No 33: September 2014

Wrexham Area Group

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Latest NewsColin from the Wrexham Club upstairsspoke to Barry at the Dapol shop the otherday. He said that the Halls new kitchenmight not be ready for the meeting on the8th Sept.

Therefore, we are looking at Monday 15thSeptember to return to our Area Groupmeetings.

Prestatyn Charity Show

We have been invited to Prestatyn CharityShow on Saturday 6th December Ian needsto know A.S.A.P. whether we're takingCragmill or Bryn-y-Mor. Please email himyour suggestion.

Chirk Changes

Work has commenced in Chirk onSouthern bound line. This is for theprovision of the ramped footbridge fordisability access. The structure is going inat the north end opposite the Cadburyfactory, and is expected to be completedby end of this year.

There has been a new bilingual signpromoting access to the World HeritageSite at Pontcysyllte via the canal whichruns behind the station on the routethrough to Llangollen and the HorseshoeFalls. Similar boards are provided atRuabon.

Club OfficialsChairman: Pete Jones

Treasurer: Barry Parker-Twist

Secretary: Ian Coe

ExhibitionsWrexham Toy and Railway Show, Saturday 15th November 2014.Bryn Y Mor

Prestatyn Charity Show, Saturday 6th December 2014. TBA (seeabove)

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Union Pacific AmericanLayoutBy Pete Jones.

Work has finally commenced on myhome layout. My initial plans were tobuild a portable layout measuring 4'6”x 3'4” so it could fit in the back of mycar. The base board was made lastsummer using 9mm MDF and 2x1batons.

This summer after placing a hill in thecentre and started laying Kato track.However, after several attempts Icould not find a track plan that wassatisfactory for my needs.

A rethink was required. My integralsingle garage was converted some 9years ago to a wargames room. Theidea was that it was to provide storageand an area for game playing.However, over the last 7 years it haskept for storage as I have weeklywargame meetings with ample roomto game. The “wargames room” wascompletely shelved for storage.

I figured I could take the shelving outbuild a layout with storage below andshelving above.

The first job was to remove the currentshelving and remove the storedcontents. This meant filling our loungeand dining room was used as astorage room and became a bit of amaze/minefield.

After some research for the besttimber prices a trip then ensued to

In his email Roger expressed hissurprise that his fame has travelledafar to Wrexham. CoincidentallyRoger spent most of his schoolholidays with his grandparents inPenley, on the Whitchurch Road, andcycled around the collieries et alaround Wrexham, Ruabon, Brymboand Copping industrials. He alsorecalls making a weekly visit to CroesNewydd and the LNER shed.

Engines at War is one of severalbooks written by Christian Wolmarand currently is available on Amazonin paperback for £6.99.

His other titles include:

• Blood, Iron and Gold: How theRailways Transformed the World

• On the Wrong Line: How Ideology and Incompetence Wrecked Britain's Railways

• Fire and Steam: A New History of the Railways in Britain

• To the Edge of the World: TheStory of the World's Greatest Railway

• The Great Railway Revolution: The Epic Story of the American Railroad

• The Subterranean Railway: How the London Undergroundwas Built and How it Changedthe City Forever.

Layout News

Ian has wired the points at both endsof the fiddle yard to 'choc blocks' andproduced connecting wires to gobetween the two end boards. He hasnot wired them to a control panel ashe feels Kevin will probably do a muchbetter job. If Kevin is not available todo it in time for the next outing(Wrexham in November), he hasvolunteered to build control panels.

Norman has both fiddle yard boards atpresent as the next meeting won't beuntil 15th September when Ian will beat the North Wales meeting.Incidentally, next year Ian shall onlybe attending the North Wales meetingon the third Monday of the month sohe'll be able to come to Wrexhamthree times a month again.

Norman has now completed thescenery backboards and we hope tohave photographs soon.

Engines At WarPete recently distributed Shunter 122the newsletter from theNorthumberland Area Group (if youhaven’t received it and would like acopy contact Pete or Ian).

In it they mentioned a talk the Grouphad received from Roger Bagnall onMilitary Railways and included briefnotes. As this was of great interest toPete with his military interested hecontacted Roger via email whoprovided his original comprehensivenotes on the talk.

It all started for Roger in about1966/67 when he was an instructor atLongmoor and was asked to talk tothe AGM of the RCTS in Birmingham.20 years later he did the same for theStephenson Locomotive Society inNewcastle, and continued to add to it.

Roger went on to say that he went toa talk by Christian Wolmar on theTrans Siberian Railway, and boughtone of his other books – ‘Engines ofWar’. This is a detailed book onrailways in the military which wasdescribed by Roger as “ an absolutelyexcellent read and it must be now thefinal word on the subject”

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Wickes. I decided to use 9mmplywood the same depth as myprevious base board.

As my woodwork skills are basic I keptconstruction simple with 2”x1” batons.

Legs were made from 30mm x 30mmtimber and one screwed into eachcorner with a cross beam. Each leghad a T nut underneath with a 25mmbolt screwed in so I could alter thetable legs to aid levelling.

The layout is to be “U shaped” and thefirst 4' x 2' table was erected to theright of the entrance door at a finalheight of 1.1 metres. This gives agood operating height and allowsplenty of storage beneath.

With all the tables installed it gives mean 11 foot run down the left wall with6' 6” x 2' wide and the remaining 4' 6”x 3' 3” wide. Underneath the window isa 2' 6” x 2' board which is finally joinedto the the 4' x 2' board by the door.

Each board was built separatelyoutside and the transported to theroom, erected and secured togetherusing T nuts and 40mm bolts.

One top tip I picked up after buildingthe first board was to build the frameabout 1 centimetre less than the boardso that the outer facing side of thelayout has a lip which hides minordiscrepancies of construction.

I have laid some track out on thebaseboards and already found I needa lot more track and points!

As you can see there is a lot ofstorage beneath the layout too.

The most rewarding part of this was Iwas finally able to run some of myAmerican locomotives.

N Gauge Society ShopThe extra Committee meeting at theweekend to thrash out the future ofthe Society Shop has resulted inseveral slow moving ranges beingoffered at reduced prices in the nextJournal (5/14) which will be out in thelast week of this month.

They will not be ordering any newstock in the ranges to be sold off . Sobe ready to pounce for any deal thattakes your fancy because, as they sayon the ads, "When it's gone - it'sgone!"