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andyram

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  1. andyram
    Part 1 – George Pepper

    George, a retired widower, is the lone resident of “Yew Tree Cottage” – the thatched dwelling which peeps its way through the trees at the top of the embankment next to the tunnel.
    A keen gardener, George bought Yew Tree cottage following the death of his wife, Mary, last year. At the time the cottage was in quite a state of disrepair. Throughout last summer George was often seen out in the warm sunshine, clad in his overalls, bringing the building back to its former glory. He repainted the doors and windows and trimmed back the various ivy plants which had threatened to engulf the walls. Rumours have suggested that the back garden is immaculate too. Not that many people can confirm the statement. The cottage’s rear is well hidden and very few people have ventured inside the cottage since its new owner arrived.
    George is a quiet fellow who keeps himself to himself. You would think that he would not upset many people, but sadly that is not true. Aside from gardening, George has another passion – bees! He has several bee hives at the rear of the house, and has recently added a further hive at the side of the house. The bees often have a habit of venturing down to the station to frequent the stationmaster’s developing station garden. This does not go down well with the passengers.
    Here George can be seen attending to his newest hive, appropriately clad in his immaculate beekeeper’s overalls. No wonder he has gained the local nickname of “The Spaceman”.

     
     
    In truth George is nothing more than the latest figure added onto my Skaleby West exhibition layout. He is a Harburn Hamlet figure, purchased from the Bakewell exhibition recently.
    This has been the only development on the layout of late. A few problems at work have taken up a fair amount of my time and so I have not been able to turn my attention to any serious modelling of late. The extension remains un-started and I am beginning to wonder if it will ever get done.
    I have continued to operate trains on my home layout, Skaleby, throughout. Here is a shot of my Standard 3 tank arriving with a passenger train.

    Planning for this year’s Weston show continues though. Although, after such a stressful week, the last thing I needed was the school summer fair, it did give me chance to have a few leaflets and posters on display. I keep printing these out and dropping them off at every show I visit so hopefully it will produce a decent crowd.
    This year I have also written off to two of the four major modelling magazines. I plan to do the others in the next month or so. Not only am I trying to get a free advert in each magazine’s event diary, I am also trying to get a small feature on the show or even one on the layout. Sadly I have heard nothing back yet.
    I am reaching that crucial point though where I need to discuss the accommodation with the headteacher. I will need an extra room in order to fit all the layouts in. Hopefully this will not be a problem as I will be taking out one of the attractions from last year’s show. The crèche / children’s room which was dreamt up by one of the other members of staff did not receive enough support so will be dropped this year. The member of staff is leaving the school in July anyway so someone else would have had to run it. Removing this should allow me the chance to have an extra room for exhibits. Fingers crossed!
     
    Until next time…
  2. andyram
    I cannot believe it has been over a year since I last posted in this blog. The story of the 2016 Weston on Trent Model Railway show has been told in its own thread in the exhibitions section of RMWeb. It was a big success, breaking all records with the most layouts ever in attendance and raising over £1000 for school funds. On that day posters were already up around the school advertising the 2017 event. I was already thinking about layout bookings and was, in my mind, thinking about 2018, 2019 and beyond. Then all went quiet! Why?
     
    This academic year has been the most difficult of my entire teaching career. A large number of negative circumstances, none of which are my own doing, have made my working life very difficult. This has contributed to excessively long working days, illness and a huge reduction in job satisfaction. To be fair many of these aspects were in place at the time of the last show but I had battled through it. Since December I have been actively seeking new employment whether that be a promotion into school leadership or a teaching post elsewhere. This has meant that I had put the show firmly to the back of my mind. Throughout the early part of this year it was described as "on hold" and "unlikely to happen". In May I took the decision to resign my post and I will officially leave the school at the end of this term. Where am I going? At present I have no idea. I am continuing to seek employment and have signed to a supply teaching agency so that I can continue to earn from September. At present I have a couple of other job irons in the fire. It is a scary time, but also quite exciting. The decision has eased the huge stress that had been mounting up throughout the year and was threatening my health, my well being and my marriage.
     
    But...and this is where the title of this thread comes in. It has nothing to do with my booked tickets to see the mighty Queen and Adam Lambert perform in December. The Show Must Go On!!!
    Once my resignation had been announced to the staff I had a couple of my regular helpers persuade me that we really ought to stick to the advertised 2017 date. They also were keen to do the show again. After all a £1000 a year is not to be sniffed at!!! Despite the money I was surprised that these non-railway modelling ladies wanted to repeat the show, and did not want to take the opportunity of an extra day of pre-Christmas shopping. But they actually enjoy the show and the friendly, pleasant people who frequent our little event. And so their persuasions have worked.
     
    The Show Must Go On!!!
     
    I have agreed (not that I took too much persuading) to organise the event for 2017. Will it be my swansong? My final act for the school? Time will tell. At present I have agreed for this year, and this year only. The future of the event will depend on several factors:
    a) its success this year and the money raised.
    b) how workable it is for me to organise when I am no longer on the staff
    c) my working situation post 2017.
     
    And so I now have a challenge. When the show was originally conceived way back in 2012, I managed to throw it together in just nine months. Then it was brand new, with nothing to live up to. Now we have a reputation, and from what I understand, it is a very good one. I have just 5 months to put together an event that is up there with our previous offerings. No pressure there then!
    So far - all of our traders have agreed to return and we have assembled approximately 10 - 12 layouts. We need more of these. The search is on and not a lot of time to find them. I am therefore throwing myself towards the good people of RMWeb to help. You helped to make this show what it is. At every event over 50% of the layouts have come from the good people of this website. Can anyone help us?
     
    The Show Must Go On!!!!
     
    THE DATE IS
     
    SATURDAY 11TH NOVEMBER
     
    (edited to include the date)
  3. andyram
    The last week has been something of a landmark for both the show and the layout as things move forward once more!
     
    The first train has now pulled into Skaleby West as some serious testing began to take place. A Bachmann 57xx, hauling two wagons was run onto the layout from a Peco loco lift, which acted as a temporary fiddle yard! The short train was then run over all track on the board to test that everything was running as it should be.....sadly it wasn't! The loco seemed to stall on a few areas which was rather worrying! Considering that all track is brand new this is not likely to be caused by dirty track so I will have to look at this a bit more closely before I lay the track permenantly.
     
    Having looked over the layout I can see that in a couple of places the cork base has started to lift and thus some areas of track have raised slightly. This could have caused the stalling problems so one of my next jobs will be to re-glue this area.
     
    These pictures show the test train during the first run.

     
    The first shot sees the train in the station area. Whilst the second shows it in the goods yard area.

     
    With the two week Easter break now upon us I am hoping that I can really move things on with the layout.
     
    The show
     
    The last week has seen the gaps on the revised floor plan begin to fill up quickly. Confirmation from another RMWeb user has allowed me to add another layout to the list. This sizeable model will pretty much take up one end of the main hall and that has filled one big gap. Other gaps have been filled too with three traders confirming their attendance. The middle of the hall is now full as well. In fact in this room I only have two or three small spaces to fill, room for a couple of smaller layouts perhaps!
    I have confirmed with another exhibitor which of their layouts I want and this will help me to put together a display of small / micro layouts in one of the school's wide corridors. With a demonstrator also confirming this week and a diorama likely to attend alongside this stall, I may well have filled one of the corridors too! This is very encouraging news.
     
    I have got permission to expand into some of the classrooms so I can still accomodate a few more people. A good job really as I will need the space if the 3 layouts and 3 traders who are still to confirm all reply in the positive.
     
    So with gaps being filled I am starting to breathe a bit more easily. Now all I have to do is start on the posters, leaflets and other forms of advertising.
  4. andyram
    I have not posted in this blog since the end of the Weston 2014 event. The new head teacher was so happy with the money raised that he gave the green light to the 2015 show. It seems we are here to stay. Planning has been underway for many months, and there are already many layouts booked. I am pleased that a couple of my top targets have agreed to attend this year's event, and I have various layout plans bubbling along for my own exhibit. Hopefully we will reach the heights of previous years.
     
    Sadly there have been a few down moments. Family health issues have caused me to be deflected away from organising the event for a month or two which has resulted in a slowing of layout bookings. We have also lost a couple of long term exhibitors. Our Meccano man sadly passed away just before Christmas and will be very much missed. A further layout owner has since pulled out due to ill health, whilst another double booked himself and has also pulled out. This has been added to by a long term trader who also double booked himself and has pulled out whilst another has cut down the number of events he is to attend and cut us from his programme.
     
    All this has left a few holes to fill. If anyone is interested in filling those gaps they will be most welcome.
  5. andyram
    As anybody who has read my other blogs will know, I already have two model railway projects ongoing at present. My permanent home based layout, Skaleby, is a 00 gauge shelf layout currently undergoing a protracted construction in our spare room. Its little brother, Skaleby West, is a micro layout, built for my Weston-on-Trent exhibition last year. This has an extension in the advanced planning stage.
     
    So the last thing I really need is another model railway project!
     
    The fact is, I had never really considered starting another project. My main aim was to make progress on the Skaleby West extension - but one innocent comment changed all of that.
     
    A recent trip out saw my eyes fall upon a Bachmann G gauge "Thomas" set. This contained Percy, two troublesome trucks and an oval of track + controller at a much reduced price. Now I am quite fond of those original characters from the Island of Sodor. I was brought up on a diet of Rev Awdry stories. It is what got me interested in steam and model railways. My 20 month old daughter is developing a similar interest (perhaps aided by a few preserved railway and model railway visits with daddy!!). She can already control my father in law's "track mat" layout, asks for the "choo-choos" everytime she visits there and can name a number of the Thomas characters - including shouting out "That's right" everytime she sees Ferdinand - one of the awful new characters added by the vandals that currently own the franchise. Her favourite character is Percy.
     
    Upon arrival home I happened to mention this "bargain" set to my wife, expecting her to produce the sort of usual stock wife answer we hear all the time eg "that's nice" / eyes roll upwards etc. Did she? No! What she said was - "why don't you buy it for the garden?". Even an excuse of lack of funds from me did not produce the sensible response from her. Instead I got "why not use your credit card!".
    Up until that point a G gauge garden layout had only been a distant dream - something that would be nice to have but never likely. Up until that point I have never really liked the SWMBO tag that many RMWeb users give their spouses. But on this occasion I am happy to adopt it.
     
    And so I have my third model railway project.
     
    Since that fateful day I managed to dig out an old Hornby magazine "Garden Railway" supplement. This gave guidance as to how to build a semi-permanent G gauge layout. This is what I am planning at present. For the time being the track plan will make use of the basic oval from a, soon to be purchased, set. It will give my daughter the chance to control a train on a continous run - something that is not possible on Skaleby or Skaleby West. There will be scope to expand the set some time in the future if and when funds permit as I have to be honest money is not readily available at present!
     
    Getting started
    During the last year I have gradually been extending the flower bed which runs down one side of our back lawn. The plan had been to extend this to the rear of the garden and further widen it at the far corner so that we got rid of some of the poorly laid areas of lawn around our bird table. This area we planned to cover in plastic sheeting, before adding a layer of decorative stones / gravel. Work commitments had rather halted progress during the last 12 months. But after identifying this decorative area as a perfect place for the initial starter oval of track I had renewed motivation. I dug the whole thing out this afternoon! The accompanying picture shows the progress made so far - amazing what the promise of a layout can do!!!

  6. andyram
    It has been a few weeks since I have last posted. Work has been very hectic with loads of management issues to deal with. One student teacher has departed, and another one has now arrived. A round of interviews and new teaching assistant appointments have been completed and shortlisting for a new teacher is taking place. All of this, alongside, the day to day teaching has understandably taken my focus away from the Weston on Trent Model Railway Show.
    That does not mean that there has not been progress however. The show has started to take shape. More of the layout information forms have started to drift back in with 7 having now arrived. Another two emails were received to confirm layout bookings and the forms should arrive soon. These, along with the other verbal agreements I have received, mean I reckon that the provisional layout total has risen to 15. There are couple of layouts, discussed at exhibitions, that have gone worryingly quiet - but there is still a time to go before the show so plenty of opportunity to secure other exhibits.
    RMWeb has come up trumps again. One member has contacted me and offered to bring their layout. They have a fair journey but have offered to pay their own travel and accommodation. I feel humbled by such an offer. Another member has put me in touch with a friend who may be interested in bringing their layout. Once again I am indebted to this site.
     
    Another demonstration has been agreed, and this could possibly bring huge benefits to the show. Details of this are still to be confirmed so I cannot share, what could be exciting news, just yet. As soon as I can, I will!
     
    Finally there is an update on my layout building plans. As described in my last post - I had decided that Skaleby West should not be shown for a fifth successive year. Work has begun on Skaleby North Yard which, hopefully, will be debuting at the show. The layout has its own thread in the layout topics section. However here is a picture preview.
     
    Until next time..
  7. andyram
    It has been sometime since my last entry on Skaleby, and things have rather ground to a halt, hit the buffers or any other phrase you can think of which means tools have been well and truely downed! Other things have rather taken over. Our first child, Amber, was born on the morning of the 13th December 2011. Therefore I have had rather more urgent priorities of late such as feeding, nappy changing, sleep and finding enough time for work as well. At times like this I rather wish the myth that teachers only work from 9am - 3.30pm was true!
     
    There has been no scenic progress on Skaleby to report. But rather like many others at the end of 2011, it has been a good time to reflect on the progress so far. It was only in April 2011 that the baseboards were installed in the spare bedroom so progress has been quite rapid. The track layout was finalised and track around the station area was pinned down. I have since built three embankments, added scenery to one of these and started the scenics around the rear of the main station building. I have started the scenery around the small engine shed and laid out track for the fiddle yard. I do now have one area where I can photograph trains and the scenery looks finished (see photos in the earlier posts). Not bad for just a few weeks work, spread over the last 8 months!
     
    Of course I have managed to run trains. Even in the last few weeks I have stolen a few minutes to keep trains running. It does help that the layout shares the spare room with the family's house rabbit, who just happens to need his exercise each day. As supervising the rabbit comes down to me, I do manage to sneak a few train movements each day whilst also catching up with work on my laptop. Who says men can't multi-task!!!
    The down side of this room sharing arrangement is that the rabbit fur seems to have a nasty habit of flying up and settling in all areas of the layout. I seem to be forever tackling the cleaning of stock with small tweasers and a paint brush! At present it is keeping the trains running and the trusty SDJR "Jinty" has made many return trips with the Standard 3 82020 substituting when the Jinty is "in the works" for de-furring!!!!
     
    With half term approaching I have received "permission" from the transport minister (aka the wife!!) to resume scenic work. At present I am not quite sure what I am going to do next as there are so many half finished areas. At present my mind is drifting towards working on the rear of the rear platform with the idea of working on the scenery from the back of the layout to the front. I will need some stone walled sections in order to do this though as I know that at Goathland dry stone walls stand at the rear of this platform. I do not have any yet so I will have to keep my eyes open over the next few weeks.
    I do have a busy few weeks of shows to visit. This weekend sees the new Derby "trains only" swapmeet which has moved from West Bridgford. Much better for me!! Who wants to go over to Nottingham (except to see the Rams pick up three points with only ten men!!). Then I have Stafford Model Railway show before half term. With the Leicester show at Syston also falling around half term I have three chances to get what I need. Mind you the last two events will probably also serve to re-ignite my dreams of building a layout for displaying at a show - Skaleby is strictly a home only layout!! I think that dream may have to remain on hold for a few more years...unless those 6 lotto balls drop for me of course!!
     
    I will post pictures and updates as and when!
  8. andyram

    Time has flown!

    By andyram,

    Was it really the beginning of June when I last posted on this blog?? How time does fly, and to be honest the lack of input on here has rather matched the progress with this year's show. A house move, a holiday and starting back at work under a new head teacher have rather taken over my time. Just a couple of weeks ago Chris, who runs the kitchen at the event, approached me to ask about lunch arrangements for the day. My reaction was "oh sh**, is it really that close?" Well yes it is. The third Weston on Trent show is only six weeks away and the fingers are well and truly out!
     
    To be honest, knowing of my impending house move, much of the work was done in the early part of the year so we are not behind by any means. This week has seen the new layout information forms sent out to gather up the final information from all our exhibitors. This will make sure nothing gets missed after my break from duties. A few phone calls this week has confirmed some other layouts and seen a couple of failures too. Despite this the show is filling up nicely. I do think we could have our best ever line up of layouts. That being said there is still one definite gap. We still need a narrow shelf layout, maybe operated from the front, which could fill the space in one of the corridors. Any offers considered!!!
     
    As with the last two shows I plan to exhibit my own "Skaleby West" layout. This remains stored out of use in our spare room at present. The plan is to update the goods shed area for this year's event, replacing the poor scratch built building that has never looked quite right. I bought an off the shelf Bachmann building during the summer which will fit the space so now it is just a case of getting down to work. This may be the layout's last outing. It will have attended three Weston shows in a row, all be it with some amendments each time. The goods shed is the last area to be dealt with so there will be no changes for next year. With that in mind I am planning to start something new - more on that soon. Skaleby West will remain available for other exhibitions.
     
    More updates soon.
  9. andyram

    Trowell 2013

    By andyram,

    My half term break ended as it began with a visit to a model railway exhibition. Like Sileby last week, the Trowell show packs a lot into a relatively small venue. It is always a good show and this year's was no different. I had been looking forward to the event all week, and it looks like I was not the only one. Throughout the morning the show was packed with a very good crowd.
    The show featured three very large layouts. The Ilkeston group's own layout "Kimberley" was on display on the stage. This is an excellent model of the through station in B.R days. The model was making its exhibition debut and it looked fantastic. I was particularly impressed by the detail in the gardens of the buildings near to my vantage point. There was plenty of action and both myself and my 14 month old daughter enjoyed watching the passing trains for quite some time.
    Kimberley was in contrast to Westwold. This 00 gauge 1950/60's model was being exhibited by the Caistor MRC. A spectacular model indeed with loads of detail - it was let down by a serious attack of Gremlins. Nothing seemed to be running well, and I never saw a train travel the entire length of the model untroubled. Such a shame and I really felt for the operators it must be terrible and very frustrating when things like that happen.
    The third large layout was "Tummel" an O gauge Scottish terminus which I have seen before. This is an excellent model with some lovely cameo scenes. O gauge models look great and I really admired their Standard 4 tank and Scottish Director as they entered the station.
    Another Scottish based model was Andy Peters' "Glen Roy" which features digital sound B.R blue diesels. This was also a lovely model and attracted a good crowd.
    The show gave me a chance to view Jim Read's "Moxley Heath" O gauge layout. This attended my Weston show last week. Despite being in the same room as Jim on the day I never got a good look at the model. It is amazing how he has managed to fit a working O gauge model in such a small space. It was nice to chat to Jim again and he has even suggested that I would like to attend Weston again this year if he is free. Fingers crossed!
    Opposite Jim was John Bottomley's "Torridge" layout. This features in the latest issue of Railway Modeller and depicts a West Country terminus complete with milk depot. This is also a lovely detailed model, with scenics achievable for all. Torridge is booked to attend the Weston 2013 show and I look forward to seeing it there.
    One other stand out model was "Tom's Shed" which was built for a recent Hornby Magazine 3ft challenge. What detail. This really depicted a working steam shed very well in such a small space. A real credit to its builders!
     
    There were other exhibits too, all excellent, which made this show another enjoyable event. I did manage to pick up a couple of things for my next modelling project....but that is for another blog!
  10. andyram
    Another weekend and another show. After Allestree and Sileby last week I headed off, with daughter in tow, to the 12th annual show at Trowell. This is run by the Ilkeston Woodside Model Railway club and is always an enjoyable event.
    With 10 layouts, 7 trade stands and a couple of demonstrations the show is a nice size. It can all be seen in an hour, but has plenty to keep people there for a lot longer. It certainly seems popular and there was a good crowd throughout the time I was there. This does provide one issue, the room does get quite cramped, and the amount of people generated a lot of heat inside the room. I was certainly sweating a lot by the time I left. This is only a very minor criticism though.
    Amongst the layouts were a couple of well known layouts from the local (and not so local) show circuit. "Aberdeen Kirkhill" has been around for many years and models a large Scotrail servicing depot. Its frosty, winter scenics are superb and there is always plenty of movement. In addition John Huddlestone's tram layout set around "Elstree" studios has been seen at many shows in the local area. This is also an excellent model, and was set at a perfect level for children to view without the need for standing on steps. My two year old daughter certainly appreciated it!
     
    With the Weston-on-Trent show in mind I was on the look out for further layouts to add to this year's roster. The small shunting layout "Tom's Sidings" impressed me. So much detail packed into a small space, and a lovely use of photographs built up to create a 3D back scene. Sadly the operator is not available for this year's Weston show!
    Newton East provided a lovely view of the 1950's and 1960's B.R scene. Today it was representing the southern region. The scenics looked superb with an excellent card station building and very nice canal scene added at the front. This layout is a possible for Weston 2014.
    The group's own "Fenby Quay" also featured a canal scene with a raised quay in front of the station. This model came to Weston last year, but I never really got to view it properly. It is an excellent model enhanced today by the sound fitted locos, complete with flashing red lights in the steam loco cabs to represent the firebox flicker. The sound fitted City of Truro once again looked fantastic.
     
    N gauge interests were covered by "Bitsand" and "Lagganmoor", both were very nice models with lots of passing trains.
     
    All in all a very nice show once again and congratulations go to the organisers. For me the show was further enhanced by an unexpected incident. Whilst walking around I bumped into someone who has been a regular visitor to the Weston shows. We stopped to chat and during this he told me about his own layout which he had just started constructing. He told me that he had been inspired by my own "Skaleby West" model - stating that my layout showed what could be achieved, in a small space, from off the shelf materials.
    Now I am fully aware of Skaleby West's limitations. I do not confess to being an experienced modeller, and I do not believe my skills are comparable to those I see at many shows. But it was very nice, and very humbling to hear someone speak so highly of my model and that they have taken inspiration from my work. A proud moment!
     
    And so the "lighthearted" awards:
     
    Best layout:
    3rd: Newton East: A superb 00 gauge model of the 50's and 60's B.R era.
    2nd: Fenby Quay: A very close second - great scenics and lots of operational interest.
    1st: Tom's Sidings: Such detail in a small space both myself and daughter spent a long time viewing it at close quarters. It just pips Fenby Quay as I went back to this one slightly more.
     
    Best scenic item:
    The 3d photo back scene on Tom's Sidings was a clear winner for me.
     
    Best model loco:
    Sound and light fitted models on Fenby Quay - not often you see the firebox flicker represented. City of Truro was the pick again for me - that is twice this loco has featured in my "awards" on two different layouts. I think I need to add it to my wish list.
     
    And finally:
    The nice surprise:
    Kind comments about my layout and the thought that it has inspired someone - a proud and humbling moment.
     
    And the not so good!
    One incident on a layout where the uncoupling ramp failed and the operator resorted to picking up the brake van to uncouple by hand. At least use an un-coupling hook!
  11. andyram

    Trowell 2016

    By andyram,

    Last week I had an enjoyable visit to the Sileby model railway show. Due to a busy working week I have been unable to find time to write a blog entry for that particular event. Today saw me head to the Ilkeston Woodside Railway Club's annual exhibition which takes place at nearby Trowell.
    The show is always a small and friendly event that attracts a decent crowd. Today's event was no different as the hall was very busy when I arrived shortly after the 10am opening time, and remained busy throughout my visit. The hall is not the biggest venue and so it can get a bit cramped at times. That said it was never uncomfortable (unlike some parts of last week's Sileby show).
    On entering the hall, visitors were greeted by David Westwood's N gauge layout "Marsh Chipping". This is a wonderful model of the Western region in the 1960's. There was plenty of passing trains to hold the attention of young and old.
    N gauge seemed to dominate the main floor with Marsh Chipping one of 4 N gauge models amongst the 6 main floor exhibits. The other three were all more modern image with Dave Harrison's "Glenellen Castle" making its exhibition debut. This was a stunning depiction of BR blue diesels in Scotland, with a well modelled castle scene, superb river bridge and plenty of flashing lights amongst the motor vehicles on display. It was a stunning model and attracted plenty of favourable comments.
    Next to Glenellen Castle was Stephen Sims' model of "Loughborough Derby Road". This layout is a "might have been" depiction of how the former LNWR branch from Coalville to Loughborough may have looked had it survived into the modern era. Those who travel into the town via the A6 will recognise "The Station" public house which is well modelled in its appropriate location. This is another excellent layout and has been out and about a lot on the show circuit over the last few years. It appeared at Sileby only last week and was a visitor to our own Weston event two years ago.
    The final N gauge model was another modern image one. "Barton Hill" was a much smaller layout and depicted a Rail Express servicing depot alongside a small portion of passing main line. There were some nice effects on here, especially the attempt to use card pictures built up in a decoupage style to create a 3D back scene in such a small space.
    The remaining two layouts in the main hall were both 00 gauge. One of these, Annesley Woodhouse, also fell into the modern image category. This depicted a Robin Hood line station and was also making its exhibition debut.
    There was more modern image in the form of 00 gauge "Elveden Road". This featured a modern servicing facility and was situated in the small side room.
    Steam era modellers had not been forgotten. In addition to "Marsh Chipping" there was "Ashbrook Dale" which was based on the LMS in 1930' Derbyshire. This is another layout that has appeared at many local shows in recent years. Each time I see it the scenics seem to have been further improved. Now the whole layout has been enhanced with its own lighting rig. The lack of lighting has hampered the model due to some unfortunate locations at some previous shows.
    The pick of the steam era layouts was "Ripley", built by another club member. This is a very nice model indeed and another that has developed a lot since its exhibition debut last year. The model was located on the stage, which seemed to be a better organised display than last year. There were less exhibits on the stage and this gave much more room to move around. Last year things were just too cramped.
    There was a diverse number of traders with stalls selling scenic items and electricals. The societies own members stand had a good and varied stock of second hand stuff and seemed to be doing a good trade. Regular model traders were Malcs Models and Brickyard Models. Sadly only the latter stocked any new items so the variety of new r-t-r was very limited. Usually you expect to be able to buy new items from Malcs Models too, but today their stall seemed to resemble a car boot sale with various rummage boxes of second hand carriages etc. This was my only disappointment from what was another superb show. As I mentioned previously, it is always very friendly and I bumped into many familiar faces and ended up spending much more time at the show than I intended.
     
    And so to finish - here are my "light hearted" awards.
     
    BEST IN SHOW:
    Glenellen Castle - a truly stunning model.
     
    BEST MODEL
    Jim Read's card Y7 model on the "Moxley" 0 gauge layout.
     
    Finally here are some pictures from the show:
    (starting with two shots of Glenellen Castle, followed by Annesley Woodhouse, Ashbrook Dale, Marsh Chipping and Ripley)
  12. andyram
    Well I managed it! Four weekends in February and four model railway shows visited,.....and my wife is still talking to me! Result!!!
     
    This is another small show, but I really did enjoy it. Lots of very good layouts to enjoy. The club's own model of Ilkeston Town station in 00 gauge was excellent a really good depiction of the branch line terminus from the days of the LMS. The scenics were excellent.
    The Soar Valley M.R.C layout, Aylett End, is one I have seen a couple of times before. It is also very nice and there always seemed to be something happening. The last couple of times I saw it it seemed to be worked by sound fitted locos, on this occasion it didn't seem to be the case though. Despite this I still very much enjoyed watching the action once again.
     
    Now that I am in the middle of sorting out the exhibition for my school, any show visit seems to involve looking for exhibits. Today was a big success. I liked Chris Trafford's ironing board layout "Board Lane" so much that I asked him if he was free straight away. Layout booked - just need to put him somewhere in the floor plan. It was a great little shunting layout in 00 gauge fine scale and I could have watched it for ages. How impressive to fit so much in such a small space!
     
    Great credit also goes to the Ilkeston Woodside MRC members. This was their 10th annual show and their 25th anniversary. They were such a great help to me. A chance conversation with a member produced all sorts of help with the possibilities of layouts and trade stands. A big thanks to all, with support like that no wonder they have been running for so long. I look forward to seeing them at our show in November.
     
    My only disappointment - well two actually!
    1) I still can't find the dry stone wall pieces I need for the rear of the station on my Skaleby layout. I did buy a book to help with my ideas for Skaleby West though, so my money didn't stay in my pocket this time.
    2) I picked the wrong time to go to the canteen. Just as the exhibitors lunches were being given out! No bacon ready for the general public! Not going to complain though, the exhibitors need their lunches and the cup of tea and cake was nice instead. Apparantly the bacon sandwiches were very nice - so says my father in law. Yes! 2 weeks after we bought him his first Hornby train set for his 65th birthday he is now firmly bitten by the modelling bug and Trowell was his first show. He spent more than me too!!!!
     
    So 4 shows in 4 weekends. Can I make it 5 in 5??? Well there is the Mansfield show on Saturday and Sunday. I wonder if the wife will babysit.....
  13. andyram

    Two weeks to go!

    By andyram,

    Almost a month on from my last blog and we are now a fortnight away from the third Weston show. Things are starting to come together, although maybe not as quick as I would like. What I can confirm is that we will have our largest ever show as we will be opening up a third classroom for this year's event in order to fit everything in.
    The layout list has now grown to 19 and I am hopeful of hitting the magic 20 mark before the show comes around. At least 7 of these layouts will be exhibited by RMWeb members which is not a bad representation for the site. A big thank you once again to everyone for their support. We are still short of a small shunting / shelf layout for the corridor space, so if anyone out there fancies adding themselves to the list then please get in touch as soon as possible.
     
    Since I last wrote a blog entry we have received confirmation from the local pub, the Cooper's Arms, that we can use their extensive car park for exhibitors. We will make sure everyone moves their cars this time too as we had problems with this last year. We have people ready to marshall the car park and direct visitors to alternative parking sites if the school car park becomes full. I will mention that the pub is well worth a visit and serves great food. Anyone planning to spend the day at the show could do worse than sample a beer before they go home.
     
    Sadly despite my best intentions Skaleby West remains untouched and time is ticking away. Next weekend will have to be spent working on the layout to ensure it is fit for its third outing. More updates soon!
  14. andyram

    Under Pressure

    By andyram,

    Several months have passed since my last entry and so much has happened. I left Weston on Trent School in July to a lot of touching comments from the parents and many staff members. I secured a supply post back at the school where my teaching career began and this was made permenant in October. Since the start of the new academic year I have caught up with a few old colleagues and planning for the 2017 show has continued. Meanwhile Queen and Adam Lambert have started their sold out European tour and tickets for their Nottingham show landed on our door mat earlier in the week.
     
    Now there is less than a week to go until the show, that looked like it would never happen, opens the doors to the public. To quote one of the famous tracks from the legendary band I am feeling "Under Pressure".
     
    In a sense things are going well. We have a confirmed line up of 24 layouts - more than we have ever had. It could have been more but, sadly, two layouts have had to pull out due to ill health. Nothing that can be done of course and their withdrawals are perfectly understandable. However, despite the record number of layouts, there are still some gaps to fill. This has become more pressing after one of regular traders also withdrew due to ill health.
     
    The clock is ticking - can I really fill those gaps?
     
    If not, should I let it worry me? After all we already have a record number of layouts.
     
    But - I do have a particular reason for wanting this show to be extra special. It will be my last show as organiser. After six shows I will be bowing out from organising it and, unless someone else takes it on, it will be the last show at this venue.
     
    Simply; I have struggled to motivate myself to organise an event to benefit somewhere where I no longer work. Being on the outside has caused some logistical problems too. I will need to get the show guide completed earlier in order for it to be sent to the school for printing. I will also need to do the same for the exhibitors passes and lunch passes etc. This means less time to complete these jobs and I am struggling to fit it all in - I am definitely "Under Pressure".
     
    I am sure it will all work itself out. I just need to get my head down for a couple of days whilst also ensuring my work for the new place does not suffer. Busy times!
     
    Meanwhile - I have also decided to exhibit Skaleby West at the final show. It seems fitting - after all it was built for the inaugural event back in 2012 and has been there at every show since. The extra space should allow me to use it with the scenic extension again which means a few last minute renovations to get it ready.
     
    Hopefully I will post some updates over the next few days.
     
    Until next time.
  15. andyram
    I have only been a member of RM Web for a few days, but I thought that I would get started with a blog about the construction of my first solo model railway. I have had no previous modelling experience other than helping my dad build his, never finished, layout when I was a child. This is definitely going to be a learning process.
     
    Today I thought I would introduce my layout and hopefully I'll get round to adding some photos of my efforts in due course.
     
    My layout, named Skaleby (a combination of Skaledale and Hornby as I will be mainly using off the shelf products) is a shelf layout measuring some 12 feet in length. It incorporates a small, two platform station, with a small goods yard and coal merchants area as well as a single road locomotive shed. The station is loosely based on Goathland on the preserved North Yorkshire Moors Railway, with some serious pieces of artistic license. My station is not a through station, but a terminus on a severed branch line.
    For those that know Goathland, the Grosmont end of the line is the severed end with all departures heading in the Pickering direction. Once the train passes under the road over bridge all links to Goathland end there. The line is planned to pass through a short cutting before entering the fiddle yard via a tunnel. One line will deviate off onto a wider section of baseboard in front of the fiddle yard. Here a larger locomotive shed has been planned which will incorporate the Hornby Coal Drop structure as a scenic break between shed and fiddle yard. I hope that makes things clear to everyone.
     
    As I am a steam enthusiast, it is steam that will be the focus of my layout. At 36, I am too young to remember steam working on the national network and so my interest has come from the preservation era. Therefore my layout will be that of a preserved line. This allows me to run a wide variety of locomotives in whichever livery I desire. My collection is very mixed although the majority of engines carry B.R livery. I do not favour any particular area. I have examples of locos from all Big Four groups.
     
    So far
    The track into the station has been laid onto the Gaugemaster pre ballested underlay. All platforms have been checked and placed and the scenery has been built up to allow the buildings to be placed onto the layout. I used cut off polysterene pieces from Skaledale boxes, glued down and covered with plaster bandage to act as a base.
    My biggest success so far has been the construction of the large embankment at the back of the baseboard to the left of the station platform. If anyone knows Goathland, this is the embankment which includes the steep footpath to Darnholm.
    I built this up using more polysterene blocks, with screwed up newspaper added to create a rough shape. I then cut thin pieces of card and glued these down to provide a flat base for the footpath before everything was covered in plaster bandage. After drying I painted the whole structure with brown poster paint and covered it with dark green scatter from the Woodland Scenics range. When this was dry I added tufts of hanging basket liner to create the look of rough grass, and then used clumps of Woodland Scenics dark folaige to represent plants. These then had assorted colours added to the top to create the look of flowers. Some trees from the Skale Scenics range have been added which completes a scene that I am very pleased with. I used Metcalfe stone sheets to build the retaining wall at the front.
    I am quite pleased with the result so far. It provides a back drop to the one picture I do have. It shows my Hornby Railroad Jinty standing in front of the embankment and retaining wall. This cheap engine is perfect for test running to avoid spoiling my more expensive models.

  16. andyram

    Weston 2014 is go!

    By andyram,

    The school holidays may be half over and the Christmas festivities may now be over, but with the New Year around the corner I can now confirm that there WILL be a Weston-on-Trent Model Railway exhibition in 2014.
     
    Actually the decision was an easy one. With almost £1000 raised for school funds and plenty of positive comments received, the headteacher seemed to nervously ask me if I would be prepared to run another event. Answer..of course I would.
     
    The date is Saturday 15th November.
     
    As a result I am on the look out for layouts again. Can anyone help??
     
    Meanwhile:
    Skaleby West
    The layout is in store awaiting our double house move next year. We will leave our current home in January and move around the corner to my late Grandfather's bungalow. We will stay here for 6 months until our new build is ready.
    No work will be carried out on the layout until we move out of our current home. Then I hope to get cracking on some of the outstanding jobs on the current scenic section and also consider building the scenic extension.
    In its current form the layout is available for exhibitions should anyone want it. At present its only 2014 booking is the Weston show, and that depends on whether or not I complete the extension.
  17. andyram

    WestonRail 2013

    By andyram,

    I wonder how many small villages can boast two different model railway exhibitions a year, in two different locations, organised by two different groups of people. I doubt there are many. In fact Weston-on-Trent in South Derbyshire may just be unique in that sense.
    Last year I organised our first ever exhibition, located in the village school. This was successful enough for a repeat to be planned for this year (Saturday 16th November). This weekend sees another event in the village. WestonRail takes place on the Ukrainian camp on the edge of the village and is organised by the NMRA.
     
    Now I have been working in the village for 13 - 14 years and I have only recently found out about this show, which I believe has been running for several years. The first I heard about WestonRail was when speaking to someone at our event last year, who claimed to have visited this show in the past. The second time I heard about it was from a trader who booked a stall for our event for this year. Apparantly they had stood a previous WestonRail event.
     
    For the first time I actually saw an advert for the show. It featured in the "show diary" in the last two issues of the Hornby Magazine and as it fell on a weekend I was free I thought I would go along - take a look, and also try and leave a few publicity leaflets for our event.
     
    Now I will be honest at this stage. My expectations for the show were very low. Both the people who I had spoken to previously had rather negative things to say about their experiences. I was also aware that the show catered for people with an interest in modelling American railroads - something which is not necessarily my cup of tea.
     
    I am pleased to report that the show more than exceeded my expectations. I was made very welcome at the door and there was plenty of space to walk around the two halls of exhibits. To be fair, the show is mainly aimed at members of the NMRA, but non-members are more than welcome. It is described as a "modular meet" and many layouts were of the modular type. There were certainly some very large models. The N gauge modular layout was huge, almost an entire model railway system in miniture. This allowed for some rather lengthy train formations, and I happily watched the action for quite some time. It was very entertaining.
    There was a very nice model of "lumber company" layout in the second hall - complete with a barge being loaded and unloaded by rail. The name of the model escapes me, but it featured some very impressive scenics.
    The event featured a number of specialist trade stands as well as the Bachmann stand which sold spares and returns from their international range. I did hang my nose over one of their 00 gauge tramcars, but resisted the temptation to buy.
     
    All in all I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and I certainly feel that those people who spoke to me in the past were unfair in their criticism of the event. If you like American layouts you will love this - and I recommend you get across to visit the second day tomorrow. As a non-American modeller I have to admit I did enjoy the event too. I would like to thank those people on the door for making me feel so welcome. The hall is very spacious and ideal for a model railway show with seemingly plenty of parking on site. My only criticism is one that I know our show suffered from - signage! I know where the Ukrainian club is - but others don't and it is easy to drive past. A couple of road signs would help others find the event.
  18. andyram

    Wirksworth 2014

    By andyram,

    It has been a fair few months since I have added an entry to this blog. That is not because of a lack of show visits. I have visited several over the last few months including Derby, Mickleover, Butterley, Bakewall and more. Many of my comments have been posted on the show's own pages. Sadly some of my comments have led to some criticism from some of the argumentative members of this site! As a result I would like to issue a safety warning. The views on here are my opinions only, and any criticisms are meant as constructive comments!!!
     
    And so to today. I like the Wirksworth event - it is rather unique in having three different sites spread across the town. The short walk between them breaks up the event and there are some nice little shops to look at whilst en-route. There is also the Ecclesborne Valley Railway to ride on as well if you so wish with DMU's on the main route and steam on the short incline branch.
     
    Back to the show and there was a good mix of layouts. I know that the organisers had had some problems with booked layouts dropping out, but they had done well to put on a decent show. The Ilkeston group had provided three layouts with the pick being "Fenby Quay" which is becoming a real show regular. Meanwhile their "Elveden Road" was a recently completed project showing a modern day servicing depot.
    The third Ilkeston model was "Woodside Lane Stabling Point". This small layout has also been seen at many shows over the years and has visited this show on at least one previous occasion.
    For 0 gauge enthusiasts there were two models - Catley Chemicals and Woodthorpe Shed. The latter showing some outstanding models. For someone who is a 00 gauge steam enthusiast there was very little. The only model to fit the bill was Derek Gelsthorpe's "Sutton Junction". I have seen this on many occasions and really like the model. It is a nicely sized terminus layout and there is always something happening. However one thing that, in my opinion, lets it down is how the model is operated. When shunting stock locos are allowed to change direction in an instant without any kind of pause. To me that spoils any sort of realism the model portrays. This may be a personal preference as I have seen similar practice on another of Derek's layouts - "Idle Way".
     
    The second room had another good mix of layouts. It was good to catch up with some Mickleover Club members and see one of their layouts for the first time. There was a lot of modern image here again, diesel layouts seem to be in the majority at this year's event. There was also a trio of foreign layouts. Those who admire the continental modelling could not fail to be impressed by the sizeable "L'Etoile de Chevineaux" a lengthy HO gauge French inspired model. Sadly I do not find these kind of models of interest.
     
    The modelling quality was varied in this room with one layout which, in my opinion, did not reach exhibition standard. Model buildings that were not well fixed together, exposed polystyrene formers, ill fitting building and tunnel fronts that exposed the constructions behind all spoilt a very busy and unique model. There was little operational interest either. I am sure some found the various cameo scenes impressive but for me the very poor workmanship spoilt it all.
     
    The third room mainly featured trade but there was a large display of Twix Twin and two small layouts including the N gauge layout Bitsand which had lots of passing trains.
     
    All in all an enjoyable show. Here are my light hearted awards.
     
    Best layout:
    3rd: Elveden Road - only completed in the week leading up to the show. A good looking modern day layout.
    2nd: L'Etoile de Cehvineaux - the largest model in the show. An impressive HO gauge French layout.
    1st: Fenby Quay - for the scenic and sound fitted locos it gets my vote.
     
    Best model loco:
    An 0 gauge "Crab" on Woodthorpe Shed caught my eye.
     
    The humorous:
    The inaccuracies of one visitor's monologue on the production "Deltic" which seemed to bore one of the operators.
     
    The worst:
    The poor workmanship on one layout in the second room despite displaying some "best in show" trophies! If it was "work in progress" model I could understand its appearance, but it wasn't.
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