This month, special correspondent Andy Peggie provides the report:
Four FCAG members held the fort, while others took advantage of the spring weather on holiday or other springtime pastimes. Alisdair provided the usual venue complete with home baking for the delectation of the attendees Alistair, Stephen and Andy.
The
arrangement of the Sauchenford layout boards had been under discussion
in recent weeks and the team proceeded with adjustments in the set up.
The front display section was lowered and re-jigged to give a better
arrangement in the operating mode, presenting a better viewing height
both for front viewing and for the rear operators.
The
rear board was permanently secured to base and firm connections to the
front assembly inserted to allow a more rigid structure to be achieved
during packing and moving the layout while maintaining a neat footprint
for storage. The back scene was trimmed to remove the unsightly foxed
edge which had developed.
The
lighting arrangement then came under discussion and was altered in both
height and the type of illumination, which it was agreed was too dark
and cast inappropriate shadows on the scenery. Addition of strip LED
lighting seemed to help the overall look while not being too garish due
to the softening effect of the existing lights. This is to be
implemented by Alisdair for the next meeting.
During
dismantling the layout the lost point lever (as related in the February post) was discovered hiding in the
structure and will soon be returned to its proper place on the layout!
These
proceedings took place both before and after lunch and were followed by
the usual wind down discussion session including the now commonplace
appearance of diesel motive power on layouts which are now considered to
be in the traditional area of railway modelling formerly held fast by
Steam. Wagon names were also discussed regarding the use of animal
notation for some as opposed to code numbers which it is understood to
be as a result of the need for quick and clear calling up of stock over telegraph lines.
