2023 stuff.

 2023 stuff.....

Well, 2023 was a busy year for exhibitions...for us, anyway.  Our layouts were shown 14 times - 8 with "Raven Hill", 3 with "Pye Rigg Works", and 3 with our 009 layout "Shortwaite Hill".  I am surprised that, although quite a lot of stock was built up to December 2022, only six models were built this year, 3 locos, a 4-wheel coach, a tank wagon and a large van.

New layout ideas keep buzzing around in my mind, but if any were actually built there would be no room to store them.

And just recently, after four years, my first 7mm scale diorama, built in a drawer, was actually named. "Drawley", a pun on "drawer" and "Lee" (the chaps name who gave it to me).

Photos from our travels:-

Dereham

Royston

+

Norwich

Ely

Beccles (our Groups exhibition).

Bressingham

Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, Brockford Stn., Wetheringsett. 

(Part of our Groups display)

Great Eastern Models, Norwich.

Stalham.

Sudbury.

Barsham, at Groups "Open House/Running Day"

Models:-

"Kelpie", a Minimum Gauge Models brass kit.

"Hyena" and "Ladon"  Avalon Line kits.

"Hyena", and coach No. 10 from Minicraft 1872 Vulcan kit.

Tank wagon, by Unit Models. 
 

A station name for the drawer module at last.

"Hyena", "Ladon" and Coach No. 10

 

After seeing an advert in "Railway Modeller" for a collection of (mostly un-made, resin) O9 kits plus some scenic items, I bought them and made a trip "up North" to collect them. There were about 32 wagons, a couple of coach bodies and few loco's.  Two Avalon Line freelance diesel kits (ALD1-9 and ALD2-9) were part-made, so I set about repairing and restoring them.  These are no longer made, so I was pleased to have them.  Some of the parts were not fixed correctly, but it was quite tricky cutting some parts off them as they were old, and glued with super glue.  The locos became "Hyena" and "Ladon".  

"Ladon" (no nameplates yet) and "Hyena".

Also, above, coach No.10 has been built (seen finished in the first photo) it's a four-wheeler, using coach parts from the Minicraft 1872 Vulcan kit.

I had been looking for some lattice post signals suitable for O9 and found "noble_designs" on Ebay printing and selling some good 4mm examples.  So I asked if they could be printed approx. 36% larger to bring them up to 12ft high and I bought 8 of them.  Above is a photo of one plonked temporarily on Pye Rigg Works.