Hello,
I am fairly new to the narrow gauge scene and the society but would be interested in a occasional meet, say monthly. I also notice that theres nothing covering the area through the 009 society so its ok to post this
I was thinking a North Suffolk & South Norfolk group as the counties are quite large and appreciate that people don't want to travel to far.
My home is not big enough to host so was thinking about the local village hall but obviously it could be a roving thing.
I would personally prefer a weekday evening as I often work at weekends but could possibly sort something.
Anyone interested or have any thoughts?
I have also put a posting on the Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling Online forum.
Cheers
Richard
Hi Richard,
I Am in Norfolk, and would be interested to know more.
Cheers Jim. I am new to these small locos too......... :)
Hello Jim,
welcome to the forum and thank you for your interest.
I haven't had a lot of response so far and you're the first from Norfolk!
I was thinking about a monthly meet where people could bring their latest projects, have a chat, bring photos, possibly a layout etc
From reading the 009 News, it seems to be the kind of thing that happens.
Obviously if anybody has any suggestions that would be useful.
Cheers
Richard
Hi, interested to hear of your idea, I am in North Norfolk and discovered 009 a year ago. Went to the Convention which strengthened my resolve that 009 is the read deal in railway modelling! I will keep an eye on here and hope there is enough interest in our area.
Best regards
Geo
Hello George,
thank you for posting.
The convention was excellent, I really enjoyed it.
I have placed an add in the 009 News so with that and the add on here plus the one on the narrow gauge modelling forum will see how much interest I get.
I was thinking about early March if things go ahead.
cheers
Richard
Richard
In my role of Membership Secretary, I would be quite happy to forward a letter to all those members living in your intended catchment area. The letter just needs to say your intentions and provide a contact telephone or email address; whatever you're happier with. The letters would be sent at the Society's expense, of course.
If you let me know the post codes (just the first part, NR23, NR24 etc then I can see how many possible members there are.
Alan
Hello Alan,
I have sent you a message.
Thanks
Richard
Hi, Reference Suffolk and Norfolk group. Theres an exhibition in Holt on
February 16 in a hall beside Budgens. Can you be there, and anybody
else whos interested...............Jim
Holt exhibition noted, will make a point to be there, wear 009 society badge! Hope to see some 009 enthusiasts then!
Hello Jim,
thanks for posting about the exhibition, do you know what time it starts etc?
My wife plays for GT Yarmouth Brass and I have a ticket for their concert in the afternoon of the 16th.
Don't know whether i'd get up to Holt and then to Oulton Broad for 1.45!
It might be possible.
cheers
Richard
I have had quite a good response to the ads so to get the wheel turning I have provisionally booked Barsham Village hall for the evening of Monday March 3rd from 7pm.
There have been people who model various scales interested so it can be a mixed scale group but the majority have been 009.
I hope this will be ok to some people and I appreciate that the date and time may not be suitable to some.
Re the previously Holt exhibition, this is advertised in Railway Modeller as a sale / swapmeet / fair with 20+ stands. Times 10.30 to 2.30.
Good luck with the meeting on March 3, sadly I can't make it then but will hope to hear more news later of how you get on.
By the way, re Sellaport & Lanthwaite layout in RM! I think I now have the loco no. 14 pictured on page 114 on my layout. A great runner. ( And what a good layout S&L was!).
Regards all round,
Geo
Well the on going DIY is preventing much online time at mo and certainly no modelling getting done.
However, I would like to think Monday evening was a success.
We had eleven people for the meet from quite an area including Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Diss, Attleborough, Norwich etc.
5 different scales of Narrow Gauge models represented with 009 being in the majority.
Three layouts were brought and some folk had some last projects to show.
The location was liked and people generally seemed happy.
I have booked the hall again for Monday 7th April and James (a 7mm modeller) has booked the village hall in Wattisfield for an open day on Saturday 3rd May.
We will be posting more details about these in due course.
Lastly I would like to thank so who attended and who brought layouts.
Thank you Steve, i'll get the info together and let you know.
It will probably towards the end of the week.
Thanks again
Richard
Monday is approaching so just a reminder of details.
Monday April 7th 7.00pm-10.00pm
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA.
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay.
Turn in by Phone Box
Please feel free to bring works in progress or items to show etc.
A bit late getting the write up done ( still busy doing home improvements!, wish there were more days in the week!).
There were nine people at the meet, three new faces. I hope those who attended enjoyed the evening.
There was a on30, 009 & 009 micro layout and a 009 working diorama on display.
Some kit built 009 locos were brought.
We are learning things as we go along, We need a test track so I am hoping to have a multi scale test track ready for the May meet.
A friendly discussion decided that Norfolk & Suffolk is easier to say and sounds better than the other way round so we will be deciding on exact name at the June Meet! Also in June we will be having a chat to see what else we want to do etc.
The next two meets are booked, Sat May 5th at Wattisfield community centre 10-4 and Mon 2nd June at Barsham 7-10pm
Thanks to those to attended and brought things.
The June meeting saw seven members venture into Suffolk with 3 layouts, a variety of rolling stock and some excellent kit built locos on show.
Two of the group members Richard and Jim brought along their new projects. Richard
We had a good meeting on the 7th. There were six of us on this occasion.
Various things were brought to show:
Alex brought his newly started 009 layout with included a warehouse that will have a manually operated wagon unloader which will use magnets. He also had a pugbash utilising a Kato chassis in the form of a 0-6-4
Graham had some coaches on show and his latest one of them was a conversion using a Liliput coach as a starting point.
Chris showed us a servo mechanism he is going to use to create a working beam engine for his waterworks layout and also he brought his home made tea strainer type static grass type applicator.
Nick used the test track to us a kit built 0-4-0 tank loco he made many years ago, it ran very nicely.
Richard showed a small amount of progress with his 3d printed side tank loco. One side has been lined using some ancient dry print lining he picked up from Parrs model shop. He was also seeking opinions on some colours for rolling stock.
Alan brought along his latest On30 acquisition which he tested on the test track.
We also had a chat about a few things including dates and other plans for the group:
It was decided to have a Saturday meet at Barsham in October. It was agreed to book the 11th October, 11 am to 3pm. This will give a chance for people to bring a layout and have more time to have it set up. I will be at the hall from about 10.30 if anyone arrives early.
The 009ers thought it would be good to go for Recognised group status with the 009 Society. I will sort this shortly.
We are keen to do a first anniversary Public open meet. I suggested a hall in Beccles as it a fairly good place for visitors to get to by car, bus and train and halls are reasonably priced.
We will hopefully have quite a few layouts in a number of scales which should be interesting for visitors.
More details will be sorted out in due course but early March looks a good time.
Chris has suggested a challenge for members of all scales to get involved with.
The Two Square Foot Challenge!!
"To build a narrow gauge layout with a scenic area of two square foot.
Layout can be any shape as long as it has a scenic area of two square foot.
No limits on any off-scene fiddle yard or run-round areas.
Hopefully this will make it possible to build layouts in a range of scales and allow them to be self contained, end to end, round and round etc. to support the scenic layout.
Aim to show them at an open meeting in spring 2015 and would also be suitable to make a display at exhibitions to promote the group."
This idea was received with quite a lot of enthusiasm and I think if we confirm whether to go ahead at the August meet will give people quite a bit of time to have a go.
If anyone has any suggestion or thoughts on the challenge please let me know.
I was in Southwold last week and popped into the Southwold Railway shop. There is a very nice 2015 calendar out now featuring the excellent layouts of the Southwold Railway by Stewart Green. Well worth Buying a copy!
The next meet is Monday August 4th 7.00-10.00pm
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
We had another enjoyable evening with six people in attendance, I thought we were going to have a new person but he was looking for local AA meeting!!
Graham brought his 2001 A3 competition winning 'Grumblewick Coombe'. The layout features a pub in a valley that's really only accessible by rail. The railway brings people, beer and supplies to the pub.
Chris brought along his micro shunting puzzle layout 'Abbots Yard'. It kept us amused and challenged trying to shunt the wagons into the correct spots.
Alex had his latest projects on show and a couple of his dioramas including one with narrow gauge working unloader into standard gauge wagons. Alex's Pugbash is complete and looks very good with the Kato chassis. His newly scratchbuilt diesel looks excellent on a kato chassis.
Richard had a loco and rolling stock painted in his final choice of livery.
Alan brought something completely different! a Heljan OO standard gauge Garrett. A superb model.
We have decided to definitely go ahead with the 'Two Square Foot Challenge' so please feel free to join in, details below.
"To build a narrow gauge layout with a scenic area of two square foot.
Layout can be any shape as long as it has a scenic area of two square foot.
No limits on any off-scene fiddle yard or run-round areas.
Hopefully this will make it possible to build layouts in a range of scales and allow them to be self contained, end to end, round and round etc. to support the scenic layout.
Aim to show them at an open meeting in spring 2015 and would also be suitable to make a display at exhibitions to promote the group."
1st Anniversary Open Day.
I have provisionally Booked the St Johns Ambulance hall in Beccles for Saturday 7th March for our 1st Anniversary Open Day
The next meet is on:
Monday September 1st 7.00pm-10.00pm.
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
September saw a very enjoyable meet and time just flew by!
Alan, Alex, Graham, Chris, James, Jim, Phil and myself attended.
Chris showed plans for his two square foot challenge.
Alex was showing his progress with his two square foot challenge and brought along some rolling stock and a diorama.
Jim brought his 'Hubbards' layout showing progress.
Phil had a cardboard constructed prototype station building for his layout.
Richard brought along some rolling stock that I have been working on.
1st Anniversary open day.
I have confirmed the booking for the St Johns Ambulance hall in Beccles on Saturday March 7th 2015.
More information will be announced in due course.
The next meet is Saturday October 11th 11am - 3pm.
We are planning a fish and chip lunch.
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
We decided to have a Saturday meet this time to allow for a bit more time to bring and set up layouts.
We had finished layouts and some under construction plus items of stock to show.
Our weekday meets don't always allow enough time for this.
We had very nice fish n chips and lemon meringue roulade for lunch!
There were a few new faces this time too.
Stewart Green was able to make a meet for the first time and he brought his 'Birds Folly' 009 layout
Chris Seago brought along his 009 'Reeds Beck Waterworks'
Graham and Caroline Watling had 'Nibley Knoll', their 009 layout on show.
Jim brought 'Hubbards' his 009 layout under construction
I had my 009 'Shipmeadow' layout showing some scenery progress.
Some rolling stock items were brought to show.
Alex brought his scratch built loco on kato chassis.
Neville brought a long a Con Cor Hon3 Galloping Goose
Seven attended the November meet.
It was a busy evening with quite a bit of time spent looking at the plan of the open day hall and moving bits of paper representing the layouts around it trying to fit them in!
We did get around to looking at some items people brought along.
Graham was showing his very smart newly built Peckett saddle tank tram loco built by Paul Windle.
Alex had some of his 009 dioramas on show with some stock.
Chris was showing revised pans for his 2 Sq ft challenge.
Stewart had his Southwold railway based 2 sq ft challenge with him showing excellent progress.
I brought along a Chris Ward 3d printed WD loco body and a caramel motor bogie
The next meet is on:
Monday December 1st 7.00pm-10.00pm.
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
We had an enjoyable December meet with 10 attending.
Alex was showing his next 009 loco project, a RT Models Lister kit which will use a Kato Portram for motorising. He also had some locos and rolling stock to give a run.
Jim was showing more scenic progress with his 009 Hubbards Halt layout.
Peter was able to visit for the first time in a while and brought some very nicely kit built and painted 009 locos. I believe the locos were constructed from Backwoods Miniatures and Meridian models.
Graham has put some photos on the website.
Neville brought along a couple of holiday photo albums with photographs from the Cumbres & Toltec and Durango & Silverton railroads.
Graham was taking some photos to update the website.
Chris brought along some 009 Greenwich couplings with a view to demonstrate their assembly but unfortunately we ran out of time (for the 2nd month running). We will aim to fit it in next time!
Richard had some 009 rolling stock he has been painting and decaling. He was also showing a Chris Ward 3d printed WD steam loco body and Narrow planet RNAD 99hp Baguley-Drewry loco 3d printed kit.
Stewart updated us with some more details on his Southwold Railway themed Nn3 2sq ft challenge.
The next meet is during the day on Saturday January 3rd and if you would like a trial run to find out where our March open day will be held please come along and join us from 9.00am- 2.00pm
St John Ambulance Hall,
Blyburgate,
Beccles,
Suffolk,
NR34 9TF.
Please feel free to bring works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
we met at the St Johns Ambulance hall in Beccles (venue for the open day) for the Jan meet.
The time mostly consisted of brainstorming over the plan for fitting everything in the hall for the open day!
I think we are just about there. There should be nine layouts plus the 2sq ft challenge layouts, the 009 society sales stall and the Southwold Railway trust's stall. Ladies from the Gt Yarmouth Brass Band will be doing light refreshments.
In the remaining time we admired Chris's 2 sg ft challenge baseboard construction, very neatly done indeed.
Stewart brought along his Bridge over the Blyth layout.
Alex was test running his latest purchase, a Jouef steam loco.
Neville showed some laser wood buildings he is constructing.
Phil brought with him a Minitrains controller which we hooked up to the test track.
Richard had some more rolling stock progress and one of Rod Allcock's Ruston LA diesel locos.
The next meet is on:
Saturday 7th February
10am - 2pm
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
Graham Watling has been very busy putting Photos on our website of the Open Day layouts and challenge layouts.
Please see them in the Gallery section
http://nsngm.org.uk/
To avoid the Bank Holiday our next meet is on:
Wednesday 1st April (seriously!)
19.00 - 22.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
We are hoping to have some of the 2sq ft challenge layouts on display and running.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
Eleven met on Wednesday evening for our April meet.
Four of the challenge layouts were present:
Graham brought the prize winning Raven Gill
Chris had Ashfield Green on display but I understand he's still constructing the controller!!
Alex was running Upton End and test his open day purchase, a Minitrains Gmeinder diesel loco.
Jim brought Old Chapel End.
Bertie was showing some of his 009 locos under construction and a Backwoods C class pacific awaiting construction.
Well under away were a Backwoods Fowler 0-4-0 and Backwoods Garrett and now have the bodies in primer with running chassis. A Chivers large Hunslet Cackler was also in primer. Chassis construction for a Darjeeling & Himalayan Railway 0-4-0 seemed to be near completion.
Andrew brought along a Railway Modeller article from 2007 featuring his 009 layout Newton Halt. The layout had won a prize at the Chelmsford MRC for a small layout challenge.
Phil gave his new Bachmann bo-bo diesel chassis a test run which will be a donor for a Langley Fairlie which he also had with him.
Neville brought one of the books from a series about the Rio Grande Southern railroad.
Richard was testing his open day purchase, a new Minitrains Zillertral Boehler 0-4-0 which was purchased form the Society stand at the open day and a couple of Minitrains tank wagons.
We had a chat and we all agreed we were very pleased with the open day.
We are aiming to do one in 2016.
Alex suggested a Modular layout challenge for the next year. There seemed quite a lot on enthusiasm for this but maybe for a ongoing project and perhaps the 2016-2017 challenge.
To avoid the Bank Holiday our next meet is on:
Wednesday 6th May
19.00 - 22.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
Six of us attended the May meet at Barsham, with a variety of projects too show.
Alex brought his yet to be named 009 layout which features a country station with sidings and a continuous circuit.
Alex is also progressing with the scenics and has been scratch building structures using Wills kits and embossed plasticard. He also had a selection of rolling stock running.
Chris had a 009 Backwoods Miniatures Single Fairlie 0-4-4T kit on show. Some of the body and chassis has been assembled.
Richard had some 009 works in progress with him. A Minitrains Bohler tank loco now lettered and numbered for the fictitious Beccles & Bungay Railway. He also had a Peco flat wagon painted up and a couple of Parkside freelance brake vans built and painted for the railway.
As a group we also gave Richard's recently acquired 009 TGW TU Koppel 0-4-0 chassis a test drive at only 4.5V we gave it just a small amount of juice with a bit of weight assistance from Chris's Mashima motor from the Fairlie kit. It ran quite nicely!
Refreshments were served and a short chat about various up and coming plans for the group and plans for the next open day concluded the meet.
Next meet is Monday 1st June 19.00 - 22.00,
Our next meet is on:
Monday 1st June
19.00 - 22.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
http://nsngm.org.uk/
Our next meet is on:
Monday 3rd August
19.00 - 22.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
12 attended the August meet.
Stewart brought along a Z scale Marklin railbus/railcleaner which will be used for the basis of his 2mm Southwold Railway railbus for the new group Challenge.
Graham was showing his completed 009 Chris Ward side tank loco.
Geoff was demonstrating one of his scratchbuilt 0.16.5 radio controlled locos. A Bachmann OO chassis was used for it. The batteries and electronics are in a coach that connects to the loco.
Jim was running in a new N scale Bachmann Plymouth loco on his 009 layout Hubbards Halt. The loco chassis will be a donor for something in the future.
Alex brought along his Industrial shelf layout and was also test running a Bachmann N scale Plymouth loco whch will be used for a future 009 project. He was also showing progress with his 009 Brian Madge Hunslet. Alex is turning it into a freelance version and has machined a handbrake and chimney for it.
Neville had three boards of his HOn3 layout to test fit the new middle board which features a large wooden trestle.
James had a couple of recently completed Oe locos. The first is a Faur-L45H Romanian diesel. The body is a resin kit by KS Modelleisenbahnen running on an Athearn HO chassis. The second loco was created by using the left over parts of the Faur diesel and runs on a Piko HO chassis.
Richard brought along a couple of recent 009 loco body kits. First is a Narrow Planet Hunset 'Pamela' and the other a Tyne models produced by Narrow Planet Kerr Stuart 'Wren'. He also had the beginning of a micro layout that will be MOD themed and will utilised Ammunition cans to support the layout.
The Next meet is Monday September 7th 19.00- 22.00 at Barsham Village Hall
http://nsngm.org.uk/
Our next meet is a Saturday 'Running Day'.
As the evening meets don't really leave enough time for anything other than the smaller layouts we are repeating last years running day to give members more time to set up and run their layouts. Last year saw around seven layouts and I think there will be more this time.
We will be having a fish n chip lunch.
The meet is open to anyone to attend and is free to get in.
Saturday 10th October
10.00 - 16.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
we had eight layouts for our running day.
Six were 009 and there are some pics now on the website.
There will be some video clips going on the website soon.
http://nsngm.org.uk/?q=node/43
Graham Watling's son Alan took some film at our running day a couple of weeks ago and has now added it to the website and on you tube.
Alan and Graham run the website for the group, please find link to video below
https://youtu.be/a634LRDjLBY
http://nsngm.org.uk/
Our next meet is on:
Monday 2nd November
19.00 - 22.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
http://nsngm.org.uk/
Our next meet is on:
Monday 7th December
19.00 - 22.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
http://nsngm.org.uk/
Our next meet is a Saturday 'Running Day' on the 6th February
The evening meets don't always allow enough time for layout operating so we are having another one of our running days.
We usually have a round 6-7 layouts on show.
We will be having a fish n chip lunch.
The meet is open to anyone to attend and is free to get in.
10.00 - 16.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
http://nsngm.org.uk/
Our next meet is on:
Monday 4th April
19.00 - 22.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
Like This
Cheers
Richard
Norfolk & Suffolk Narrow Gauge Modellers - http://nsngm.org.uk/
Graham Watling has updated the website with some photos of Monday nights meets
http://nsngm.org.uk/?q=node/59
http://nsngm.org.uk/
Our next meet is on:
Wednesday 4th May
19.00 - 22.00
Barsham & Shipmeadow Village Hall,
Bungay Road,
Barsham,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA
Follow B1062 from Beccles or Bungay
Turn into hall car park by phone box.
Please feel free to bring a layout, works in progress or items to show etc.
All scales welcome
any questions please feel free to ask
http://nsngm.org.uk/
Norfolk & Suffolk NGM Running Day Exhibition Saturday 3rd September
10.30 -16.00
Barsham Village Hall,
Barsham,
Beccles,
Suffolk,
NR34 8HA.
Off the B1062 Beccles to Bungay road about a couple of miles out of Beccles.
Car parking by hall and overflow on paddock next to hall.
Adults
one week to go!