Bala Lake Railway Model Show 21st and 22nd September 2024

[MatP]

Hi,

 

I am delighted to announce that we have one last layout to add to our roster, bringing our total layout-age back up to 30 (plus 14 traders and 3 Society stalls). This layout is "Whiteoak Light Railway" in 0-16.5, thanks to the people at Grainge and Hodder and Cradley Heath MRC. In fact, we are going to have quite a "Cradley Corner" in the Gym, what with Halfpenny Green, Campbell's Quarry, the G&H stand and this very fine 7mm scale layout, and all of that not very long before Cradley Heath's own model show too. Thanks, guys!

 

https://www.cradleyheathmrc.co.uk/whiteoak-light-railway.html

 

I've also attached a .pdf copy of the final version of the floor plan for you to download if you would like. You'll need to zoom in a bit to see the detail and as usual converting my CAD drawing to a .pdf has caused all the text to move a little bit :( 

 

Mat P. 

 

 

 

Full Floor Plan V6 2024.pdf

Edited Saturday at 16:17 by MatP
Better version of floor plan added

[MatP]

Hi Everyone,

 

With just a few days to go before the curtain rises, and only a few hours to go before I need to head for Wales, I've finished adding some not very high-tech fiddleyards to my model of Llangower station. Because the trackbed on the scenic section is 4cm higher than the Tim Horn baseboard surface, I had to make some cassettes. I thought of using balsa, as I did on the scenic section, but worked out it would be much cheaper to buy a 38cm thick plank from B&Q, chop two pieces off and glue a bit of card to each underneath. The point is now motorised and the signals would have been but I can't find the Dapol mechanism box that goes underneath. In better news, the first train has now run on the layout, about 3 years after I finished the scenery! 

 

The picture isn't very good, I admit, but light is low and brain energy lower. The Tim Horn end boards are only loosely attached, but it may give you some idea. Maybe one day I will use one of the end boards as a linking section to a model of Bala Pen-y-Bont station, from the footbridge to the buffer stops, and finish it just in time for the station being rebuilt for the Extension...

 

Anyway, there will be 29 other layouts at the Bala Show this weekend, and 17 traders and societies, and the real Bala Lake Railway running an intensive service, and lots of people talking happily about the Extension go-ahead, and if you're coming from England, you can pop into the SVR's gala for half an hour on the way home!

 

All the Best,

Mat