motorised points and eleven electro uncouplers!
The layout has been extensively tested and performs very well so I can now concentrate on the scenic side.


When I mentioned this project to the organiser of the new model railway exhibition at Sheringham, he did invite me to attend with it, but as you can see, it's nowhere near show standard yet! Maybe next year...


MEMBER'S NEW TOYS
As I write this piece, I'm currently running in a new Sonic 56xx tank loco. I always run them for 4 hours - an hour each way, then turn the loco round and same again. Doing this, I've found that any faults that they have will normally come to the fore in that time frame.


I wouldn't normally buy a GW loco (only personal preference), but saw a friends 56xx run and was very impressed by it. Sonic seem to have made a great loco there - I'm hoping their LNER J50, which is due out soon, will be somewhere near the same level of perfection.


The other new loco to the stable is a Graham Farish A2 in BR green. This has been run in too and is a fine performer, as I'd expect from this manufacturer. The A2 came from Bure Valley Models, I was surprised to see two in stock, and well-priced too. They also had other locos which I didn't expect to see, a LNER WD almost arrived here too, I find those very hard to resist as I've mentioned before!