Playing Trains with Trackgang at the Christchurch Show

The BOP Trackgang NZ120 layout from Tauranga ventured south for the Christchurch train show held over the weekend (4-5 October). DB thought it would be rude not to go up and help out Russell J and John E from Tauranga, and Aaron W from Hamilton.

The milk train on the Trackgang layout, with highsiders on the inner mainline. Note the sidings for display.

The show: its a pretty impressive show. I don't have any actual 'facts' for you, but we were told that the marshals had to pause the entry door a few times on Saturday as the hall can only accommodate 2000 people at once. That seems like an exaggeration, but there were a ton of people in, especially on Saturday. Many faces reappeared on the Sunday too. Rainy weather all weekend helped.

The Layouts: I'd guess there were 15 or so there, but I didn't allow myself enough time to browse properly. I'd also planned to buy knife blades, styrene, some of Brian R's Scenic Textures stuff, a DM coffee mug and rummage through the N Scale offerings, but large chunks of time pass surprisingly quickly at exhibitions until I turn to a zombie towards the end of the day.

The hall at the end of the second day, when pizza was put on for exhibitors, which was a nice touch.

There were a few impressive Lego trains running back and forth using colour sensitive photo detection to change direction using different coloured blocks between the lines at each end.  There was a small London Underground station which was a neat 'slice through the earth' concept. I'd love to see a way of having more tracks in this (a pair of lines at 45 degrees on a lower level with passengers changing lines and levels).

There was a cute wee British N scale offering that had four trains running on two tracks, and an American N modular one had a nice wharf and cargo ship scene.

Half of Twin Peaks

I've always liked the German/Swiss 'Twin Peaks' layout with its multiple levels of action, loads of lights and animated skiers, cars, chairlifts, skaters etc. There is plenty to look at in every little nook and cranny, and the automation is very impressive. A wee Z scale layout was super smooth and quiet. 

I would liked to have had a closer look at Lawrence B's Rewanui when it was running, with the tablet-controlled points and remote uncoupling for shunting. The scenery at the south end under the bridges is coming along nicely, and its sector table is a work of engineered art. As are the overhead lighting supports.

Big little Swiss Tigerli.

A few other NZ scenic beauties were present. Grant M's Three Mile Bush is a lovely bush tramway with Climaxes and other Heath Robinson-like contraptions hauling logs around. There was a vertical boiler that could emit puffs of smoke on demand, and plenty of bird sounds emanated from the bush. This was a real crowd pleaser and I believe it won best in show. 

3 Mile Bush with a log train chasing a light loco

Local group One Track Minds had their big 1:64th modular layout there. The scenery is really well done on this, but I never noticed too much action on it. Perhaps I was looking over at the wrong times, or maybe its just too difficult to efficiently run bidirectionally and cross trains at the stations. 'Sometimes-NZ120-modeller' Victor G had some superbly weathered Sn3.5 locos here, including this gorgeously rusty DXC 5293 modelled before its repaint. I've been meaning to try something like this for a long time. Inspiring. 

Sn 3.5 rustbucket weathering by Victor. Marvellous.

Ian P had his neat little NZ120 Kaikoura layout which is another crowd favourite that was mentioned in the blog two years ago. Small, reliable, plenty of action, and its easy for him to interact with the attendees from within the donut. While not 1000% prototypical (it is a model after all), it captures the locale perfectly, and this is what draws the crowds. The two circuits of track and the moving cars and trucks keep people amused as they look for 'Oaro' and 'Nins Bin' and other recognisable features along the coast.

Coal train on the Trackgang layout.

Trackgang BOP:  I didn't know much about the layout before this weekend, but can now report that it's a brilliant exhibition layout. 

• It is double tracked all around, so again, while not a million percent representative of most of NZ's lines, the reason people are attracted over to layouts, and then stay, is to see action. Having two tracks makes this much easier, and for the majority of the two days we had five mainline trains running at once, some of them quite long.  
• One track was powered with DC, the other DCC, which is entirely practical. For a few minutes early on the Saturday we had to diagnose a short in the DCC, but the DC trains could keep running. On Sunday, the reverse happened and there was a brief short in the DC - this time the DCC trains kept running, so nothing was lost.
• There are three long (about three metres) staging tracks behind the backscene. Brilliant. This allowed (primarily DCC) trains to be set up behind the scenes, and then swapped in and out and then be stored to give locos a rest and provide some variety in what was out on the mainline.
• There were two or three passing loop sidings on each circuit at the 'urban end' of the layout. This allowed medium or shorter trains to also be stored and swapped out on the 'visible' side of the layout - more for people to look at. 
• There are also some industrial sidings at the urban end of the layout, and one clump became the loco depot, where we could display a bunch of locos that were not in use on trains. We also sat wagons in the sidings for show, whether they ran well or not. Another popular spot was a log unloading area, with long wagons, a log truck, piles of logs, and log handling payloaders. 

The urban end, with loco display and log yard beyond the footbridge.

• Turnouts are remote controlled from behind the low backscenes using rods, and switches that power the frogs. 
• Above a tunnel there is an 'airport' where a collection of Air NZ, RNZAF and Safe Air 1:144 planes were displayed. This was a popular spot with many folks who also have an interest in aircraft.
• There were lots of little scenes that kept the kids (and many adults!) amused. Deer in a gully, people walking, sunbathing. Sheep, a nearby dog kennel, a hedge trimmer. A few people spotted the Tardis, a DeLorean, or cars from the Fast and the Furious. These little cameos kept people looking and walking around the layout. 
• The 'non-urban' three quarters of the layout has winding curves, bridges and road overbridges. These areas were nice and long, showing NZ120 at its best, with long trains running through scenery. The highsider coal train had more than 40 wagons.

DM in action. Note the clever crowd barrier - the sticks plug into holes in the layout fascia, which is robust enough to take any mild shoving. Note the wee dude - counting wagons was a popular pastime for the youngsters, especially with the highsiders!

• The modules themselves contained some nice ideas in their construction. Robust and foolproof circular electrical connectors connected all the wires between modules, and the plugs were clipped in place under the modules when disconnected. Loose leg pairs simply plugged into holes under each end of a module. Hinge joints at each side of a the join with L shaped pins made assembly easy and means you don't need fiddly adjustable feet, as any one set of legs in the pair can take the load. The modules made the commute from Tauranga in a small box trailer equipped with racking. Modules have a fascia with holes to plug a rope crows barrier into (see pic above).

Inter-module wiring. Legs are all numbered, making setup easy, with the black painted end on the crowd-facing side.

Clipped up when unplugged.

Such features enabled the layout to be up and working within 50 minutes. This included unloading modules from the trailer, walking them into the hall, laying them out in order, putting in the legs, making the physical hinge joins, laying an extension cord and plugging in the electrics, attaching the black cloth skirt, and installing the integral rope crowd barriers. Then (some!) buildings and vehicles were placed. Getting out of the hall after the show ended was just as quick. Getting the layout up quickly gave us a change to set up and test a few trains so we would be ready to roll on Saturday morning.

Assembled and almost ready to plug in. Nice fascia. The airport is above the tunnel at the far end, and is yet to be populated with planes.

This was an enjoyable and stress-free layout to operate. Plenty of action, ample staging, loads of places to display non-operating stock, plenty to keep people amused, and most important, it was utterly reliable. There's nothing worse than operating an erratic or untested layout at an exhibition when you are holding your breath on every circuit, or any time someone attempts to run through a turnout. 

The one or two glitches we had were quickly fixed. Pretty good for a modular layout that has come almost 1000km in a trailer, that was set up on a subtly un-flat hall floor, and of course the temperature and humidity changes significantly during a very wet day with a hall full of breathing people. 

Some of my Digitrax locos didn't behave as expected on the NCE system, so were sidelined or placed elsewhere. Sometimes a disobedient wagon might behave better when spun end-for end, or  moved in the train if its coupler height was out, otherwise it was removed. The odd repair was able to be made. We ended up with eight or nine reliable trains on deck at once, and these could pretty much circle the layout for hours with out any issues.

Locos and a railcar on standby.

With the NCE's recall button, it was fairly easy to control three trains following each other around the DCC circuit - running one at a steady pace, and slowing or speeding the other two trains occasionally by one or two clicks to have them keep their distance. But you had to pay attention. Being distracted for a minute or two by some sideline chat with a punter might see two trains try to merge into one. 

On the DC line, faster trains had to be stopped periodically in an isolated section to let the slower one pull ahead. And having most of the loops and sidings able to be isolated as blocks has other benefits, for example, switching off one of the staging tracks to avoid upsetting the rest of the layout while putting on a new train.  I should do this on my modules. It seemed to me that the NCE dealt with shorts well. Of course the 'loco depot' area was switched out so we could put a mix of DC and DCC engines there.

Da with livestock. Note the fine power poles made from brass.

Trains and rolling stock on the BOP Trackgang layout over the weekend included: 

• A very cool milk train made from MMW etched ends and frames combined with sections of 'slightly un-polished' handrail tube. 
• A striking 3D printed Standard railcar fettled by Russell. There's nothing like a red railcar to catch the eye of the passing punter. 
• A Murupara log train behind a pair of old Dgs
• Tasman Forestry and Kiwi Lager locos.
• Two TranzScenic trains, including one pulled by a Tranz Rail bumblebee recabbed DG! There was also a KiwiRail Scenic Journeys white twinset railcar in attendance.
• A nice red Da hauling livestock wagons provided something a little older to look at. In hindsight I should have tried that Da or a grubby Dg pulling my three red passenger cars around to see if they ran.
• A few other 'mixed freight' trains ran over the weekend, including one DBR-hauled, and local man Jonty B had his DXR in on Saturday. This had an impressive LED ditchlight setup. 
• And the 'old' and 'new' coal trains were pretty reliable (and relatable to most of the local audience). A couple of the hoppers would derail when they dropping into the staging area. This was away from the public eye, but I'm kicking myself for not swapping those wagons around to see if that could have been cured. Not that we swapped that train out often. The highsider train reached 44 wagons at one stage, with Aaron's LCs being absolute works of art - brake hoses, etched side chains, handbrake levers, and... little loops on the side to tie your tarpaulin ropes to!  Wow.  He also had a couple of intricate etched container wagons that were very impressive. 

Note the side chains, handbrake levers, brake hose, and the rope tiedowns on the sides on Aaron's Trackgang LCs!

Almost prototypical - a  bumblebee recabbed DG on the Tranz passes a milk train that has been pulled over. Over on the DCC tracks, another Tranz passes going the other way.

A quick check of the NCE manual. I've never used this system before, so was of no help! Visible is the highsider train looking good on the reverse curves at 33 wagons, before Aaron's LCs were added.

Tranz Rail freight through the S curves on the Sunday.

DM again. Signals, relay boxes and crossing bells are fine details. The containers are Aaron's twin-layer etches.

NZ120 in full flight.

NIMT viaduct.

The DBR's freight train (Aaron Wall pic)

Popsicle DX (Aaron Wall pic)

Most of the stuff that I operated has never been used before in anger because this is the first exhibition I've run NZ120 on since 1995. And I loved it! Thanks to Russell, John and Aaron for coming down, putting up with me, and making this possible. Now to finish off my modules....

Train Bins™ for Travel and Storage

DB picked up a few mid-sized Sistema plastic tubs when they were on special a year ago, and has been pottering away making foamboard inserts of various shapes and styles for quite some time now. 

Weights take out any natural warp in the foamboard base

My base layer is a stiff plastic floor tile as the plastic bins have a natural fishbelly depression in the centre. On top sit two or three layers of inserts. 

 The coal hopers have had little bits of plastic bubblewrap stuck between them, and there are bits of kitchen towel deployed in places too to cusion the inserts from the sides. 

This weekend these splendiferous Train Bins™ will make their first trip north in anger to visit the Christchurch Train Show.

Christchurch Big Train Show visit

DB is barely holding the fort while Dandruff-San visits the far east.

The Christchurch Big Train Show was last weekend. There were plenty of layouts, stalls and chat to be had, so myself and a fellow modeller from Oamaru ended up staying four hours and we both had our wallets lightened by the cunning salespeople and their shiny trinklets.  

And wow! There was some unexpected (unexpected by me!) NZ120 presence there, with Ian Perry, who lives near Kaikoura, showing his model of scenes that are, unsurprisingly, from near Kaikoura. 

Rolling stock was from Trackgang, and all airbrushed - some of the most 'professional' looking finishes I've seen in NZ120. This all ran perfectly (even with multiple tracks across angled module joins) and looked great, with the scenes and bridges being great representations of either actual scenes, or of the general feel of the place. 

Ian and his wife spent a lot of time traveling around NZ in their caravan, and most of this was built during their journeys!

He had a Faller car or two running around as well to add to the interest. 

'Kaikoura' looked great,  ran flawlessly, and was the well-deserved winner of 'layout of the show'. The recabbed DGs didn't hurt either, although there was a TMS red DF there as well...

Regular S scale attendee 'One Track Minds' were there with some lovely models, although some of my favourite modules from last year were not in the layout this time.  This simple one below has nice undulation and shows that a module doesn't need to be in any way complex to be very effective.

Many of the locos on this layout had some superb sounds. The sounds for the DGs were recorded by Peter Ross when the DTG's DG 772 was undergoing load bank testing. A video may appear below if Blogger will publish it:

There were plenty of other US and European layouts and trains in S, HO, N, 009, Z and G, but I didn't end up taking many more pics.

Something that did catch my eye on local purveyor Ironhorse Hobbies' table were these 'ready to run' modules intended to jump start some local OO/HO modular efforts.  There are no legs for these yet, so you'd have to make your own.

I might be tempted to pick one or two up (sans HO track, and locating magnets in the ends) to try out as an add on to Studholme.  Especially as they are considering offering various lengths (these are 300mm x 560mm), and 'curved' and 'drop' versions so you could model a river or undulating scenery if you get bored with  modeling the Canterbury Plains in flat rectangles of land.

In a similar vein, the NZ Model Railway guild just reviewed some laser cut modules from Hamilton-based Craftmaster. Theose may be lighter (being made of thinner plywood) and fancier but I'm rarely passing Hamilton, and I expect postage might be painful. Review of Craftmaster modules

For those of us who are challenged by being located in the Mainland Island may find it easier to arrange (info@ironhorsehobbies.co.nz) to pick one of these "IHH-Trak" modules up from Ironhorse ones if they were passing Christchurch. I'm going to drop ironhorse an email to see what the go is.

RailX pt 2

 As I said in pt 1 I had a few conversations over the weekend.

I was asked up to a TTrak layout for an opinion on something. This was repainted and re-decaled N scale US models. I was asked to be honest. I thought the colours were good and then it was all downhill...I don't think I will be invited back. At least Fretesch are the correct makers models (and I can tell the difference between a U26C and a C630).

I then had a chat with a gent who had been a member of the Otago Model Engineers (OMES) after I had been there in the early 1990's. One thing interesting that I did learn that the model of Dunedin Railway station I built is to be moved to a display cabinet downstairs. Now, this might not sound like much, but the live steam guys defend the spots in these cabinets with a similar fevour to that last seen in Japanese soldiers in late WW2. Apparently its on facebook (which I'm not, I'm very picky about where I get my disinformation). Oh and before I came forward they thought it was built by an Asian exchange student...

Last up was Brian Roulston of Scenic Textures. We both cut our early serious modeling teeth at the OMES in the early 1990's. From him I learned that another old member of the Otago NZ120 modular group had passed a month ago. I think this leaves me as the last man standing from the original group in the early 1990's. We reminised about some of the characters and stories which quite honestly has brought a tear to my eye as I write this.  My memories of this time are not only about the huge layout that we assembled, but also that I don't recall any arguments in the group, just a shared vision for a layout. I've been lucky enough to (so far) do that twice in my life so far. Hoopefully I get another chance yet.

The only thing we can do as modelers to honor our friends memories is to pay it forward ourselves.

RailX done pt 1

So another RailX has come and gone. 2 days of modeling, talking and borax poking. As usual I was part of the Cabbage Flying Circus, and I spent the first day making track. This time round it was the trackwork for the landing on the Huia tramway. I was working with code 40 rail, which I really hate doing as its just too small. To cap it all off I had forgotten my glasses and I was essentially working by feel. Strangely enough this seemed to work fine and things just rattled along. I must try it more often. The Sunday was a bit of tidying up the soldering, and then a fair bit of chatting to old friends (again, because I couldn't see anything).

 Micheal Gee had brought another 3D print, this one for a phase I Da. Comparing it with the 25 year old Etch Cetera Da's...

We immediately noticed it was a bit taller in the car body, but below the footplate the height is about right. The long hood could also do with a bit of chamfering between the roof and sides. Good enough for me to plan to order a phase III Da. 

There was an American layout just across from us. Now normally I have about as much interest in US prototype as the GDP of Kazakstan. However I can apreciate a well observed layout. The lighting rig drew some apreciative comment as well.

The lighting rig was very nice too.

It was also setup with a JMRI interface and was controlled by cellphone app. It was nice too see the system work live though I don't see the point of being able to throw the switches from the handset.

RailX again

Yep, its that time of the 2 years again with RailX on in Palmerston North. I also see that theres a show in Timaru, though I doubt there will be many people having to choose. Having failed dismally last time to operate a layout (again, I'm sorry for being so crap, Grant) I think I'm allowed to play with the model makers again. And unless theres great demand I won't be bringing any boats this time round. Looking through the collection of 1/2 finished products (Df, Johnston A, Ds ) I'm actually thinking about making more track. Its something thats still not commonly done and is very hard to spead up using 3D printing (certainnly for anything more complex than straight track). Now that I have said that someone will come up with a way of doing it.

So, drop by and say hello (oh, and Russel, if you are coming down I could be tempted with a 56' guards van)

Back in the saddle

 Hmm, nearly 3 years away. So what did I miss.

Its been that long that I can't remember why I stopped updating the blog. I have done virtually no railway modeling over that time, apart from a few bits and pieces on the On30 layout. I have done a fair bit of painting/modeling for my wargaming interests. Theres a pile of terrain done for 28mm steampunk skirmish and I'm almost done with my Germany 1813 project (which has involved painting a few thousand figures). I've also started painting 10mm DBA 15th century eastern european armies.

Anyway recenty I went to Railex in Palmy. I've been to a couple of gaming conventions in the last year but this was the first Model railway show. I offered to give Grant a hand with his new layout, 3 Mile Bush.

Now this is another Grant Morrel magnus opus. He is phenominaly good at observing scenes and his bush modeling is up there with the best. He's also really good at engaging with the crowd, whch might explain his laissez faire approach to crowd control. Now when I operate a layout I tend to concentrate on the driving. Having to also attemp to do crowd control while engaging with the punters is a bit beyond me, especially in the mornings. So my 4 hr stint was not earth shattering.and I managed to run locos through stop blocks several times.

The Tauranga group was down with their NZ120 layout and I brought along some of my old models. The twinset railcar had been in the box 8 years without a run. A tweak to the internals and it was off like a Swiss watch.

The Ed's also got a leg stretch on the Saturday night, and I resisted offfers to sell them. It's the effort to replace them that makes them irreplaceable.

On with the show

Hmm, theres a model show at the end of the month, the 17th or 18th ring a bell.
Hmm, the 17th and 18th are not on a weekend...
Oh, its this weekend....

And thats how I spent my weekend. On the Demo table with the usual group of reprobates.
For a bit of variation I decided to do some work on my card ship. I had all the railings to do so knuckles down and just stuck with it. After a day and a half I had all the railings done. the locating was very easy as all I had to do was poke holes with a sharp needle into the card deck at the right spot. The photo doesn't really show this and I should have taken it before I packed the rolling stock up.

I had a selection of other unassembled card boats on display. This was a point of interest with other modelers and many were surprised that the tramp steamer was card. At least one modeler asked for the details and reveled that he had been looking at buying a $350 kit for an ho scale boat but would look at this instead.
Despite this I'm trying not to be a boat modeler (I can't stand rum much).

Other big news from the weekend ( at least for me, but I don't do social media) is that North yard has acquired/rescued the Southdock range. This is great news for the NZ hobby as the unavailability of kits has hamstrung the hobby for the last 5 years. I was told that the oportunity had been taken to update the resins used in the casting.

I'll post some more photos in the next couple of days, plus other things I worked on.

Palmy Rail-X 2016

Well, another 2 years, another Rail-X.

Again this year I joined the peanut galley to make models while the masses look on in mostly bemusement. On Saturday I spent the day building some larger scale track, while B 0-4-4-0 flew the flag by working on his model of Conns Creek. After the completion of the track work on Saturday night, we had to come up with a way to clean off the residual flux at the venue.
Cue the kitchen sink and a couple of table spoons of bicarb.

We then patted the track work dry with hand towels, did a quick runner and no one was any the wiser...

On Sunday morning, I had a crack at the Tomytec bus chassis. In the previous post on this topic I had pointed out that there needed to be a visit to the chop shop. After having a bit of a think I came up with a plan. After doing a bit of measurement some brass tube was soldered to nickel silver shim to create a hinge type contraption with the front steering unit attached to one side of the hinge and the rest of the mech attached to the other. I added a second piece of nickel silver to act as a clip to hold everything together.

I then added a few bits of cardboard to hold the top in about the right place and stuck it on temporarily

The rear wheel looks a bit odd due to the photo angle but it is actually in the right place.
I didn't have any road prepared but it roamed the table with a surprising amount of grunt.

Finally, I quickly knocked together a test piece to check if an idea I had for a bush tram layout would work. using some of the grass mat and some code 40 track, plus a handful of donated scenics, I knocked up the idea in about 30 minutes.

It needs a shave in places but for a first attempt I think it shows promise.