A Japanese N gauge layout will be the Liphook & District MRC’s exhibit for the Midhurst Modellers Show on Sunday 28th February 2010.
A relative simple job of adding overhead catenary and providing a completely new townscape of Japanese buildings, road layouts and vehicles, plus a small tram line, has transformed Cottleston Park into Yamanouchi Oshika.
Nick has led the conversion and all should be complete for this weekend.
Wish us luck!
As the club’s Weyford-on-Sea 00 layout will not be fully altered and up dated in time for the Midhurst Show we will be exhibiting a relocation of our modern image Cottleston Park to the Far East with new name and changed scenery.
Nick, who has collected a formidable collection of Japanese outline stock of all types had persuaded other N gauge modellers to embark on entirely new layout for exhibition in 2010/11. In reviewing a plan B for the Midhurst Show in late Feb 2010 it was decided that Cottleston Park could easily be refreshed and upgraded as a Japanese layout with appropriate changes to the scenic treatment and buildings in time for Midhurst. Work starts on this immediately, with the layout having been taken out of storage and transferred back to our temporary club room a couple of weeks ago.
Two weeks before the Midhurst Show the layout is due to appear at Alton MRC FEBex. This will be probably be with a mixture of European and Japanese stock as the exhibition manager is keen on seeing plenty of modern image N stock from across the world running on it.
After much contemplation the revised layout will be called Yamanouchi Oshika which I have been assured has been checked to ensure it won’t offend any Japanese speakers!
This layout will be used as a trial for the techniques to be used on the entirely new layout which will now be built slightly later than originally planned.
Work on Weyford-on-Sea continues.
We have received the sad news that our honorary life member Alf Rolph died on the 12th August aged 85.
Alf was a long time regular member, who used his undoubted engineering skill to produce models of 0 gauge GWR locos which ran on our Woodchurch layout, which he also helped to construct.
He was born in Marylebone and later had family connections with the G.W.R at Hayes. His early career was spent in the assembly of Spitfires and later in the Army involved in the repair and maintenance of all types of military vehicles. In civilian life he was a motor engineer running a GPO motor vehicle workshop when that organisation was one of the largest owners and operators of motor vehicles in Europe.
Although slight of build, Alf was not one to quit, surviving cancer twice and a major operation thirty five years ago and despite the need for regular injections he turned up, rain or shine to our very often cold club rooms right up to the end of last year.Fiercely independent he was somewhat miffed that being made a honorary life member in early 2008 meant he no longer had to pay his subs!
He seemed to enjoy the club banter- we certainly enjoyed his company and shall miss that and his involvement in club activities, in the years to come.
Alf leaves a widow Olive to whom we sent our condolences.
A group of current and former members attended his Service of Thanksgiving at Liphook Methodist Church on the 25th August and had the opportunity afterwards to reminisce with Olive and his relatives and friends about the times we shared with Alf.
Now the extreme cold weather has gone, our temporary clubroom has had some improvements this past week. A ceiling has been installed, (soon with insulation) and the draughty garage doors now have have an insulated “wall” on the inside. The lighting has been improved and completion of the painting of the walls in a Southern scheme of green and cream and the ceiling in white. is under way this weekend.
This work has “added” usable layout space, with the metal racking containing years of railway magazines now positioned up against the new insulated “wall”. This “new” space will enable work on “the yet unamed” Japanese N gauge layout to proceed a pace.
So all this work could be carried out (Many thanks to Andrew and Eric for their usual very professional work) Weyford on Sea was dismantled and will go up again next Friday, by which time the clubroom painting will be complete, some pin boards up on the walls and all tidied away.
The next priority is to continue work on the scenic treatment on Weyford for its next anticipated outing to the Hollycombe Railway Weekend in early June. However we have not as yet received any confirmation of our attendance and seem unable to raise the organiser despite numerous e-mails.
Work on the extension to Weyford Docks is well under way.
All new baseboards have been constructed and track has been laid in the fiddle yard, Weyford to fiddle yard, Weyford to and including Docks station.
Wiring on fiddle yard is well under way. Fitting of point motors to Docks due soon
Scenic work has commenced in “old dock area” of Weyford Docks
Lift off town scenic section constructed
Eric is constructing large warehouse/factory unit from Scalescenes kit
Progress photographs are appearing on RM web
Martin, John and the writer are working on the layout during the week plus David C when his leaky boiler permits (8-1-09 and 13-1-09 so far with 15-1-09 planned with hopefully regular twice weekly for remainder of run-up to Midhurst)
We still await confirmation of Midhurst attendance
G0SH is now “Gauge 0 South Hampshire Group” and has now no connection with the South Hants MRC
The majority of the G0SH group are now in the process of moving to the Fareham and District MRC at Portchester to construct a continuous circuit layout.
Durbridge layout has remained at the SHMRC clubrooms at Fort Widley. It is being worked on in a modified form by some former members of G0SH plus a couple of SHMRC members, who are now taking an active interest in 7mm modelling.
We wish them well.
Of all the places that would be the desinatination of a Dunkirk troop evacuation train from Dover, one of the least likely must be Dursley.
Friday May 31st 1940 Train no V.162 Departed Dover 10-15am; Arrived Redhill 12.53 pm Departed 1.01pm Route via Reading and Yate (Gloucestershire)
There is no record of its arrival time in Dursley or what facility the troops were accommodated in upon arrival.
This was the 44th evacuation train of 79 operated that day, of which 61 left Dover
An average of 536 troops were accommodated in each of the 560 trains that were operated from 27th May to 3rd June 1940.
In total 300,563 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk and thence by train from south coast ports.
Perhaps a special on the layout…
G0SH had an enjoyable two days at the show on the first weekend in October.
Despite many “promises” the station building didn’t appear but the layout performed reasonably well on only its second outing. The main problems were on derailments on the pointwork giving access to the Lister sidings.
The layout looked good and attracted some attention, including Salisbury club possible invite for 2009
Thanks to all the crew -David, TonyH, Paul, Stewart, Tony W and Colin (I think he was there!)
Thanks to Fareham MRC for their hospitality and sharing their van – they are doing the show again in 2009
Its just those stairs at Fort Widley-I’m sure that they add a few each year
It looks certain that the Petersfield Post will cover our attendance at the Wickham show this coming weekend in today’s issue and probably in next weeks as well if we can get photos to them.
UPDATE
Unfortunately the Post didn’t run the story in either issue despite sending a photographer to Wickham! (but did put the picture and a piece in the following week….)
A good time was had by all and the layout attracted a fair amount of attention, with the “DCC with sound ” and “Japanese stock” interludes helping.
The T gauge demo with a circle of track on an A3 sheet of card also created considerable interest.
Our membership leaflet which had been updated to include the wider range of members interests including T gauge was
displayed and about 8 were taken on each day.
The Fareham club put on a good show and it appears we may get an invite for one or other of the club’s or member’s layouts in 2009. Other interest was shown by the Andover club.
With the Japanese theme continuing in the N gauge group, Nick brought along on Friday night, a sample of the latest in Japanese model railway technology T SCALE.
This is considerably smaller than Z with a track gauge of 3mm, that’s about 1/8″. The model of a suburban overhead electric unit runs on about a 150mm (6″) dia circle of track with no points. There is a magnetic device that assists track adhesion. It seems unlikely that it is aimed at the model railway market, more likely an executive toy with the leaflet showing the track in a scale diorama mounted on a small coffee table.
The team expect to show it running above the tunnels sections of Coppleston, when it is at the FarehamMRC show on the 4th/5th October.
Scenic work continues on the 00 layout Weyford on Sea with the goods shed located