Swillybegs

[Tullygrainey]

2 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Well done for getting it sorted and I admire your persistence in the face of adversity. 

I'm not sure I've got it in me to take the risk of exhibiting anything, so I really admire those who do. It certainly seems like you need multiple backups of everything to ensure the layout keeps working.

It can be challenging for sure but very satisfying when it goes well. Even when it doesn't, it can be an incentive to try harder and the satisfaction comes from solving the problems (or taking a hammer to the insoluble ones - just joking, there's always a solution).

In actual fact, it's likely that visitors often don't notice that you're having a bad time because many don't spend long observing any one exhibit. And if nothing is moving on the layout they just pass on to the next exhibit, leaving you to have your nervous breakdown unnoticed

[Colonel]

Very true Alan!

 It  can be hard to rationalise why anyone would dismantle their layout, bounce it over potholed roads to an alien environment, reassembled it and then run it in public for seven hours or more only to then reverse the process and take it home again. We do though, probably because underneath it all, there is a quiet satisfaction in creating something that others might want to admire.

 Talking with people at shows is always enjoyable, from how you make things to trying to explain scale/gauge combinations and all points in between. You learn a lot too.

 For anyone considering getting into exhibiting, I would suggest joining a club or group and then volunteering to help at a show. That way, you learn about all the preparation that goes on beforehand and well as stuff like operating in public - which is very different to doing it at home.

 I think many exhibitors are closet thespians at heart because you are very much putting on a performance, one where you even build your own theatre before setting a scene and telling story.

 And when the muse takes us luvvies, the show has to go on!

 

[Colonel]

Swillybegs was at the Dreamworks 1:1 at the weekend. DreamWorks is of course the Hornby factory in Margate but the 1:1 part is special as it is a a collection of full size stuff that currently opens only one day a year. It must be the closest thing to the show that Cultra used to run, because of being among the real locos.

The ground floor includes a Eurostar loco, Deltic 9016, Royal Scot 46100, a Hall 4-6-0, a breakdown crane and a 4SUB EMU. Below that are working layouts in 0 and 00, alongside display cases of large scale models. The mezzanine above has the restored Gresley beavertail observation car, plus a small selection of motorbikes, cars and a tank! There are also many five inch gauge locos too.

 I was there with the Chatham Club, plus several other ones who brought layouts and stands from some of the local preserved railways. It really was a splendid place to be, but though I took my camera, I'd left the memory card out. Took pictures on my phone, but at the moment can't get them transferred to my laptop. Hopefully will post some later...

[Broithe]

2 hours ago, Colonel said:

though I took my camera, I'd left the memory card out. 

Having been very nearly badly caught out in the same way, my rule now is to not close the door, if there is not a card in the slot.

This has saved me a few times.

[Colonel]

By the way, it is Wonderworks, not Dreamworks. Google the latter and you get Disney...

[GSR 800]

41 minutes ago, Colonel said:

By the way, it is Wonderworks, not Dreamworks. Google the latter and you get Disney...

I was thinking surely they'd run into a copyright issue 

[Colonel]

Unfortunately, haven't been able to find a way of posting photos of the Hornby 1:1 weekend, but here's another salutary tale of exhibiting a scratch built layout.

 Swillybegs as a layout, still works as well as ever, but issues with some of the stock continue - not helped last weekend when a stock box nearly fell out of the car. Caught it just in time, but only to find that several couplings had sprung and loco crew clearly jumped to safety!

 Some things worked well all weekend: Railcar 10 and the West Donegal Trams were pretty much faultless, probably doing twice as much mileage as the rest of the trains. Following the usual post show cleaning & fettling, the latter can now do as originally intended, by accessing the layout via the front track.

 This means Railcar 8 can enter via the mainline.

 The two Swilly trains suffered mixed fortunes. My Barclay 4-6-0T is already looking a bit battered and at times was limping along in very ungainly fashion. Turned out the were no less than three separate faults! First, noticed a crankpin has come loose off one of the rear drivers, also one of the front drivers had come loose on its axle & gone out of gauge.  A built in problem caused by using Gibson 4mm drivers because the right diameter 7mm ones were not available. However the real culprit was part of the brake gear. This had also worked loose and was flapping around behind the frames, catching on the driving wheel spokes. Despite all this the engine did its best to perform, but was looking an increasingly sorry sight, so had to be retired on the Sunday morning with one of the Clogher 0-4-2Ts substituting. Back home, the mechanical issues were easily sorted, but the paint work will need a bit of work before the the next show in October.

 The 4-6-2T and fish train had different problems as this was in the box that nearly hit the floor. The loco was alright, but both bogie vehicles suffered coupling damage. Managed to get these repaired at the show, but the train kept derailing as it entered the layout from the fiddle yard. Back home, traced this to the cassettes not aligning. Hard to work out why, but various amounts of filing and adjusting have been needed to set everything right. The photos show a rarely seen corner of the layout though, so may be of interest.

 The Unit & its short goods train [along with Phoenix] were in the same stock box, so also suffered some broken couplings. There are enough spare wagons to cover occasional problems like this, so we got by, but some erratic running towards the end of Sunday afternoon turned out to be rather more crud on the pick ups than I'd expect from an air-conditioned exhibition hall. Maybe I needed to clean the track more often?

 The last picture is my take on Maggie Coulter's goat - a tale from the Clogher Valley railway, which always causes amusement. The model was hand made by me a few years ago, when I could't find a ready made one.

 Anyway, such are the slings and arrows of exhibiting and it only goes to show you  always need plenty of stock - just in case!

 

[Mol_PMB]

3 minutes ago, Colonel said:

Unfortunately, haven't been able to find a way of posting photos of the Hornby 1:1 weekend, but here's another salutary tale of exhibiting a scratch built layout.

 Swillybegs as a layout, still works as well as ever, but issues with some of the stock continue - not helped last weekend when a stock box nearly fell out of the car. Caught it just in time, but only to find that several couplings had sprung and loco crew clearly jumped to safety!

 Some things worked well all weekend: Railcar 10 and the West Donegal Trams were pretty much faultless, probably doing twice as much mileage as the rest of the trains. Following the usual post show cleaning & fettling, the latter can now do as originally intended, by accessing the layout via the front track.

 This means Railcar 8 can enter via the mainline.

 The two Swilly trains suffered mixed fortunes. My Barclay 4-6-0T is already looking a bit battered and at times was limping along in very ungainly fashion. Turned out the were no less than three separate faults! First, noticed a crankpin has come loose off one of the rear drivers, also one of the front drivers had come loose on its axle & gone out of gauge.  A built in problem caused by using Gibson 4mm drivers because the right diameter 7mm ones were not available. However the real culprit was part of the brake gear. This had also worked loose and was flapping around behind the frames, catching on the driving wheel spokes. Despite all this the engine did its best to perform, but was looking an increasingly sorry sight, so had to be retired on the Sunday morning with one of the Clogher 0-4-2Ts substituting. Back home, the mechanical issues were easily sorted, but the paint work will need a bit of work before the the next show in October.

 The 4-6-2T and fish train had different problems as this was in the box that nearly hit the floor. The loco was alright, but both bogie vehicles suffered coupling damage. Managed to get these repaired at the show, but the train kept derailing as it entered the layout from the fiddle yard. Back home, traced this to the cassettes not aligning. Hard to work out why, but various amounts of filing and adjusting have been needed to set everything right. The photos show a rarely seen corner of the layout though, so may be of interest.

 The Unit & its short goods train [along with Phoenix] were in the same stock box, so also suffered some broken couplings. There are enough spare wagons to cover occasional problems like this, so we got by, but some erratic running towards the end of Sunday afternoon turned out to be rather more crud on the pick ups than I'd expect from an air-conditioned exhibition hall. Maybe I needed to clean the track more often?

 The last picture is my take on Maggie Coulter's goat - a tale from the Clogher Valley railway, which always causes amusement. The model was hand made by me a few years ago, when I could't find a ready made one.

 Anyway, such are the slings and arrows of exhibiting and it only goes to show you  always need plenty of stock - just in case!

 

Without any coal to hand, what did the driver of the Unit fling at the goat? 
 

Your tales of exhibition woe despite the highest quality modelling continue to discourage me from aiming to exhibit anything of mine. I’ll just keep filling the display cabinet at home…