Chitterne had a very successful outing to Bracknell for ExpoEM. This was it’s first show since the new scenic board was completed. The board has appeared twice before, but in both cases was “Work in progress”.
The new venue seemed to have rather more space and we had plenty of room to move around the layout.
Assembly went reasonably smoothly. The new backscene was being fitted for the first time and this took some fiddling to get right, but looked good once it was all aligned.
The lighting also gave some trouble due to a short circuit which we were able to fix. In the end the hall was brightly lit to the extent that the layout spent part of the day bathed in sunshine so the lighting wasn’t really needed.
We just about got the layout running in time for the first visitors and soon had a steady stream with many positive comments and questions. A number of visitors remembered seeing the layout in its earlier configuration and commented on the improvement provided via the new board.
As usual, couplings gave us trouble and we had a few issues with derailments and sticky running. Some of the problems were traced to the “Lawrie Couplings” which were tending to catch on the facing point lock covers as evidenced by paint being scraped off.
The new military line gate with its ludicrously over complex control electronics worked reliably although on the Saturday it did have a tendency to stick to the gate post if it was left closed for too long. It did also provide positive control of the military line track power and this, together with the new simpler mechanism to isolate the engine shed siding made operation easier.
As always, there were many “Lessons Identified” which we hope to address before Chitterne’s next outing, but overall we had a successful and enjoyable show and we hope that visitors enjoyed looking at the layout. Perhaps next time they will be able to experience the “village board” currently in preparation.
Our thanks to a number of Sarum Finescale members not normally associated with Chitterne who kindly agreed to assist with transport and operation.