Yesterday was Narrow Gauge South, which these days is the biggest narrow-gauge show in the South of England. I was helping John Crane with his superb Darjeeling 009 layout, Kurseong.
Kurseong uses DCC, which the rest of us Sussex Downs group members have no experience of. John provided instruction and the operating schedule included details of which loco address to call up, but we still found quirks of DCC could catch us out!
The sequence made operation interesting. Kurseong station is on a spur off the through line, so down trains must reverse in, while the locos of up trains go to the shed for coal and water before reversing their trains out.
I was pleased to see Portpyn by Christopher Payne (1:34 on 9mm track) on what Christopher says will be it's last outing. I was inspired by seeing this layout in Railway Modeller 30 years ago, it's subdued simplicity and atmosphere still feels fresh.
Sandy Shores (009) by Jamie Warne is as delightful as ever. The signboard advertises the show the layout is at!
Crossways wagon works (O and O9) by John Cavell uses an 15" gauge (O9) line to move standard gauge (O) wagons around the works, including over this multi-gauge traverser.
Nic Arthur has a gift for scenery and I like his latest layout, Bowcombe Bridge (009).
Gweithdy Dyffryn (O14) by Derek Harris depicts a slate quarry, with working stub points. Its setting surrounded by quarry faces looked impressive, but didn't make for easy photography!
Newton Heath Works (O and O-16.2) by Mike Baker is instantly recognisable as the Dorset clay industry, superbly modelled and great to watch.
Bryn-Y-Felin (009) by Matthew Kean is an evocative model inspired by the Welsh Highland Railway.
That's just a selection of the layouts, there's a bigger selection of photos here. An enjoyable day.
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