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Felixstowe Area “N” Gauge Group
DECEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER

A VISIT TO THE RENOWNED WARLEY SHOW 2022
An early start with Dave, Chris and my son William, saw us arriving at the NEC just around 10am on what was a really busy day at the NEC complex. Lots of exhibitions going on, Motorcycle, food, antiques, Christmas, Disney show and of course the event we were only really interested in, The Model Railway show.
Hall 5 was busy right from the word go and once inside it was quite packed trying to get round. Usual plan, go around the outside first, then work inwards up and down the aisles of exhibits, layouts and retailers and grab a bargain or three!
Quite an impressive mix of stalls selling almost every gauge of model from Z to garden gauge. Some of the big names we recognise were there; Rails of Sheffield, Cheltenham Models, Squires, Hattons Model Railways, Bachman, Dapol, Hornby, Peco, Farish, Rapido and lots more. The stalls selling second-hand goods were doing brisk business right from the word go with some offering reasonably priced bargains and a wide range of goods, the majority on offer were as you might expect, OO, with what seemed to be a fair amount of O gauge. The range of second-hand N was less than I expected and prices seeming on the high side (yes, I’m a tight so and so), but even so there was quite a few good locos and wagons on a couple of stalls. Scograil were listed but didn’t spot the stall. The smaller manufacturers were very well represented with many of the older well-known suppliers offering a good mix of essential accessories, scenic items and kits of all descriptions. Dart castings were there, Precision Paints, Alan Gibson, C&L Finescale, and many more.
I was quite surprised to see so many small businesses selling laser cut building kits in a range of scales and a wide choice of models in striking detail. Prices for these were rather high but people were eagerly buying them up, even a small kit which I saw was Ł40. Cracking detail though!
I was looking for some windows for scratch built models I am building, but didn’t really see what I wanted. However, several traders offered to make windows whatever size and design I wanted as an extra service which I found rather encouraging. The proliferation of laser cutting machines and 3D printers has widened the scope of our hobby no end and has opened up a world of advantages for budding entrepreneurs. Non-profit societies, clubs and organisations were represented ranging from something obscure such as the Signalling Record Society to an incredible group promoting the building from scratch of the infamous LMS Ivatt 10000 diesel locomotive in full size, which if they succeed will be one hell of an achievement. They have a donor chassis, a power unit and electrical control parts. Good luck to them, it will be quite something when it is finished. I hope one day to see it running on a preserved line somewhere.
Layouts, lots of them, big ones, small ones, plain ones, exotic ones and everything in between. The standards, as you might expect for this show had to be high, and there were plenty of fine examples of craftsmanship and modelling skills to be seen.
During our lunch we chatted and made comparisons about what we had seen and liked etc. One thing which struck me was the attendance of a fair few small compact layouts which seem to be very popular now by modellers with little space but high modelling skills, mostly based upon Motive power depots or small shunting\goods yards of no more than a meter or so in length in OO or even O gauge. From a personal aspect, whilst I admire the skills and remarkable ingenuity of the displays, I find the shuffling of one loco and a couple of trucks a bit boring but each to their own as they say, albeit that the movement of loco’s etc at a crawl is not the skill that everyone has. It’s hard to say which was the best layout there, they were all very good. There was a huge multilayer HO continental layout from the Barrow in Furness club, (my home in Cumbria until 18 months ago). It was magnificent in size, scope and detail with a massive fiddle yard at the rear. It was called “Swiss Pass”. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures, but I have learned that it has been covered in a magazine recently. I checked the Furness club’s web site but it wasn’t featured. Maybe they will update the site soon to include it.
I do like a busy layout and the nostalgic displays by the various one make or “brand” clubs never fail to excite. The LEGO clubs layout was a buzz of activity with some quirky model trains zapping and winding their way around a large layout with additional Lego models acting as scenic items, buildings and other vehicles, great fun to watch at any age. The MINIC club was also a step back in time, with small scale cars skitting along the Minic roadways and interacting with junctions and other accessories. The Triang club also got viewers saying out loud, “I had one of those”, or “ I wish I’d one like that”, blissful memories of loco’s with steam roller wheels and carriages that buckled like banana’s with heat and age. Happy days !!!
Warley clubs Broadwater Junction in N gauge was a joy to behold. A long layout full of excellent scenery, good modelling skills, an example of good planning and design. Everywhere you looked on this realistic model, there was something to catch the eye and entertain the mind, a beautiful harbour scene, rolling hills, excellent sweeping curves of the rail lines, elegant bridges and not a station or major building in site, just a grand example of a well modelled junction. The back scene was also outstanding, hand painted with such artistry that would have graced an old-style British Rail poster or “chocolate box”. The distant mountains and hills were realistic and the sky was adorned with sculpted clouds a pilot would have been pleased to fly through.
Back scenes were a theme that I paid attention to quite a bit during the visit as I wanted some ideas for my own layout. I was encouraged by the diversification and ingenuity employed by many people to achieve a good distant vista. It was surprising to see that many people are now moving away from the traditional PECO backscenes and either hand painting their own, using propriety scenes from actual photographs, or a mix of techniques. Anyone in our club have anyone in the family that is good at art\painting?
“Ivy Bridge” in 2mm scale was one such layout that combined good artistry with skilful modelling and it was plain to see that a lot of pride and passion had gone into it, along with research and attention to detail with a modicum of modelling license to fulfil an excellent challenge to build a wonderful model. I was captivated with the whole layout, the height it was displayed at, the elegant spans of the bridge across the gorge, the trees and foliage, the rolling landscape and the simplicity of the station and buildings. Nothing elaborate, just a good representation of an actual location with superb results. Many years ago my modelling passion was 3mm scale which was inspired many years earlier when I was a small boy, my parents bought me a Triang TT train set, and it was that which started my modelling hobby. So, for me it was great to see three layouts from the 3mm society, a club I belonged to for many years. Uppingham is a splendid example of what can be achieved with a lot of patience, good scratch building and the support of a good club which caters well for its members. A lengthy layout which well demonstrated the capability of this often-overlooked scale (sorry but the new Hornby TT is not TT as I know it, despite the fact that Triang TT was out of scale). The Layout is an end to end layout with a small station at one end and good scenic skills along its length. The thing I liked most about 3mm was the scratch building as hardly anything in the way of buildings etc was available commercially and so it gave a great excuse to design your own models and build them from basic materials. It certainly helped to hone my skills. I made a full set of buildings in 3mm for a layout based on Midsomer Norton on the SDJR, but sadly never got to make the layout to go with them. However, seeing Uppingham was a treat.
Warley was a real treat too, and I can’t wait to go again next year. Thank you to Dave and Chris for coming along to the show with me. I’m glad that you enjoyed the day.

COLLIERY LAYOUT PROGRESS
Actually, I might as well come clean - that's a lie, as there has been no actual progress since the last newsletter I'm afraid to say.
A combination of external forces (house and garden stuff etc) and lengthy testing sessions to ensure everything is working well, have meant I've not had any time left to actually start the ballasting. It's amazing how time flies during a testing session (or playing session as my wife calls it) before you realise it's time for bed!
On the plus side though - all the point motors, switched sections and electromagnetic uncouplers work without fault, which we like to know before we start covering the board in lovely scenic gloop!

BIG BUILD PROGRESS
For a build that was supposed to last me through till spring, I’ve made remarkable progress on the big terrace!
I would say it’s just under half the length it will end up, although there will probably be a break in the middle for a road to go through, if the plans in my mind eventually come to fruition….

NEW BOOK

"Austerity 2-8-0's & 2-10-0's by J.W.P. Rowledge" - to sum it up, a cracking book!
Now I know I'm biased, being a lover of the WD Austerities, but this is 144 pages of black and white photos, accompanied by all the text you could ever need on the subject of these lovely locomotives.
Everything you need to know is in this book! From complete history, operation, numbering and renumbering, all the way through to Military railway uses, locos that went abroad and came back, or didn't come back and stayed in Europe, as well as preservation examples - I'd imagine it's the definitive book on these locos and putting it bluntly, a damn good read!

My copy was a fiver from the Weybourne bookshop on the North Norfolk Railway, I'd say the best Ł5 I'd ever spent, but then as I mentioned, I may be a little biased on the subject of these fine locomotive types...

NEW TOYS
Some of the club member's new models....