Sarum Finescale were thrilled by the appearance of our layout Navigation Road in the September issue of British Railway Modelling. It is some months since Jamie Warne came to photograph and video the layout and we have been eagerly anticipating the results. We were most impressed with what he and the BRM team have produced and look forward to our other EM layout, Chitterne, appearing in a future edition.
Our webmaster, Richard S, took the opportunity to use some of Jamie’s photos as part of a refresh of our website. Richard updated the information on our layouts and generally tidied the site.
Mike E’s recent scratch building challenge was easily won by Lawrie who made a superb 4mm scale watering can entirely out of soldered metal. Most members had to remove their glasses before they could even see such a miniature gem!
Our test track has been the centre of attention at most group meetings over the last few months with a wide selection of rolling stock on display.
Chris H has been particularly busy. He showed us three GWR open wagons in EM (Diags 21, 23, & 26) all made recently from white-metal kits from the much missed – and hopefully soon to return – ABS range.
Chris also showed us a permanent way train pulled by his always admired Malcom Mitchell GWR 44xx. It featured wagons from Bedford, Cambrian and Frogmore, but the real gem was a T3 signal wagon from a modified Jidenco/Falcon kit complete with all the parts of a signal ready to be erected.
In a real blast from the past, Joe brought in a OO Gaiety 0-6-0 pannier from the 1950s complete with flange-less centre wheels. This struggled to run, but Joe is going to oil it up and see if he can get it working properly.
Our newest member, Ian, showed us a Class 122 Gloucester “Bubble Car” from Dapol which he has regauged to EM together with two Bachman Class 20s and a Hornby Class 08 which are awaiting a similar conversion.
Chris B has been – as always – unable to resist the allure of wagon kits and brought in some recent 3D printed examples from Mousa and Meon Valley Models. There was some discussion of the relative merits of 3D printed underframes as supplied by Mousa vs Meon’s approach of combining a 3D printed body with a brass underframe. There was however agreement that the quality of the Meon print is astonishing. We look forward to seeing the results once Chris has assembled and painted them.
This report – written by Richard Simpson – appears in issue 238 of the EM Gauge Society newsletter.