Oldham Goup

[Hugh Norwood]

Oldham 009 group Zoom meeting Wednesday 17th August, 2022.

A dozen group members attended the Zoom meeting with half a dozen apologies.

Alan showed us progress with his latest 00n3 loco, the Countess of Antrim, a 0-6-0T that ran on the Ballycastle Railway in the north of Ireland. He now had a working chassis and was considering the body which necessitates the construction of a saddle tank and different options were discussed.

Andrew had completed the scenic work around the castle area of the layout with various types of scatter for different vegetation, trees and a monolith. Good progress had been made.

[Hugh Norwood]

August 17th continued...

Bob had been working on his TTm A80D which was now painted (pictured). There was some talk about the moulded buffers, a prominent feature, which were not at the height of other stock. Various possibilities were discussed.

He also showed us the first part of his plan to build a de Dion Bouton autorail using a Kato chassis as power unit.

[Hugh Norwood]

August 17th continued...

Charlie had plans for the mechanism of the newly released Bachmann model of Peter Sam. He also had a couple of bodies from Fourdees that fitted the Kato 'Prince' mechanism. These will be completed soon. On the French front he had built a coach inspired by those at Froissy. We were also treated to photos of Garrys locos displayed at the East Midlands open day.


Darryl told us about his visit to the Ripon Light Railway, a 2' gauge system with various diesel and battery locos with stock that occupies a garden by the Ripon Canal. Neil, the proprietor, was very welcoming. He is preparing to write an item for the 009 News on 009 trams (and locos).


David had made further progress with the Varikit tram loco which was now lined out (pictured). Questions were asked about the wire holes in the side tanks – not really prototypically placed and it was decided that these should be filled.

[Hugh Norwood]

August 17th continued...

Garry had purchased from Westcliff Works some bogie open wagons along with a narrow gauge version of an Indian style guards van. There was serious interest from those who modelled colonial railways. Additionally Garry had used some N gauge Pullman bogies with a Triang TT continental tender as the start of another Colonial style loco project (more anon).


Hugh showed us how he'd used a turntable mechanism with an electric motor from MotionCo to turn the Disc on the back of the Turtle on his Discworld model. He had also sourced suitable feet to complete the model which will accompany Angst-Lesspork at exhibitions. (see his layout thread on the forum)


Paul M had cleaned up some Eggerbahn Western coaches (pictured) ready to be adapted for the forthcoming French layout. One will run on the Kato chassis as an autorail whilst the other will form a remorque. Additionally he had adapted the Wills taxi office, adding a canopy, as a station building for a yet to be decided light rail project (pictured).

[Hugh Norwood]

August 17th continued...

Rob had built some yard lamps for Turtle Bay which at some point will be wired in. He had also begun painting figures from Scale 3D. He had replaced the chassis on his Paul Windle loco with that of a Bachmann 8F which improved running. There are also plans for adaptations of the bo-bo diesel loco initially inspired by those running in Thailand.


Tony had been working hard on creating a rail based Land Rover which will run with a wagon made from coffee stirrers that sits on a N gauge 15' chassis. The Land Rover runs on a Kato 'shortie' (pictured).

[Hugh Norwood]

August 17th continued...

Paul T had completed construction of 2 brass coaches, one from Worsley Works (CDR 30) and one from N Dive Productions (CDR 12). The first section of track for Clogher (00n3) had been laid connecting with the fiddle yard.

[Hugh Norwood]

August 17th continued...

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 14th September in Grasscroft, start 8.00pm.

There will be a Zoom meeting on Wednesday 11th October

followed by a meeting at Greenfield Methodist Church on Saturday 29th October.

~ Paul Titmuss

[Hugh Norwood]

Oldham 009 group meeting Wednesday 14th September, 2022.

Four group members attended the meeting in Grasscroft; Bob, David, Peter and Paul. There were half a dozen apologies.

Bob had two railcars (properly autorails) that he had brought along to run on the test track, both modelled in TTm.
One was the 3D print of a Billard A80D that runs on a Tomytec chassis and featured in the previous Zoom meeting. Running was good.

The other was the de Dion Bouton railcar which had been discussed at the previous meeting. Using an ingeniously tilted Kato chassis with new front wheels (wired in with wipers) it ran superbly. The body was crafted in plastic card, completed with glazing and finished to a spec I can only aspire to. To cap it all a mechanism had been created to lift and turn the railcar – a sort of mimic of the jacking up and turning that occurred with the originals on the light rail network in France.

David had completed the Varikit model – also a feature of the previous meeting. The tank side holes had been filled with 'Greenstuff' from Games Workshop and all painting touched up. It also allowed us a discussion of lining techniques. Placed on the Bachmann Thomas chassis there was faultless running on the test track.

Paul had two locos on the 00n3 siding. The Castlederg & Victoria Bridge Beyer Peacock (Model Engine Works) had been painted and was awaiting some light weathering. Once a driver had been purchased and installed the cab will be fitted and final details and finishing off will be completed. The Kitson tram loco, also on the siding, had developed a tilt when running at the Leigh Model Railway Exhibition and work was underway to rectify this.

The next meeting will be on Zoom, Wednesday 12th October. (NB date correct this time)

This will be followed by a meeting at Greenfield Methodist Church on Saturday 29th October.

~ Paul Titmuss

[Hugh Norwood]

Oldham 009 group Zoom meeting Wednesday 12th October, 2022.

Ten group members attended the Zoom meeting. There were three apologies. We were able to welcome David H. to his first meeting with us on Zoom.

Tony showed us some photos of his visit to the Tanat Valley Railway which included a very little narrow gauge and a unique industrial monorail line, locos and stock.

Charlie had used a Minitrains Brigadelok chassis to construct a model of the Borsig 'Genevieve' that runs on the Haute Somme line in France. Also two voiture voyagers baladeuse (open coaches) that also run on the Haute Somme. He had purchased a Fourdees freelance loco for the Kato 'Prince' chassis, a Wells 3D print of Edward Thomas for the Bachmann Peter Sam loco and a Mannin Models S&S 'Erin' (for 009, chassis to be sourced) – we are looking forward to seeing progress with these soon.

Graeme described some of the meetings that SCOONS had attended and their plans over the next few months. Zoom had made quite a difference enabling quite a number of Scottish modellers (including some further afield) to meet up on a regular basis.

Paul M. had completed a 9mm gauge test track on a large piece of foam board and had also started a railbus which drew inspiration from a number built by Garry a few years ago.

David H. showed us a trio of C&VB Beyer Peacock tram locos in 4mm scale, suitable for 009 (circa 3.5mm scale) and 3mm scale. All completed very smartly. Also several projects of GW style narrow gauge locos which are yet to appear on the Model Engine Works web site.

Bob showed us various bits and pieces from his recent visit to France. The highlight was a piece of video showing his de Dion railbus being turned in a simulation of the jack-up-and-turn that occurred in real life. Marvellously crafted work.

Garry, unusually, did not have any models to report on. However he does have a Fourdees 'Thames' class loco ready for completion at some point soon.

Hugh showed us his now completed Orrery of Discworld that will accompany Angst-Lesspork to exhibitions. Hugh had also added points to his test track (Ed - it's beginning to sound more like a layout to me).

David E. had purchased some GV wagons and the etched brass GV coach to construct.

Paul T. showed progress with his 3D print of the C&VB Beyer Peacock and the beginnings of a revised station hut for the Lispole diorama (00n3).

The next meeting is being held at Greenfield Methodist Church on Saturday 29th October. Start time 1.30'ish for 2.00pm.

There will be a meeting in Grasscroft on Wednesday 16th November.

Following that there will be Zoom meetings on 14th December, 11th Jan and 15th February (all t.b.c.).

~ Paul Titmuss

[Hugh Norwood]

Oldham group notes – meeting of 29th October, 2022.

Eight attended the meeting at Greenfield Methodist Church
– Alan C, Bob, Garry, Hugh, Raymond, Stuart, Tony and Paul.
There were apologies from Alan G, Bill, David E, David H, Mark and Philip.

Alan had two displays of stock, 00n3 from his Ramsey layout and Tal-y-llyn in 009.

The much modified Anbrico railcars featured in an article in the Railway Modeller.

No 7 'Tom Rolt' and No 2 'Dolgoch' had a run around the test track.

[Hugh Norwood]

Bob brought along his St-Trojan-les-Bains layout in TTm. We were treated to demonstrations of the de Dion railcar being turned. In reality these were fitted with a special jack for turning wherever necessary and didn't need a turntable.

Also in view are a Billard A80D and a Corpet Louvet loco. The scenery has yet to be completed.

A better view of the Corpet-Louvet loco at St-Trojan is in the lower photo.

[Hugh Norwood]

Garry had a selection of items for sale. One loco that was definitely not for sale was this D&H inspired loco from the Japanese manufacturer Sugiyama

[Hugh Norwood]

Hugh set up his test track – an elaborate affair with five points and bespoke electrics operated from a hand built control panel.

One of the locos running was a bashed-about "Skylark" from Model Engine Works (designed to fit on the Kato 11-110). It was stretched it to fit on (at the front) a Bachmann "N" Percy chassis and (at the rear) a dummy 0-4-0 chassis from the Kato 10-503-1 Pocket Line Steam Passenger Train pack. It makes a nice little Kitson-Meyer.

(note 12 Nov - I have now put some coal in the bunker!)

[Hugh Norwood]

Tony had converted a Land Rover to rail transport with a Tomytek chassis. This pulled a small open wagon made of coffee stirrers and coloured with wood stain, all smartly done.

[Hugh Norwood]

I missed taking a photo of Stuart's Baldwin and short train of a H0e van and flat wagon.

There was plenty of discussion about modelling and railways in general.

The next meeting is on Wednesday 16th November in Grasscroft, commencing at 8.00pm.

Future meetings for December 14th, January 11th and February 15th will be on Zoom, starting at 8.00pm.

s.p.t. 31-10-22