GAUGE O GUILD

Nick Dunhill continued his series of presentations on scratch building a locomotive. This time he showed us how to build the locomotive frames and associated parts to go under the locomotive body.

It follows the boiler, smokebox, firebox and footplate demonstrations from earlier sessions.

If you have not seen them already, you can still watch them via the Gauge O Guild YouTube channel, just search for Nick Dunhill.

The event was live via Zoom on Monday 26th June @ 20:00 BST.

Spend ‘An Evening With’ Will Heath & Jackie Kneeshaw who talked about researching and building St Neots MRC layout, Bowaters Paper Mill.

Will and Jackie gave some insight into why St Neots Model Railway Club chose to model a corner of Kemsley Mill on the Bowaters Paper railway, which operated in the Kent marshes up until 1969. The seminar included how they went about researching this industrial railway and what challenges it presented to model.

With some of the original locomotives still in steam on the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway (SKLR), and an extensive Bowaters archive to draw upon, the project has proved to be much more than just a model.

The event was live via Zoom on Friday 26th May @ 20:00 BST.

Peter Reynolds and guests discussed how to control your model railway, showcasing some of the more affordable DCC systems available for modeller’s use, plus other layout control options, including traditional DC, and direct Bluetooth Control. Mention was also be made of radio control.

Peter invited modellers with experience of various systems to come and briefly talk about their experiences with the systems that they use, plus systems that Peter uses, and others he has researched specifically for the programme.

The event was live via Zoom on Wednesday 26th April @ 20:00 BST.

Due to technical problems Peter was not able to take part in the second half of the evening. He subsequently recorded his contribution in a separate Appendix video.

Spend an Evening With Simon George, the owner and builder of Heaton Lodge Junction, Britains Biggest Model Railway.

This O gauge layout is 196 feet x 40 feet which depicts the location situated two miles west of Mirfield. Heaton Lodge Junction was where the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway’s Calder Valley route and the London & North Western Railway lines converged and even up to the mid-1980s this was a busy route with more than 130 trains a day in each direction, more than half of which were freight.

Simon talked about what made him want to build it in the first place; how long it took to build, how long to find a ‘home' for such a large model railway, and what is involved with logistics when taking it out for other people to see.

The event was live via Zoom on Sunday 26th March @ 20:00 BST.

Using Templot Part 3.

Following on from the previous two Templot sessions, Ian Allen showed how maps can be imported and used as the basis of a track plan, if modelling a prototype location, or to be adapted for a “what might have been” plan.

The event was live via Zoom on Sunday 26th February @ 20:00 GMT.

3D Printing Techniques.

James described the process of producing 3D printed items. From the initial drawing, production of the file containing the solid shape, slicing it, loading it onto the printer and to what happens after the part is made.

The event was live via Zoom on Thursday 26th January@ 20:00 GMT.

Creating Authentic Buildings.

Using buildings from his layout Hope Street, which featured in the January 2021 Railway Modeller, John Buck of Keighley Club talked about how to build authentic buildings.

This session included information about doing the research, the tools required, materials which can be used and the techniques for building buildings.

The event was live via Zoom on Saturday 26th November@ 20:00 GMT.

Creating a layout or diorama based on a real place or event with members of the Luton O Gauge Group.

The Luton O Gauge Group have a wealth of experience to share about designing layouts based on real locations.

Members of the group discussed considerations made when choosing a real location. What research has to be done and how you get started. In the case of The Great Train Robbery, there were ethical dilemmas to consider and they thought long and hard about what to include in this diorama. They also discussed how you might have to choose part of a site and, how authentic you may or may not get.

Nick Dunhill is a member of the Gauge O Guild Technical Committee. He was formerly a research scientist, a gardener, a vegetarian café owner and now builds model locos for a living. It was a long apprenticeship but eventually he realised he could make a better living, building locomotives rather than cooking vegetarian food.

Nick continues his series of presentations on scratch building a locomotive and this time he shows us how to build a footplate. This follows the boiler, smokebox and firebox demonstrations in earlier shows and videos of these sessions can still be found on the Gauge O Guild YouTube channel, just search Nick Dunhill.

Please note that you do not need a YouTube account to view any videos.

In November 2021, Jeff Langham and Peter Reynolds talked about signalling on the real railway and how to apply it to your model railways. This latest session took a step further and show you how they get their signals to work.

A convincing model railway, of any size and of any era, just cries out for working signals. This is considerably easier in 7mm scale than in the smaller scales to achieve.

As members of the SR7mm Group Jeff and Peter shared their experience.

If you missed the first session you can watch it on YouTube.

Members are able to view a recording of the event.

Steve Hoather built his first diesel loco in 1966, and 50 years later it featured in a light-hearted article in the Gazette in August 2017.

His latest creation is a “Baby Deltic” and he will show his construction techniques and some of his other locos. If you are interested in loco construction or have queries about your own builds, this is the session for you.

The event was live via Zoom on 26th May 2022 at 20:00 BST.

Ian Allen is a member of the SR7mm Group and has built all the points and crossings for the expansion of their railway, as well as being commissioned to build track formations for others. A long-time user of Templot, he has designed a number of layouts and also worked on projects for himself, just for fun. Keen to promote prototypical track, he believes that this part of model railways is often overlooked.

Ian took us through an overview of Templot and how it can be used to design your layouts, as well as answering your questions.

The event was live via Zoom on 26th April 2022 at 20:00 BST.

Kevin Cartwright is one of our Regional Managers, Constituency Representative for the South West (Area 13) and manager for the Gauge O Guild merchandise sales. You will often see Kevin and his wife Judy out and about with layouts and/or with a Guild promotional stand at regional and national exhibitions and he also often gets asked to demonstrate how to build O gauge road vehicles.

Join Kevin to find out about bringing your layout to life with the addition of various road vehicles. Some kits are available in O gauge but Kevin can also tell you about adapting off the shelf models to meet your needs.

Before the evening, attendees were asked to watch a YouTube video which may also inform your viewing of the recording of the evening.

More and more people are moving into O gauge modelling with the increase in ready to run stock and many start to get interested in building some items of their own. If you want to attempt a kit or scratch build in brass or nickel silver please rest assured that soldering is not a dark art. It does require some basic equipment and skills but you can do it.

If you are new to O gauge and want to learn about soldering or, if you are an established modeller who still has some problems with soldering, this is the session for you. Rob Bishop has been building brass and nickel silver models in O gauge for many years and does soldering demonstrations at our Guild events including how to use a resistance soldering unit. He has produced videos to help people and will be available for this 'An Evening With' to answer your specific questions.