Bournville haul - the joy of scruffy boxes

 

Small shows are a happy hunting ground for me. Since I'm not looking for the latest RTR, I'm free to scrub around under tables and in scruffy cardboard boxes for interesting stuff. 

The first prize has to be a Gaugemaster Combi controller - for a fiver! I have been pondering buying something from the range for loco testing anyway. OK, it doesn't have the separate power supply, but that's a generic item that I should be able to pick up easily enough. I'll have one somewhere as I've used a Combi on a couple of layouts in the past. I think it's stuck to the NG7 project at the moment. 

After that, there is some microstrip for a quid a pack, piercing saw blades for about the same, dry print lettering and Tiny Signs posters, the latter for a current BRM project. 

Finally, a row of sprung SPDT toggle switches for three pounds. All this is junk to most people, but I rate it higher than the latest shiny Accucraft product, but then I'm a bit weird. 

I'm the same with books - there are very few big hardbacks for me. But those slim publications that never made it to a second print run, and whose distribution was very limited, that's my thing. Especially if there is an Isle of Man connection. 

So, we have Manx Transport Kaleidoscope, of course. I may well have a copy, but why risk it for 50p/ Bagnall: A narrow gauge legacy is new to me, and I can't have looked through it as there is a whole chapter devoted to the Groudle Glen locomotives. That wasn't going to stay in the box! And we finish with Davyhulme Sewage Works and its railway - which has some interesting pictures, and let's face it, an unusual subject. Sewage works railways aren't common models, but the photos suggest that there is some interesting scope for one. Best of all, this lot came from a preserved railway stand, so the money is off to a good cause. 

The postcard kits for telephone boxes are just a bit of fun, and I do love a K6...

Bournville 2026

I wasn't really looking to visit a model railway show. But then UKModelshops told me that the Bournville show was taking place the next day, and I decided a train ride would be nice. I remembered from last year's visit that the show is next to Longbridge station, making for an easy trip. There was a layout on the list that intrigued me, and that would (hopefully) compensate for the lack of cake I also recalled. 

The ride was nice. I read a book and looked out of the window occasionally. The journey involved a change in Birmingham with a bit of a stroll around New Street station, noting that a 'spoons has appeared since I was last there. I like a ride on a train and quite like the Class 730 units with their super-wide connections between coaches. Despite the heavy use they get, the insides are still pretty tidy too. 

Arriving at Longbridge, I decided to follow people who I thought might be going to the show. I chose well, and a group of three of us chatted during the five-minute stroll. 

Inside, I hunted down the layout that had caught my eye - Moonbase Apha. 

The first thing to say is that this owes nothing to Space 1999. There are nods to 2001 and Silent Running, but this is very much its own creation. 

What it is, is a good idea, exceptionally well done. 

3D printed monorails, cleverly making use of OO gauge track that has been heavily modified and ex-Tri-ang mechanisms, circulate around the station complex. Both passenger and freight trains have been modelled, and several designs of each. There is a distinctly Flash Gordon look, with a hint of the early APT designs and even Belgian "Goggle" trains. 

Inside the buildings, people move along a travelator, or rotate inside geodesic domes. Outside, Airfix astronauts perform various tasks, including examining a black rectangular object in a hole.  

The modelling is sharp. The lunar landscape is exceptional. If I'd just come to see this one layout, I wouldn't have been disappointed. I have suggested we need it at the NEC next year...

The rest of the show was OK. Apart from the American narrow-gauge layout, there was amazing, but I remind myself that every one of these models is being exhibited by a proud owner, and there were a few ideas I will be taking away with me. It proves my point that you can always learn something from any layout, no matter what the standard. 

And no, there wasn't any cake. A can and a Double-Decker bar sustained me until I returned to the 'spoons spotted earlier.  

More photos over on Flickr.  

 

Saturday Film Club: Severn Crossing Monorail

An unexpected monorail - that breaks down! Fascinating. 

Book Review: Manx Electric Railway - Motorman Basics Handbook

 

It's time to order my 2027 calendar - the 2026 one is filling up with all sorts of things, and bookings will soon stretch past December. 

While on the Isle of Man Railways website placing the order, I spotted the Motorman Basics Handbook, for a paltry £3.

When the package arrived, I opened up the book and was surprised. OK, it's a slim publication, but inside is packed with all sorts of nerdy, technical detail for those interested in MER trams, or just trams generally. 

The driving and stopping mechanisms are explained in great detail - I'll need more than a single read-through if I'm to take it all in. Suffice to say that if you've ever wondered what goes on inside the pedestal the driver stands behind in a tram, it's all in here!

Likewise, the various braking systems are fully covered with some excellent diagrams.  

This book is part of the ultimate driving experience. Presumably this is a longer session than the one I took a few years ago. No book for me! It was still great fun though. Driving a real tram, on a live line, complete with wandering sheep. 

 

At the back of the book, there is a rundown of the different types of driving cars and trailers to be found on the MER. This stock listing is worth the price alone, as there is a lot of variety in the fleet. 

 A must for the Manx transport enthusiast, or anyone interested in tramways generally. 

Scenic work in the October issue of BRM

 

Plenty of Phil in the October BRM, and in some interesting scales. 

We kick off with building a couple of N gauge (OK, 2mm scale) garden sheds from Metcalfe kits. They really are tiny; that's a 10p piece under one of them.  

Why am I building sheds? Well, I needed them for a diorama. 

We're taking part in the "Make a Scene" competition, so I was presented with a pack and told to go away and make something with it. Digging through my stash of N gauge materials, I found the makings of a bungalow, and an allotment. 

In the pack are some interesting scenic materials, so I set off and produced something simple, but I hope, very achievable.

My camera has been out, and sticking with the N gauge theme, the first layout is Ambleton Vale. 

Chock full of interesting details, this is the first layout I've seen with a racecourse. 

Next, we step up a scale to 3mm*, with Hanton Tarrant.  

*That's proper British 3mm scale. 1:100, not that upstart TT:120.

It's a scale I love, and with boats and a rhinoceros. Can't go wrong there.  

With my reviewer head on, I take a look at Rapido's 009 wagons. 

And finally, for BRM TV, I explain colouring bricks.