Page 23 - November December 2014

MODEL RAIL EDUCATION PROGRAMME
HIGH WYCOMBE & DISTRICT MODEL RAIL CLUB Nick Prior
One recent Saturday, I set out to Model Junction inspired to buy materials. I had just attended the first session of High Wycombe & District Model Rail Club’s new Education Pro- gramme. At Model Junction, I discussed the programme with Mike Arnold, who suggested it might be of interest to the wider membership. So here goes.
The High Wycombe Club has for some time conducted evening clinics several times a year. These involve experienced members explaining and demonstrating different modelling techniques. These have been very useful but deal with specific, often advanced, modelling subjects. Crucially they do not give an opportunity for hands-on participation. I have found myself informed and inspired at the time, but later when I have tried to put the teaching into practice, I cannot remember the finer details and also lack the confidence to maybe use expensive equipment or materials without someone to look to for help. I also was not always sure how to source the necessary tools and materials.
One evening at the club round the table in our Old Gits café, I raised this issue and found my good friend Roger Tatton to be supportive and share my enthusiasm to find a way forward. So, together, we resolved on a more comprehensive pro- gramme.
We realised there were really two student needs. One was for a programme to show beginners and the less experienced the basics of layout building skills. The second was to provide general teaching on specific modelling techniques to members of all skill levels (in the manner of our established clinics). In our view, the essential requirement in both cases was to have an opportunity for hands-on, supervised practice of the tech- nique being taught. This would enable each session to include teaching and demonstration plus the opportunity to put these into effect with the help of the tutor.
We concluded that the best way to teach basic modelling techniques was to structure the course around the building of a diorama. The course would be made up of a series of modules each dealing with a specific building stage and combining to create a finished diorama at the end of the course. We then needed to decide how to structure the course and eventually concluded that each module, including tutor- ing and student build, would best be completed in a single four-hour session.
High Wycombe Club has members interested in both American and British outline, and we wanted a programme that would allow members of both interests to work alongside each other. We also wanted the programme to be open to the public, partly as a possible membership booster, and indeed our first course does include a non-member. Thus the elements of the build programme equally allow British or American outline as individual participants prefer. With this in mind we decided upon the following criteria for the diorama:
SIZE TRACK
TURNOUT POINT MOTOR
BALLASTING STRUCTURE
BUILDING BACKSCENE LANDSCAPE
24" × 12" × 12"
Peco OO/HO or On30 code 75 or 100, nickel silver rail
One or more Peco electrofrog points Cobalt Digital, plus a space on the board for a point switch and diagram, also for external electrical connections
And model point levers/targets; also yard ground cover
A tunnel mouth with one or more retaining walls, or bridge with abutments At least one
Behind, and on one or two ends
A substantial three-dimensional landform
FEATURES Grass; trees and/or shrubs; water (stream or pond); bare rock face
CONSTRUCTION: 4 mm ply board supported on bearers; Frame: deep ply or blockboard side and
end frames; Backscene: 2 mm MDF
backscene on a light softwood frame
In order to permit peer-to-peer support while allowing the tutor to give practical support during the building phase of each module, we thought it would be best to have a buddy system with students split into pairs, each pair building one diorama together. In this respect, it is to be stressed that the diorama programme is designed as an education exercise and the size limitation was dictated by the working space
available.
Having determined what the diorama should comprise, we now needed to structure the programme bearing in mind the availability of participants, and not least of tutors. We have split the course into the following modules:
1. PLANNING A LAYOUT
2. BASEBOARD DESIGN AND MAKE
3. TRACK AND POINT LAYING AND WIRING
3a. TRACK AND WIRING II
4. BALLASTING AND TRACK FINISHING
5. STRUCTURES: TUNNELS, WALLS & BRIDGES
6. BUILDINGS
7. LANDFORMS AND ROCK FACES
8. BACKSCENES
9. VEGETATION, FOLIAGE, WATER
These modules are being held monthly in the club on Saturdays.
It is an important part of the programme that prior to each module the tools and materials needed are clearly set out and discussed, with sourcing information. Some basic materials and tools are provided by the club, but the student needs to source the remainder in good time for each module. In practice the materials and tools needed next time are given at the end of the previous session, together with any required sourcing information.
Of course all this did not come about overnight. We needed to get our club committee on side and presented the concept to the membership at the AGM. We were pleased to find both the committee and the membership supportive. One of the things that we felt was essential was to have a permanent place in the club so that we would not waste much of our available time each month trying to clear space. Again the committee was supportive and realised how important this would be. The club has therefore set up a classroom area with purpose-built work table large enough for 8–10 students to work at. Not only is this used by the programme, it has found ready use as a general model building and reading area in between times.
We have had the planning module, and it was well received and worked effectively. We will learn as we go along, and if the programme is a success it will be continued and expanded. There is a lot of interest in extending it to individual modules directed at the whole membership. I will write again next year as to how things work out.
The Education Programme would not have come into being without the strong support of our Committee and contri- butions from individuals. I cannot finish without singling out Roger Tatton, who has provided great energy and dedication in progressing the programme and, using his teaching skills, has provided a whole raft of useful documentation essential to the programme.
DEcEmbER 2014 23