Felixstowe Area “N” Gauge Group
NOVEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER



EVENTS DIARY
We have now booked dates for our Open Days and Exhibition for 2023.
Open Days are Saturday 25th March and Saturday 28th October. As normal these will be held at the Welcome Hall.
Exhibition Saturday 15th July. This will be at the Memorial Hall, Trimley St Martin.


THE LIONS CLUB SHOW – Oct 16th
As many of you know our club is a regular supporter of the Felixstowe Lions show, and this year was no exception.
We had our usual spot in the main hall and took along two layouts: Sutherland (American late 50’s) and Great Street (British freelance).
Both layouts performed well on the day, with only a little hiccup here and there from some stock being stubborn or uncoupling, but nothing major.
There were plenty of other attractions too, with the large gauge 1 display in the centre, an impressive collection of RC vehicles that fully work just like their real counterparts, another narrow gauge American layout, and in the back room some great collections of old radios, 1:35 WW2 German vehicles and a display of large scale RC racing and pleasure boats.
There was a good stream of people all day, which was more than expected due to the chilly day’s weather.
And a small highlight of the day came at the end as we watched one of the people displaying their Tanks, drive his large Tiger tank (which takes four people to lift it) up some ramps into the back of his Audi coupe, and seeing the heavy weight dip the suspension.













COMPLETE AT LAST!
The tiny layout that I've been working on, has at last been completed with the addition of trees.
I make the trees using the Woodlands Scenics armatures, following their basic instructions of bending the trunk/branch structure into many different configurations.


That then gets sprayed a grey colour and over the top of that goes a green wash in varying shades and coat thickness.
Most model trees seem to come with a dark, chocolate brown colour for the trunk & branches, but I personally prefer a lighter colour - after studying many tree trunks, my wife's exact and loving words were, "Have you lost it?!!" whilst I stare up yet another tree...
What with that and my fascination for ditches, that poor woman really does go through it!!
So once the trunk has been sprayed, I cover the branches in 'Deluxe Tacky Glue' and then just press clumps of Woodlands Scenics foliage onto them.
As they dry, various chunks will fall off, but these can be reattached, and then the whole tree is given a liberal coating of hairspray.
When using hairspray as an adhesive, I find the cheaper the tin, the better the tackiness!
If there are any bald patches, these can be filled with another coating of the hairspray on top.


COLIN’S SHOW – Oct 22nd
Colin D’eath had his regular charity show towards the end of the month, and asked a few of us from the group to attend with our layouts, so we took along Wilvey, Hartenberg and Avro Halt.
All the layouts received quite a bit of attention throughout the day, and ran near perfectly, from what I saw and experienced.
But that was not all there were - the Middy group were there with their second hand stand, as was Scograil with their OO layout and second hand stand. Plus, a nice three rail vintage O gauge, a freelance ‘Circus Renz’ model collection complete with big top tent and show, and to top it off Colin had his original Hornby Rocket set on display. The loco still going strong and chuffing around its loop.
A nice show that is well worth the visit and for a good cause, with the profits this year going to the Felixstowe Basics charity.

















AT LAST!
I have finally gotten my modelling enthusiasm back!
Long Covid left me in complete apathy, uninterested in anything. I didn’t care what I ate, and as a result, being diabetic, my blood sugar went through the roof for a couple of months, eventually making me quite ill and I missed our Open Day.
It has severely affected my eyesight, which is making modelling difficult (and typing this newsletter!). My eyesight should return to normal in time – I hope!
In the meantime, I had a eureka moment. I really couldn’t get back into the O gauge, and then whilst chatting with friends I realised that my heart really lies with N gauge, and more particularly constructing Scalescenes models. So, I decided to spend the winter building a monster terrace of my favourite Scalescenes kit, and announce it very publicly onto their Facebook group, which means that I have to get on with it! Early progress is good…..


And in true Blue Peter style, here is one that I built earlier....


The new terrace will be at least three times longer, but may include other styles of house. This will go onto my N gauge home/exhibition layout, which will, in time, be rebuilt with two extra boards, making it 16’ long overall.


OPEN DAY - Sat 29th
Our club open day was another success, with a good amount of people through the door throughout the day.
Many thanks to all the members that turned up to help setup and pack up, it was very much appreciated, as some exhibits, like the modules, can take hours to erect.
We had three other layouts on show, beyond our module system. Which were: Stowley loop (recently upgraded to DCC), Dave’s new layout for his grandson and Tony’s alpine layout.
I was working on a ‘train doctor’ table, but as it was a last-minute addition, I didn’t get much to do. But next time I hope to advertise to the public as well as members.
Overall I think the day went very well, with most layouts and trains running smoothly.
So, again thanks to all that turned up to help and run the day, along with those who provided teas and cakes, it all helped to make the day a great time.







COLLIERY LAYOUT UPDATE
Now that the tiny layout is complete, I can concentrate on this layout again.


I've got the landscape all finished in plaster cloth and covered in plaster filler to a certain extent - I may change a couple of areas yet. I'm not sure, but easy to do using that method.
The sides of the rails and sleepers have been sprayed and the main ground area painted in brown.
Have tested it all again with a lengthy running session and all is working ok.
Ballasting is next, I'm just preparing my eyes for that job..!


NEW BOOKS


My weakness for buying specialist, railway books has again got the better of me, and after a visit to the book shop on Weybourne station, I came home with "Goods Traffic Of The LNER by Geoff Goslin", an absolutely fascinating read for those interested in freight trains of this era.
Packed with photos which you could look at for hours alone, before reading any text, this book is a valuable insight into goods traffic of the LNER.


I'm sure you've all been told when running at an exhibition by some 'expert', "that those wagons wouldn't have run with that loco" etc, well there is a photo in here which shows a J17 loco in LNER livery running tender first, pulling four wagons and a brake van.
The first wagon belongs to the NE, the second to the GW, the third to the LMS and the fourth is a Private Owner wagon - we can't see the markings on the brake van, so who knows who that belongs to!! You can't get much more of a mixed train than that, it just proves that anything goes! 


NEW TOYS
A couple of new models recently acquired by members.....


A Dapol 66, second hand (As new) – GBRf 66725 SUNDERLAND


And 3 pairs of Fleischmann SBB posts wagons (new)