The Club builds and operates layouts in a variety of scales.
Exchange Sidings – A start in EM gauge
In Bulletin 416, I outlined the plans for a small shunting EM gauge layout that we would try to build in a weekend. So did we do it? The 21 and 22 February 2004 were the days chosen for the project. Despite a number of offers of assistance, I was slightly concerned on whether the …read more.
May 8, 2020
The real world moves on
I took a trip down to Ingatestone station this Sunday arfternoon to update myself and the team on the referbishment work carried out – although we have to draw a line on when we close our time period for the layout. We had said 2014 to 2016 but its a hard call. The first …read more.
Mar 14, 2017
Point Rodding
We have been doing quite a bit of work behind the scenes in the last few weeks to make CF easier to shift and exhibit – especially as we have Ally Pally coming up in less than a fortnight. We have a truly massive fiddle yard board at the back that has undergone a weight …read more.
Mar 14, 2017
Empire Mills – Feb 17
We’ve had a couple of good operating evenings at Keen House already this year, and the picture above shows my Class 08 on shunting duty this week. Members will have read in our last Bulletin that Empire Mills has new trackwork and a colourful new turntable fiddleyard. Over the next month or two we will be …read more.
Feb 4, 2017
When you want water on your layout…
Water runs down hill. So, front and centre should be the wettest part of the layout because it it the lowest. I always find myself drawn to water on layouts so I thought I’d add something. The first problem is that there is no space for a sizable water feature. Adding to this, most of …read more.
Oct 15, 2015
Grass laying on Empire Mills
Early on we decided to cover the front and back of the layout, most of the actual scenery, with carpet underlay. This produced a good effect, especially with a little bit of effort. It did, however, leave us with a dilemma about the middle of the layout. We tried a few different techniques for the …read more.
Oct 14, 2015
Empire Mills – In which I make bushes
Well I’ve spent the day making bushes and a hedge. I’ve found a pretty straightforward technique that gives pleasing results. To start off, we had already placed rubberised horsehair around the layout as a first step. It had all be sprayed brown before placement but they didn’t really look that good. So here’s what I …read more.
Nov 9, 2014