Meetings in August can prove difficult, and numbers were depleted on 10 Aug 2022, with a family commitment, internet issues, and work preventing three people joining us.
Discussion ranged far and wide, including thoughts on the difficulties for exhibitors taking layouts to shows as they get older (we all know that our layouts become gradually bigger, heavier and more difficult to manoeuvre with time!).
Christopher had taken his 1:34 scale French layout to a German Railway Society show (in the UK) recently. We had heard conflicting reports about the difficulties of taking layouts between the UK and the EU, including clubs experiencing problems with layouts, whilst Charlie reported experiencing no difficulties when taking one of his layouts across the channel.
Paul M showed us a characterful light railway station adapted from a Will's Cabmen's Shelter, and explained his modelling approach of tackling whatever task he fancies at the time, gradually accumulating the parts for several future projects, in parallel.
Bob, recently returned from a holiday in Brittany, talked of the proliferation of narrow gauge lines in that region, from the extensive six-armed Réseau Breton, through large metre gauge networks in each Département, to a Decauville-inspired 60cm gauge tramway running along roads. He outlined the large CF du Morbihan network, which used Corpet and Pinguely locomotives, and the 60cm Tramway La Trinité – Etel. He talked of the few visible traces of narrow gauge lines that closed in the 1930s and 1940s – the on-road tramways in particular having minimal infrastructure.
Echoing Bob's reference to La Trinité – Etel, Charlie showed a very attractive Decauville 0-4-2T he had built, adapting a 3D-print body from 3D factory loco works, running on an N-drive chassis (shared with a Swedish loco model, as the engines never appear together). He also mentioned a project to modify a Minitrains Bragadlok loco to represent Génévieve on the Pithiviers line.
Bob also reported on progress with his 1:100 scale Billard A80 railcar. He had carried out interior and exterior detailing, inspired by photographs in recent French modelling magazines of the new REE 1:87 Billard model.
The next meeting of the group will be booked for the second half of September.