The group held its latest Zoom meeting on 26 Oct 2022. It was a select gathering, as several people had clashes on the chosen date.
The discussion was wide-ranging, as ever.
Christopher talked about his long experience of exhibiting, in the UK and overseas.
Paul T described his experiences in trying to assemble a 4mm scale Citroen 2CV from a white metal kit, for his French metre gauge layout. The tooling is obviously showing its age, and he had struggled to overcome various difficulties. Reference books were consulted during the meeting, to determine the correctness of certain features of the model. He then diverged slightly to describe the (mainly card) construction of the waiting shelter from Lispole on the T&D (honorary metre gauge for the evening!) to replace an earlier incorrect model.
Bob showed a video of his 3mm scale De Dion autorail being turned - not by a mechanism under the vehicle itself, like the prototype, but using a ramp in the track to lift the railcar off the rails and turn it. He also showed some pictures from his French holidays. These included some restored stations of the CF de la Manche in Normandy, one of the locations used in the iconic 1951 Jacques Tati film "Les Vacances de M. Hulot" - Dol-de-Bretagne, whose subway features in the film. Finally, after the subject came up in discussion, he showed pictures of survivals of the Réseau Breton in Brittany. As well as various stations, he showed the CF de Bon Repos, where 4km of the RB has been rebuilt - as dual gauge (60cm and 1m). On weekdays in the summer, Vélorails ply the 60cm track, but on Sundays, an industrial loco hauls metre gauge wagons of passengers to a popular local craft market at an old abbey.
The next meeting will be scheduled in late Nov.
The next meeting of the French NG SIG is scheduled for Thursday 24 November at 1945.
New members are most welcome to join us - just drop me an email (email address in 009 News) and I will send you the Zoom link.
Bob Barnard