The first meeting of the New Year saw the welcome return of Richard P to Group meetings, bringing with him his Finney T9 which he has built to P4 standards. Painted in Drummond LSWR livery, the lining has occupied him for many, many hours. His patience has been rewarded and we were all very impressed as we watched the locomotive move so smoothly and elegantly around the test track.
Much of our recent activity has been focussed on getting our two EM layouts, Navigation Road and Chitterne, ready to be photographed for possible magazine articles. Being able to watch each layout working without the pressures of an exhibition brought home the almost entirely scratch built nature of the buildings on both of them. While Navigation Road, which is set in the ‘blue diesel’ period, understandably uses re-wheeled RTR diesel locomotives, they are superbly weathered. Chitterne on the other hand is operated almost exclusively with kit built steam locomotives and rolling stock. Only a re-wheeled diesel railcar and two WW1 warflats with Whippet tanks upset this pattern.
The latter were purchased by Chris B at the Southampton MRS show from Gramodels who were attending their last exhibition. So yet another trader disappears, an increasingly common occurrence. As a Group we enjoy kit building in plastic, brass, and whitemetal, but are becoming increasingly concerned with problems of sourcing some of the essentials for modelling as we enjoy it.
Work is continuing on Parkstone with increasing amounts of track being laid. One problem was always going to be the complicated pointwork at the entry to the goods yard. Here a three way point led to two separate crossings as the industrial line from the South Western Pottery came round a tight curve to gain access to the third siding in the goods yard. To meet the need, Chris H, who in recent months has spent much time on the point rodding and scenery for Chitterne, has produced a superb scratch-built assembly using copper clad sleepers.
We are always pleased to see visitors and welcome new members.
This report – written by Joe Newman – appears in issue 236 of the EM Gauge Society newsletter.