N Gauge Society AGM

Had a fantastic time yesterday at the N Gauge Society AGM with a fellow modelling friend. As well as a generally fantastic wealth of information and layouts on display there were some fantastic offers from Graham Farish, and even better second hand bits and pieces at the N Gauge Society shop!

As a result my collection has now expanded to include...

A Kato "Flying Hamburger" (VT04.501 DB. Epoche IIIa. Blue/Grey):



A Fleischmann version of the DRG streamliner (Class 01?) I can't seem to find anywhere online:



A kit built Princess Elizabeth on a Grafar Duchess Chassis - this was my only dissapointment of the day. I bought it for a Duchess Chassis to construct my Langley Coronotation Class kit thinking it was a bargain then discovered I could buy a new Duchess (see below) for £30 less from Farish's "Spares and Repairs" section on the stand... ah well, lesson learnt... at least it runs well!



Grafar Duchess - now I've got two of the chassis I was looking for (Admittedly for less than half a new duchess would cost me) I don't know which to use for the Langley kit! I do quite like the idea of having a streamlined and un-streamlined version sitting next to one another though...



And finally a Mallard to add to my A4 Collection:



They're all absolutely gorgeous runners although I need to get them all chipped... perhaps time for me to learn myself and save some cash... Luckily I won a Dapol Q1 in the raffle at the end which (after a little bargaining with my friend who hasn't been able to get hold of one) paid for almost all my purchases! Hurrah!

I entered The Great Bear into the competition but unfortunately was absolutely outclassed by the attention to detail from other competitors (though I'd like to think I might have scored a few points for uniqueness :-D). I've assembled a layout base with integrated controller and circle of Z track...and now for your viewing pleasure I present it on video!:



I'd also like to take this opportunity to praise the N gauge society. All the committee members were fantastic, the society finances seem in great shape, and I was reminded of all the great benefits members can enjoy. What other equivalent society publishes bimonthly, full colour, 90 page journals with a membership fee of just £15 a year?! Join now is my advice!