Hello Readers,

Well fresh from the running night that we held last week which we all agreed we really need to do again maybe twice a month there was a small list of jobs to do that we found had caused for concern but nothing that would every get us down.

I had managed to aquire 3x more chimneys from Gauge Master (Seuthr 117e) at a very reasonable price of £8.50. Two of these had new leads added made from Cat 5 cable and placed into the chimney top of Irwell Bridge Mill and Peel Bridge Mill. The wiring has been carefully hidden under the layout or within a building and then runs back to the 16v transformer. We still have one more to place in but we are not quite sure where to put it just yet so watch this space. Also a few push to make buttons were placed in the main front controllers. These are around 30 years old and have seen constant use so it was time to get some new ones.

I have also just bought a Bachmann DMU to join our fleet, it is the Cravens 105 twin power unit from hattens of liverpool. It has directional lighting and lighting on the head codes and destination boxes….luckly it says its heading to Oldham and Milnrow so its not a million miles away…shame its not Bury and Bacup but never mind.

A good size turn up this week with a grand total of 5! Me, Alex, Keith, Alan and even Mark braved the wet weather to enjoy cups of tea & coffee with a nice dip of rich tea biscuits but we are running low on them so someone(Alex!!) should buy some more for next week.

We also had a guest this week in the form of Alex’s sister Lauren who hasnt seen the layout since she was around 11. She said it was fantastic so its a thumbs up all round.

Mark has taken our L&Y Class 27 to have the polarity changed around due to the engine at this present time needing to be set in reverse to go forward….confusing yes! I would of tried it myself but upon opening it i found the contacts and connections to be out of my league with mark being an expert on craft kits.

Keith has been working through his list that he was making last week when were discovering faults etc. Upto now hes replace one lamp post on Bridge Street. (grain of wheat bulb), Sorted out a couple of point problems and a few more odd jobs.

Alan has been placing down sheep! yes sheep! he thought one of our fields near to Nuttall Tunnel looked a bit baaaa (bad Joke) so hes added some Sheep, Lambs, Shep(Dog) and also a shepard to complete the scene.

Alex and Mark also did a bit of running in of the Super D, Cravens DMU and a few other trains.

We have recently appeared in the East Lancashire Railways Magazine with a nice double page article. Thanks to David Flood!

Pictures can be seen by clicking the link

Video of the chimneys

Dan