Andrew Young

I forgot to remind you to buy more bacon….

Met up with @Mike Bellamy today and we discussed the Trent Valley Group Modelling Day at Mickleover in January. If anyone wishes to bring a layout (ideally 7mm narrow gauge, but other 7mm standard gauge, or other narrow gauge scales are acceptable) or have a table to do some modelling in between chatting, drinking tea and eating cake, then please get in touch too. Either to Mike, myself or by email to group.trent@7mmnga.org.uk Thanks Andrew

You might be expected to run these for the Grandchild soon….

Interesting choice and the price has caught my eye (in a good way). I don’t necessarily need one, but could well find one joining my Ixion Fowler diesel on my layout as I like Rustons. The only downside from my point of view is that I’d have preferred to have seen a plain standard Ruston green version (unless I’ve missed something), there’s two in works green on the list that I can see, but both have added owners lettering. Might see if that can be removed, or see if plain Ruston green will be available in a subsequent batch. Andrew

Having read your threads here and elsewhere in the past, it was good to see these buildings today, plus finally see one of @NHY 581’s layouts in the flesh at last. Also enjoyed chatting to @298 about Cuban railways, his Central Alonzo bringing back happy memories from twenty years ago. Enjoyed my visit with plenty of layouts to inspire my own efforts. Shall have to look out on the vacancy list for a vacancy at Long Melford, looks a fun frame to work. Quite fancy heading to The Warren to catch the next railbus… Andrew

One other possible cause is of course that most people no longer have open fires to heat their homes or cook their food. So no longer are on the hunt for fuel or kindling.

Thank you, I’m rather pleased with how it’s coming together. Though soon I’ll have to move out of my comfort zone into the rest of the scenery which will give me a good challenge! In the meantime, here’s the Magic Train conversion blog post I promised you months ago: https://melynvalleyrailway.blogspot.com/2023/09/a-magic-train.html?m=1 Cheers, Andrew

It’s been a while. However…. Making some decent progress (by my standards) with ’Wheal Ponder’ now. The main clay dry buildings that form the heart of the layout are now complete and add some welcome colour to what was a rather bland palette. Plenty more detail (and more photos) on the blog: https://melynvalleyrailway.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-clay-dry.html?m=1

Please accept my apologies Paul, in the hiatus that was the first half of this year I completely forgot about this. Shall take some photos and get the Magic Train blogpost written up asap. Andrew

Couldn’t see any order forms when I was there on Sunday. As @NHY 581 says, the Syphon arrived late last week and Chris has said it’ll take them about a week or so to send out all the preorders. The USA Transport Corps one is tempting, there’s photos of them in that livery in the UK. Andrew

Yes, this one, I believe it’s a Chrezo production, the people who did the 2-8-0 that’s also available from Minerva. The launch of the O gauge USA tank as a joint venture between Minerva and the French company Chrezo was announced in the hall and streamed via YouTube in the link that you’ve found. Speaking to Chris Basten on the Sunday he said that it will be on the website this week. Here’s a photo of the CAD render they had on display. (Edit- It was a laminated sheet in a brightly lit hall, any distortion is due to my trying to hold it for a photo without it catching the hall lights) Due June 2024, to coincide with the 80th anniversary of D Day. Essentially Minerva will sell the Southern style one to the UK market and Chrezo will sell the as built version to the European market. If I get one, I fancy a WD version (as ran on the Melbourne Military Railway near Derby) so asked Chris and he said that he would be the person to sell me one. I suspect that they may well be exchanging a few between them as I suspect that some European modellers will want the Southern version. Before anyone bemoans the silence online about these, it’s worth remembering that the late Chris Klein was always the leader in the online presence of Minerva. A bit reveal at a show seems very old school to us now, but I’ve no objection to that. It worked just fine for years. Andrew

The last time I looked, Sodor was in the Irish Sea rather than Mid Wales… 😁

I tried Dinghams, but found that the variety of coupling hook heights on my stock was too great for them to work reliably. Steel three links and a magnet on a stick is what I’ve gone for. Prototypical, I’ve got the knack with them and O gauge is big enough to see. But then, it’s more home operation than shows. In other news, love the weathering on the J70 sheds, superb. Cheers, Andrew

Like your lighting rig. Had looked at the guttering in Wickes with the same thought so it’s good to see that you’ve successfully adopted it and seen that it works. Thanks, Andrew

Only just stumbled across your thread, I must look at the foreign pages on RMWeb more often! Shall have to look out for a copy of CM and have a read. If your trip includes Tywyn, the newsagent on the High St stocks a full array of railway mags. Andrew

Dapol have produced photos of production samples of the forthcoming rtr L&B locos. They look very nice, though the pedant in me thinks that Taw & Yeo would’ve been more appropriate for the early cab versions rather than Exe. But that still doesn’t stop me from seeing if I have enough pennies for two rather than just the one I’ve ordered. https://www.Dapol.co.uk/blogs/lionheart-news/7mm-scale-l-b-locomotive-production-samples Andrew

Unsurprisingly, following Neil’s untimely passing, there was a period of reflection rather than doing following Elsbridge’s appearance at Burton. There was also a fortnight’s summer holiday, but since I’ve been back, my modelling mojo has slowly returned. Elsbridge is in the care of the Trent Valley Group of the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association, or Neil’s modelling mates as it could be more commonly referred to. After Burton, Elsbridge went in my garage but in the last week has moved up into my attic, a relatively large, spacious and insulated railway and storage room. The advantage of living in an old pub! Elsbridge has been set up, spiders evicted, all the buildings and detailing parts added and most importantly, operated. Having two part built layouts of my own, having a fully scenic operational one to play with has been rather novel. I’m sure that myself and Neil’s friends will enjoy operating it from time to time and I’ve already snuck off up into the attic both yesterday and today to shunt a few wagons. Currently, I’ve given some of my stock destined for the Abermelyn a run for the first time in a couple of years. This is further ignoring the modelling mojo for me to carry on with my own layout projects. It’s also shown just how small Elsbridge’s resident locos and stock are because my two Ixion locos look rather large on the layout, and they’re small by O gauge standards. Soon they will return to the drawer and I will get Neil’s stock out to run. Today I met up with Neil’s widower Dan who is pleased that the layout is being enjoyed and not just hidden away between outings. Dan tells me that Neil had put next year’s RMWeb MAG gathering on his calendar. When I get my calendar I’ll be sure to put it on as we intend to honour that attendance. Elsbridge in its new home. ‘Malin’ enters Elsbridge with a short goods. the wagon on the left is the one that Neil very kindly scratchbuilt for my Abermelyn project. It may well reside on Elsbridge for a bit to remind me to build somewhere more appropriate for it to run! Andrew

What a superb array of layouts. Bath is just about doable as a day trip on the train for here and will hopefully attend Larkrail one year, alas this year’s date conflicted with our summer fortnight in Wales. One benefit of daughter starting school in September is that early July will free up a little from next year.

Great news, shall have to find a use for one.

Jay, Just a quick message to say that Elsbridge may well still attend despite Neil’s untimely passing. Neil had actually already put the date on their calendar, Neil’s widower tells me. Elsbridge is now in the care of Neil’s friends at the Trent Valley Group and we will see what we can do. Thanks, Andrew

Pleased to report that Elsbridge ran very well on Saturday, with no problems and plenty of positive comments about the layout. Some thoughts and photos can be found here: https://melynvalleyrailway.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-show-must-go-on.html?m=1 And secondly my photos of some of the other exhibits that caught my eye: https://melynvalleyrailway.blogspot.com/2023/06/burton-2023.html?m=1 It’s been a hectic few weeks and a rollercoaster of emotions. The layout is safely stored currently and I shall be having a quiet few weeks, including a holiday. However, when there is news about Elsbridge then I will share it here. There may well be exhibition appearances in future, invitations and availability depending of course. The layout will be set up and kept operable. After the funeral there was some talk of producing a video for those who knew Neil but have yet to see the layout run. One of our Group members does creative media as his day job so that is an option we will be looking at. Andrew

Saturday was a very good day, have put some photos up on my blog should anyone wish to see what they missed. First up the experience of operating Elsbridge: https://melynvalleyrailway.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-show-must-go-on.html?m=1 And secondly my photos of some of the other exhibits that caught my eye: https://melynvalleyrailway.blogspot.com/2023/06/burton-2023.html?m=1 Andrew

Final plug from me for Burton. There’s some cracking layouts lined up (plus the sausage cobs are always good). Looking forward to seeing plenty of people there tomorrow. Andrew

Today we said our goodbyes to Neil at a packed Trent Valley Crematorium near Derby. However, Neil’s legacy will live on, by agreement with Neil’s widower Dan, the Trent Valley Group will become custodians of ‘Elsbridge’ and maintain the layout in a running condition. We will be taking Elsbridge to Burton for the 7mmNGA Convention as Neil intended. Going forwards, we will hopefully exhibit the layout on occasion. Look forward to seeing some of you on Saturday. Andrew

You can, when I last ordered some loco crew left or right handed options were one of the drop down menus alongside the scale. Andrew