There are not too many of these visible yet.

The Tranz Alpine made by Glen Anthony is now down in Timaru and there are plans to show it from time to time.

Doric Mabon in Rotorua is working on a layout which includes the Ngatira station and yard on the Putaruru to Rotorua Branch line. He has done a lot of research into the history of the area.

Peco Fine Scale track and points. Karl Morris reports that these are quality items and very suitable for NZ120 in regard to sleeper spacing etc. The points are electro frog which stops ‘frog stalling’ at low speeds.

The track is the size of code 80 but only visible as code 50 – ie a part of the track is embedded deeper in the sleepers. This gives the strength of code 80 and the appearance of the code 50. It still mates with code 80 standard flex-track without the need for special joiners. Any slight difference in height can be filed off after laying.

Your track is the most important item affecting the enjoyment of your layout. Good track-work does not have frequent derailments and powerless spots. Experience is the best teacher so don't expect your first attempt to work perfectly. Once the track is laid run everything on it often and work on those spots that are not perfect until satisfied. Only then start on the ballasting and scenery.

Smooth Rail - pre-curve or pre-straighten each length of flextrack before you lay it. Allow a 1mm gap each 350 mm for heat expansion. If you are pinning or spiking the rail take care not to push them in too tight or the sleepers will buckle and raise the rail a little.

Smooth Points - check the points for flat on top by placing upside down on a mirror. Examine each section for flat (contacting the mirror) run a wagon thru' - do the wheel flanges run up over the plastic round the frog and tilt the wagon? Take care to get the points rail height the same as the flextrack height - they will differ if not the same brand and standard.

Smooth Joints - Always use new rail jointers that are designed for the track you are using. Touch a file to the rail ends to remove burrs. Insulated joiners can be forced out of shape and let the rail tilt. Check for the same rail height over the joint area. Allow a small gap for expansion.

Quick soldering - Heating the rail up to solder wires to it will soften the plastic around the area. Take care not to apply any pressure to the rail while doing this. Use flux and pre-tin the solder area before soldering on the wire. For jointers clean rail, flux and a clean tinned iron will ensure a quick, effective solder joint.

Quiet Track - lay on cork or foam base and use latex to hold the track in place and matte medium to secure the ballast. Matte Medium is available from Artists supplies Whitcouls etc. Carpet Latex from Carpet shops.

Over the Easter weekend there will be a modellers festival at Paremata which is on the train line out of Wellington and in Porirua City. It is planned as an informal weekend get together of New Zealand modellers. There will be clinics, workshops and demonstrations, layout visits and a visiting expert in brass kitsets will be presenting tips and tricks.

Food will be available on site and a happy hour and dinner is planned for the Saturday night. Registration ($45 for the weekend) is at 9.00 a.m. on Friday morning the 2nd of April. Day sessions start at 9.00 a.m. and end whenever. Monday it finishes at 11.00 a.m.

Where:
Marina Motor Lodge, at 57 Mana Esplanade, Paremata.

Thanks to those who answered our feedback request in the last issue.There seems to be a preference for the earlier 1950's era and steam loco's. The original interest of the CSC was in modern era and thisis reflected in the kits offered. We had a look at the productionof a steamer (Ka I think) some time ago but it was shelved as too difficult at the time. Now with the acquiring of superior urethane plastic a much thinner and flexible section can be moulded, so there is room for someone to work in this area.

I guess we all have plans…My main one for this year is to complete the ‘Rolleston’ NZ120 layout that was running ‘nude’ at the Guild anniversary meeting.

I am also investigating another method of kit production that will allow the production of Carriages, Guards Vans etc. in styrene.

We had a look at the production of a steamer (Ka I think) some time ago but it was shelved as too difficult at the time. Now with the acquiring of superior urethane plastic a much thinner and flexible section can be moulded, so there is room for someone to work in this area.

There is a new local interest magazine for ‘N’ Gauge modellers in New Zealand. Published by Dennis Turner and planned for 4 issues a year it’s subscription price is $12.00. Write to P.O.Box 13-308, Johnsonville, New Zealand for more details. This magazine features "N" scale news and reviews of products from England, the United States and Japan. Layout visits, NTRAK news, conventions and displays, readers comments and construction articles are all planned.

Andrew and I will be at the modellers festival and hope to have an informal NZ120 get together. Andrew hopes to have a preproduction example of the brass Dc he will be offering for sale and possibly an Lc, 4 wheel wagon in brass.

I have a number of signal driver PCB’s for sale. These are for LED 3 aspect signals. They detect when the train passes and go to red, returning to yellow then green after a time delay. The signal also goes red if the train power is in the opposite direction.

The signal can be held at red or yellow to allow interlocking with adjacent signals, points or block detectors. Designed for use on modular systems where there are no blocks to control the signals in the conventional way, they can also be used on standard layouts where the block detection would be used to control the signals. A ‘stop’ output from each module can be used to hold the next signal at yellow or red. It could also drive a relay to control the block power behind the train and stop following trains from catching up. See them at the Festival.