The American writer Damon Runyon’s character Feet Samuels had ‘feet as large as violin cases’ which ‘go off at different directions under him’. When he stood on a street corner guys would ‘make bets on the proposition as to which way Feet is headed when he is standing still.’
Club nights see a similar challenge – which of the two main baseboards for Chitterne will arrive first from its travels? Chris B and Chris H have both been taking a board home after each meeting to do their homework – either in West Berkshire or nearly into Hampshire. And we are a Wiltshire club based just outside Salisbury!
The results speak for themselves with landscaping finished and ‘electrostatic grass’ to be applied before planting Chris H’s hedges, Lawrie’s trees, and Richard S’s shrubs.
Clive R has been working steadily on a fine single road engine shed while Chris B has completed the end loading dock and begun a goods shed. And your scribe has been testing his soldering skills with a small hand crane and a (larger) water tower.
Progress on Parkstone has been halted for two reasons. Master woodworker Jeff, having built the scenic and fiddle yard boards, wants to make the end sections when the weather is warmer and he can handle the large sheets of plywood outside.
And Navigation Road, our award winning blue diesel layout has been called back into service to help our friends in the Salisbury and South Wilts Railway Society when they hold their first exhibition for three years a week after this year’s expoEM. So the Parkstone team have been busy on a resuscitation exercise at relatively short notice.
It is reassuring to think that we could well have one or other of our layouts at two different exhibitions on successive weekends this Spring.
Let us hope this actually happens.
This report – written by Joe Newman – appears in issue 232 of the EM Gauge Society newsletter.
STOP PRESS: After this report had been dispatched to the EMGS editor we received the exciting news that Chitterne has been selected as a finalist for Chairman’s Challenge competition. It is now all hands to the pumps to complete the layout in time for judging at the EMGS show in Bracknell on the 14th and 15th May.