Barry King

After setting up a display table with numerous books and magazines relating to Colonel Stephens and with models of locomotives from his various railways Ross gave us a very interesting talk on the life of the Colonel and illustrated it with a variety of pictures.Holman Fred Stephens was born in 1868 to artist parents who […]

Today our focus on the circuit was on bogie freight stock and NPCS and Rob got the ball rolling with his ex LSWR B4 pulling some SR bogie ballast wagons and an ex LSWR brake van. David G then added his bogie bolster wagon with the super dooper roller bearings which if placed on any

After setting up with our exciting new format of the big table near the stage and the circuit near the entrance door we proceeded with our theme of the day, namely: engines which were neither black nor green. First on the circuit was Fred with a LMR 0-6-0ST in blue named Errol Lonsdale followed by

Today’s talk on tarpaulins and wagon loads was led by Ross who got us under way talking about different methods of modelling tarpaulins. Some people used paper, some masking tape and Rob even suggested the domestically dangerous method of using your wife’s silk scarf. Ross also demonstrated a method of adding lettering to a tarpaulin.

In a radical change from our normal practice the circuit was set up near the entrance door and the big table set up at the stage end of the hall. This was no idle whim but was done in order to accommodate one of the hall’s storage trolleys which is currently residing in the hall

Theme of the day on the circuit was Green Engines and so GWR panniers and prairies quickly appeared in profusion. Fred ran his Dapol 3MT 2-6-2T and his Castle “Earl of Dartmouth” and Martin ran his Class 31 Diesel fitted with DCC and very loud sound. Diesels were pretty well represented with David G’s Class

In a change to the advertised programme occasioned by Ross’ absence on family duties Fred stepped in to the breach and gave his talk on painting coaches with two coloured liveries and on weathering stock in general.Fred started by saying that with metal coaches he starts with a coat of Halfords etch primer and follows

On the circuit today our theme was 4 wheel coaches which was initially represented by various rakes of Dapol coaches run by Sean, Fred and others. Later David Gr ran a very fine train of five S&DJR coaches and later still I ran my SECR H Class pulling three cheap and cheerful 4 wheel coaches

Roger’s Cless 73 from last month’s meeting, by popular request! Following the discussion at the AGM we set up the Lenham Junction boards incorporating them into the circuit to see how the combined layout fitted into the available space within the hall. By placing one end of the circuit over the stage we were able

Charman’s Report: having outlined the key points, attention was drawn to the need to think about the content and aim of the Open Day. The report was received Nem Con (proposed John B, seconded Martin).Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts: there is sufficient leeway for covering the cost of new layouts. A monthly forecast enables the accounts

Today we had the unusual, the bizarre and the unexpected at Badlesmere.First up was Roger’s Class 73 Diesel No 73101 which had been painted in Pullman colours to mark the 150th anniversary of the London to Brighton line in 1991 and named “Brighton Evening Argus” to celebrate 100 years of that paper. It was then

Our focus today on the Circuit was on Sentinel locomotives. These quirky little engines are clearly very popular as a large number of them very quickly appeared on the circuit. These were mainly Dapol models in different guises. John D brought in four of the five Dapol Sentinels he owned all of which were in

Today we had a loco repair and maintenance workshop where Fred, Sean and others brought in models that needed some attention.Tim brought in a L&Y Pug that he had picked up cheap at a show. Despite currently being a non-runner and missing part of the cab side, it was solidly built and will not take

On arriving I turned on the stopcock and got a face full of water and discovered that the recent cold weather had resulted in leaks in the toilets and the kitchen. As we were the last people to use the hall it was just as well that we had turned the water off when we

After driving through the fog on Saturday morning the QCD crew got to Maidstone in plenty of time to get the layout set up and running. After the obligatory teas and coffees and mince pies had been taken on board, we prepared ourselves for the onrush of spectators.Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best attended of shows

Today was the long awaited Christmas Quiz hosted by this year’s Quizmaster John D.After weeks of making us all believe that he hadn’t really got anything John produced an excellent quiz which challenged us all without being too esoteric or obscure.After splitting into teams of three we worked diligently through the question sheets despite being

Today on the circuit we were looking at Vans. The circuit was quickly put up and we soon got cracking. Roger having run a long train two meetings ago repeated the trick this time, running his Class 47 diesel with a long train of vans. Rather more modestly I ran my ex- SECR R Class

Heritage line stock was our loosely observed theme today at Badlesmere. Among those taking part were John B with his terrier “Fenchurch” pulling two coaches and Tim with his Jinty and the very nicely weathered Third Class bogie coach he has recently acquired.Later Tim also ran his pannier tank in London Transport livery.Bill brought in

Our theme at Badlesmere today was on anything not Southern related and after setting up the circuit a whole host of locos appeared.David Gr made up for missing out on our diesel day the previous meeting and ran his Class 21 Diesel hauling his ex LNER coaches. Fred ran a BR Riddles 2MT 2-6-2T pulling

Today at Badlesmere we focussed on Diesels and despite a few Diesel fans being absent we had a pretty good showing of them on the circuit. John D ran the D08 which he had recently acquired from Roger who being absent today with a heavy cold was thus at least present in spirit. Fred brought