Scalefour Forum

CRAG’s July meeting started with an excellent pub lunch in the Crown, followed by an operating session on Bradtord North Western. This is still in its early stages but is complete enough for running a timetable, albeit there is little scenery except on the original Clecklewyke section and all the point work is manual. A comparison of the rival offerings of DCC Concepts and Megapoints needs to be completed before a decision is taken and money spent - a LOT of money - on point control.

Phil and Sheila, Ron, Stuart, Graham and I attended: Chris King sadly was unable, having just emerged from intensive care in hospital.

The latest change to the layout is the addition of a fiddle yard comprising a series of sidings connected by normal pointwork. This proved much simpler to operate than the previous cassette system, although I have retained one cassette connection so that trains loaded on cassettes can be swapped with those on the shelves above. This way we will have capacity for many trains and a very varied timetable, as befits a main line terminus.

At some point I must confess that all this is in OO gauge. I have had to give up P4 modelling as my glaucoma makes it impossible - simple modelling tasks such as soldering are really difficult and I can no longer make up even the simplest kit so I am having to take up a broad brush approach. Nevertheless DCC sound in RTR locos helps a lot - at a cost!

Even allowing for differences in personal taste, I think that most modellers have come to realise that with care and knowledge it is perfectly possible to produce a realistic, interesting and, above all, prototypically operable layout in any 4mm gauge, P4, EM or OO, even 'straight out of the box'. Equally, it is sadly also all too possible to produce a layout that fails some or all of those criteria, irrespective of gauge. It is also true, I believe, that recent technical developments mean that the various gauges share even more commonality than has sometimes been acknowledged in the past, and the outcomes of your investigations will doubtless have applications in P4 as well, for those that are interested in such things. I hope that your problems will not reduce your enjoyment of the hobby too much, and I, for one, hope that we will continue to hear from you on this forum.

Thank you for your kind words, Noel.

I've been thinking about CRAG's membership and realise that at our last meeting there were no active P4 modellers in attendance, just two EM gaugers, two OOers and two non-modelling supporters. Among the regulars who were not there we have two P4ers and one EMer. I started as a P4er and still have two P4 layouts which can be exhibited (Royston Vasey and Humber Dock) but my days of exhibiting are nearly over as I can no longer drive. The probable last hurrah will be Humber Dock at Hull MRC's show in November - see http://www.hullmrs.org

However we all get along and are happy to support each other. DCC is the current common denominator, with most of us enthusiastic users and one of us a recently retired professional supplier - so he is in great demand for advice.

However, when one is trying to sort the wagons from the morning Huddersfield goods into local trips to Scargill Sidings, Bridge Street and Hammerton Street yards it matters little how large the flanges are (especially since I can hardly see them). Moreover the gauge is immaterial as the trains are mostly at eye level - Iain Rice's influence lingers! - but the digitally created flange squeal as the 08 negotiates the pointwork evokes sharp memories of watching the real thing in Springhead sidings at the bottom of the garden in my childhood Hull home. And, for me, that's what it's all about.

Ian

Here are a couple of photos of the meeting courtesy of Phil Tuer:

Driver Graham detaches the Super D from the early morning goods from Huddersfield while signalman Stu sets up the road for the next passenger train.



A Black Five runs on to the loco road at Scargill Sidings (the semi-scenic fiddle yard) under a wintry moon.



Ian