The Club builds and operates layouts in a variety of scales.
DCC installation – 4mm scale Heljan Class 15
I have been DCC fitting one of the Heljan class 15s that arrived to-day and that I had ordered for our late 1960s period Orchard Wharf, locomotive D8242, as depicted in real life here and here. Photographs of the finished article can be seen above and here: I have made some modifications to the …read more.
Mar 28, 2021
Controlling Electromagnetic Uncouplers
Electromagnet uncouplers are a proven method for uncoupling Sprat and Winkle and other couplings that require a magnetic “pull down”, but due to the heat generated by electromagnets when they are energised, there is the potential of heat damage to the baseboard or in the worst-case scenario fire, due to overheating caused by misuse or …read more.
Feb 20, 2021
Vintage O gauge layout for sale
We’ve been asked to find a new home for a 1946 built O gauge layout that is 4.2m x 3.4m and an ideal size for a loft. Indeed that is is where it now. The most recent owner is the late John Hall-Craggs, probably better known for his extensive 9 1/2 inch gauge garden railway …read more.
Jan 23, 2021
Orchard Wharf’s Trackwork bubble working party
This piece of trackwork was under construction for an eternity — long, long before lockdown had been thought of — and it was finally attached to the baseboards during an all-too-brief working session in early October. It’s the crossover at the London end of the high level lines. The plain track for the running lines …read more.
Jan 3, 2021
Brutal Warehouse modifications on Copenhagen Fields
The representation of the KX Goods Yard has featured some magnificent (and large) warehouses, based on some of the buildings at KX, that Mike laser cut and made to produce a critical structural mass. In fact, the warehouse had already been shortened at the front by a bay, before our MRJ photoshoot last February. The problem is that these …read more.
Jan 2, 2021
York Road – Permanent Way takes shape
As Young Timothy has been valiantly polishing lumps of coal dust for his latest green painted shunter, I have made a start on the crossover formation for the tunnels to the North of York Road station. The running rails for one of the turnouts are now in place, and I will start putting chair plates …read more.
Dec 30, 2020
Done Any Modelling Lately?
MRC President Tim Watson takes a look back at 2020 2020 didn’t start like any other in the Watson household. We had almost completed a four month massive rebuild of the back of the house to make it wheelchair-friendly for Cecily: family Christmas dinner was achieved with some ingenuity laced with dust, but it took …read more.
Dec 29, 2020
PGA – Repaint programme
Having satisfied myself that the adaption of the Lima wagon to EM works, I decided to move on to painting. I had a pretty wide selection of bodies and existing liveries, which would easily show through new paint. So first job was a good soak in IPA – not the Greene King from the bar, …read more.
Dec 29, 2020
Class 321 build for Ingatestone – Part 1
As Tom S pointed out rather longer ago than I remembered, a few of us are supposed to be building the EMUs for the Club’s OO layout project Ingatestone. My experience of 321s is on the WCML in their earliest days from the late 1980s where they had taken over from the Class 310s (with …read more.
Dec 27, 2020
Updating Lima PGAs – Suspension and Pedestals
I’m gently building some rakes of block freight that might run around the outskirts of London in the late 70s / early 80s, taking advantage of some of the more recent high quality releases like Accurascale’s PTA/JUA stone wagons, but also going back and assembling collections of older models as I find them cheaply. …read more.
Dec 26, 2020
“Valour” in 2mm
After a long stay away, Valour has now gone through Ian Rathbone’s paint shop with final re-assembly and a bit of weathering in St Albans. Ian has made an outstanding job of the lining. It will be good to see the engine in service at the head of a 1923 Pullman train on CF, but will need …read more.
Dec 24, 2020
Bedding In – York Road (and York paving) – Part 8
We’re now beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the upper works of the YR tube station. The ‘plaza’ has now been paved using printed paving paper – in this picture update.
Nov 28, 2020