Narrow Gauge South 2022 - Eastleigh Show 23rd April 2022

Friday 22nd - Geoff, Stephen and 'guest operator' Chris Holmes (Laurence had decided to pass on this trip).

The main preparations for the show had been made on the the preceding Wednesday, so on Friday afternoon, Stephen arrived at Staines, the two cars were loaded up and headed down the M3 to Eastleigh. The hotel was visible from the motorway turn-off and booking in was quickly completed. Chris arrived in time for a cuppa after which we made the 5 minute trip to the venue. There had been uncertainty about how many car park passes we might be allocated, but on arrival at the college, all three were accommodated close to the entrance. Setting-up went smoothly. Worton Court was in the main hall, with more layouts, sales and association stands in adjacent spaces/classrooms. We were soon back at the hotel for dinner. 

After breakfast, it was showtime. We needed two people on the stand - one operator and one on the fiddleyard, so there was plenty of time for the 'spare' to wander around the show. As with similar shows, a large number of exhibitors and visitors were known to us all and a great deal of time was spent catching up with friends and acquaintances, especially with the hiatus of covid.

The Main Hall: It was essentially a narrow gauge event and 009 in particular, with the AGM being held in one of the classrooms.

The thumb turns on the trestles worked really well and made levelling the bases a doddle!

There were the usual minor mishaps, but generally, everything worked well. The additional figures certainly enhanced the layout and discussions regarding 3D printing were numerous. However, two features came in for particular comment - the fiddleyard display unit and the lighting. Most visitors want to see 'behind the scenes' and normally resort to peering over or around solid panels on other layouts. The perspex with shelves behind provides stock storage and display space, and allows views of the stock in the cassettes. 

The other was the lighting - a strip each of bright and warm white LED's, gives a decent colour of light, virtually without shadows. We were constantly explaining how they developed and what the components were. One manoeuvre we don't remember using very often was having 'full's and 'empties' trains on the layout at the same time. It gave a perfect opportunity to show-off all of the bespoke wagons and demonstrate the overall 'rock delivery' process from quarry to mainline sidings.

Packing up went smoothly and we were soon on our way home after a lovely weekend. We received enquiries for two more exhibitions, which we will consider if they become full invites.

Wednesday 20th April 2022

Worklist:

Review latest figures added to layout.

Dismantle layout and prepare everything required for the Eastleigh show.

Geoff had continued to find 3D figures online, download, print, paint and find interesting places to site them.

A few more spectators on the fence and a queue is forming at the ticket office. Apparently, children are scarce in the '3D printable' world - just one found so far.

A few punters now waiting for the refreshments caravan to open.

A few more 'gricers' on the platform.

A couple of volunteers at the engine shed and next to the station master.

They still haven't worked out how to fix the crane, but the old lady finally found somewhere to  sit-down and have a cigarette.

Apparently, a railway inspector is visiting the opening day of the new railway group and is being taken to the office. We're not entirely sure who the character by the phone is.

We then started to dismantle the layout. Boxes and bubble wrap were used to pack everything away. Some things took ages to work out how we packed them 'last time', but it mostly went smoothly.

The two main boards went into the travelling frame (which did need some working out).

The end board sits nicely on the fiddleyard. They will sit on the casing of the main boards, once the lid is attached.

All of the valence components got wrapped in bubble wrap.

The trestles fold-up nicely. We remembered the additional trestle to replace the storage rack when 'on the road'.

Everything else - backscene panels, control box, controllers, all the electrical units together with loads of tools and spares gets assembled ready to get loaded into the two cars on Friday night.

Eastleigh here we come!

Wednesday 13th April 2022

A full house and we all spent time looking for and rectifying things that weren't quite right.

Stephen tried to rectify the missing bell sound from the signalling system. Nothing wrong could be found and he stopped looking when working under the baseboard became too uncomfortable. Geoff then stripped the whole unit out and carried out a full test on the work bench - and got it working. One of the on-board switches had been accidentally altered and once corrected, it was hooked up to the new speaker. It was audible, but Geoff was certain a back-box would be better. As no suitable container could be found, he popped indoors, drew one up and set the 3D filament printer working over lunch. When finished, it was fitted to the baseboard and successfully tested.

The new water tank roof was glued in place.

Geoff had been painting more figures, which were found suitable homes and 'planted'. A nice little scene emerged around the redundant crane.

One of the 3D printed figures not dissimilar to one of the operators....

The back edge of the platform was given the same grass treatment as the front. All around the layout, small areas were touched up. 

Next week, the layout will be dismantled ready for packing up into two cars and heading for Eastleigh.

Wednesday 30th March and 6th April 2022

Both sessions concentrated on getting the layout ready for the exhibition, so apologies for no photos.

30th March (All three in attendance) -  A break-through on the crossover electrical problem. Logic prevailed and investigations confirmed that the two loco's highlighting the problem were 4-wheelers that were only 'picking-up' on one axle, due to dirty wheels or pick-ups (why did it take so long?). A second issue came to light - a slightly bent frog, which was quickly rectified with careful use of a file. Geoff got the electrostatic grass machine out and with Laurence's assistance, worked his way around re-grassing several bare patches. A very satisfying session, in the end.

6th April (Laurence away with the family) - Geoff had been working on scenery during the week and had fulfilled a long held desire to add grass to the front of the platform. He'd also filled in bare and unsightly areas. Some sea-foam trees had taken a bashing and the brittle structures were almost consigned to the bin (we won't use it again). Stephen rescued them, glued limbs back into place, sprayed them matt dark brown and, using a new can of hairspray, gave them a dusting of fresh green foliage. They looked nice, so he then carried out the procedure to the large tree at the top of the bridge track, giving it a much needed facelift. A step was crafted, painted and fixed in place between the furnace and the generator rooms - an omission that had irked Geoff for a long time. 'Water' was added to the ground beneath the water tower. Geoff has been using a thin superglue for this purpose that hardens with a small ultraviolet torch (part of the package). The whole layout was then given a 'deep' clean using small brushes and careful vacuuming. It is amazing how you get used to a certain level of dust and debris.

Geoff had been experimenting with some new figures downloaded from the internet for free or a nominal fee. He then 3D printed them on the resin printer. These were probably real people who had been scanned and converted to printable files. The quality varied, but were generally very good. He had been putting some nice group scenes together. More anon.

Only two sessions before we pack the layout up and head for the south coast!