It was great to see Redbridge operating at Brockenhurst. Well done to all of the team for the hard work over that weekend (and the many extra hours put in before the show).
OO Gauge Matters
Our participation in the New Forest Model Railway Society – Brockenhurst Exhibition was Redbridge’s first public appearance.
Redbridge had its first “complete assembly” at a local village hall, the main objective being to assess the assembly, construction and wiring. The exercise was very productive and helped the assessment of issues that needed repair and adjustment.
A great deal of work was undertaken including:
- Control and computer Systems
- Track and point fettling
- Ballasting
- Scenery
- Daughter boards
- Buildings and other works associated with the Sleeper Works foundry etc.
The Brockenhurst Exhibition
The layout boards along with trestles, control systems and scenic items were taken to the exhibition hall on the Friday evening.
The baseboards were assembled, and some essential adjustments made prior to the public opening.
Our Club members took a variety of locos and stock. All locos were running on DCC. Some fettling of the tracks and pointwork was necessary, mostly resulting from the “heat” inside the exhibition hall.
Many of the visitors were impressed at the length of the layout and several also recognised several prototype locations, building, bridges etc.
There is an update on RMWeb on the Redbridge Wharf Layout Topics that includes photographs of the control system, scenery, buildings and visitors at the exhibition.
Management of The Redbridge Layout for Exhibitions
Our Chairman managed a meeting covering all aspects of the experience when participating at exhibitions. Discussion and input from most Members suggested the appointment of members to be responsible for specific tasks including:
- Exhibition Manager (ex-Layout Manager)
- Operations Manager
- Scenic Manager
- Budget Management
- Overall Layout Manager
It was also felt necessary to also appoint a duplicate for each task.
(Chairman’s note: the above positions may be reduced to 3 with some of the tasks merged.)
EM gauge Matters
Repairing and detailing of the Mawgan Porth Engine Shed has been completed.
We have no further Exhibition commitments.
O gauge Matters
We have spent the last few weeks getting the turntable correctly installed. It is in an awkward position and the drive belt had become dislodged. We now know NOT to move the table by hand but always use lever 119 and the MPD controller to power the turntable motor. The tracks to the table will now be re-laid once the table is securely in place. Thanks to Roger we should now have a level run onto the table. There is a little more fettling to secure the rail on the incline to the coaling stage which has sprung up, no doubt the heat not helping here.
Other Business
Please note the various days out and exhibitions in the diary section. We shall need a few volunteers for the Brickworks Demo, you may recall a board or two of Redbridge might be on show there.
