Before I begin with Narellan Layout first public exhibition at Forestville, sadly, as it is well known of the situation with COVID 19 Virus (also known as the Corona Virus), has escalated to the point that restrictions and shutdowns have been imposed. This has resulted in pretty much all planned Model Rail Exhibitions being postponed for the year and many Model Rail Clubs (including mine) have to go into shutdown mode. Even though this is sad situation, I with many others in the hobby totally agree that we must do our part to prevent the spread of this virus and at the same time protect the venerable people who attend our Clubs or Model Rail Events. Hopefully this will remediate soon, but for now best to stay home and stay safe.
On a positive note, I can say for one thing that my Railway modelling efforts will continue to move forward and hopefully get my Narellan Layout and rolling stock in an more enhanced state than what is today to be ready for the next appearance whenever that will be.
Now onto the Forestville Exhibition.
Narellan First Public Exhibition
From my last post, I mentioned that I was invited to have Narellan exhibited out at the Forestville Exhibition. This was something I was not expecting, but thought that it would be at least a great opportunity to finally test out the transportation of Narellan from my home location to the Exhibition venue and get to see what feedback I receive as well. This was also a self assessment if I can handle exhibiting Narrellan at the other larger Sydney Model Rail Events or other shows that are hosted in rural location.
Transporting Narellan to Forestville
One of my concerns was getting this layout to an event in a single trip. My wife and I have only small cars and would want to avoid using a trailer or hiring a larger vehicle. One of my good Model Rail Friends came over over night before the event and together we worked out a method of packing Narellan in a back of an early model Mazda2. Not only we were able to fit the layout in the back of our Mazda 2, but there was plenty of space for other items, such as a Crowd barrier, fold up chairs, trains and luggage. The good thing was I was still able to see what was going on behind me in my rear vision mirror.
On a positive note, I can say for one thing that my Railway modelling efforts will continue to move forward and hopefully get my Narellan Layout and rolling stock in an more enhanced state than what is today to be ready for the next appearance whenever that will be.
Now onto the Forestville Exhibition.
Narellan First Public Exhibition
From my last post, I mentioned that I was invited to have Narellan exhibited out at the Forestville Exhibition. This was something I was not expecting, but thought that it would be at least a great opportunity to finally test out the transportation of Narellan from my home location to the Exhibition venue and get to see what feedback I receive as well. This was also a self assessment if I can handle exhibiting Narrellan at the other larger Sydney Model Rail Events or other shows that are hosted in rural location.
Transporting Narellan to Forestville
One of my concerns was getting this layout to an event in a single trip. My wife and I have only small cars and would want to avoid using a trailer or hiring a larger vehicle. One of my good Model Rail Friends came over over night before the event and together we worked out a method of packing Narellan in a back of an early model Mazda2. Not only we were able to fit the layout in the back of our Mazda 2, but there was plenty of space for other items, such as a Crowd barrier, fold up chairs, trains and luggage. The good thing was I was still able to see what was going on behind me in my rear vision mirror.
Packing of Narellan Layout
Left View
Right View
On the Friday, I was able to get to the venue with no issues at all. I could not hear any items sliding around which was a good thing. I safely got Narellan to Forrestville and with assistance with one of my Model Rail Friends, I was able to get Narellan successfully setup.
Narellan layout setup on the Friday ready for the event
The Exhibition
Unfortunately, I did not get much of an opportunity to photograph the activity on Narellan. But the Layout was well received by other railway modellers at the event and received a great deal of positive feedback from the general public. It was indeed good to catchup with those of you that follow this blog and other friends that I have met through this hobby.
The event event went smoothly with really no incidents to report back on. Certainly was good to speak people that were interest in Narellan and hopefully influence those who want to go into the next steps of the hobby in getting to the point of building their own layout.
A Visitor at Narellan
Joe (From Casula Hobbies) lent me the latest release of the IDR Models 71 class to run on Narellan on the Sunday.
7101 Shunting on the Coal Siding at Narellan
IDR Models 7101 had ESU DDC Sound installation fitted with a keep alive, therefore it ran without any jolting when going over dirty track. I basically had this 71 Class doing some slow movements back and forth in the coal siding which was great as it showed continue activity on the layout.
Extremely rare sighting of a 71 class at Narellan
Certainly IDR Models have done a fantastic job on this Loco and I have to admit I was reluctant to return this one back to Joe. Possible I may purchase one of these or the Victorian W class as this model was indeed a smooth runner.
Where From Here
As mentioned, many (if not all) model Rail events that were planned for 2020 that was potential for Narellan and My other Model Rail club layouts to be exhibited have been postponed. Therefore some of the deadlines that I have set myself to be ready for these exhibitions have been relaxed as well. I have decided to take some time out to clean up the garage in order to have a better work space to do my railway modelling projects which would lead to better productivity in getting projects completed. My 2020 Model Rail plan is going to be readjusted as a result. This could consist of rolling stock projects or even a new Exhibition Layout Project could be in the new plan. Watch this space.
Keep safe out there.
