Our next event: RUNNING DAY – Sunday 26th July 2020, 10.30am to 5pm at the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, Brockford Station, Wetheringsett, Stowmarket, IP14 5PW
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6th Open Day & Exhibition, Beccles, 7th March 2020.
Our 6th public exhibition was held in Beccles on March 7th. We hosted 13 layouts ranging in scales from 4mm to 16mm, 6 sales and society stands and a painting demonstration. With 315 visitors, it was quite a busy day. We also held our annual challenge where seven “Fruit Box Dioramas” were built by members of the Group, which this year by its very nature totalled hundreds of hours of work. Bill Knight won the trophy this year for his superb 1:24 scale “Narrow Gauge Graveyard”. Of course we must thank Myra Davies for her demonstration of painting and weathering 7mm scale accessories and figures, the Southwold Railway Trust, Bure Valley railway, Halesworth to Southwold Narrow Gauge Railway, Helens Sales, Great Eastern Models, and the 009 Society Sales for their trade and society support. Thanks also again to members of Great Yarmouth Brass Band who supplied delicious home-made cakes and refreshments. Photos by G. Watling unless marked. (Click on images to enlarge)
Southwold – 00n3 (4mm scale 12mm gauge). Stewart Green’s excellent Post World War 1 model of Southwold Station. Famous for it’s “Cleminson” 6-wheeled chassis and it’s quirky nature the model features all the flavour of the station area and the approach from the cutting.
Oh Guano – 0-16.5 (7mm scale). A Queensland, Australia set model of a facility to process bat droppings (Guano) built by Noel Davies. It is mainly used for fertiliser and also supplied to gunpowder manufacturers.
Orne – 009 (4mm scale, 9mm gauge). Chris Ford displayed his Mid-Sussex scene of a railway that has just managed to survive the war. It was built on a redundant baseboard.
Llanfair Jamieinion – 009 (4mm scale, 9mm gauge). Built for his son Jamie to operate, Graham Doe has constructed a layout with a continuous run, the tack plan being inspired by the W&LLR western terminus. A small fiddle yard has now been added for more operational variety.
Ashurst Brickworks – 009 (4mm scale, 9mm gauge). A fictitious layout by Peter Rednall based alongside a narrow estuary on the Sussex coast where good brick-making clays have been found. Now based in the 1950’s, a passenger service continues to run.
Character of the day “Maisie”, and (right) Myra Davies Painting Demonstration detailing 7mm scale figures and accessories.
Mirkwood – 009 (4mm scale, 9mm gauge). A lovely model of a small Welsh slate quarry and nearby village by Tony Clarke.
Photo: R. Doe
Caroline Concrete Works – 0-16.5 7mm scale. A concrete works loosely based on the Tallington works near Stamford. Various structures are made, including sleepers. Materials are moved within the works by the narrow gauge and finished products to a standard gauge siding. Built by Graham Morfoot.
Photo: R. Doe
4000 Yards Area 5 – SM32 16mm scale, 32mm gauge. Kelvin Barnes super-detailed WW1 scene based on behind the lines railways set in France between 1916 and 1918.
Challenge Trophy presentation. Photo. R. Doe
The Group Challenge table, and Bill Knight receiving the Challenge Trophy from 009 Society Chairman Julian Evison. More photos of entries below.
Photo: R. Doe
The Brick Works – 0-14 7mm scale, 14mm gauge. An industrial layout built by Stephen Thomson and now owned and exhibited by Barry Weston, Ruston locos move clay into the works through a realistic scene.
Photo: R. Doe
Maentwrog – 009 4mm scale, 9mm gauge – Using Ffestiniog Railway stock, Peter Webb has created this lovely welsh layout over several years. Originally built to 8mm gauge, it was modified to 9mm when 009 items appeared on the market. First public showing.
Shortwaite Hill – 009 4mm scale, 9mm gauge. Graham & Caroline Watling’s fictitious, North Yorkshire inspired layout. Features a lower and upper station, scratch built buildings and hill scenery.
Old Chapel Yard – 009 4mm scale, 9mm gauge. A repair and maintenance yard set on the edge of a rural town by Jim Bamber. Jim is still adding stock and details on the layout.
Photo: R. Doe
Fishie Fishie – SM32 16mm scale, 32mm gauge. Work is well in progress now on this large scale shunting puzzle layout by Alan Fuller. A narrow gauge line serves the fishing industry drawing inspiration form Aldeburgh and Hastings beaches.
The 2020 Narrow Gauge Railway Group Challenge
After looking at the small mdf-made supermarket fruit trays we decided that this years Challenge was to “Create a narrow gauge scene in a box with sides – foot print no bigger than a piece of A4 Paper”. There were no other restrictions in the way the box could be used.
A: Tovil Treacle Blenders
B: The Greenhouse
D: Lineman Wichidale
E: Boxhall
F: The Windmill
G: The Depot
C: TROPHY WINNER: Narrow Gauge Graveyard
A: A mill scene in Nn3 2mm scale with a busy day at the mill and a wagon about to be moved onto the turntable for unloading. Built by Stewart Green using the tray upright and framed. B: to the other extreme – a 16mm scale scratch built greenhouse by Alan Fuller with over 1000 individual pieces. A narrow gauge line enters the greenhouse to load wagons with produce, or tools for the estate workers. (Photo: R. Doe) C: A superbly detailed scratch built 1:24 scale diorama by Bill Knight made using mainly card, small pieces of strip wood, used tea leaves, string, and teased-out felt hanging basket liner. This graveyard scene was voted favourite by visitors to the show and Bill was presented with the Group Trophy. D: A rural scene in 1:24 scale where a telephone engineer arrives to attend to a telephone pole, while a Ruston diesel rumbles by. Built by Martin Edwards. E: A small halt and village scene in 009, 4mm scale, by Graham Watling. Built almost entirely from the bits box and scrap materials. Cut-up calendar pictures give more depth as used on the back scene. Last years “Challenge” entry is also seen on the road in the form of the tea van (now mounted on it’s original road wheels rather than the rail chassis). F: A second “framed” entry by Stewart Green in Nn3, 2mm scale. A motorised windmill forms the centrepiece with the miller taking a breather while workers attend to their chores. G: A small RNAD (Royal Naval Armament Depot) in 009, 4mm scale by Richard Doe. Munitions and supplies are being transhipped from the standard gauge to the 2ft 6ins narrow gauge railway.
