On Saturday 3rd June 2023, I attended the Craven Arms and District Model Railway Circle Annual Show at Ludlow Racecourse. The visit did not disappoint. …
One of the layouts on display was Glenties in 00n3 by Alastair Knox. A general view of the layout appears as the featured image above [My photograph, 3rd June 2023]
Having just been in Donegal for a few weeks, the presence of the Glenties layout at the Show was a pleasant surprise.
The track layout seems correct but the buildings appear to have been a little compressed to keep the layout within the available space. The stock seems to be mainly from Backwoods Miniatures. [4]
Railcar No. 12 approaches the station throat at Glenties. [2]Railcar No. 12 crosses the stream on the approach to Glenties Railway Station. [My photograph, 3rd June 2023]No. 3A, a 2-6-4T locomotive crosses the road on the way into Glenties Station. [3]Phoenix shunting the goods yard at Glenties. [3]Railcar No. 12 trundles into the platform at Glenties. [My photograph, 3rd June 2023]Railcar N0. 12 brings its short train to a halt at Glenties Railway Station. The station buildings on the model have been condensed in the model form from their size in real life. This can be seen when comparing images of the model with the pictures at the end of this article. [My photograph, 3rd June 2023]No. 12 is now being turned ready for departure for Stranorlar. The turntable at Glenties saw a lot of use as all of the railcars used on the Co. Donegal network only had a driving position at one end. [my photograph, 3rd June 2023]No. 12 heads to the station throat before setting back onto its short train of wagons. [My photograph, 3rd June 2023]No. 3A has just left its train in the goods yard to be marshalled by Phoenix and awaits clearance to run back past the train and to then be serviced and turned in the loco depot. [My photograph, 3rd June 2023]No. 3A on the turntable at Glenties. [My photograph, 3rd June 2023]Glenties Railway Station after closure, (c) Roger Joanes. This picture is included here under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). [5]
The main station building remains in use in Glenties as a B&B. Pictures from the booking.com website for the property appear below.
As can be seen here, the actual buildings at Gentlies were longer and wider than the model could accommodate. The passenger station on the model appears to have been compressed in length and width but not in height. [1]A view along the station platform in the 21st century. [1]
The line from Stranorlar to Glenties is covered in the two articles below:
00n3 is “the description given to modelling 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railways in 4 mm scale with 12 mm (0.472 in) gauge track. 3 ft (914 mm) prototypes were common in Ireland and the Isle of Man, but the scale is not generally used outside the British Isles. 12 mm (0.472 in) gauge track is the same as that used in TT scale and HOm, so some components used for those scales can be used.” [6]
These two images are stills from a video of the Glenties layout taken at the Liverpool Model Railway exhibition in 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZT3hYrtfiE, accessed on 9th June 2023.
Moving the layout of Hereford from Ashton-under-Lyne to Telford required some careful planning. I was particularly concerned about the safe transport of locomotive and rolling-stock. I decided that I would move the layout and stock myself rather than ask the removal company to transport them. This proved to be a wise decision and I managed to get my employers to cover the cost of a few journeys between Ashton-under-Lyne and Telford as this was cheaper than using a removal company.
Some research resulted in the purchase of one stock box from Ten Commandments. [1]
Ten Commandments’ stock storage boxes for N Gauge are based on two boxes from the ‘Really Useful Box Company‘ [2] – a 4-litre box (£22.00) and a 9-litre box (£37.00).
I purchased the smaller of the two. It came with two foam inserts with pre-cut storage slots. The top layer had 9 crossways slots, each 195mm long. The lower layer had 5 length-wise slots each 310mm long. The slots were 25mm wide and 25mm deep. Each foam tray also had a cover layer/lid of foam.
I have a large amount of stock and would have needed to buy a significant number of the stock boxes. At £22.00 or £37.00 per box. I was going to be spending a lot of money.
The 9-litre Really Useful Boxes cost around £6.00 each (depending on where they were bought this varied from £4.50 to £10.00, with a manufacturer’s retail price of £7.55 plus postage. With a significant amount of stock it made sense to buy in bulk – 9 No. 9-litre boxes cost a total of £45 at Rymans (£5 each) and I found a few for a little less than this in sales at various retailers.
I researched available plastic packing-foam and realised that I could purchase reasonably large sheets on-line. I ordered two different thicknesses of foam in nominal 25mm and 10 mm sizes. The actual thickness of each sheet was marginally below the nominal sizes.
I tried using a variety of different glues before decided that strong double-sided tape would be the best for the job. This was purchased on-line at reasonable prices.
Each tray was made up of a bottom sheet of 10mm foam with cut pieces of 25mm foam stuck to it. The construction of the trays is illustrated by a series of pictures below. Please bear in mind that perfection was not required, just trays that would protect stock in the move to Telford.
The trays varied in thickness depending on what stock I intended to place in them. …
Base layer of nominal 10mm foam.The base layer of foam with two end-pieces 25mm deep.Double-sided tape in place at one end of the base sheet of foam.Two end-pieces of foam stuck in place and double-sided tape almost ready to accept the side-pieces of foam.The process continues.A finished tray – definitely not perfect but perfectly serviceable!A couple of examples of my finished trays followed by the two foam trays which came with the original purchase from Ten Commandments.Stock being placed in storage boxes in the loft layout-room
As this process seemed to have gone well. Rather than buying a lot more ‘Really Useful Boxes’ I decided to try an alternative system for a significant amount of my stock. This system made use of the 25mm thick foam as well as the 10 mm foam.
At the time, I purchased a set of storage drawers as shown below for, I think £12.00. The prices as I write in June 2022 is now £18.00. I imagined that these drawers wolw hold a significant amount of stock and that I would also be able to accommodate some larger items which I had on display in the Vicarage.
The process followed was the same with the exception of a need to provide some reinforcement for the trays as they were larger and the foam was not fully rigid. Trays were shaped to fit the drawers as can be seen below. …
The first layer of foam in one of the plastic drawers.The first tray in this drawer was used for road vehicles.
I had some very large items – O-Gauge models made by my father-in-law and some buidlings from the layout which needed larger boxes. The method used was the same but the thicker foam was more suitable for these boxes. …
Midland/LMS Steam Railmotor in O-Gauge together with a brake van and a mineral wagon.One of Hereford’s large goods sheds being packed away carefullyHereford Station Building also being stored away carefully. Both these models were made for me by my father-in-law from card. Superb!
I mentioned in my last post that the staging in my layout room had been built and my library was close to being sorted out.
Just a few more pictures. These show the layout room with the completed staging and one layout board being worked on…..
The staging uses IKEA “Ivar” to create bookcases on which the layout sits/will sit. The uprights are 1.2 metres high which means that there is good shelving space beneath, and room for a desk and computer.
It has been a while since I posted about my layout.
We have now moved to Telford and the powers that be have generously allocated a relatively large bedroom for the layout. Some compromises are inevitable as the space is smaller than the loft in the Vicarage in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Staging has been built and my library is close to being sorted out. I will need one new fiddle yard, the electrics will need connecting board to board for the layout and some damage will need to be rectified.
Completing the staging is a good step forward!
Just a few pictures …..
The wiring above is new connections from the board I am supposed to be working on which will connect sections which originally relied only on the track connection across the board joints!
There was a time when I would have been satisfied with almost anything in N Gauge. The hobby was served by a very limited number of Ready-to-Run manufacturers and the kit industry was often based around relatively coarse white metal kits or relatively poor resin kits. Those resin models even seemed to bend a little with age.Â
It is a different world now. With modern homes being so much smaller and space at a premium, N Gauge is the new 00!
Model quality is high and standards are still rising. Modelling techniques have improved so much that it is at times difficult to tell the difference between N and 0, let alone 00.
The space available in N Gauge, together with the quality of models available mean that there has never been a better time to switch to N Gauge from other gauges/scales!
Just a few examples ……
1. The N Gauge Society Journal 3/19, p92. ….
The journal carried this picture of a sleepy scene of the goods yard at Wrenton with cattle waiting on the dock to be loaded. ‘Wrenton’ [1][2] is Roger Beckwith’s superb layout which was featured, along with an article about how he built the outstanding building models, in N Gauge Society Journal 4/18. … Are you sure that this is N Gauge?
Roger Beckwith has supplied a monochrome version of the same picture below. …. Is it really N Gauge?
2. N Gauge Society Journal 3/19 (back cover)
This picture comes from the back cover of the Society Journal and features the Ableton Vale Layout. [3][4]
3. The Derwent Valley Railway
The Derwent Valley Railway is a might-have-been railway connecting the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway to the Dore and Chinley line between Rowsley and Grindleford, following the course of the Derwent River past the Chatsworth estate. [5]
4. Stamford East
Robin Fox has this model on the exhibition circuit. [6]
5. Ashburton
A few photographs of Ashburton made (in N Gauge) by John Birkett-Smith which appeared in BRM Magazine. The layout also featured on the front cover of N Gauge Society Journal 6/19. [7]
6. Bridgford
A view of ‘Bridgford’ by Alistair Knox at the Warrington Show. [8] This image and those following immediately come from the N Gauge Society website.Â
7. Wickwar
The layout ‘Wickwar’ by the Farnham & District Model Railway Club, taken at the Fareham show October 2017 using a mobile phone (Samsung Galaxy 6). [8]
8. Melton Mowbray
‘The Northern’ at Melton Mowbray, created by John Spence and Steve Weston. [12]
9. Shirebrook
Added at the request of a member on RMWeb. These three pictures are taken with permission from a flickr page. [13]
10. Blueball Summit
Also added at the request of someone on RMWeb. The video was made in September 2016 and is available on YouTube. [14]
Blueball Summit’s buildings are also exceptional. there are a few pictures below. [14]
11. Buildings
I find it really hard to believe that many of these models (both full layouts and individual buildings) are not at least 00-gauge models, (if not modelled in larger scales). Here are a few examples of the quality of buildings now being scratch-built in N Gauge. The first comes from ‘Wrenton’.The Red Lion in Wrenton, by Roger Beckwith. [10]Marylebone Railway Station modelled in N Gauge by Mark Eaton. This picture was included in the N Gauge Society Journal 1/19. [11]5 different images of structures on Bluebell Summit made by Andy Stroud. [14]
12. Hereford in N Gauge
Just not got as far as I could have done with my own model of Hereford Station in N Gauge. But here are a few pictures of my father-in-law’s work. The quality of my photography does not match the quality of the modelling! [11]My father-in-law, David built the model of the station building at Hereford and the two large goods sheds. The back scene, smaller buildings on the layout and the station footbridge are my own work.
I have not had much modelling time in the last little while but I did have a quick visit to the loft today and took a few pictures!Just a few random close shots!
This post carries a series of images from ‘Paint’ which were drawn and then built up in layers to create the N Gauge model of Hereford Station Footbridge.
Just a few pictures of the current state of play in the development of the loft layout at the vicarage. Please accept apologies for the relatively poor quality of the images ……………….
Roger Farnworth 
