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Rev Peter Denny


Stubby47

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It is with great sadness that I write this. I have been informed today that Rev Peter Denny has died this morning.

 

He had been admitted to hospital several weeks ago and never regained his mobility.

 

I will post more when details of Peter's funeral are known. If you wish to send a card or letter of condolence, I'm sure it would be in order to post them to his old address in Truro.

 

Stu

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Another icon gone to operate the big layout in the sky.

 

I was hoping to pay a long overdue visit to him this year, always had it down as one of those things I MUST do.

 

It will never happen now, and the hobby has lost a great pioneer.

 

Like many, I grew up with his writings and articles, truly inspirational.

 

R.I.P.

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That's a real shame Stu; like CJF, the Rev is another of those names that you instantly connect with your own early years in the hobby. RIP.

 

Goodness me, really sorry to hear that news. My thoughts are with his family.

 

PD was a truly inspirational modeller. I think one of his secrets was that he came up with a plan and stuck with it. It was not that each item was a masterpiece in itself, though his modelling was of the highest order and quality. It was that he created the whole picture (locos & rolling stock, buildings, landscape, operation, sense of place, attention to detail, that elusive railway atmosphere). Even his garden railway was built with the same care, quality and thought for the prototype.

 

When one thinks of Buckingham, his name instantly comes to mind. Indeed it's hard to believe that the Great Central didn't actually run there. But of course in his model world, and all those of us who followed his writings in the model press, it really did.

 

Rest easy PD.

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Testament to his skills that until the post immediately prior to this one, I had never questioned that Buckingham was on the GC, despite never having seen reference to the prototype.

 

An inspiration to thousands, his legacy will resound for a very long time.

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I have already put my thoughts about Rev Peter Denny and his wonderful railway on other threads relating to "best layouts ever" etc. I have admired his work through his articles for many years and in the last couple of years I have had the opportunity to visit him and operate Buckingham, even to the expent of having built a loco for him, to haul his inspection saloon.

 

My first visit was one of those rare events when you meet somebody that you regard as an inspiration and find out that not only is it as wonderful as you hope it will be, it is even better. Apart from being a modelling genius (that is the best word I can think of to describe somebody so innovative, inventive) he was also a perfect host, a modest and kind gentleman and even past his 90th birthday, his mind and memory were far sharper than mine ever were or will be! On subsequent visits I was welcomed as if I had been a friend for many years and to be able to sit at the controls of Buckingham, operating the layout, with Peter giving me the lever numbers required for each move, from memory, has to be the highlight of my modelling career.

 

I now model the Great Central, in EM gauge, and am happy to say that a lot of that is down to me wanting to have a layout a bit like Peter's.

 

My hope is that his layout can be retained, intact, as a permanent working memorial to a remarkable man.

 

R.I.P Peter and thank you.

 

Tony Gee

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A very sad loss to his family and to the world of Railway Modelling.

 

He was in many ways way ahead of his time, being one of the pioneers of greater

realism during the 1950's and beyond.

 

The fact that his layout, and articles, are still relevant today, over half a century later,

is surely testament to his skill, and to the high standards that he set and achieved.

 

R.I.P.

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It is with great sadness that I hear that such an inspiration to the hobby has died. Many years ago I bought his book about Buckingham published by Peco and it was an inspiration to me, not just the modelling but the whole development of the Buckingham Branch, particularly the operational side, a point we sometimes forget that railways were built to move frieght and passengers.

 

A great loss!

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