PEMRC Newsletter August 2021

PORT ELIZABETH MODEL RAILROAD CLUB Newsletter

August 2021 #08/2021

Every gauge welcome!

In this issue: Mailbox

Festina Lente

Market Place

Obituaries – Nerina and Dietmar

Les Pivnic

How to 3D print at home

Wild Robert

CLUB LIBRARY – physical and digital, books & videos

Steampunk

Gaston retires from Miwula

Walther’s diorama winners

PEMRC Calendar

Committee Liverpool Lime Street

Britain’s longest 12” railway Two Wiki’s

Wythall

WROXHAM miniature world

Gallery

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Festina Lente

(Classical Latin) is a classical adage and

oxymoron meaning "make haste slowly" (sometimes rendered in English as "more haste, less speed").

It has been adopted as a motto numerous times, particularly by the emperors Augustus and Titus, the Medici’s and the Onslows as well as the Pullman coaches of the Orient Express.

Festina Lente is also a pedestrian bridge over the Miljacka River in Sarajevo. The bridge is 38 meters long and features an unusual looping in the middle, suggesting slowing down and enjoying the view.

Conceptual design for the bridge was created by three students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo. The bridge connects the Mak Dizdar embankment (close to the Academy) with Radić Street. It was officially opened on 22 August 2012.

PEMRC CALENDAR

PEMRC is not organising any group activities during the pandemic

11-12

9-20

29-30

14-21

Sep 2021

Oct 2021

Oct 2021

Aug 2022

Eurospoor 2021 Event & Exhibition Centre Jaarbeurs Utrecht, Netherlands NMRA National Convention 2022 Birmingham, UK https://www.nmra2022uk.org/

COMMITTEE 2021: Chairman:

Roel van Oudheusden

roelvanoza@gmail.com

Treasurer:

Attie Terblanche

terblalc@telkomsa.net

Clubhouse: JP Kruger

juanpierrekruger@gmail.com

Editor:

Roel van Oudheusden

pemrailroadclub@gmail.com

‘Shop’:

Graham Chapman

chapman22@telkomsa.net

Workshops: Mike van Zyl

carpencab@gmail.com

Subscriptions for 2021 remain at R300 for the year.

EFT is preferred, but the Treasurer may be persuaded to accept cash.

Bank account:

Port Elizabeth Model Railroad Club

FNB Walmer Park, branch code 211417, Account no. 62386122057

MARKET PLACE

Members can advertise their model rail related items here for free; All others pay a 10% donation of the proceeds to PEMRC.

Mini World Models Shop online and use this special coupon to claim your unique

PEMRC

member

discount

Dream trains No shipping costs for combined orders of R2000 or more.

Shop online and fill your cart, even if less than R2000, then contact PEMRC Graham Chapman, to combine your order with fellow club members and all will save.

Crafty Arts 10% discount via their discount card scheme. .

Collaborate with Aubrey de Chalain on building dioramas and exhibits in their newly extended premises.

REMEMBER our MEMBERS

NERINA SKUY

Nerina Skuy, passed away on Friday 23 July in hospital from the Corona virus. She was admitted on Wednesday when she was had difficulty breathing. Nerina was the editor of a glossy quarterly rail journal SA RAIL, director of Heritage Rail (HRASA) and Chairman of the Apple Express Society, the 2ft gauge rail heritage venture in Port Elizabeth. We salute your "rail work" on here specifically and extend our sympathy to her husband Hilton, son Shaq and extended family. Nerina was also involved in a number of projects for the poor a.o. a trustee for the Walmer Children’s Feeding Trust.

Nerina Skuy was a person of great drive, heading up the Apple Express operations during a golden period of restoration and local operation. When one is interested in all matters Railway, steam locomotives and South African narrow gauge operations, especially in PE, one could not but be aware of her presence and contribution. She and the wonderful team of volunteers under her, achieved much at the Apple Express.

This despite the complete lack of interest in the value of heritage trains and branch lines by Transnet. She was an energetic go getter who got things done and who didn’t suffer fools gladly. She will certainly be missed and her contribution to railways remembered with appreciation.

REMEMBER our MEMBERS

DIETMAR DUBSKY

Dietmar passed away on Saturday, 17 July 2021, after a long struggle with his health the last few years.

Dietmar was one of the Club’s doyen members who had a wonderful large, very detailed

HO

continental

layout at his home and an O gauge setup at his work premises in Uitenhage. We will remember him as a true model train enthusiast, soft spoken, amicable gentleman who generously hosted the Club at his home on several occasions. The visits to our Uitenhage members were always an adventure and certainly memorable and will be treasured as we say farewell to a special person.



LIVERPOOL LIME STREET IN EM GAUGE SCALE

Liverpool Lime Street is one of the most advanced DC-controlled EM gauge layouts on the exhibition circuit.

It has an automated fiddle yard and is fitted with CCTV. Gauge: 4mm: 1ft/EM gauge* * Scale is 1:76.2 (4mm: 1ft) but track gauge is still 16.5mm HO/OO.( Standard HO is 3.5mm/ft. 1:87) Editor



Era: 1930s



Dimensions: 45ft x 6ft (15 x 2 meters)

Control: 12V DC



Signals (Semaphore / Colour): both

Run: end to end



Station: Terminus



Location (depicted): Liverpool Lime Street

Goods yard/facilities: no

Owner: John Holden See more: BRM May 2020

LMS

'Patriot'

No.

5541

Duke

of

Sutherland exits the station on Liverpool Lime Street with a travelling post office train.

Note

overhead

the gantry

and point rodding detail.

An interest, an idea

Liverpool Lime Street is an EM gauge layout built by John Holden, Les Green, Steve Hewitt and Rob Harrison, each bringing their particular skills that have enhanced the project. After the interruption in railway modelling due to the usual distractions and the subsequent bringing up of a family, John's main interest was LMS carriages. He first set about building each of the main trains associated with Lime Street just after the war. He managed to build the 'Merseyside Express', and 'The Manxman', each vehicle in the train being as the prototype in the period he modelled. But when he started to build the layout, he found his spare time disappearing into a black hole, and had no time for carriage construction. Fortunately, Hornby and Bachmann came to the rescue with excellent renditions of both locomotives and stock for Lime Street. There are some carriage types they don't cover, but for the time being they can manage. Re-wheeling, weathering, and in some cases different couplings are a necessity for EM gauge.

A view of some of the shops along Lime Street modelled in a 'worse for wear' condition. A tram shuttles passengers along the road from left to right.

Weathering of the buildings was completed by Rob Harrison.

Building the station roof Les volunteered to tackle the station roof. This represented a massive amount of work and he quietly beavered away on his computer designing this fantastic piece of modelling. The roof construction can be divided into two parts - firstly the supporting columns and secondly the roof. The columns were developed first, using a 3D CAD package to design them. There are 61 columns to 21 different designs. Each column's artwork was sent to a firm who produced patterns in resin using a process known as 'Rapid Prototyping'. From these patterns, all the columns were produced by Unit Models of Keighley.

The roof itself, again was designed on Les's computer's 3D CAD package from which he generated the 2D artwork to send to an etching company who produced around 40 A3sized etched sheets in nickel silver. From these, and a 100 metres of 0.7mm

nickel

silver

wire, a working party of four team members set

about soldering up sub-assemblies. Les fabricated all these into 40 odd 'bowstrings girders' that span the columns. Finally these were all built up into eight roof sections. Doesn't sound much when you say it quick but the logistics of this were mind boggling. There were around 13,000 soldered joints, 6,000 components and 130 meters of seam-soldered girders.

Just arrived in the station is a streamlined LMS Coronation 'Pacific', in a very weathered wartime black livery.

A platform goods trolley can be seen right, ready to take luggage from the guard’s compartment of the first coach, whilst a horse and cart awaits its next collection patiently.

Creating the signals Steve Hewitt makes his signals makes to high standards, both in looks and

operation.

They

even feature illuminated lamps using fibre optics. This was another man John had to encourage to join the team, resulting in Lime Street having a set of platform starter signals. The gantry with 12 arms is a work of art, as is the tiny LNWR ground signal with two working arms (illuminated of course). For all these signals, a custom version of servo controller that handles 16 signals on each board was used. Liverpool Lime Street has 32 working semaphores, two boards are used. The signals, along with the existing colour light signals are automatically set by the router when setting up a route, and restored either by clearing the set route, or by 'IRDOT trip' (Heathcote Electronics Infra-Red train detection system). Signalling is automatic. If you want to bring a train or light engine up to a red signal, there is a 'Signal inhibit' button you press after setting any given route (within a set time period). Pressing that button will stop the associated signal from changing.

One of Steve's lesser known talents is in the production of a train operating card system and to that end Steve and John built a running order for the layout.

Liverpool Lime Street boasts an impressive signal box, though on a layout of this size with such large bridges represented in full, its proportions look

somewhat

less

significant.

Seen right of the picture is the turntable,

under

construction,

though this is now fully operational on the layout.

Weathering Rob Harrison made his mark on the layout

with

techniques.

The

his road

weathering vehicles,

roadways and buildings have all come under his eye for attention, making them look more like models and less like 'out of the box' toys. His skill with bird muck is unbelievable!

Detailing The platform surfaces and sides of the big bridges over the station throat were first mocked up in card and later replaced with the structures. The platform surfaces with 1.5mm birch plywood, and the bridge sides with plastic card. This, like everything else on the layout was a large task. There are 11 platforms with an average length of 8ft, so 88ft of platform edge had to be made. These have 'corbelling' under the edging flags, and in some cases there are pipes and trunking runs alongside too. The bridges, after facing with plastic card, were detailed with 'T'-section plastic strip.

The pavements over the bridges and down Skelhorne Street were all scribed.

Liverpool Lime Street has a road traffic system, which started life in an embryonic form. Vehicles now travel round the roads and uniquely for a model railway, as on the prototype, up and down platform 7/8. These are interspersed with a tram shuttling up and down Lime Street.

LMS 'Patriot' No. 5541 Duke of Sutherland again, with its travelling post office. Ground signals made by Steve Hewitt are operational and have a realistic 'bounce' effect when activated from the servo motors.

Sound system In this video the team explains the new 6 channel sound system used for ambient sounds, station announcements etc.

Conclusion Everything on Liverpool Lime Street is a big job, from point rodding to barrow crossings, yard lamps, ballasting and all the paraphernalia associated with a railway. Add to this figures, dogs, cats, pigeons and seagulls and you can see that a project on this scale takes years to complete. It's not for the faint-hearted, but dedication can go a long way when building such a project.

LES PIVNIC – “My love affair with Railways”.

This fascinating publication, both in tribute to Les as well as the SA Railways in that era, was published by SAR Illustrated and edited by Charles Baker.

Les retired in 1989 having spent his last 17 years of his working life at the SA Railways, mostly at the SAR Museum.

After his retirement he commenced building his “Timfontein” HO scale layout. It was featured in the Sept.2002 issue of Continental Modeller. It has since been reworked and is now known as Timfontein 2.

Les now lives in Australia.

Click here or on the cover to read this nostalgic publication online.

Painting by Philip Hawkins of the ‘P2’ Cock of the North 2-8-2 thundering through North London’s Wood Green station.

Below is the ‘K4’ The Great Marquess skirting Loch Carron in April 2010 – John Cooper Smith

RAILWAY MODELLING: HOW TO 3D PRINT AT HOME Many of us are often sceptical about new technology. In this article, we take a closer look at a budget 3D printer to find out if it has a place in the modeller’s arsenal of tools.

I have bought a few printed items over the years and seen many that don't seem to warrant the excitement their sellers seem to think they should.

At the TCT 3D Print show, I spent some time on the Monoprice stand, which seemed to be selling the cheapest printers in the large NEC hall. The representative was happy for me to prod and poke the machines, then offered to lend BRM one to have a play with for a month. Could a 3D printer in the workshop convince me of the value of them?

The printer that arrived in a big box from the USA is the IIIP, and first impressions are very good. This is a well-made piece of kit. The main parts are made from a decent thickness of metal. I'd taken the precaution of ordering some 50g sample packs of filament from www.ooznest.co.uk after chatting on their helpline to make sure I bought the right ones for the printer specification. The main thing to check was the nozzle diameter – 1.75mm rather than 3mm – other than that, choice of colours and materials was mine.

I realise that a budget Fused Deposition Modelling printer, where layers of plastic are built up one at a time, wouldn't give me the same results as the resin-based machines used by figurine manufacturers such as Modelu. However, at the same price as the average larger OO gauge locomotive, does it have a place amongst my tools?

Part of the setup process involves printing a 6cm-tall Chinese Good Luck Cat. It shows the limitation of the process. All the curves are made from steps and if you rub your fingers over it, you can feel lots of ridges.

My next stop was the internet where I could download something more train-shaped. The printer required gcode files and a quick search took me to www.thingiverse.com where you find hundreds available for free download. Downloading designs is a sensible early step. I'm not looking to get into 3D design at the moment.

That's a hobby in itself - and one I suspect many people won't be worried about. The chances are you can download a design to suit your needs without much effort. Printing a toy locomotive provided me with a subject for the biggest challenge I expected to face – smoothing all the print lines. Part of the learning process involves understanding the materials involved. Printing using PLA is easy, non-smelly and provides a model that can be sanded if required. Although the specification says it will work, I struggled to persuade the printer to feed ABS. One problem was working out how much filament will be required. If the design includes lots of supporting materials or infill, you can find the stuff disappearing at quite a rate. Time is another problem. A small locomotive takes 2.5 hours to print, a cat just over 3 hours and

a larger (10cm long) toy, over 6 hours. Fortunately, once the first few layers have been laid down, the machine can be left to get on with the job.

1 The machine arrives fully assembled in the box. Only a spool support has to be clipped to the side, there's no screwdriver or spanner work. A separate transformer plugs into the back. Turn on the switch and everything appears ready to go.

2 Control menus are accessed by turning and pressing a knob. There are three main menus – Printing, pre-heating the nozzle and bed and one for moving the head around manually. It doesn't take long to work out where things are located.

3 Before printing can commence, the distance between the bed and nozzle has to be set to the thickness of a sheet of paper. You move the head around and slide paper between the two. Adjustment is made with an Allen key turning a bolt in each corner. The movements are small, but important. Too great a distance and the plastic will cool before it hits the bed and won't stick.

4 Files for printing are stored on a micro USB chip that slots in the side. You can plug a computer in instead, but this isn't recommended. When your computer goes to sleep because it's not being used, the printer can stop.

5 Before feeding the filament into the hole at the top of the printer, the end needs to be cut at an angle using scissors or better still, wire cutters. If you are using a reel, it can be hung on the side of the machine. My tests are with 10metre-long spools, so I let them sit on the desk beside it.

6 Dial up the cat file and press print. The machine runs a test bead along the left-hand edge of the plate to get the filament flowing, then starts to build up the layers of material. It's mesmerising to watch for a while and quite nice on the ears too. Imagine R2D2 from Star Wars singing to you.

7 It's nearly impossible to see if the filament is moving into the machine but I find a mark from a felt-tip pen solves this and doesn't affect the printing process. Presumably the tiny amount of ink is destroyed by the heat of the nozzle.

8 Three hours later, I am the proud owner of a plastic feline, and happy the printer is working properly. The wide area printed around the base is a sacrificial layer called a ‘brim’ to help the filament stick to the bed. It's a useful guide, because if the brim doesn't stick, nothing else will, so you can stop the printer.

9 Printed cat tested, I want to print something more railwayorientated so it's off to www.thingiverse.com, where thousands of free-to-download files are available. Put your subject into the search box and a list of projects appears. Other similar websites exist.

10 To open the files, a free piece of software called Cura is supplied on the SD card, or can be downloaded from www.ultimaker.com. It allows you to open and rescale a file before saving it to the micro SD card for use in the printer. Essentially, the software takes the design and slices it horizontally so the print nozzle knows where to move during printing.

11 Two and half hours later, a locomotive, of sorts. It's very basic, but serves as a useful test piece.

As a guide, a 50g spool of filament is enough to print a 60mm tall cat and two and a half 45mm long locomotives.

Did you know All filaments can be mixed with other materials such as wood or metal if desired, giving the resulting items some of the properties of wood or metal. I tried a wood-infused PLA but had great difficulty feeding it through the printer. If your machine will print infused filament, the results can be very impressive.

There are three main materials used for 3D printing: PLA – Poly Llactic Acid is a biodegradable polyester derived from corn starch or sugar cane. When heated for printing, the fumes (if you can smell them) are sweet. They may be harmful for youngsters, so printing in a well-ventilated room is a sensible precaution. The resulting models can be sanded smooth with normal abrasives. As the material is bio-degradable, it can be disposed of in a compost bin, apparently taking 6 months to dissolve. Nozzle temperatures of around 200ºC are required but while a heated print bed is desirable, it isn't essential.

ABS - Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene is a plastic that will be familiar to many modellers, or children - it's what Lego bricks are made from. A much harder material than PLA, it requires higher nozzle temperatures, around 240ºC and a heated print bed is essential. Fumes given off during printing can be unpleasant and many choose an encased printer for this reason.

PET - Polyethylene Terephthalate is the most popular plastic in the world. Water bottles are made from it.

More flexible than PLA and requiring slightly lower nozzle temperatures than ABS, it's also available in semitransparent forms. Very sticky white printing, adhesion between layers is excellent, although peeling the model from the print bed can be more of a challenge.

IMPROVE THE SURFACE OF 3D PRINTED ITEMS 1 The biggest problem with Fused Deposition Modelling is you can normally see the layers of print. This is especially apparent on curved surfaces such as boilers and cab roofs but even flat areas such as cab sides show a series of lines.

2 PLA can be sanded flat using normal abrasives. Work hard using increasingly fine grits and the resulting surface will be glass-smooth. The trouble is, you are likely to create dips in some areas and getting into all the nooks and crannies can be difficult. I couldn't get the sanding stick under the cab roof when I experimented with the locomotive print, and it's not a very detailed model 3 XTC-3D is a two-part epoxy-based brush-on coating. It claims to eliminate 90% of post-finishing work. Not only this, a coat will protect your model from moisture and help paint stick.

4 The two liquids are mixed following the instructions and the resulting gloopy liquid painted all over the model using a disposable brush. The foam brush I'm using seems ideal. I'm aiming for a very thin coat all over.

5 Drying takes a couple of hours, although leaving the model overnight in a dust-free box is a good idea. The model looks like it has received a thick coat of gloss varnish at this stage.

6 A spray with matt grey car primer shows XTC hasn't done a bad job. In many areas the lines have vanished but at the expense of the model now appearing soft. I'm not convinced this product would be much help on a highly-detailed surface.

7 For PLA prints, the Internet suggests that coats of paint and polyurethane varnish are the way to go. In theory, the varnish sinks in to the printed parts, smoothing the lines without harming detail. You need to leave each coat for at least 20 minutes to dry, so it's a time-consuming process. I gave the model a couple of coats of paint and three of varnish, leaving the last to dry overnight as recommended.

8 The worst of the lines have vanished, but at the cost of losing the crispness of the original. The primer doesn't seem too happy with the varnish either, which could be a problem if the model is to be painted.

The Verdict Overall, I am impressed with the printer. It’s simple to use, well-made and reliable. If you want to dip a toe into the world of 3D printing, it's a good machine, but don’t expect injection moulding quality. I want to try to do more and make something useful. I don't care what, just something that isn't ‘plastic tat’.

I'd also like to persuade the ABS to print as there are some useful techniques for smoothing this which avoid the slightly melted appearance of the ones made from PLA and allow for greater detail printing. There needs to be more experimenting with sticking the material to the printer bed for that to work. I'm a long way from a convert to 3D printing everything, but it’s more fascinating than I expected. Making printing work seems to be a matter of understanding the limitations of the technology rather than pretending they don't exist. I can see how printing could become a hobby in itself and that's not what I want, but at the price, I may see how this printer could justify a place on the workbench.

Looking for some advice on painting 3D model figures?

Phil Parker shows how it’s done in this step-by-step video.

RUISLIP LIDO RAILWAY The pleasant journey takes you around the lake at Ruislip Lido, with the line weaving its way through the ancient Ruislip Woods. There are two main stations on the line where passengers can start and finish their journey. Woody Bay station is beside the beach & children’s splash pad, and it is the oldest terminus on the line. Willow Lawn station is located next to the car park and nearby the ‘Waters Edge’ pub & carvery. At Willow Lawn station, passengers can observe the locomotive being turned on the turntable, before the train heads back to Woody Bay. Click on the link on the flag or the image below to access their website and videos respectively.

Ruislip Lido was built in 1811 as a reservoir to supply drinking water for London via the newly built Grand Junction Canal. It was unsuccessful in this form and sold to the Regents Canal, eventually coming into the ownership of the Grand Union Canal Company by amalgamation in 1929. The reservoir was always popular locally for boating, fishing and skating in winter, and the Grand Union began to develop the reservoir as a health spa with the building of the Lido building on the northern shore in 1936.

After World War II, the company wished to develop the Lido as a general tourist attraction, providing a tonic to war-torn Londoners and taking advantage on the restrictions on travel then still prevalent. Numerous attractions, such as an artificial beach, were added, including (in 1946) a miniature railway. This used an ‘Atlantic’ type locomotive called ‘Prince Edward’, built by George Flooks of Watford before the war, and the railway and rolling stock were built to match the engine, using a gauge of 12 inches between the rails. A station was

provided at ‘Woody Bay’ on the southern shore of the Lido, allowing patrons to board the train for a ‘round trip of 1000 yards along the edge of the reservoir and back.

With nationalisation of the canals, responsibility for the Lido passed to Ruislip Northwood Urban District Council (and later, to Hillingdon Council). The lido continued in popularity, and also featured in a number of feature films, including ‘A Night to Remember’ (1958) and Cliff Richard vehicle ‘The Young Ones’ (1961). By 1960, however, the original steam locomotive was getting worn out, and this was replaced by a Petrol Electric locomotive built by Geoffrey Hunt of Bristol, based on an American prototype. This in its turn lasted until 1973, when it was replaced by a Petrol Hydraulic locomotive ‘Robert’, built by Severn Lamb to the designs of David Curwen. This had an outline similar to the mainline ‘Western’ locomotives of British Rail.

In 1978, an accident occurred– the train took the loop at the far end of the line too fast and derailed, injuring several of the passengers. The railway was immediately closed, pending a decision on its future. At one point, it was considered getting rid of the railway altogether, and replacing it with a much cheaper ‘tractor-train’, but the council found the money to pay for safety improvements to allow the line to reopen, and appealed for volunteers to assist in running, and to later take over the service. In answer to the call, the Ruislip Lido Railway Society was formed, and after an initial year of supporting the council to operate the service, took over the running of the railway from 1980.

The society had grand plans for the railway. Starting in 1986, the original loop was extended, first from Wellington Junction to a new station at Eleanor’s Loop, then to Haste Hill station (1992) and finally to Ruislip Lido station (1997), now renamed Willow Lawn, for a total round trip length of over 2 miles. To join Robert new, more powerful, diesel locomotives were built. First, two (Lady of the Lakes (1986) and Graham Alexander (1990)) Diesel Mechanical locomotives were built by the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway and Severn Lamb respectively. These were followed by two (Bayhurst (2003) and John Rennie (2004)) Diesel Hydraulics by Severn Lamb, recently rebuilt to a similar drive system as the earlier locomotives by Alan Keef Ltd. In addition, a new steam locomotive, ‘Mad Bess’, was built in the society’s workshops at Woody Bay, being completed in 1998. This is a half-size version of the Hunslet locomotive ‘Blanche’ from the Penrhyn (and later the Ffestiniog) narrow gauge railway in Wales.

New passenger carriages and maintenance vehicles were also built, ultimately allowing two trains of 120 passenger capacity to be run on busy days, as well as the sheds and ancillary buildings to house and maintain the fleet. In order to support the greater weight of trains and more intensive service, the track has been significantly upgraded, the whole line being re-laid in progressively heavier rail and sleepers. All in all, the railway has changed beyond all recognition over the last thirty years, and is all set to continue this tradition of excellence and service to the public.

“Wild Robert”, Döllnitzbahn – Original & Model – Eisenbahn-Romantik

This film (click on the image above for the YouTube video) is dedicated to the North Saxon narrowgauge railway along the river Döllnitz. On an autumn weekend in 2020 there were trips with steam trains of the Döllnitzbahn, popularly known as "Wild Robert". One stop on the route from Oschatz via Mügeln to Glossen or Kemmlitz is Oschatz Südbahnhof.

Here, on the upper floor of the station building, there is a 1:87 scale model railway that shows the section of the Döllnitzbahn from Thalheim to Mügeln. It is open to visitors on days when there are steam trains on the Döllnitzbahn. Members of the "Wild Robert" Model Rail Club take care of the layout and the vehicles.

Because the model railroad cannot be expanded for spatial reasons, the model railroaders are building a separate diorama showing Oschatz Südbahnhof with the building in which the club rooms are located.

These screenshots from the video illustrate the detail and close resembalnce to the original.

In the station building Oschatz Südbahnhof there is also a small museum on the ground floor, which is dedicated to collecting railway postcards.

NEW in the CLUB LIBRARY:

This one is a collection of articles cut from the magazine SA Transport in 1981/2 and all by the same author AA Jorgensen. For anyone with an interest in SA rail history these make good reading.

Last days of steam in Australia.

Cover picture is a 4-8-4 + 4-8-4 Beyer Garratt - the most powerful steam loco ever in Australia

These books may be borrowed by any member at no charge and are to be returned in the same condition it is when borrowed. Contact Roel or Mike Smout.

DIGITAL LIBRARY (PEMRC Google Drive) “Ride this train!” is a 24 page 2 MB downloadable PDF guide listing all North American Railroad Museums and their Rail operations per state with all their contact and web details.

Click on the cover image to download.

Click on the cover image to download.

PEMRC DIITAL LIBRARY: Some of the other titles in this expanding digital PEMRC library: Many more books have since been added to the digital Club Library.

Follow the link above to see all the current available titles and download any of them for your own use.

All videos are now on a new Google Drive: PEMRC Video Collection

‘STEAMPUNK IT’ PROJECT! Have you seen the fantastically unique and original SteamPunk dioramas from the 'SteamPunk It' Project – if not prepare to be amazed!

In conjunction with the SteamPaper Hornby recently launched a creative project, whereby several participants were given the opportunity to create a SteamPunk themed diorama using the Basset-Lowke products. It was an extremely tough competition to judge because the dioramas were full to the brim with originality, attention to detail and fascinating aesthetics! Are you ready to see? If so, keep reading!

Winning Diorama: 'Tharsis Station.' By Steve Foote “Named after the first Empire Outpost on Mars. I wanted to show the height of a steampunk city. From the vermin filled sewers, through the dirty forges that make all the machines to the clean platforms and all the way up to the steam airships advertising to the citizens below.” Steve Foote

Stephen Woollard: "There's a miniature smoke machine in the base that feeds the smelter and also provides the engine with a practical smoke effect, and of course all of the lights etc. are working."

Paula Whalley - 'A patchwork diorama'. "Take the chained cable-car to the top hat for an incredible view, or perhaps you’re taking the train. Got some free time? You can visit the station and admire the cogs and globe!"

Kitten Von Mew - ‘Railair Terminus’ "Beware of what’s lurking beneath!

Giant octopus hides beneath this seemingly normal western railway. The observatory is on the lookout for threats, ready to sound the alarm, but it is what they can’t see that is the biggest threat."

AN ERA COMES TO AN END - FAREWELL TO GASTON Our dear Gaston, model maker since day one in the Miniatur Wunderland, is retiring. Together with Frederik he talks about the most exciting and funniest stories from 20 years of Wunderland.

At his request, his tool box will be auctioned for a good cause: Wunschdirwas e.V. is a non-profit association. For almost 30 years, many voluntary helpers and four employees in Cologne have been fulfilling the wishes of seriously ill children and young people. An unforgettable and beautiful experience should help to give new courage to face life, confidence and new life energy and simply let the illness be forgotten for once. Auction Result: EUR 5.300 His character, the bridges he built and his appearances on YouTube, Facebook and various TV shows will make him unforgettable. Gaston is now

going on a well-deserved retirement. We recently asked

Wunderland fans what they always wanted to ask Gaston. In our latest video, Frederik talks to Gaston about his favorite stories and asks one or the other desired question. We learn all kinds of anecdotes, from his application to the first bridge construction to hidden scenes that even Frederik has remained hidden until now.

Where would Gaston like to live in Wonderland or for which building did Gaston receive support

from

Wladimir

Klitschko?

The 30-minute broadcast is only the first part of our special edition, which makes you want to

hear

exciting

more stories

from Gaston.

A very useful site with lots of information.

This is the current topic list, each with a number of sub-sections waiting to be explored: Follow the embedded links to the site.

MODEL RAILROAD WIKI – an outcome from the recent USA Virtual Model Rail Exhibition You can create your own on-line inventory etc.

WROXHAM MINIATURE WORLDS is the largest indoor modelling attraction in the UK

stretching over 10,000 square feet with some of the largest model railways in the world on

permanent public display.The attraction is made up of many zones including model railways in various scales, slot car displays, a whole city made from Lego bricks, model boat displays, vintage penny arcade, interactive flight simulators, train simulators, new railway layouts - some of which you can drive yourself, and a host of toys from across the decades - there is something for the whole family to enjoy.

This is Norfolk’s newest attraction and something truly unique.

European Railway Layout Welcome to Europe, the largest HO scale layout on permanent public display in the UK. This model layout takes you from a detailed model city with its theme park, detailed model buildings, its population many of which you can see performing actions alongside moving cars busses and trucks. The layout takes you past the castle and the holiday lake out into the mountains. Model trains weave through the city and the mountains where the railways weave into and under the snowy mountain village. Currently our biggest layout it covers over 800sqft of fully detailed scenery.

Japanese Railway Layout Welcome to Japan the largest N gauge layout on permanent public display in the UK. This miniature scale model layout has trains weaving around a fully detailed city complete with skyscrapers and a full model coastline.

The layout takes you from the city out into the Japanese countryside with a fully detailed

mountainous background complete with a Shinto temple. Trains of all types pass into and out of the stations including the amazing Bullet trains whizzing along the mile long elevated track that crosses the water outside the little Japanese fishing village. This layout covers around 260sqft of fully detailed scenery complete with buildings and numerous cars. People populate the city and 100’s of trees form a spectacular layout in one of model railways smallest scales.

Great British Layout Welcome to Great Britain, a massive scenic spectacular layout with trains passing through the British countryside over bridges, through tunnels and weaving its way through over 500sqft of OO Gauge model scenery. It’s not just modern trains travelling via computer control but the freight trains weave under the station and a preserved model railway with its steam trains form a scenic centrepiece. At around 60ft long the layout is one of the largest modern image layouts in the country, all computer controlled, allowing the trains to shuffle in and out of the city station and see the freight trains to move in and out of the freight yard making for an ever changing display of railway models.

The traditional village forms one end of the layout with its church, pub, cricket pitch and houses forming a tranquil scene that the trains meander their way around.

Slot Car Layout Our fantasy slot car track cuts its way through the dunes with the desert roadway at the bottom, two race tracks on the middle level and a high level rally track. Running under automatic control the layout brings to life slot car racing on a giant scale with loads of cars whizzing around the 400sqft of full modelled scenery including a racetrack complete with pits. The racing display is accompanied by row upon row of slot cars from all the ages of Scalextric including a full display of sport cars from a local collector. Its unique automatic operation lets you watch the cars speed up and brake for corners without having to pick them up off the floor when you go too fast!

Little Brick World Something here to thrill both the children and the adults with what can be created with the humble LEGO™ bricks that hurt so much when you stand on them. This little world of its own is fully populated with cars, building and little figures it also has lots of neat touches such as hidden superheroes and even a Delorean. It’s not just a city there are cabinets full of themed sets from classic movies such as Star Wars™ laid out in scenes from the movies. Even sets now deleted make a display covering years of production including the Harry Potter™ collection, Indiana Jones™ and massive models of things like Tower Bridge and even a large scale Batmobile™. Over 130,000 bricks were used to build this amazing little world all assembled by one collector.

Dolls World A stunning collection of dolls houses, scenic displays and work by local artist Sue Wylie who sadly died from cancer in 2014. Her family approached us to ask if we would be able to house her extensive collection as she hoped it could stay together after she passed away. Working with her sister Linda and her husband Ian and several friends from local dolls house clubs they put together a fantastic display and a recreation of her workroom of the tools and unfinished projects. This fascinating display of mainly handmade pieces shows the amazing works in miniature that epitomizes the craft of dolls house creation.

Vintage Toy World At the heart of every adult is a small child screaming to get out. Well come and see hundreds of vintage toys from many local collectors lovingly curated into one place. Action Figures, Toys, Games all form a part of our childhood and are here for you to enjoy or try and show your own children what a real toy was before video games changed childhood forever. Come and be a child again for a few minutes and explore this fabulous ever changing collection.

Modelling Exhibition The centrepiece of what we want to do is bring the world of modelling and collections of models to a wider audience. Our modelling display cabinets offer local model makers and collectors a unique opportunity to put on display the beloved collections to the public. Whatever it is we will try to accommodate it as part of our ever changing and evolving modelling displays throughout the attraction. We hope you will enjoy this aspect of the modelling hobby whatever happens to be on display when you visit.

Vintage Arcade Machines Produced by a UK based artist we have collected loads of miniature video arcade cabinets from the 1980’s and so everybody can enjoy a drop of nostalgia we have recreated the vintage arcade experience to allow you to play them. Come and shoot some space invaders, eat some Pac pills or thrash the buttons of track and field and relive the days of classic arcades. Leg warmers and floppy haircuts are optional.

Vintage Penny Arcade Back for our 2021 season. Slots of fun or everyone. Our new vintage penny slot machines recreate all the fun of the fair from yesteryear. Suitable for all ages – bags of family fun!

Please Note: Vintage pennies are required to play, bags are available to buy from the onsite machines for £1.

Flight and Train Simulators Become a pilot our simulators, be in the cockpit as you learn to take off and take to the air, and even attempt to perform stunts. Drive trains through the mountains of Canada, explore the vast landscapes and hidden railway lines as you cross the country.

Interactive Thomas Layout Our new interactive Thomas layout lets you explore the isle of Sodor with Thomas, Percy, James and more. Press the button and watch them drive around the layout.

Interactive Little Engine Drivers Layout A layout especially for our little visitors, become an engine driver and take control of up to four trains and even race them with your friends.

A perfect way to show the kids the fun and excitement to be had with model railways.

Interactive Holland Layout Travel with us to Holland aboard the modern double decker carriages, where the tulip fields are in full bloom. Cross the border into Belgium and visit a Benedictine monastery, where the monks are even now brewing their beer for the local festivals.

UK Midlands 1960’s Layout

Take a step back in time to the

1960’s to a period where steam and diesel were the powerhouses of the railway. Join our adventure on-board a steam train as it travels departs from our midlands station, rather around the country and the coast passing a traditional English village and stopping off at the seaside resort of St. Paul’s Cove, join us on the beach or a leisurely round of golf before our train departs and takes us back to the city. On our journey you may even see the ruined abbey now being used as military exercise area. Or the foxes hiding in the bushes as the sound of the trains whistle blows.

UK Scottish Layout Deep within the Scottish Highlands with rolling hills and farm lands, the pipers play their song as the Queen and Prince Philip arrive at the rural station aboard the royal train.

Miniature railway offers first 'standard gauge' running day The Wythall Miniature Railway, operating within the grounds of the Transport Museum Wythall, is to hold its first 'Standard Gauge Running Day' on Saturday, August 21, offering miniature train rides for families.

Image by Howard Smith: A 5in gauge model of LMS 'Black Five' 5001, expected to appear at the event.

Saturday, August 21 will mark the first time that Wythall Miniature Railway will operate miniature versions of well-known full-size British Railways steam locomotives around its site. Owned by members and friends of the Elmdon Miniature Engineering Society (EMES) who operate the railway, locomotives present will include an LMS 'Black 5', GWR 'King', GWR ‘Dock tank’, GWR 'Prairie' and a Southern Railway Q class.

Other visiting locomotives such as this 7.25in gauge model of GWR 6010 'King Richard I', are expected to be operating during the day.

Early morning in Wuhan, China on 1 Feb 2018. A new fleet of high speed trains are being prepared for the Newyear holiday traffic. More than 1000 high speed trains connect the larger cities in China.

Nevada Consolidated Copper Co #40 built in 1910 by Baldwin on a stretch of the Nevada Northern Railway