NEW NG @ SWINDON MODRAIL Saturday 1 March 2025

[cp.409067]

   

*

NEW NG @ SWINDON MODRAIL

Saturday 1 March 2025     10.00-16.30

 
NEW NG (North East Wiltshire Narrow Gauge) will be an "exhibition within an exhibition" at Swindon Modrail on Saturday 1 March 2025.

This will be the 62nd annual exhibition held by Swindon MRC and I am delighted to have been invited to organise a specifically Narrow Gauge section.

The venue is the STEAM Museum, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, SN2 2EY.

https://www.steam-museum.org.uk/

This is adjacent to the Swindon Designer Outlet.

https://www.mcarthurglen.com/en/outlets/uk/designer-outlet-swindon/

Admission:  adult - £7.00.

                    children under 16 - free when accompanied by an adult.

Admission to STEAM museum is not included and is not required to visit the exhibition. However, the museum will be offering a combined discounted entry to exhibition visitors.

The building has disabled access.

Refreshments are available on site within the museum cafe or in the Outlet.

Parking (a short walk) is at the Designer Outlet car park.

*****
 
It is planned that there will be the following exhibits.


Layouts

Adrian Ponting - "Nethercombe Quarry" O16.5

Andy Cundick - "Devil's Bridge" OO9

Bill Flude - "Bunkers Lane" O9 (RM, October 2024)

Richard Williams - "Ikkehavn" HOe

Simon Andrews - micro layouts

Tim Tincknell - "The Talyllyn Railway" 1:55 scale (RM, April 2015)

Christopher Payne - "Saith ar Hugain" OO9

 

Display

Clive and Wendy Harman

 

Information stand

OO9 Society

 
 

Christopher Payne

NEW NG Co-ordinator

[cp.409067]

 *

I am pleased to add details of the various exhibits as follows. This is part 1 of 3.

 
Adrian Ponting: "Nethercombe Quarry" O16.5

After many years exhibiting his OO9 layout "Aldbourne" - which represents an English common carrier narrow gauge railway - a complete change of direction means Adrian's new O16.5 layout depicts a narrow gauge mineral railway.

The layout was designed from the outset to be lightweight and compact with an overall length of just 2m. It includes a mineral loading shed and sidings for empty and loaded wagons together with a small loco shed. It uses Peco track and wagons built from Chivers kits. The new Bachmann 7mm scale ready-to-run quarry Hunslets provide the motive power whilst some kit-built locos are completed. Although the layout will be reasonably presentable, work on it continues.
 

Bill Flude: "Bunkers Lane" - O9

Bill has over the years built a number of very successful exhibition layouts in O9. "Bunkers Lane" is double sided and DCC operated. It hardly needs any introduction to members of the NGRMonLine forum.

See article in Railway Modeller, October 2024, pp. 810-813, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIcHBW5zWho


Clive and Wendy Harman: display of modelling

Architectural models: miniature buildings and their interiors in a range of scales.

Canal scene: a tranquil canal flows sedately along (on a bookshelf).

A pukka pizza: a fun layout to fit inside that old takeaway pizza box or perhaps on a coffee table.

At the bottom of the garden: an elegant suburban villa hides a secret - a miniature garden railway.

"Castlegate": a tram glides through the streets of a typical market town nestled inside the old castle wall - all on an ironing board.


Richard Williams: "Gemtø - Ikkehavn" HOe

"Gemtø" itself is a (fictional) island, located in the Skagerrak between Denmark and Norway, and on the ferry route from Hirtshals (DK) and Kristiansand (NO). Around the turn of the 20th Century, a small narrow gauge line, the GBJ was built to a gauge of 760mm from the main town Ikkeby, to the northern harbour of Nogenhavn, for the purposes of opening up the island for tourism and trade. Soon after the line was extended to the south and east, with the line splitting at Ingensslot to both Ikkehavn on the southern coast, and Gemtby on the northeastern corner of the island.

"Ikkehavn" is the main port for the fishing fleet on the island, and in the late 1940s the port was extended to accomodate both fish and the recently developed kaolin workings from the china clay mines at Storebakke and Småbjerg. Modelled is part of the port as the work progresses post WW2 to extend the sea defences, so the contractors are busy as well as the usual services over the line.

Traffic on the line features: passenger workings, both for tourist and local use; supplies of sand, gravel and stone from the quarries inland for the sea defences and new sea wall; bagged kaolin for export; fuel supplies for the fishing fleet, as well as assorted local goods, and fish traffic to the canning factory in Ikkeby.

*****
 

Christopher Payne

NEW NG Co-ordinator

[cp.409067]

I am pleased to add details of the various exhibits as follows. This is part 2 of 3.


Tim Tincknell: "The Talyllyn Railway" 1:55 scale (5.5mm/ft)

The layout represents the section from Abergynolwyn station through to the village winding house and including the original loco shed at Ty Dwr. This shed was dismantled when the works at Pendre were completed in 1867. The only known details of the structure come from the remains of four corner posts, and some evidence of a low slate wall, that were found when the area was cleared during construction of the extension in the 1970's. It is also not known when the station at Abergynolwyn was built, or if the loop was present in 1865. However, the siding at the west end of the site is known to be a later addition.

The unusual scale/gauge combination of 5.5mm/ft on 12mm track was chosen to allow the modelling of open cab locos with hidden motors. This would not have been easy in "OO9". 

The scale of 5.5mm to the foot was used in the 1960's by George Mellor (GEM Kits) to model the smaller narrow gauges on 12mm track (then available in the UK for standard gauge "TT" and used for 3ft gauge modelling in "OOn3") before the introduction of "N" and subsequently "HOe" and "OO9".
See article in Railway Modeller, April 2015, pp. 308-312.


Andy Cundick: "Devil's Bridge" - OO9

Devil's Bridge is the terminus of the Vale of Rheidol Railway, a two-foot line running inland from Aberystwyth. Built in 1902, it was subsequently owned by the Cambrian Railways from 1913, the Great Western Railway from 1923, and then British Railways from 1948, becoming the last BR steam operated line. In 1988 it was sold to the current owners.

The model is built to 4mm/OO9 scale and is modelled to scale. All locomotives and stock are kit-built.


OO9 Society: information and demonstration stand

The 009 Society aims to support beginners and experienced modellers alike, the scratch-builder, the kit builder and the modeller who prefers ready-to-run equipment. Those already active in small scale narrow gauge railway modelling, or newcomers wishing to take their first steps, will find a welcome in the 009 Society.

As well as providing information, members of the 009 Society and West Midlands Narrow Gauge Group will be on hand demonstrating various aspects of small scale (principally 4mm and 3.5mm scales) narrow gauge railway model making.


Simon Andrews: (i) "Busch Works" - OO6.5, and (ii) "Badger's Bottom" - G9

Simon has great enthusiasm for (and success in building) micro layouts. Busch Works was designed to test the practicality of building a layout using Busch 6.5mm gauge components. Badger's Bottom was produced in response to a Gnatter Box completion to design a layout in the footprint of a box file.
See article in NG&IRMR, No 92, pp.160-163.

*****


Christopher Payne
NEW NG Co-ordinator

[cp.409067]

*

I am pleased to add details of the various exhibits as follows. This is part 3 of 3.

Christopher Payne: "Saith ar Hugain" - OO9

Presented as "work in progress" this is an attempt to fulfil two objectives.

(i)   To build a working layout within the space offered by a WAB27 (a 27 litre Whitefurze Allstore Box - https://www.whitefurze.net/27l-whitefurze-allstore.html). Portrayed is a small terminus with passenger, goods, and locomotive facilities. There is also a secondary exit to mineral workings. Outside the area of the box the fiddle yard is provided by a "Simple Kato Cassette" system (see OO9 News, December 2020, pp. 18-21).

(ii)   To devise a reliable method of layout display at adult viewing height when placed on a (exhibition venue) trestle table.    
 
Both of these objectives are in effect design challenges. The former might be said to be a matter of intellect or perhaps imagination. The latter arises from the recognition that as one gets older the issues of weight and portability (or not) of a traditional exhibition stand are significant.

*****

Christopher Payne
NEW NG Co-ordinator

[JulienW]

With a little over a week to go I'd just like to add that there will be a small selection of items from the Society's Heritage Collection on display in the showcase.

[Hugh Norwood]

And why not make a weekend of it and visit the Abingdon Show as well?
Two 009 layouts
Llanfair Rhyd
and Angst-Lesspork...

<grin>

[JulienW]

Just to add that the 009 Stand will be on hand to take money for new memberships and renewals, and be selling the 009 Society Handbook and a range of the exclusive kits to members.

[JulienW]

Well, all the stuff is in Steve (Mann)'s car ready for a bright & early start tomorrow at 6am!

See you at the show!

[cp.409067]

 *
Three exhibits were set up this afternoon and the central section of the hall (where NEW NG'25 is to be found) is set out.

As the Co-ordinator I obviously hope this "exhibition within an exhibition" will be a sucess, and therefore hope to meet tomorrow as many narrow gauge modellers (and those yet to be converted) as possible. In the last few years we have lost two major dedicated NG exhibitions in the South of the country (ExpoNG and S&D), and whilst a small event like this cannot hope to replace them it is to be hoped that it does demonstrate that NG modelling in a variety of scales is alive and well.

 
CP
NEW NG Co-ordinator

[JulienW]

As the Co-ordinator I obviously hope this "exhibition within an exhibition" will be a sucess...

Well, I thought it was Christopher!

Many thanks for the thankless task of organizing things.

[cp.409067]

 
*

May I take this opportunity to publically thank all those who participated in the event, who attended, and thus helped make it a success?

There is a thread here -

https://ngrm-online.com/index.php?/forums/topic/34479-photos-from-new-ng-swindon-modrail-2025/#comment-897361 

- in which Simon Andrews has provided some excellent photographs. I hope someone will add a shot of his excellent exhibit.
 
There was a lot of enthusiastic and interesting conversation of NG modelling, and as the photographs show a great sense of cameraderie among the exhibitors and the public.

As can also be seen, the Society Information and Demonstration stand - kindly staffed by Julien Webb and colleagues from the West Midlands group - was a significant and appreciated element.

 
 
CP
NEW NG Co-orodinator

[cp.409067]

*

NEW NG'26

I am pleased to report that following the success of the NEW NG "exhibition within an exhibition" at Swindon MODRAIL last Saturday, there has been an invitation from the club to do it again next year.

The date (subject to confirmation) is likely to be Saturday 7 March 2026.

May I again repeat my thanks to all those who contributed to this success by their participation or attendance.


CP
NEW NG Co-ordinator