Chris M

Back in the days of steam

And another one in the same era

A short video running 1980s

Tremendous work!

Having the ground level both lower and higher than the track makes such a difference to a layout.

Just a few more photos

Eighteen months or so later and I think the open baseboard construction has worked well.... Luckily for me the room is dedicated to the railway so I was able to make a poster from photos I had taken and put it on the wall behind the layout.

I cut up the full sized plan to make templates for the track baseboard and then cut out the ply for the track to be laid on. I also painted everything in order to seal the ply. The layout isn't always inside the house and this helps to prevent any unwanted movement. The layout doesn't look overly hopeful in this photo but all the elements are in place and will come good. I build layouts in N gauge nowadays. All layout building is a compromise and, bearing in mind the space I had, it was a case of running 5/6 coach expresses in 00 or 10/11 coach trains in N. Once I was used to running full length trains in N there was no turning back to 00. If one day I suddenly find a room that is 25ft long I might go back to 00. Come to that if I had a room that was 50ft long I would be inclined to go 0!

I've posted a few photos of my layout here & there on RMWEB but I've decided to put a few together this topic. Dawlish Warren was started just before lockdown and was complete by October 2021. In a strange way Covid was useful because I was able to get on with the build without life getting in the way. One of my issues with model railway exhibitions is that too many layouts are still built on flat boards. One of the great things about modelling a real location is that you quickly realise that the land either side of a railway is almost never dead flat and almost never at the same height as the track. It is a great shame that some exquisite modelling is rather spoilt by putting it on a dead flat board. Getting back onto topic I have used the open top baseboard technique since the 1980s in order to avoid this unrealistic flatness. For my Dawlish Warren project I started with a plan (as you would expect) and then printed this out full size to see how it looked. From this plan I worked out the spot heights for the layout edges and crossmembers and then cut up some ply. The photos will show I am something of a bodger when it comes to carpentry.

Went to the show today. It seemed busy without being overcrowded which was good. There were a large number of trade stands covering a wide range of items. There were however a lot of stands just selling new and secondhand boxed items and these were rather repetitive - in other words too many of this type of trade stand. The mix of layouts was very good and pretty much all were interesting with some very good modelling on display. catering was done but busy at times. All in all a good show and well worth visiting.

I think us English are due long overdue an apology Rome. They came over here and changed everything, took some as slaves and made some very straight roads which are no fun to drive along. And while I’m on the French need to apologise for what they did in 1066. Not only did they kill our king, they added lots of French based words to our language. How dare they!

Close but no cigar. Now if the shirt said Nevada.....

My favourite steam locos are LMS types but I have to say it was fantastic to see the GWR types running on the SVR today. They just look so right out in the countryside in GWR green. The Castle, Hall and Manor all create great sound and the 45 looked cute. I also enjoyed seeing Taw Valley in her fictional wartime black; it somehow works on this loco. Had a great day yesterday on the SVR.

That brings back memories. I had a Reliant Regal 3/25 as my first car. It cost me £50 but I had to get it going because the engine wasn't actually working. It is technically a motor tricycle so I could drive it at 16 and I did. The driving test was exactly the same as the test for a normal car. The 3 in the name was the number of wheels and the 25 was the BHP (if you were lucky). In many ways spending my first year driving one of these was good because I learned a lot about handling a car. I would say it was a good car for any new driver. After a year of driving one of these you have a lot more understanding of the road ahead, the risks and concentrating on where you are going - if you survive that is. 52 years later I still think before braking on a bend.

Saw her yesterday on one of the specials. Tremendous sound.

Keep a close watch on them. They might take the engines away to use on a new build project.

I was but a slip of a lad at the time. I was a working volunteer in 1970 and I remember he was a controversial character. I remember going to the big very heated meeting where there was a vote on how the SVR should be developed. Perhaps the older volunteers didn’t involve me in any controversy as I don’t remember the volunteers I was with saying much about Navarro.

I've been a regular visitor to the SVR since before it opened sometime as a volunteer but for the last few decades just an ordinary member and shareholder. Volunteers will often moan about the management but I have to say I have never heard or seen anything like the animosity towards Helen Smith ever before. Volunteers will tell complete strangers how bad the SVR was under Helen's management and that is unusual. On discussing the fact that Helen had moved on to manage St Michael's Mount one volunteer said "It will probably sink with her in charge". From all I have heard it seems Helen didn't really understand how a heritage railway works or the importance of appreciating everyone's efforts. I have heard many reports of Helen having no interest in volunteers or loco owning groups. This feels like a new dawn. I will make a donation to the cause, after all I have had terrific value watching trains (as well as riding them) along all the footpaths by the SVR, and I feel I owe the SVR a payment for all those enjoyable moments over really almost all of my life. Well from about 13 onwards, I was 15 when the SVR first opened and was a working volunteer.

You could of course just use the Hornby HM6000 which provides DC control through your smartphone. It’s simple and it works well.

Thanks for posting the video, it looks like a great show. I would love to go and visit but its a bit far to drive on a bank holiday Monday with whatever traffic issues. I have been known to be grumpy at times about the lack of N gauge in certain places but I think the comments regarding York having an anti N bias are probably unfair. I'm pretty sure the organisers enquired regarding my N gauge layout some years ago but I said no. It would be great to exhibit at this show but realistically Easter is not a time I could be away from home and family for a few nights.

I'm not sure there is a shortage of steam locos on heritage lines. The SVR have told the Erlestoke Manor Fund they don't want Erlestoke Manor on the SVR this year as they already have sufficient steam locos. They basically can't afford to have another working steam loco on the 2023 roster. There may well be a shortage of funds to restore steam locos and cash to hire locos which might cause a shortage of steam locos on other lines. One big challenge coming along on some heritage lines which could limit steam is the lack of qualified drivers for steam locos. As the older drivers get to a certain age they stop driving but many of their younger replacements would rather drive diesels. I have heard of one heritage line that is already struggling because of a lack of steam loco drivers rather than a lack of steam locos. I loved seeing Lady of Legend running on a heritage line and will love seeing her again. She is a very fine looking loco and its great to see a slightly older design. For me Lady of Legend was a good project for the GWS to have undertaken. I'm also very much looking forward to seeing a Grange in action in the not too distant future. I do find it interesting to see these variants and will happily travel to see them.

All those dirty, polluting steam locos should be banned immediately. How dare they run such terrible machines at a family event! I was so impressed that I intend to take my grandchildren to other events there during the summer.

Personally I wouldn’t go for AV. Adding AV can be a very good thing for the visitor if done well. The simple reason I haven’t done AV on any of my layouts is that it would leave me with a lot more delicate and valuable items to transport and to remember to take with me. I always try to have as small a number of “bits” to transport as possible. For instance my control panels are always built into the layout rather than an add on. The fewer separate items the lower the chance of leaving something important at home. Even the best of us manage to turn up at an exhibition missing an essential part from time to time. For instance Hills of the North at Taunton. I once managed to forget the supports for the lights (luckily just a couple of pieces of timber with a couple of holes so we were able to make a couple of new supports on site at the exhibition). It’s easily done. Adding AV would add a few more bits and pieces to make sure you haven’t forgotten.

In many ways I agree with Kris. The step change in 00 for me was the introduction of Airfix and Mainline locos. That was the first time that RTR became too good to do much with. Before then I could improve most locos with mods, detailing and a repaint. From these models onwards the art of improving “toys” started to die. This was a shame but a nevertheless a big step forward for the hobby. Before the year 2000 I would not have considered N as an option. The locos just weren’t very detailed and didn’t look much like the real thing. The big step change for N happened in the early years of this century. I well remember Graham Hubbard (then Bachmann UK ceo) proudly showing ha pre production sample of his latest Farish loco with its fine valve gear and super detail. After a sabbatical from model railways during the late 1990s and early 2000s when I rejoined the fold I went N gauge because it was so good by then. I haven’t looked back since. We may have reached a point where levels of detail ( and associated cost) have gone as far as they should go.

Agreed. You always need a spare operator (no not Prince Harry). So if a layout needs two operators then you need a crew of three etc etc. I too have done a two day exhibition by myself and it wasn’t enjoyable. I have also taken layouts that need two operators with just a crew of two but nowadays I really want three. The problem is of course that if you layout fits into the back of your car and the exhibition is a fare way away the most likely number of operators is always going to be two. My current layout needs a van so a crew of three is easier than it would have been if it was in the back of my car. Getting a crew together isn’t as easy as you might expect. Despite being told verbally about an exhibition in 9 months time both of my regular crew are on holiday that weekend. It could of course be that they both booked holidays because they knew about the next show! Colleagues at the club I am in can also form a crew but they have accepted an invite to another exhibition. Sometimes things conspire against me…..