The big event for the club in October was the much delayed appearance of Gary’s 7mm Scale 0 Gauge Halsdon Road at Rail-Ex Taunton. In the week leading up to the show, Gary went down with Covid. Consequently, it was left to Dave S and the Gang to take it down from CS2, cart it to Taunton in the horse-box, put it up, operate this private layout for two days and take it back down again.
This exceedingly long layout erected, awaiting curtains, and almost ready to roll the evening before.
This excellent show was much, much busier than it seems here – honest!
Halsdon Road is set in the post-privatisation period and this is the MPD with Classes 37 and 60.
Dean has been soldering up a 2mm scale Langley GWR 57ft double-ended slip coach, which he claims has been in the cupboard for far too long – hopefully he still thinks that!
A glimpse of Deanswear, Dean’s 12ft end to end N Gauge layout, loosely based on Kingswear circa 1930 – halcyon days for the GWR.
Dom is making good progress with his 00 Gauge Coombe Town. He has weathered the Autocoach making a world of difference to the ‘look’. He is now moving on to the rest of the rolling stock, and has also started ballasting as seen below.
Dave H was busy in the run-up to Guildex at Stafford, just completing in time the Bob Alderman Memorial Trophy – to be awarded for the best use of modern technology – well, The Rocket was modern technology of its day, and a 3D scan of Bob is driving it!
Bob’s last layout Hobson’s Brewery was at the Wimborne Show, the same weekend as Rail-Ex Taunton. These are the locos normally available for the layout. Hobsons Brewery (7mm) was a runner up in the Small layouts competition at Guildex.
This is one of a pair from Dave’s 7mm scale rake of GWR 6-wheel coaches that did well in the rolling stock category at GuildEx. Their construction from styrene sheet has featured before in these posts.
This is Jim’s 2mm finescale cameo layout Bordesley North set up in Hall 5 at the NEC for this year’s Warley Show. Much midnight oil was burned to create the new left hand scene, which shows the edges of the Lawley Street container terminal and associated diesel servicing depot. Not 100% finished in time but it gained good comments – and an invite to another show, this time Macclesfield in Cheshire, even further from home!
John M has been putting the finishing touches to his 7mm scale D16/3. The loco is now painted, lined and numbered, and ready for the fitting of the bits and bobs that needed protection from the paint, such as cab windows and the cab backhead. The tender has to be coaled and when this work is done it will be weathered and finished. The tender is from a ancient Mallard kit, the loco body is scratch built except for the fancy valance.
What a pity one was not preserved. Alan Bloom at Bressingham wanted one, but considered BR’s asking price of £1,500 too high. This was in 1960 when that was a lot of money. Richard Hardy, shedmaster at Norwich, managed to ‘hide’ the J15 and the B12/3 (now on the NNR) from the suits at Stratford, but the last D16/3 no. 62513 was scrapped.
The front has been tidied up. The smokebox door is a brass casting the origin of which John is unsure. Not all the class had the steel ring bare metal, but this one was a Melton Constable engine, and that wonderful place in the middle of beautiful North Norfolk countryside looked after theirs to the very end. The steel effect on the model is polished 60/40 solder.
The lubricator priming wheel was the last piece to do until installing fireman Dave S and driver Simon W in their cab after weathering. The casting is exquisite, but John can’t remember where it came from either.
Allan’s LMS all steel open third from a Sidelines kit nearing is completion also in 7mm scale. The door and grab handles are yet to be fitted as well as more detailing of the corridor connections. This is the first of a fleet of LMS coaches that could run on Evercreech New. Next up: a panelled open brake third…..
Pete C (who clearly has a bit of a thing about brake vans) has finished his 4mm scale EM Gauge LMS brake van (Parkside Kit), and has started an Oyster ballast plough as a conversion from the Cambrian Models Shark ballast plough kit:
To finish with, on what looks like a lovely Autumn day following a storm, some fiddling on a roof:
Not the first time, and proably not the last time!
Yeovil Model Railway Group (YMRG) 
Hello,
Thank you for the superb newsletter.
May I ask how you went about making a 3D print of Bob Alderman. It would be something that I would love to do on my layout with my late father. He worked for Southern Railway and it would be lovely to have him in my layout.
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