West Midlands Group reports month by month.

[JulienW]

Here is the latest of Angela's reports:

The 009 Society
West Midlands Area Group
Report of Area Group Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 12th August 2019
Angela Baker, Model Reporter

A lively attendance of twenty-seven persons populated our August area group meeting. We were pleased to welcome three new members: Dennis Moore, Ralph Parker and Lee Ward.
Richard Johnson brought along part of his embryonic Forest of Dean 009 layout 'Bailey Gate' - two boards each 900 x 400 representing one 'arm' of the L-shaped whole. Track was laid for a station loop with two sidings and a loco shed spur, plus a run out towards the anticipated aforementioned forest. Coming next will be surface-mounted Peco point motors with wire-in-tube to be set within the 3mm cork base for remote positioning (thereby avoiding a township of lineside huts). Richard seems to be an unofficial ambassador for Grainge & Hodder baseboards. And why not.
Ben Powell presented his 009 test track on two 800 x 350 boards (possibly not G&H). An end-to-end affair with a passing loop, six sidings (one raised for side-loading onto a future standard gauge track) and a four-road traverser, it looked suspiciously like a wannabe layout. But it would be a shame to hide the walnut veneer plywood top under scenic material. All that track was fully occupied by Ben's considerable freight stock, including his iconic bolster wagon with lattice beams spanning across flat-bed bogies, and a fleet of locos including two scratch Pecketts, two 'Skylarks' and 'Diana', most of which has been seen before in this parish but is worthy of repeat showing.
The theme of intensive traffic continued over on Peter Hardy's test track. Andrew Bizley ran his 50-year-old Eggerbahn Krauss 4-wheel diesel with sundry Eggerbahn coaches and vans. David Churchill ran his Roxy Mouldings Metropolitan Water Board loco with Brian Clarke chassis, which he evidently thought was too, er, metropolitan so he had a Chivers Kerr Stuart 'Skylark' body as a ready replacement. Will King ran his Chivers Peckett 'Triassic' on Brian Clarke chassis. Tony Land ran two of his freelance 3D railbuses, one large (14-seater?) on Kato 'shorty', one small (8-seater?) on 4-wheel Kato, both finished in green-n-cream livery. Patiently waiting a turn on his own test track, Peter Hardy attempted to run his Gem 'Dolgoch' on newly-scratch-built chassis, which was evidently in need of fettling - not beyond Peter's skills.
Andi Nethercoat steadfastly declined to look smug when it became known that his Stratford-upon-Avon Industrial & Narrow Gauge Model Railway Show, which took place on Saturday 3rd August, raised a total of £1,000 (that's One Thousand English Pounds for Goodness Sake) as a donation to Brain Tumour Support. Sometimes, playing trains has tangible benefits. The show was quite rewarding too, by the way.
In our pop-up Austrian RTR HOe department, Steve Mann's Kato sectional track hosted his Liliput D11 Zillertal 4-wheel diesel, followed by his Gmeinder bo-bo diesel with VS6 power car and coach. Awaiting the road was Geoff Harper's Gmeinder in Achensee livery and his Halling 5090 Zillertal railcar. Stylish machinery it must be said, but those boxy Gmeinders do seem to have an air of Teutonic brutishness. Gmeinder-minders Steve and Geoff couldn't give a knockwurst.
John Brookes pointed out that his time-out from 009 does not exclude narrow gauge modelling by showing his rake of scratch-built O-16.5 wagons - one flat, four opens and a box van with a sexy elliptically-curved roof. You don't get many of those to the pound.
Andi Nethercoat dished up (teas-n-coffees), Peter Hardy washed up (afterwards) and Julien Webb opened up Andi's birthday biscuits (cos that's what area group co-ordinators do). Thanks guys.
We meet at Moorfield Hall, Hartshill Road, Shard End, Birmingham, B34 6QX from 7.30 to 9.30pm on the second Monday of every month. There is a nominal charge of £3.00 to cover the costs of hall hire and refreshments. Our next meetings will be held on 9th September, 14th October and 11th November 2019. If you have any queries, please contact Julien Webb at julien.webb@btinternet.com.

Photos here

<edit to repair report and link to photos JulienW13/11/19)

[JulienW]

Either that was a short month or I'm considerably earlier this time.

Personally I think it is the latter ;D

The 009 Society
West Midlands Area Group
Report of Area Group Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 9th September 2019
Angela Baker, Model Reporter

A committed crew of twenty collaborators convened collectively at our September area group meeting. Convivial conversation interspersed with occasional running of model locomotives subsequently transpired, as per specification.
One of our newest members, Lee Ward, had got straight down to business and presented a mock-up of his proposed 009 canal-side industrial layout with a printed track plan using Anyrail6 software (a free download) for six sidings, a wharf-side transhipment shed and a run-round loop plus two-road fiddle yard, on a one-piece ready-made timber baseboard 1350 x 250mm. Entitled 'Lubstree Wharf' (a real place), the layout is based on the former Lilleshall private railway alongside the Shrewsbury & Newport canal.
Hugh Freeman gave us another showing of his charming French HOe 'route secondaire' terminus layout, now entitled 'Point Seul', Franglais for 'One Point' cos its only got - well, you know. Whilst looking virtually complete, Hugh is still adding finishing touches, the latest one being a chimney-stack-operated indexing system for the sector plate. Bravo Monsieur - Vive le chemin de fer.
Fresh from its starring role in the current issue of 009 News, Ben Powell's scratch-built Peckett 1995/1941 0-4-2ST gave a faultless demonstration of slow running on Peter Hardy's test track, hauling Ben's rake of ten Society open wagons. Also running stylishly was Peter's Gem 'Dolgoch' on scratch-built chassis, now finished in matt green livery and complete with crew, hauling his rake of four Dundas Ffestiniog semi-open bogie coaches, kit-bashed down from four doors to three and smartly finished in high gloss red, blue, green and brown liveries (one colour on each coach, that is). The shortest bogie coaches this side of Boston Lodge. Awaiting the road was David Churchill's Chivers Kerr Stuart 'Skylark', seen at our last meeting but now stripped of gloss black paint (using the Jane Webb method) and undergoing re-assembly to represent an Australian open-cab version. Nice one DC. In the siding was Tim Williams' Brian Madge Quarry Hunslet 'Alice' sitting pretty with a rake of Tim's 3D-printed Dinorwig wagons - four slate, two flats and two maintenance wagons. Even the wheels and axles are 3D prints. Tim also showed his latest iteration of slate wagon - two-part 3D prints with low-relief side lettering in 009, plus a monster 16mm-scale version which took five hours to print. Remarkable.
3D teas-n-coffees were generated by Peter Hardy and David Churchill with washing up jointly conducted in synchromesh by Hugh Freeman and Bob Taylor. Thank you gentlemen.
We meet at Moorfield Hall, Hartshill Road, Shard End, Birmingham, B34 6QX from 7.30 to 9.30pm on the second Monday of every month. There is a nominal charge of £3.00 to cover the costs of hall hire and refreshments. Our next meetings will be held on 14th October, 11th November and 9th December 2019 (it comes round every year). If you have any queries, please contact Julien Webb at  julienwebb@westmidlands009.co.uk .

photos here

<post repaired JulienW, 13/114/19>

[JulienW]

Another report from 'somewhere in the Midlands'...

The 009 Society
West Midlands Area Group
Report of Area Group Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 14th October 2019
Angela Baker, Model Reporter

A throng of twenty-six created a very lively October area group meeting. We were pleased to welcome new members Ray Schoolar and John and Gill Matthews.
Peter Hardy's test track hosted a fascinating variety of locomotive attractions. Fresh-out-of-the-box (the loco that is) Andy Foster had spent most of his pocket money on the brutally handsome Fourdees Campbeltown & Macrihanish Andrew Barclay 0-6-2T on Farish chassis with added valve-gear. Chunky or what? (Peter's loading gauge can handle it.) In interesting contrast, Peter ran his kit-bash-reduced Chivers Campbeltown & Macrihanish tank looking positively diminutive on Minitrix chassis, plus his Chivers Joffre 0-6-0T in understated unlined military brown livery on Roco chassis. Paul Atkin ran his seriously-downsized Dapol/Kitmaster 00 BR 4-wheel railbus still in the build and transformed by the use of a Japanese 'Green Max' bogie chassis - an ingenious conversion neatly executed (but that's what Paul does). David Churchill gave another run for his Chivers Kerr Stuart 'Skylark', modified to represent an Australian open-cab version, on Brian Clarke chassis, as did Ben Powell for his Minitrains Bohler 0-4-0T with Barclayfication kit. Awaiting the road was Ben's saddle tank 'Lady Sybil', also returning for another run out. Multifarious motive power available on Freeview (almost) at your local 009 area group. Beats staying in for the England match.
Lee Ward gave a demo of the MERG kit components used for DCC control, with sound, intended for his planned layout 'Lubstree Wharf' (shown in mock-up form at our previous meeting) including a Bachmann Baldwin loco on a length of track operated from his laptop. Devilish clever.
Colin Capell presented his in-progress ironing-board-based Czech 009/00 layout 'Zedhlituv Hradec' (Iron Castle) featuring a rare Tillig dual-gauge point and monster HO Czech diesel locos, all precariously balanced on the aforementioned domestic undercarriage.
Nicholas Wheatley (of M5/M50 renown) brought along 'Cemetery Lodge' destined for his 'Journey's End' layout (of equal renown), a delightfully gothic 'Petite Properties' building kit assembled and finished by Geoff Harper with Redutex flint walling and Slater's roof tiling sheets. 'Modelling is really great when you've got Geoffrey for a mate'.
Richard Johnson gave a demo of the adhesive efficiency of 'Bondic', a UV-curing glue made in Germany which he acquired pre-Brexit via the interweb thingy.
At 4mm scale on a length of 12mm gauge track, John Davies showed three scratch-build locos under construction - Furzebrook Tramway Bellis & Seeking 'Secundus' adapted to 0-4-0T from 0-6-0T, a Jung Mogul Selketalbahn tank and a Corpet Louvet 0-6-0T, all using Berlinerbahn chassis (pre-Tillig).
Available for browsing was David Churchill's copy of Michael Bunch's 'Donegal Railway Diary, Part Two: 1956 - 2018', which includes a treasure trove of fascinating photographs. Hugh Freeman's box of back numbers of 'Voie Libre' magazines dispersed instantaneously amongst the crowd before our very eyes, Angela Baker being one of several suspects.
Teas-n-coffees were dispersed equally promptly by Peter Hardy and Hugh Freeman amongst many more suspects. Thank you gentlemen.
We meet at Moorfield Hall, Hartshill Road, Shard End, Birmingham, B34 6QX from 7.30 to 9.30pm on the second Monday of every month. There is a nominal charge of £3.00 to cover the costs of hall hire and refreshments. Our next meetings will be held on 11th November and 9th December 2019 and then 13th January 2020. If you have any queries, please contact Julien Webb atjulienwebb@westmidlands009.co.uk .

Photos here

<report and link repaired JulienW13/11/19>

[JulienW]

It looks like this thread has been hit quite badly by the loss of data from one of the past transfers.

As I have Angela's reports on file I'll reinstate those at some point, along with any links to photos I've posted on Flickr.

[Hobby]

Nah, Chris Ford has got to them and has edited them to what he wants to see for the News!!  ;D

[JulienW]

 ;D

Now repaired - and as Angela sent me the one from Monday's meting there will be another one soon!

[JulienW]

2 days - not bad going for me!

The 009 Society
West Midlands Area Group
Report of Area Group Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 11th November 2019
Angela Baker, Model Reporter

A very respectable attendance of twenty-three respectable narrow-gauge modelling enthusiasts (is there any other kind?) formed our November area group meeting. The ensuing respectable behaviour was only to be expected. Decorum and deferential demeanour in all departments.
More than respectable by some distance was Paul Atkin's expertly-modelled compact 009 layout entitled 'Brende Lane End', which features a diagonally arranged low-level three-road terminus station fed from a three-road fiddle yard via a corner-located 10in sector plate, plus a high-level circuit with a charming country halt, all within a 2ft 6in x 2ft baseboard (honestly). An inclined lane connects the stations and a nice mix of kit buildings completes an evocative rural scene. Running on the high line in this debut showing was Paul's Corgi-bashed railbus, composed of two front ends from Corgi Greenline single-decker buses glued back-to-back and mounted on a Kato 103 chassis, as seen previously in this parish. All positively delightful and truly inspiring. This could be an indication of the nature of our next area group layout (dare it be said).
Tim Williams presented a working diorama based on the Dinorwig slate quarries, newly-built as a punter-snaring-device for the Bala Lake Railway stand at the forthcoming Warley show. Around 2ft long x 9in deep and complete with photographic backscene plus cassette extension and using 12-volt battery power, it features a loop of track on a slate embankment using one of Tim's 3D-printed stub points with both loco-worked track and lighter hand-worked track (spot the difference) leading to a tipping siding. This is an evocative wintry scene using AK Snowpaste complete with drifting. Traffic on the night consisted of Tim's Brian Madge Quarry Hunslets 'Alice' and 'Winifred' with an iconic yellow open carriage and some slate end-tipping wagons.
Peter Hardy's test track enjoyed brisk business. T'was ever thus. David Churchill ran his Hungarian MK49 diesel (a personal import) still in ex-mould grey resin which failed to disguise the quirky VW-camper-van-style ends, mounted snugly onto a Roco Bo-Bo chassis (a separate fortuitous acquisition from a UK show), followed by his Bachmann Baldwin 590 in pristine satin-black livery prior to getting a 'damn-good-bashing' for conversion into 'Lion', followed further by his Futwah & Islampur Manning Wardle 0-6-2T built by Paul Windle on a Bachmann 2-6-2 chassis. When he could get a look in, Ben Powell ran his RT Models Peckett 0-6-0T followed by his scratch-built Peckett 1995/1941 0-4-2ST now christened 'Troll'. Eventually getting another running-in turn was Peter Hardy's Golden Arrow 0-4-0+0-4-0 Garratt on scratch-built chassis (yes, two of 'em!) which looks more impressive every time we see it. Just before close-of-play when he thought no-one else was looking, Dewi Phillips ran his freelance scratch-built Climax-style logging loco with timber side skirts concealing a Bo-Bo diesel chassis (!). By now we'd seen everything. All this for just three quid remember.
John Davies gave a static display of his latest locomotive creation - an L&B-style Baldwin 3ft gauge 2-4-2T using a modified Aristocraft loco body in a moody dark olive green livery on a doctored Triang Jinty TT chassis. Also on static display were John Brookes' brace of freelance diesel shunters - a 6mm/ft scale job on an 'Underground Ernie' 12mm gauge chassis and a 7mm/ft scale model on a Bull Ant 16.5mm gauge chassis, both using bashed Triang TT 08 diesel bodies and finished in weathered industrial green livery.
Available for browsing in the book department were three definitive works - (1) 'Built by Baldwin' by Craig Wilson - not that Baldwin - this is the story of the Australian builder of narrow gauge diesels for Ozzie sugar mills; (2) David Churchill's copy of 'The Corris Railway: The Story of a Mid-Wales Slate Railway' by Peter Johnson; and (3) Angela Baker's copy of '30inch Railways Worldwide' by David Scotney - a heavyweight volume at 416 pages and positively encyclopaedic.
Scullery operatives Tim Williams and John Brookes officially outshopped our teas-n-coffees, plus biscuits from a mystery benefactor (clue: they were unpacked by John Brookes). Thanks both.
We meet at Moorfield Hall, Hartshill Road, Shard End, Birmingham, B34 6QX from 7.30 to 9.30pm on the second Monday of every month. There is a nominal charge of £3.00 to cover the costs of hall hire and refreshments. Our next meetings will be held on 9th December 2019 and then 13th January and 10th February 2020. If you have any queries, please contact Julien Webb at julienwebb@westmidlands009.co.uk .

Some picies too - though I thought Id taken more - can be found here

[JulienW]

In the spirit of trying to keep ahead of myself in the pre-Christmas rush here is December's report from Angela's keyboard...

The 009 Society
West Midlands Area Group
Report of Area Group Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 9th December 2019
Angela Baker, Model Reporter

A festive faction of twenty-seven narrow-gaugers attended our December area group meeting. Seasonal goodwill prevailed and was not allowed to derail the resolute narrow-gauge proceedings.
The legendary popularity of Peter Hardy's test track remained undiminished - probably the busiest 12 months in the history of 009 test-track-traffic. Will King ran his lightly-bashed Bachmann Baldwin 590 adapted to 1935 condition by the fitting of a rear cab panel with square 'spectacles' and smartly re-liveried in 'Ruabon brick red' using Revell acrylic. De-Light-Ful. Hugh Freeman gave a maiden run of his Atlas HOe French generic autorail in ubiquitous creamy-yellow-n-orange livery. Think De-Dion-charabanc-style. Andy Foster gave another running-in turn of his Fourdees Campbeltown & Macrihanish Andrew Barclay 0-6-2T in lined black livery and still every bit as chunky as last time. Sensibly keeping well out of the way was Paul Atkin's Dapol-bashed railbus, now nicely turned out in Birmingham cream-n-dark-blue livery. Spiffing. Also awaiting the road was David Churchill's Eggerbahn Germanic (760mm gauge?) tram engine of 1960s vintage (still with original 4-wheel chassis) plus a charming brace of resin-kit CF du Calvados 4-wheel coaches - one double-balcony-end and one with fourgon (brake) and post compartments - (60cm gauge but hey) produced at 4mm scale by BCF Modeles of France (but sadly no longer in production) and neatly finished in bottle-green livery and the smallest transfers In-The-World. Prompted by Julien Webb's parish notices report, there was a demo run of the model-prototype Kato 'rocket' loco which was kindly donated to the group by Mr Hiroshi Kato (no less) at the Warley show. With illuminated nose-cone headlight and 'rocket-flame' tail-light, this Thunderbirds-style fantasy loco was great fun and a fitting finale for a festive running session.
Showing on continuous loop on Tim Williams' lap-top was his video of a running session on a layout of the proposed new station at Bala modelled by the staff of Model Rail magazine which will be featured in the next issue. Traffic consisted of Tim's Brian Madge Quarry Hunslets 'Alice' and 'Winifred' with associated rolling stock. Fascinating. The video is available now for viewing on the Bala Lake Railway website.
Steve Mann showed his under-conversion Bachmann 'Rheneas' fitted with Narrow Planet cab and minus surgically-removed erroneous right-hand coal bunker, running on a length of Kato N-gauge sectional track and sharing the road with a Liliput D16 Zillertal diesel (of course).
Mike Wall gave a sneak preview of his newest proposal for a layout-in-a-wine-box, being a circuit of 5-inch radius track shoe-horned into 550 x 325mm. Scenic presentation is to be mulled over with consumption of the wine (allegedly). Circulating on the night was one of Andrew Bizley's Minitrains Brigadloks.
Following up on an unreported item from last month, Richard Johnson gave a demo of chamfer-edging of cork track base using a rotary cutting tool to facilitate the modelling of ballast shoulders. Just the job.
Peter Hardy and Hugh freeman kindly served up our teas-n-coffees and there were generous supplies of festive cake and confectionary provided by several generous donors. Our thanks to all concerned.
We meet at Moorfield Hall, Hartshill Road, Shard End, Birmingham, B34 6QX from 7.30 to 9.30pm on the second Monday of every month. There is a nominal charge of £3.00 to cover the costs of hall hire and refreshments. We'll do it all again next year (oh yes we will) starting with meetings on 13th January, 10th February and 9th March 2020. If you have any queries, please contact Julien Webb at  julienwebb@westmidlands009.co.uk .

And as usual there are a few accompanying photos on my Flickr pages here

[JulienW]

New Year - New Group?

Nahhh! Just the same old reprobates as usual... ::)

Here is the latest report from Angela baker's keyboard...

The 009 Society
West Midlands Area Group
Report of Area Group Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 13th January 2020
Angela Baker, Model Reporter

Twenty-three hardy souls battled their way undeterred through the remnants of Storm Brendan to attend our January area group meeting. They were rewarded with hectic narrow-gauge proceedings.
The life of Peter Hardy's test track continued into the New Year just as it left the old year - unrelentingly busy. To simplify the reporting of all this intensive traffic, three chapters are needed.
Chapter One - Steam Locomotives: Steve Mann gave a run-out for two of his current projects - 'Skylark' and 'Edward Thomas', both still in the metal. Will King ran his brace of Saltford Models Trojan locos, both in green livery and christened 'Lily' and 'Rosemary'. Ben Powell showed his scratch-built Kerr Stuart 'Tattoo' based on Penrhyn's 'Stanhope', which will become an 0-4-2T. Awaiting the road was Peter Hardy's military-style Chivers Joffre 0-6-0T. In the RTR division, Dewi Phillips ran his Heljan Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardle 2-6-2T no. 30190 in BR lined black livery, which seemed to benefit from an extended running-in session, and Steve Mann ran his Bachmann Baldwin in Southern Railway livery.
Chapter Two - Diesel Locomotives: Paul Atkin ran his neat little A1 Models Baldwin 4-wheel diesel in a sort-of-turquoise livery and David Churchill ran his even-littler Japanese 4-wheel diesel, being a Joe Works kit of 1980s vintage (but still in the metal!) on Arnold Kof chassis. Mike Wall ran his rather-larger freelance diesel built by Paul Windle on Farish Class 33 Bo-Bo chassis fetchingly-finished in royal blue livery and enhanced by 'Leviathan' and 'Hunslet' nameplates. Searching in vain for OO track was Nicholas Wheatley's Duncan's Models road-style hearse in O-16.5 on N-Brass 4-wheel chassis, built by Dean Whiston and painted by Will King in funereal black livery.
Chapter Three - Rolling Stock: Complementing his brace of CF du Calvados 4-wheel coaches first seen last month, David Churchill also ran his latest Decauville open coaches - one David Provan kit-built bogie still in the brass and the other a green-liveried Jouef bogie with curtains. Ben Powell showed his L&B-style well-wagon 3D kit bogie, whilst also looking for a loco was Peter Hardy's rake of four Dundas Ffestiniog semi-open bogie coaches, kit-bashed down from four doors to three and finished in red, blue, green and brown liveries, as seen previously in this parish.
John Davies presented a new 9mm gauge test track oval on a ply board approximately 2ft x 1ft 6in, being the basis of a potential new layout (working title 'Tether's End'). Running on the night was his 4mm-scale Gem Bagnall 0-6-0T on Farish chassis with high quality finish in Southern Railway light olive green livery.
Showing on Tim Williams' lap-top this month were photos of his recent trip to the Zillertalbahn, arranged under the pretence of a theoretical skiing holiday (but we know the true priority).
Not stepping back from royal duty, Peter Hardy single-handedly served up all our teas-n-coffees - a Princely gesture much appreciated by all his loyal subjects.
We meet at Moorfield Hall, Hartshill Road, Shard End, Birmingham, B34 6QX from 7.30 to 9.30pm on the second Monday of every month. There is a nominal charge of £3.00 to cover the costs of hall hire and refreshments. Our next meetings will be held on 10th February and 9th March 2020, but please note that to avoid Easter Monday the April meeting will take place on the first Monday: 6th April 2020. If you have any queries, please contact Julien Webb at julienwebb@westmidlands009.co.uk .

And some photos from me - a few more than usual - here on my Flickr pages

[JulienW]

Posting this a little later than I intended, but then going down with a stinker of a cold the day after the group meeting did put the kybosh on plans somewhat.

The 009 Society
West Midlands Area Group
Report of 25th Anniversary Area Group Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 10th February 2020
Angela Baker, Model Reporter

A record attendance of 30 (yep Thirty!) turned our milestone February area group meeting into a very lively 25th anniversary gathering, despite the omnipresent violence of Storm Ciara - both events being a once-in-twenty-five-years occurrence (apparently). Of course the prospect of rather more cake than usual was strenuously denied by all. We were pleased to welcome new member Joseph Jacks (who survived his cake initiation) but sorry to receive apologies for absence on behalf of Andi Nethercoat, allegedly due to a dose of a thoroughly British virus. Don't worry Andi, your cake did not go uneaten.
As well as the cake, there was a heck of a lot of hectic narrow gauge stuff to consume. On Peter Hardy's test track, Paul Atkin ran his delightful freelance railcar, a cut-n-shut assembly of assorted Dundas rolling stock kits inspired by the recently-restored NER standard gauge machine, with Bo-Bo chassis and nicely turned out in carmine-n-cream livery. Will King ran his Saltford Models vertical boiler large Penrhyn Port class 0-4-0 loco, still in the metal. Ben Powell showed his Meridian Models 6-wheel Kerr Stuart diesel with replacement coreless motor. Awaiting the road was Peter Hardy's white metal kit 'Linda' (also awaiting a tender) and David Churchill's white-metal N-Drive Productions Bagnall 0-4-0T as built for the Central Uruguay Extension Railway. In the RTR division, Mike Allen ran his gorgeous Bachmann GVT Baldwin (cue non-cake-generated drooling). A lengthy rake of Ben's wagons included Peco skip wagons, Society opens and Meridian flat-beds.
Recent recruit Steve Metcalfe impressed us with his well-developed plans for 'Bowater's Paper Railway' featuring a comprehensive track layout representing Sittingbourne (Milton Creek), Kemsley Mill and incinerator, and Ridham Dock, to be built on a U-shape series of boards 10ft x 7ft overall. The plans include advanced details of the proposed sectional digital control, but this was way beyond the limited intelligence of your reporter. Steve then announced he will be moving to Yorkshire soon, prompting a polite request for the layout to be finished before the move please. Meanwhile his Fourdees Bowater 0-6-2ST 'Triumph' took a running-in turn on Peter's test track.
Mac Strong presented two boards (each 925 x 200mm) with bare 009 track for his fledgling modular layout, which will be travelling to the forthcoming Bangor (NI) show to mate with more of the same to form the 'Freem009' layout. Back home, the two boards will form part of Mac's six-board circuit 8ft x 28in overall. A cunning plan cleverly conceived.
In the bring-n-buy department, Hugh Freeman's superfluous crop of resin and kit-built structures were soon snaffled up, Richard Johnson offered some dvd's for group funds and various magazines were seen changing hands. Richard also had Welshpool & Llanfair 2020 timetables available plus four layers of a Grainge & Hodder stock box full-to-bursting with stock for his proposed Forest of Dean layout available to view.
And so to the main event: cake. Even for a 25th anniversary bash, the evening's catering provisions were an abundant banquet, thanks to the generous contributions of benefactors too numerous to mention. There were chocolate cakes of several specifications plus lemon drizzle cake, fruit cake, nuts, crisps, flapjacks, crisps, a metric tonne of sausage rolls, crisps, cocktail sausages, crisps, crisps and crisps. The 25th anniversary iced cake was scratch-baked by Ben Powell, proving that it's not just 009 locomotive building he's good at. All this was thanks to the exceedingly good cake marshalling by our area group co-ordinator Mr Julien Webb. It is at times like these that a good old-fashioned cuppa is so indispensable, but Peter Hardy and David Churchill dispensed them anyway.
We meet at Moorfield Hall, Hartshill Road, Shard End, Birmingham, B34 6QX from 7.30 to 9.30pm. There is a nominal charge of £3.00 to cover the costs of hall hire and refreshments. Our next meetings will be held on 9th March (second Monday), 6th April (first Monday, to avoid Easter Monday) and then 11th May (back to second Monday). If you have any queries, please contact Julien Webb at 
julienwebb@westmidlands009.co.uk .

Some photos on Flickr can be found here

[JulienW]

Back to (what passes for) normality and getting Angela's report posted on here in a timely manner - unlike last month!

The 009 Society
West Midlands Area Group
Report of Area Group Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 9th March 2020
by Angela Baker, Model Reporter

After the record excesses of last month's 25th anniversary bash, we settled back to an almost dignified attendance of 21 persons for our March area group meeting. But there was still plenty of narrow gauge business to conduct, so that's what we did.
Peter Hardy's test track offered the usual dependably dignified service. Will King gave another run-out for his Saltford Models vertical boiler large Penrhyn Port class 0-4-0 loco, now sporting black livery and a highly dignified Victorian driver. Will also ran his WHR Vulcan 0-4-0T by Spooner & Co, a Brian Madge custom chassis with a Robex 3D body currently in red-oxide primer. Again awaiting the road with dignified patience was Peter Hardy's white metal 'Linda', now with 'tender behind' - a Dundas kit with one of Peter's 'own-brand' scratch-built chassis (hopefully Peter's locos do at least get a test run when they're at home!) Similarly side-lined was David Churchill's Groudle Glen consist of 2-4-0T (white metal body with Minitrix chassis by Brian Clarke) with a brace of brass coaches, all permanently coupled for pick-up purposes - a 1990s acquisition from the 009 Sales Stand given some judicious DC fettling. In the RTR division, Steve Metcalfe's more recent Fourdees Bowater Bagnall 0-6-2ST 'Triumph' was running with dignified smoothness after a spot of motion fettling by our Resident Locomotive Clinic Superintendent Ben Powell. Almost missed, but not quite, was Will's tiny brass LNWR baggage cart from London Road Models, a nifty accessory which didn't get a run as it happened to be at least 10mm gauge and wasn't motorised (nor likely to be).
Not yet ready to go anywhere near a test track was Steve Mann's Golden Arrow kit of the Welshpool & Llanfair Earl/Countess loco, a deadly serious combination of white metal body castings and daunting etched brass chassis components, plus Tenshodo motor. This was nothing like 'still-in-the-metal' - it was still in the box. Much debate ensued as to alternative assembly strategies such as sub-contracting. Steve had made more progress with two very nice Dundas wagon kits - a GVT goods van and Corris guards van No. 6 in Talyllyn livery sourced from 'Rails Along the Fathew' by Ian Drummond.
In our occasional library zone, David Churchill showed his newly acquired 'Sentinel Locomotives and Sentinel-Cammel Railcars' by John M Hutchings and Richard Johnson offered two volumes for the browsing thereof - 'The Stonebridge Railway' written and autographed by Roger Waring and 'The Snailbeach District Railways' by Andy Cuckson. Definitive works all, well-thumbed on the nite.
Our metre-gauge department was comprehensively covered by John Davies, who presented a fleet of his scratch-built locomotives on a length of 12mm gauge track, including 'Secundus', (now in black livery), a Marne Corpet-Louvet 0-6-0T in 'pomme-verte' livery (that's apple-green to you and me), a Cote d'Or Corpet-Louvet 0-6-0T in sexy light-grey-n-black livery (as per Chemin de Fer de L'Ouest) and still-in-the-brass 'Cambrai', a Corpet-Louvet 0-6-0T used on the Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway, all of which have adapted Berliner Bahn chassis. Supplementing that lot was a Gem Beyer-Peacock 2-4-0T IOM loco, which will become No 6 'Fenella' and a sizeable selection of assorted kit-built IOM passenger and freight rolling stock (3ft gauge, which is MUCH closer to 12mm track at 4mm scale than metre gauge, by all accounts).
Conducting kitchen duties as effectively as their loco-kit productions were Peter Hardy and David Churchill - thank you gentlemen.
We meet at Moorfield Hall, Hartshill Road, Shard End, Birmingham, B34 6QX from 7.30 to 9.30pm. There is a nominal charge of £3.00 to cover the costs of hall hire and refreshments. Our next meetings will be held on 6th April (first Monday, to avoid Easter Monday), 11th May (back to second Monday) and then 8th June 2020. If you have any queries, please contact Julien Webb at julienwebb@westmidlands009.co.uk

There ar also some piccies that can be found on my flickr account.

[JulienW]

Just a quick update to say that the next 3 group meetings, scheduled for 6th April, 11th May and 8th of June have been postponed.

We hope to get back to normal (or what passes for normal) with our July meeting due to be held at Moorfield Hall on July 13th, though if that changes I'll post another update.

[Hobby]

"Postponed"? You gonna hold 'em all in one month when it's over?!  ;D

[MickT]

"Postponed"? You gonna hold 'em all in one month when it's over?!  ;D

Probably all in your new house Blair, but Julien hasn't told you yet........................

Mick

[Hobby]

  :)

It'll have to wait then as we are currently doing the 12 week self isolation... ;)