Pre-nationalisation days
Entry posted by Barry Ten
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I used to be a fairly disciplined modeller with an interest fixed firmly on the BR steam era, mostly the Western Region, but with a bit of LMR for good measure. To that end, when I got back into the hobby in the 90s, I went to a lot of trouble to repaint and modify most of the pre-nationalisation models that I'd acquired during my childhood, such that they fitted into the later period. However, such commitment to one period was not to last - I soon "cracked" in both directions. When Hornby bought out their Class 50 I had to have one, even though I had nothing else to run with it that was suitable for the BR blue diesel period. That was the thin end of the wedge in that direction, but around the same time I also made the mistake of building a Coopercraft Mink, which I painted GWR grey for no other reason than it seemed a nice change from finishing all my models in BR condition. Before very long I was building more GWR stock to keep the Mink company, as well as resurrecting a box full of tatty, damaged GWR wagon kits built in my teens.
After that, my modelling began to diverge in three or more directions, and that's before I acquired some sectorisation stuff, some post-privatisation models, and even (thanks to the recent Bachmann limited editions) some lovely pre-grouping models. There's no hope for me, basically, but then again I am happy to consider myself as a collector as well as a modeller, enjoying a nice model for the sake of it, even if it doesn't fit into any prior modelling interest.
The downside to all this is cupboards full of models, far too many to ever run on the layout at any one time. What happens is that I'll get stuck running one era, often for more than a year, before I get the impulse to pack it all away and get out some different stock. Sometimes the push can come from a new model which demands more than just a test run, or the desire to see some older stock out of their boxes. Personally I find the BR era more easy to relate to, as although I have no memories of steam, I can connect to the atmosphere in photos from the 50s and 60s, perhaps because so many parts of the country still looked that way even well into the 70s. The pre-nationalisation period seems more remote to me, mostly glimpsed in B&W, and of course much of the photography from that era concentrates on the locomotives more than the "bigger picture", which to me is far more interesting. I also find myself dwelling on the political factors which were at large before and after the first world war - the shadows of conflict seem unavoidable. The men and women of the Edwardian period could have had little idea of the horrors to come in 1914, while the "roaring twenties" were soon to come to an abrupt crash with the great depression ...
Of course, the fifties and sixties had the spectre of global nuclear war, so I suppose things were no more rosy then. Ah well, it's just a hobby - but am I alone in thinking of these larger issues when considering the wider lives of our model citizens?
On a more cheerful tack, the pre-nationalisation period certainly seems to offer more colour the BR steam era, especially where goods stock is concerned, and I'm a sucker for GWR brown and grey vehicles, as well as private owner wagons. So just for a change, I've swapped the layout's stock back a decade or two from the usual formations, which is a good incentive to fiddle around and weather some pristine locos and goods stock, as well as attach couplings, and so on.
Hornby's Grange is a terriric model, in my view. I've two of them, both getting on for a decade old, and they hold up as well as any new models, as well as running superbly. This one was DCC fitted for many years, but since I'm trying to standardise on pure DC for my GWR models, I've now removed the decoder and put the blanking plate back in. The horseboxes are Parkside and Hornby.
Still waiting for the road. More brown stock behind the loco, almost all kit-built, but all needing some gentle weathering.
Later, after the Grange has cleared the single line section, a 72xx plods onto the up road with a ridiculously colourful train of private owners. Over a period of years I built about 20 Welsh-themed PO wagons from Slaters and Powside kits, which are great fun to make and can be done and dusted in an evening while sitting in front of the television. This Hornby 72xx couldn't be more out of the box if it tried; I think all I've done so far is remove the tension lock couplings. However, it will get a smidge of detailing and weathering in due course. Like the Grange, it's running on plain DC and (after a little initial roughness) is now a very smooth performer. There's been some criticism of the lack of axle bearings on these models, but my take is let's wait and see - my 42xx is still sweet as a nut after a year of moderate running. Of course, if the chassis starts wearing out in a few years, the doubters will have a good case for complaint, especially as they can point to models like the Grange as a proven, durable design.
I decided to standardise on DC, incidentally, because the majority of my difficult cases - in terms of DCC conversion - were pre-nationalisation models. Those that have already had decoders installed are getting them swapped out, which frees up the decoders for the later models. I could only do this if the layout had been wired to allow DC as well as DCC running, of course, but being very simple it only needs a few isolating sections and only one loco moves at a time. The switch from DCC to DC is via a single DPDT switch on the console and in five years of operation I've yet to suffer any mishaps to locos or controllers, despite some of the fear-mongering you read about in some quarters...
A little later, an Aberdare comes through on the down line with a goods train. This is one of three kit-built GWR models that I bought four years ago - the others are an 0-6-0 Beyer goods and a Taff Vale A class. I don't know too much about them, except that they are built and painted to a high standard, although the detailing is fairly sparse, perhaps reflecting the kits from which they were derived. The Aberdare needs a little attention to the pickups, but is otherwise a fine performer, and a model we're unlikely to see in RTR form, given the fact that none of them survived into BR days or are represented in preservation or planned as a new-build. All three models were boxed and named for a Mr "D N Payne", incidentally, which is part of the reason Paynestown was given the name it had ... but my family also has a Payne connection, which is why the name also shows up on my American layout as "Paynesville". I don't know if Mr Payne was the owner or the builder of the locos. All these kits have a rather high current draw, the Beyer being the worst offender of the three, so I may look at remotoring one or more of them at some point.
Close-up on the Aberdare - sparse but nicely built and painted.
Hope this little trip back to GWR days has been enjoyable, and thanks for reading.
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