Crich

My late father was an early supporter of Crich, and I like to go back every few years, though the gaps between visits can be quite long. Ten years in this case, though it didn't feel like it.  With mum and dogs in tow, it wasn't the best day for taking photos. Once again, Candy proved to be a very reluctant traveller

I know a lot of these feature the pub, but it is a really good place to sit and relax, with excellent rolls , or baps or whatever you wish to call them. It is, of course, a pub that once stood in Stoke on Trent.

Polish on, polish off

As I've said before, I see the early days of my return to 2mm as a learning process. one in which the power of photography is playing a powerful part.

Dark Hall, for instance, has never been intended as anything other than what the model boat fraternity calls a " stand-off scale" model. When on the wall, no one can get closer than a metre away from it. as long as it looks OK from that distance I'm happyBut there are compromises I'm happy to make, and those that I don't want to because they are just an excuse for sloppy work when I know I can do beter.

I'm slowly refining the SH Toad. Not for the first time in RTR N I've found the large gaps between the "planks" hard to live with, and the moulded handrails mean washes can lead to nonsensical shadows. I'm treating it very much as a test mule The station building is also slowly being improved.

The photo shows I've used foamboard to raise the ground level relative to the Kato Unitrack. The Kato track is a great product, but for me it has tow major drawbacks. The rail section has a very heavy head, which looks very obvious in a close up like this.

Then there is the join between sections. Now for the Circus modules this is great, clearly very robust. But in this context it is visually intrusive. I'm going to try to disguise it with a mixture of painting and Kato's compatible loose ballast.

The platform is one of two I got from MMR Models.  I'm using one of the shelters that comes with it on a Circus module. A shortened version of the platform will go on Gerralt Road.

Speaking of which, I've bitten the bullet and am replacing half the quarry structure with a Ratio corrugated sheet.Whilst it is meant to be a peripheral scene break, not a focus of attention, I just couldn't live with the 3d-printed version. In other contexts, I think it would have been fine, but not at the front edge of the layout.

I'm also trying the HO version of the Redutex sheeting on the station shelter for Gerralt Road. The 160th scale sheet just looked wrong. If that doesn't work, it will end up as Ratio sheets instead, though I hate working with it because of the thickness.

Meanwhile, in the garden, I need to do some lineside clearance

Next stop Crich.

16mm Association AGM 2025

 I've been a member of the 16mm association for many, many years, well over forty. But I've never been one for the social side of society, which revolves around garden meet-ups. I do enjoy the AGM exhibition, though. I don't go as religiously as I once did.

I'm glad it has moved back to Stoneleigh from Peterborough. My memories of the NAC go back to the glory days of The Royal Show. The catering is also better than it was at Peterborough.

Despite being on a Voyager the trip there and back wasn't bad. I did go First Class, but booking well in advance and using my Senior Railcard meant it was worth it. The usual Coventry traffic jams, in combination with HS2-associated road closures, meant my transfer to the "vintage" bus service was not as much of a mad dash as I feared.

Incidentally, this was a paid service, in contrast to the free one at the much smaller Macclesfield show.

I was a bit shocked to be greeted at the door as "The famous Mr Finister." Beyond that I did run into a few people for brief chats, possibly fewer than in previous years. I also didn't stay that long, because I never do at this show. Why? It isn't because it is a bad show. There is a lot to see and plenty of action on layouts. I certainly took a lot of photos. I think my shift to 7/8ths scale comes into it. There was also quite a long break in the bus service I wanted to avoid. Another factor might be that I didn't have money burning in my pocket. With the exception of  a few small projects I now own all the garden railway locos and stock I need. Anything else would need amove of house to be justified.