It has been an astonishing four months since we last had an update on the exploits of a small model railway club on the Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey border... My excuse, partly not a lot of activity over the first couple of months, then no computer, and finally not having got round to it! Still, time for a quick recap.

When last we spoke, the club had undergone a number of major changes. Firstly we relocated from our home for six years - Tony's garage - to the committee room of the local village hall. Immediately this meant a change in approach, as we no longer had a permanent space to trash work in. It also restricted the size of layouts we could have, as storage would become a major issue. This meant change number two...bye bye Weyford. The whole layout was sold to a club member to be used as a semi-permanent layout in their garage. It is no completely goodbye, as the club will still have occasional access to the layout for running sessions.

So, at the time of writing, the club has two layouts...Yamanouchi Oshika, our Japanese N gauge layout, and our resurrected 0 gauge layout, which will be known as Weyford Town following some modifications. It is still large, however narrow and easier to store than Weyford. Plans are also afoot for a new, smaller, 00 layout.

First up is a short update on the new Weyford. Presently progress on this has been limited to checking the electrics and track. Although formerly a through station, with fiddle yards at each end, one of the changes will be to convert it to a terminus...set roughly in the late Souther/Early BR period. We had the majority of the layout set up in the club room for testing the other week...

In this picture our electrical gurus are checking the connectors, whilst what I believe to be an ex-SECR H class tank waits patiently on the approach roads. As we head into the Autumn, so more work will continue.

Work is also going apace on Yamanouchi Oshika. This has been our main layout for the time being - until the 0 is finished, and the 00 constructed - having spread the work of the club in both the March and current September editions of Continental Modeller. It is also due to show at the Gaugemaster open day in September. Presently work is centred on the area by the freight yard and behind the motorway flyover. Hopefully this will be more or less complete within a couple of weeks.

The pictures here show the superstructure of the hillside, along with the base paint. Plenty more shading, flock powder and trees will be required before this looks the part.

Not too much more to report, other than a change to the committee of the club which has resulted in yours truly becoming secretary. Any interest in either the layouts, or perhaps wishing to join our happy band, will be gladly received via PM.

Hopefully it won't be too much longer before the next update!