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Can anyone identify this layout?


rmwsn
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I too remember having that book many years ago, not sure what happened to it.   I think I first saw that layout in Model Railway Constructor, was a good representation of Birmingham NS with extensive fiddle yard as shown in the pic on post 1. There was also a good bit of garden running too. 

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I'm another one who received that book as a youngster. In fact that was the book that persuaded me that kit building wasn't as hard as it looked due to it having a step by step build of a Keyser Kit Princess. Christmas money went on a Ks Kit 14XX Autotank.

 

Still got both.

 

 

It may be a little bit dated now, but I still think it was one of the best of the general guides to railway modelling ever published.

 

 

Jason

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I bought that book on 17th May, 1980.  I can be exact about the date because I spent the night reading it in the labour ward with my wife waiting for our oldest son to be born. My wife was reading the other book that I picked up at the same time - the rather appropriately titled 'Ripping Yarns'....

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If my memory serves me at all, Birmingham New Street was the subject of this fantastic layout which featured in Railway Modeller too many moons ago.

 

Regards,

 

John

Model Railway Constructor 1978 May & June for sure.

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Don Jones version of BNS was built in the late 70's / early 80's. As a trainee signalling engineer I helped him in a small way with his knowledge of the prototype. Sadly, the invitation to view the layout, (which I admit I was fishing for) never materialised.

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ISTR he had an annual open day (or weekend?) for charity but it didn't (tend to) get publicised in the model railway press.

 

A shame as I would have liked to have seen it. Apart from New Street on one side of a large shed there was the fiddle yard (illustrated) on the other side and open running in the garden with Rugeley power station - complete with cooling towers!

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attachicon.gifDon Jones 04-09-2004 053.jpg

 

attachicon.gifDon Jones 04-09-2004 035.jpg

 

attachicon.gifDon Jones 04-09-2004 032.jpg

 

attachicon.gifDon Jones 04-09-2004 038.jpg

 

attachicon.gifDon Jones 04-09-2004 018.jpg

 

attachicon.gifDon Jones 04-09-2004 051.jpg

 

attachicon.gifDon Jones 04-09-2004 034.jpg

 

All in standard Peco 00

 

Sadly Don Jones passed away a few years ago and his second wife had the complete layout destroyed.

Great layout what a shame it was destroyed

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These were the layouts route selection & signaling boards all prototypical opperation and ALL ANALOG DC power no digital or DCC then.

 

post-6665-0-10464600-1497807741_thumb.jpg

 

post-6665-0-33155100-1497807785_thumb.jpg

 

post-6665-0-06289800-1497807821_thumb.jpg

 

post-6665-0-71803300-1497807851_thumb.jpg

 

post-6665-0-92511800-1497807908_thumb.jpg

 

post-6665-0-51502300-1497807963_thumb.jpg

 

I spent meny a late summer evening there in my mid teens learning and driving the layout I was 48 last week.

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These were the layouts route selection & signaling boards all prototypical opperation and ALL ANALOG DC power no digital or DCC then.

 

 

 

I spent meny a late summer evening there in my mid teens learning and driving the layout I was 48 last week.

 

Wonderful stuff.

 

I for one would be happy to see more photos if you have them or any memories that you care to share.

Edited by ian
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Thanks Pete for putting up those pictures, particularly those of the panels. Reminds me of many Summer Sundays in the late 70's I spent with Don going around Amateur Radio Rallies. They were a wonderful resource of surplus electrical / electronic components, cable, power supplies, relays, switches, LEDs, etc, all things Don needed by the tens or hundreds. Even got my arm twisted to make his heavy duty controllers.

 

Most of Don's early locos were made from MTK whitemetal kits and he standardized on one make of power bogie for most of them, it was a 4 wheel one made by Tri-ang Hornby with knurled wheels. All bogies were powered and the same one was even used inside the bogie frames of the Class 40 and 45's. At night from the shed you could just listen to how the trains were progressing around the garden by the growling they made. Remember once a train returning with a slug across the buffers, nothing seemed to stop them. He always said he never had a problem with cats on the track when the Relco's were on.

 

Happy days

 

Brian

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