NHY 581

Merry Christmas, Graham. Best wishes for the festive season. Rob

Merry Christmas both. Hope Santa is generous but above all enjoy yourselves. Rob

Evening all, Well, we're nearly there. Only a few days to go and I have a bit of time off to catch up. The last week or so has seen me helping out in the shop just about every day due to staff shortage and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.....even though we haven't really stopped. It's been very busy and reassuringly for this lovely hobby of ours, many customers have been little modellers in with their Mums and Dads......or Mums, Dads and other relatives sneaking in to buy items or vouchers for their little people. Many of these have also been new customers as well, all of which really bodes well for the future. Most importantly, I'll take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank you all for making this thread the social animal that it is and I'm only sorry for my own inactivity as of late, something I hope to improve upon in the New Year. Thank you for the encouragement, banter, kind words and best wishes throughout the year and in particular those given so readily regarding my wonky hooves. Many of you fine types have trundled along to the various exhibitions and it's been good to meet up and chat with so many of you. All the shows have been fabulous and I have been very lucky with my invites but my personal highlights have been Railwells ( thank you Spams) , Stafford ( thank you Jay ) ,and Uckfield ( thank you John, Gwyn and Pete ) I hope to repeat the catch ups at next year's shows of which, there are a few..........and rest assured I'll be boring you all with the details. So, may I conclude by wishing you all a Happy Christmas. May it bring you all that you hope for and the peace and goodwill you all so rightly deserve. Merry Christmas !! Rob

And the very best of wishes to you, Rob. It was lovely to catch up at Stafford in September. All being well, I'll be back there next year but most probably as a visitor. Until then, have a joyous, healthy and very Happy Christmas. Rob.

Stunning.

Had a play with a sound fitted specimen today, Great fun and quite loud but I was intrigued to find that the sound file contains a couple of whistles as well as, for me at least, the more expected bell. I just didn't expect a whistle as well as a bell. Rob.

I must say thanks to Rapido and Chris M in particular. My 'alternative' cowcatchers ( Sheepcatchers in my case ) arrived today. Another example of Rapido's commitment to and their engagement with their customers. Thank you. Rob

Thanks all. I got my C53s and G15s mixed up. Note to self, don't research when away from your books and in a busy shop. Rob.

Sadly, I'm unable to credit the photographer but on the basis that the caption is correct in terms of the loco itself ( and it looks right ) then 129 was introduced in early 1921 and renumbered by the LNER in 1924...so in all probabilty this is pre 1924......... Rob.

The comments regarding appropriate rolling stock are pertinent. It's one thing providing a rather nice loco but commercially, it makes sense to build on that release by making appropriate wagons, coaches etc. Less of an issue with BR locos but for the pre-grouping liveries, without delving into kit building, suitable rtr pregrouping wagons, in this case Great Eastern, would be useful. One open, a brake van, Oxfords van and you have a good start. Rob

Tidy.

Glad it's helped, John. Amongst the contributors to this rambling thread, there is a great deal of knowledge which everyone is only to happy to share. Crucially, due to our 'familiarity' with each other, I like to think there's more of a chatty, social nature on here. So, if anyone has a question, ask away. Rob.

Morning all, Well, a resounding thumbs up all round for the Powercab. Another plus was/is the ease of installation. I had mine installed and running in probably an hour. Forty minutes of that was measuring, cutting and cleaning up the hole to drop the small terminal panel into. There are no big power packs to accomodate. It is literally plug and play. I don't need or want any computer based capabilities. I just want something to make the trains move and if the mood takes me, make them noisey. DCC is as complicated as you make it but I am a firm believer in keeping it simple. Trust me, having made the quantum leap from DC to DCC, that will not change. Rob.

Exactly right, Steve. In fact, I went one better. Chris Hopper @Gilbert invited me along to the Thornbury show to help operate his DCC controlled layout, Penmaenbach. Spent a day getting to know the NCE Powercab and afterwards promptly ordered one though Chris had very kindly sent me home with a spare one to get to know both it and DCC in general a bit better. It certainly worked as EWE was DCC'd as a result and the new layout will be DCC controlled from the start. Rob.

Roger. I'm new to DCC so perhaps not best placed but here are my thoughts to date. I use a NCE Powercab. I have experience of the Bachmann Dynamis system and various Gaugemaster DCC systems. The Powercab is by far the one which I prefer. The ergonomics suit me, moreso at present due to my gimpy hooves. There are three says to control speed. Two sets of push buttons. The first increases/decreases speed in mutiples of either 5 or 10 depending on if you are on 28 or 128 speed steps. The second set increases/decreases in 1s. The third option is a roller. Very smooth. The background noises I can't comment on. Decoders. The best I have found is Zimo or Bachman /ESU. I've tried DCC concepts, Dapol, LAIS ( Carp !) and a few others but Zimo of Bachmann/Zimo, Bachmann/ESU are those I stick with. The above combination gives me the smooth, slow speed running I want. I hope this gets the ball rolling. Rob.

Of course it's okay, John but sorry, control what exactly........if you mean this thread, I have no control. Gave up years ago ! Rob.

Jamie, you are Chief Photographer in Chief to SWAG for as long as you want to be. Your photographs are a lovely and provide an eagerly awaited record of the event. R

Afternoon all, Just sharing this here....... ☆ SWAG Members Day- SUNDAY 28th APRIL 2024☆ Rob

Would be nice if you could. We can’t go ahead without a Mullie.

Thanks Mike. That's pretty much what we had at this years day. I’ll be speaking to our highly skilled sales executives and peeling back the onion on this. It’s in hand, not a drama and doesn’t need the focus it’s currently getting. The day itself is all about the social interaction and enjoying the layouts etc..... Rob

Morning Rob, You need to amend your calendar to 28th April..............just saying........ Rob

Crikey ! Definitely not ! What kind of weirdo do you think I am..... Sheepbloke.

Just checked. Just read the relavent act and section. You're right. However, we will still be charged by the card machine company for each card transaction. It will be sorted by the time the event goes ahead. Thanks. Already sighted on that. See above. Rob

The SWAG Members day for 2024 is scheduled for Sunday 28th April 2024. 10AM- 4PM , Sunday 28th April 2024. Where Staplegrove Village Hall, 214 Staplegrove Road, Taunton. TA2 6AL Serious stuff. ************PLEASE NOTE*********** IF TRAVELLING BY CAR, REMEMBER, THERE IS LIMITED PARKING AT THE HALL ITSELF. THE VENUE SITS WITHIN A RESIDENTIAL AREA SO PLEASE PARK WITH DUE CONSIDERATION TO LOCAL RESIDENTS.. Fun stuff. Layouts. The usual menagerie of wonders has been assembled............as follows..... PAYNESTOWN. N gauge by @Barry Ten Those with longish memories may recall Al Reynold's 4mm homage to a typical terminus set in the South Wales Valleys. It's still about but under new ownership. Well, Al has revisited the original concept but this time in 2mm. As ever, Al has captured the very essence of the area to provide us with a wonderful evocation of these rather basic termini so very much at the heart of these tightly knit communities. RUYTON ROAD. 4mm/P4 by @McC Another seminal layout from the early days of Model Railway Journal ( Issue No. 75 ). Built by the late John Spencer it is now in the care of Paul Bannerman who rebuilt the trackwork from the original EM to the current P4. The rest of the layout has been sympathetically restored to provide a lovely insight into the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway from Kinnerley Junction to Ruyton Town, serving a nearby quarry. Fair to say the aim of giving a flavour of a 1920s Colonel Stephen's light railway has been acheived. OLD PARROCK. 4mm/00 by @PaulR Paul's wonderful pre-grouping layout is a personal favourite of mine. Beautifully scratch built buildings are the true stars of this delightful little layout. Another outstanding example of the 'less is more' approach to layout construction and a real visual feast rich in colour and texture. Far too short an article appeared in Model Railway Journal No. 284. LYDBROOK DEAN. 4mm/00 by @wiggoforgold Alex returns to SWAG having brought his wonderful Yelverton along last year. This time Alex has taken himself off to the Forest of Dean. To quote Alex, 'Set circa 1962, it will be called “Lydbrook Dean”. It will be set on the former Severn and Wye line, and Ben Ashworth’s book “BR Steam in Dean” has given much inspiration'. Well, I think Alex has once again captured his chosen subject and era beautifully. MIDDLETON TOP. 4mm/00 by @JustinDean (Photo by Jay ) Jay brings his rather nice slice of the Cromford and High Peak Railway along. Middleton Top features Jay's scratchbuilt structures from the actual location as well as a number of kitbuilt locos and wagons unique to the line. Never exhibited before, this promises to be a real treat. (Photo by Jay ) OSNEY TOWN. 7mm @rcf Rob's Osney Town is the latest in a line of 7mm cameo layouts, which due to what Rob describes as a severe lack of space aims to provide a snapshot of a "what might have been" set somewhere in the sleepy extremities of the Western area of British Railways in the late 50s. If you think uou can't accomodate a 7mm lauout, think agsin as this is just 5ft long and depicts a small station set alongside a babbling brook. Of note are Rob's lovely structures which provide such character. KYLE OF LOCHALSH. 2mm Finescale. by @bcnPete ( Photo by Chris Nevard ) Pete flys the 2mm finescale flag with his homage to the Kyle of Lochalsh. Pete has captured the very essence of arguably one of the most readily identifiable railway stations. It's also rather well travelled as Kylie was originally built in Barcelona, Spain as a micro layout capable of being transported via boxfiles. It was first exhibited in 2010 and has since had two refurbishments to create a scenic section and fiddleyard section. CROPPER STREET SIDINGS. 4mm/00 by @Gilbert Chris is a dab hand at an inglenook and he treats us to another excellent example of the genre. They're not everyone's cup of Earl Grey but be prepared to watch and learn. Blue and green diseasals predominate on Cropper Street Sidings which is a small, eminently operable shunting puzzle and is another example of how a usable layout can be accomodated in a small space. For those of you who may not be aware, Chris is a tutor at Missenden Abbey, specifically weathering so rest assured, we'll be treated to some well executed examples of his craft shuffling about on Plopper Street. ST.OSWALDS. 0-16.5 by @Tim C Set in the early 1960s, Tim's delightful St Oswalds depicts a run-down Welsh narrow-gauge railway goods yard in its last days before closure. The layout and stock have a Welshpool and Llanfair flavour though locomotives and wagons from other railways also creep in to provide occasional variety. Have inglenook layouts ever looked so lovely ? Judge for yourselves......... Demos. Once again we have a selection of specialists to entertain and advise on stuff. Jerry @queensquare will once again be beating the 2mm Finescale drum and will have a selection of teeny tiny mechanial wonders and not so teeny tiny buildings and other bits as well as the society stand. George, aka @Gedward will be along with a diorama or two. Excellent scenery and a rather nifty hand painted backscene will no doubt elicit many a question from the casual passer by and George is there to answer. Stu, aka @Stubby47 will be there to discuss your requirements for a bespoke building or two. He'll also be demoing a selection of buildings by SMS and can offer a custom building service for this lovely range of buildings and accessories. If you struggle to locate him, he'll be under the mound of cake crumbs. Martyn aka @mullie will be returning with something small and East Anglian and once again be sharing how he achieves such lovely colouring on his models. Catering. Our crack catering team will be on hand to serve up a veritable feast of delights. The usual pasties, scratch built cakeage, cups of tea and coffee along with the occasional biscuit and Welsh cakes. All we ask is if possible, please bring your own mug to help keep the amount of washing up to a minimum and prevent the catering team’s little pinkies from drying out. (Costs a fortune in moisturiser for them otherwise) Profit from all sales on the day will go towards supporting SWAG'25 with the excess being donated to charity. ☆Please note...Catering purchases are cash only☆ Bring and Buy Once again our highly trained sales team will be on hand to run the Bring and Buy stall. Exhibitors and visitors are encouraged to raid those 'roundtoit' shelves and cupboards and offer those little gems for sale. Remember, a percentage of the selling price will be payable to the event. The money raised will go towards supporting SWAG'25 with the excess going to charity. ☆Please note....currently, we will be able to take payment by card ☆ Traders. Please give some thought to anything you might want to be able to pick up from the traders on the day. Please consider contacting them prior to the weekend and arrange to collect on the day. Lord and Butler. Peter will be along with a smorgasbord of items from the shop, both new and some previously enjoyed gems. 247 Developments. Brian is a long time supporter of the event and will have his usual selection of hard to find detailing parts, etched products and his expanding range of 3D prints. Mudmagnet Models. Richard brings his ever so massively expanding range of 3D printed items for those exquisitely crafted extra bits and bobs to add that all important detailing to our layouts. How........................... much ?!!!!!!! FREE. YEP. YOU READ THAT RIGHT............. FREE. This is still a free to enter members day. However, there are running costs associated with the event which are getting increasingly challenging to meet. To help with this, there'll be suitably labelled receptacles dotted about the hall. PLEASE donate a few coins into these at your discretion, you'll be helping to ensure we can do this again in 2025. .......To be brutally honest, the capability to hold SWAG in April '25 is wholly dependent on monies raised during the event, by way of the catering, a percentage from the sales in the bring and buy department and , yes, any donations made. To that end we will still see a post event donation made to charity but the priority this year will be to ensure that we CAN do this in 2025. SWAG'24 is going ahead due, in no small part, to donations generously made at SWAG'23. Loud shirts. ( photo courtesy of the EM Gauge Society ) Definately encouraged. So, I think that's about it for now. I've one more layout to confirm ( thankfully quite a small one ) and then it's just a case of fitting it all in.......somehow. *Oh and correcting any c*ck ups to the above. I thank ewe. Rob.

As I say similar numbers, certainly close enough to cause me to doubt the suggestion that roughly 4 locos out of 42 were fit for purpose. Rob.