The latest club newsletter

Felixstowe Area “N” Gauge Group
FEBRUARY 2023 NEWSLETTER

SADLY, THE END...
Yes, you've probably all heard this news already, but Colin Heard of Union Mills has decided to retire - it's a sad day for N gauge indeed.
Union Mills have been around for many years and are well known especially for their locos hauling capacity, I do believe they will pull an actual, full size house along!! *
Being lucky enough to own a few of Colins locos, I only have great admiration for them, they are reliable, look the part and have hauling power that can't be bettered.
Some folks find their appearance a bit on the basic side when it comes to finely detailed parts when compared to the more modern Chinese built offerings, but many people do 'dress up' the locos.

All the locos have a tender drive arrangement with the tender and loco bodies being metal, probably the heaviest N gauge locos I've come across.
Wishing Colin all the best in his retirement - you did a great service to the N gauge community sir!!
*Full size house pulling by the author may be exaggerated...or it may not...

LAYOUT PROGRESS
The N gauge purists amongst you will no doubt be pleased to hear that I have put the O gauge layout on the back burner for now…..
I had a long think about it. I wouldn’t be able to bring it to club open days or exhibitions, and at 24’ long it would need a big venue to be shown – and big venues attract large crowds, something that I am no longer comfortable with as I am highly vulnerable to Covid.
I’ve decided to rebuild my home n gauge layout into a 16’ exhibition layout. Club mates are going to build me two new boards (when I can get the plywood) to tie in with the two extension boards that they built previously, which feature a dropped central well area crossed by a long embankment. The new boards will be dropped even further, and feature a viaduct at least five feet long. The dropped areas will be filled with back to back streets. There will be two seven or eight line fiddle yards, each about five feet long, so space to store plenty of full length trains. All in all, it should make a spectacular exhibit!
I’ve provisionally booked it in for the autumn open day, I should be able to get it up and running trains by then,
and I’m aiming to get it scenically ready for our 2024 exhibition, fingers crossed!
As for my winter project, I’ve completed one of the looooong terraces….

And have almost finished another terrace of eight…..

NEW BOOK
My latest reading purchase is 'The Mildenhall Branch' by Peter Paye.

A book with 152 pages, packed full of information and black/white photos taken all along the 20 mile line
This railway (like many), never made any serious money all its life, but the GER and then the LNER/BR persisted with it right up to 1964 until closure.
Many sections of the track bed are still there, as are some of the stations, a couple complete with platforms.

My wife and I have walked a good few sections of the track, such a shame that the line wasn't saved and operated as a heritage line, but then I think that about all closed railways!
A great read though - thoroughly fascinating, makes me want to model it, like all old lines I walk...

3D PRINTING
For many months I have been watching YouTube videos featuring 3D printing in the world of model railways, and I’ve come to the decision I want one!
So after a lot of looking around and seeing what others have been using and gauging their successes with each machine, I have chosen and bought my first 3D printer.
It’s nothing fancy, but a good mid-range 4K resin printer with a build space of 19cm wide, 12cm deep and 20cm high.
This should be more than enough for many N gauge models I may want, and enough space to section any larger items up too.

It was a nervous wait while it got here and then a bit longer as I have to wait for the isopropyl to arrive. But in the meantime I talked with a few friends who have had experience with this type of printer and got as much advice and tips as I could gather.
The evening comes and I start the test print that comes with the printer, this being used as a proof it works and as a calibrator for the resin settings.
NOTHING!
I let it get 50% through the print, which is almost 2 hours by this point. I look in and see nothing is attached to the built plate!
The resin failed to stick to the plate and had stuck to the FEP sheet in the bottom of the printer.
After a tea and a think, I clean out the machine and start again, but this time with a different file - one I had printed on a friends machine a few days before.

This worked first time and was a clean print in less than an hour.

SUCCESS!!!!!
(five exclamation marks, a true sign of madness)

I’m really happy it worked, I’m pretty sure I know why the test print failed. So, I hope to avoid that in the future. Though as I’ve been told it can be more of an art than a science. I will say it’s a bit of a strong smell from the resin as it works, but after opening window and putting the fan on it soon dissipated.
Anyway, here is my first successful print, an N gauge figure of a man with overcoat, hat and carrying a bag. It’s still on the construction sprues, so my next task is to clean it up.

LAYOUT PROGRESS
So, last month I told you all about my plans with the 'coal floor' on the colliery sidings which didn't quite end up as planned, the coal lumps being far too large.
I've just acquired a couple of items from 'Geoscenics' which I saw used in the 'Model Rail' magazine - I'm hoping this will be more suitable, being a lot finer.
Unfortunately, I've not had a lot of time to try it since the last newsletter, but I do need a big push between now and the March newsletter so watch this space!

NEW TOYS
Our monthly selection of club member's new models...