Photo Call! 2mm Layouts Out and About at Exhibitions

[Valentin]

Line No. 20 at the City of Canterbury Model Railway Society's exhibition:

 

[nick_bastable]

to put the above in context  Martin Allen and myself put on a small 2mm demo of which line No20 formed a small part

 

 

 

yes we did tidy up the underneath,  lots of interest from the public,   Martin   finished  the chassis, Line No20 behaved quite well unlike the 207 which refused to play on  Sunday. Nice comments from the Live steam guys opposite ,children very well behaved and the only person I had to request not to touch was a Adult. The M7 chassis was put on a rolling road and ran all weekend with one of the cheap Chinese Farish  clone motors which surprised me greatly and fascinated the public.  Good show

 

Nick

[Ian Morgan]

I took Freshwater to the Newbury exhibition today. First time for almost a year and had to unload the car while it was snowing. Any show where I don't have to plug in a soldering iron is usually a good one, but the layout performed perfectly straight from plugging in. I had Dave Stratton and his son, and my son came along too, so plenty of operators to share the shunting. Met some friends, fellow Basingstoke club members, and lots of interested 'punters'. The drastic surgery in the station concourse area is almost complete, but still plenty to do before the next show in Abingdon.

 

 

 

 

I see it also got caught on video today, about 10:30 in:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf32mipjllA

Edited February 11, 2017 by Ian Morgan

[Llangerisech]

Hi,

 

Just returned from Tonbridge and a reasonably successful show for Llangerisech. We had a couple of minor issues with the Pannier shunter at the main baseboard joint as the layout settled slightly, but it takes about 0.2mm to give this problem so it is a peculiar 2mm problem not suffered by the bigger scales. Couplings were a little random with the latches, but generally things behaved themselves and once all the stock had run once, it was fine.

 

This was the first show since I did some significant re-working of the station building. Previously, the real thing had whitewashed quoin stones and window surrounds, but when I visited back in the summer, I found the real honey-coloured stone had been revealed. So it gave the opportunity to re-colour, add lintel contours and generally tone down and blend in the appearance of the main building. It now looks much more realistic and the whole tone of the layout has been enhanced.

 

More work has been done on the allotments, so the virtual "to do" list is getting shorter.

 

The show was quite busy with long queues outside at the start and eventually, as they worked through to the second hall where we were, the crowds remained consistent throughout the day. Several discerning punters were seen returning to have another peek, so we must be doing something right.

 

So I include a couple of context photos of the layout plus one of the main building. Check the earlier views from Basingstoke last year to see how it has changed!

 

I felt a little sorry for BCN Pete with Kyle as he was wedged into a corner, so very little opportunity to actually see the layout, but clearly the DCC sound was very effective when you took the trouble.

 

Nigel

[bcnPete]

 

I felt a little sorry for BCN Pete with Kyle as he was wedged into a corner, so very little opportunity to actually see the layout, but clearly the DCC sound was very effective when you took the trouble.

 

 

Thanks Nigel - the general feedback was that the sound was just right and not too overpowering to disturb the neighbours - it was a little cosy in that room and I guess one of the down sides of having a 1500mm long 'stocking filler' layout

 

Good to see you and the crew - the work on the station building looks great.

[Graham R]

Model Rail Scotland 2017 has been and gone, with the Far North Roadshow in attendance as well as Andrew Gibson's "Swinton" and Martin Stewart's "Ketton Cement" flying the flag for 2FS. First, the Roadshow: Andy, Simon, Stephen, Jim, Graham, and Alistair all took turns. We had more interest than previous years and sold several starter packs, wagon packs, and various publications. Quite a few Scottish members we had not previously met came to say hello, which was nice. 

 

 

Jim Watt's wagons and 2016 Challenge diorama were on display:

Bit of a rough shunt on that Watson and Jones PO wagon in the background!

 

Andy Peggie's Challenge diorama was also to be seen:

 

Swinton was there, with a shadowy crew of NEAG activists keeping the trains running:

 

Andrew's bridge (winner of the Malcolm Stone award at the last Association AGM) was on view:

 

I didn't manage very good pictures of Ketton (sorry Martin), but there were several 2mmSA members operating, including Martin himself and Ray Colla. Martin had a last-minute rush to fix pesky electrics but all was well once the show was under way and the layout performed well in its first showing as a continuous run. I gather several bookings were garnered for future appearances ...

 

Finally, just to prove we were in Glasgow, here's what a real soft drinks machine should look like (outside in the circulating area) ...

 

... tempting at least one visitor to the 2mm roadshow to take solace in sampling the local waters while her other half was hitting the Squires stand:

 

All in all it was a very worthwhile show from a finescale point of view than for several years past, with Liverpool Lime Street, Mostyn and Burntisland amongst the more spectacular 4mm offerings, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

 

Edit: I didn't realise Ketton Cement(ish) won a pot in the AMRSS members' section of the show competition: well done Martin and the chewed fingernails of the previous week must now seem worthwhile. I didn't spend enough time in front of the layout and have miserably failed to show the interesting motive power Martin had on display, but here are one or two more photos:

 

 

For 2mmSA members, I think Mick has twisted Martin's arm to bring Ketton to the NEAG 35th anniversary party meeting in May, so there will be an opportunity to see it again there (as well as Swinton, whose pointwork I see got a favourable mention in perceptive comment elsewhere on the show).

 

Edited February 27, 2017 by Graham R

[jonas]

Is there a thread for Ketton Cement anywhere? It looks ace!

[Rammstein2609]

Hi Graham

 

I've only just seen your post on the show, how did I miss it as I usually check this thread?

 

As you mentioned, there were some electrical gremlins which we didn't get rid of until Friday lunch time but once the layout was running I was very happy with it.  It was quite relaxing, especially after the worry with everything else.

 

I was disappointed that I didn't get to finish the layout for the show, weather any rolling stock or buy the suitable wheels for the engineers train I've got waiting in the stock box but on the Saturday afternoon I was asked to attend a meeting at Stand 1 only to find I had been chosen for third best AMRSS layout in the show!  What a result!

 

 

The above was one of the only overall shots I managed at the show.  I think the idea of operating the layout from the front worked well as I had loads of questions and conversations with the public which I've never really experienced before while operating a layout from the back.

 

Here are a few more shots I managed to grab, weathering rolling stock and adding more DG couplings is next on the list!

 

 

I will be bringing Ketton Cement(ish) to the NEAG 35th Anniversary day in May and plan on it being pretty much finished.

 

In the meantime, I'm planning on starting a blog so I can document the construction of the layout and all other progress going forward as a lot of people have shown interest in seeing this.

 

Thanks

 

Martin

Edited March 5, 2017 by Rammstein2609

[Donw]

From what I can see in the photos it looks an excellent layout and deserving of an award. I would agree with your comments about operating from the front you effectively become part of the audience and more approachable. You also get to enjoy it from the best viewpoint which makes quite a difference if you only set it up for exhibitions.

Don

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hi Martin,

 

It was great to see you and Ketton Cement at Glasgow and you've done a lovely job of the layout. I will certainly look forward to seeing it again in the future, particularly as you make progress in filling up the stock box.

 

Swinton was another highlight - lots to do but the work done already of an exceptionally high standard, particularly the track.

 

Cheers

 

Ben A.

[Rammstein2609]

Hi Ben

 

It was good to catch up with you and hear about progress of some RevolutioN products.

 

The next bit of stock to look at is the signature PCA wagon we discussed before as well as detailing/renumbering/weathering the PCA's I currently have in the collection.

 

The layout now has 5 show invites over the next two years and two mainstream magazines have asked for an article on it so I've got plenty to work on and no doubt I'll catch up with you at another show.

 

I managed to catch up with Andrew on Swinton, it's the second time I've seen the layout in person but the track work still amazes me, it puts my turnouts to shame.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Ian Morgan]

Camford Junction made its first appearance with trains running on it at the Basingstoke exhibition this weekend. Only the main lines have been wired up so far, the rest of the layout being a static diorama.

 

Welton Down was also at the show, and can be seen in action on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwOWThsrtdY

 

[nick_bastable]

looks very nice with lots of potential for the future 

 

Nick

[Ian Morgan]

Freshwater on Freshwater at Abingdon today.

 

My Freshwater layout was at Abrail today. OK, it has had a busy few weeks, but this is the last booked exhibition at the moment.

 

Today was also the first time the little Terrier has earned its keep, running nicely all day with just one minor hitch, when the coupling rod came off a crankpin, bent and threw out the quartering. It was soon fixed though. Finally, I seem to have overcome the current pickup problems, with a combination of 'Simpson Springs' on the axles, rail skates, and 'stay-alive' capacitors for the DCC decoder.

 

The layout also came second in the 'Best Layout' competition. I was quite chuffed, especially as the layout is obviously unfinished, and there were several fine layouts at the show.

 

 

And some video

 

https://youtu.be/ZTlQC31X--c

Edited March 19, 2017 by Ian Morgan

[Dave Searle]

Hi Ian,

Lovely to see Freshwater yesterday and many thanks for letting me have a drive of the Terrier.

It was really useful to experience and discuss several of the techniques we are planning to use on our next layout (solenoid servo uncoupling magnets and point operation, DCC CBUS route setting and the power and pick up systems on the loco).

A lovely layout which I will look forward to seeing again.

Many thanks.

Cheers,

Dave

 

Corrected following Ian's comment in #218

Edited March 20, 2017 by Dave Searle

[Graham R]

That slow running looks superb. Thanks for posting it.

Graham.

[Orange Cat]

That third shot, looking along the track into the terminus, really shows the improvement in appearance of 2mm FS over N.

[Ian Morgan]

It was really useful to experience and discuss several of the techiques we are planning to use on our next layout (solenoid uncoupling magnets and point operation, DCC route setting and the power and pick up systems on the loco).

 

 

Dave, thanks for taking an interest, and taking over the controls for while. However, I use servos to move points, signals and rare earth (Neodymium) uncoupling magnets, and I use Merg CBus to control them and do route selection. I only use DCC for controlling the trains (which is all it was designed for).

 

I do look forward to seeing your new project if the scope and attention to detail is anything like your current layout.

[Dave Searle]

Dave, thanks for taking an interest, and taking over the controls for while. However, I use servos to move points, signals and rare earth (Neodymium) uncoupling magnets, and I use Merg CBus to control them and do route selection. I only use DCC for controlling the trains (which is all it was designed for).

Whoops, typo, I meant servos, but my brain hadn't quite woken up, sorry.

 

I also need to get my head around the MERG CBus system.

 

Thanks again.

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

[DavidLong]

Ian,

 

Any information about the 'stay alive' used in the Terrier?

 

David

[PeteT]

Ian,

 

Any information about the 'stay alive' used in the Terrier?

 

David

Ian

I'm also fascinated to know how you fitted in a "stay alive" in the Terrier, I had enough trouble keeping a decoder hidden.

Pete

[Nigelcliffe]

Small stay alive units - two articles in my blog article, including links out to Carsten Berger who can supply parts

 

http://nigelcliffe.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 

 

- Nigel

[Ian Morgan]

Now I know that it works, I will add an entry to my blog about it (see signature) when I have taken some photos. It is based on an old blog by Nigel Cliffe. I have the DCC decoder and the capacitors standing upright in the cab. A much smaller decoder is available now, but I do not know where the stay-alive would connect to it yet.

[D869]

Some photos of Mills Bridge from the Nottingham show. This was a nice surprise - definitely crept in under the radar. A combined 2mm and 'N' layout with two main lines in each standard and a viaduct in the middle... sort of Chiltern Green meets 'grim up North'.

 

 

 

[dpgibbons]

Great layout and an interesting concept. I assume the foreground lines and sidings are one gauge with the running lines in rear the other, but which is which?