Richard Chown; 1941 - 2017

[Ross34]

Very sad. An abiding memory is being totally immersed in Castle Rackrent many years ago at the Manchester show - a masterpiece.

[Donw]

Very sad news a lovely man and an extraordinary modeller. I share the passion for proper operations of a layout and was delighted when I saw the full Castle Rackrent layout and had a chance to speak to him.

 

Don

[Rosedale]

Very saddened to hear the news about Richard. Castle Rackrent was very much the inspiration when I started my own Arigna Town layout, so you can imagine my delight at the Manchester Show in December when a tall gentlemen appeared and said 'I have a 36.75mm loco with me, would you like to run it on your railway?' Despite numerous shows [approaching 30] and an open invitation for anyone doing Irish broad gauge in 7mm scale, this was a first. A beautiful model of the SLNCR's 'Lissadel', in original green livery was placed on the track and quickly commandeered to run the passenger train. At this point, I had no idea I was in the presence of railway royalty, but happily took pictures alongside my own 'Small Tanks' [Hazlewood & Fermanagh]. Only then did I start to ask who I could email photos to, when he offered his hand and just said 'Richard Chown'.

The next few minutes were a delight as we watched his loco perform beautifully and I clicked away with the camera as we bemoaned the fact that very few Irish layouts seem to be made to the correct gauge. When Paul Green, who has an S gauge Irish layout [63/64ths of an inch] appeared, at that point we estimated that 60% of broad gauge exhibitors were together with just Ballyconnel Road and Valencia Harbour missing - though I would love to be proved wrong on that, especially now we have lost the founding father.

So I glad I was able to meet him, but really sorry the hear that his creative genius is no more. Our hobby is much the poorer for his passing.

[Rosedale]

I heard about Richard's passing just before I went away on holiday and am writing this in Vancouver. I also remember the Manchester Show at Christmas 2016 that David Holman refers to when Richard and he were together at David's brilliant layout Arigna Town! It is a great regret that I didn't take a picture such was the occasion, like a lunar eclipse, of 3 Irish Broad Gauge modellers together!

 

I have known Richard since about 1985, through David Walker, a fellow resident of Leeds, who had another Irish Broad Gauge layout, Killaney. Richard was then the 'go to' person for information and inspiration about Irish railway modelling and was, I think, the HMRS lead on the subject. He was incredibly helpful to me and invited me and my Wife to pop in to his house while heading north on a holiday in Scotland. I have been to see him many times since and enjoyed his and Elizabeth's hospitality. The house was built by Richard onto the side of a Cattle Bank next to the main Edinburgh Glasgow main line with a massive basement to house the Castle Rackrent 'system'.

 

The more I write, the more I am in reverence of Richard's creative energy and genius. He built so many layouts of Irish, French, Scottish and more recently, Norwegian prototypes. And had started on a Brecon and Merthyr (?) layout I think. He thought and built outside the usual confines, not just in terms of space, but also, subject, era and style. He also produced some great mini layouts that showed great verve and what could be achieved in a small space. In Richard's view, no one had an excuse not to build something.

 

And he was a really nice bloke. Hospitable, encouraging, but also with some deliciously funny and acerbic opinions about layouts and the hobbies received wisdom. he could be relied on to point out civil engineering clangers on layouts and one particular O gauge layout with a prominent bridge always got him going; hilarious!

 

His newsletter for friends Faugh a Ballagh (clear the way, in Irish) was a bi-annual treat of modelling inspiration, reviews, put-down and score settling which I for one will really miss.

 

But I will greatly miss Richard and can't quite believe he has gone, such was his fizzing energy and creativity. As has been said, we probably won't see the light if him again. And I so wish I'd got that picture of him at Manchester last Christmas!!

 

Paul Greene

[pete_mcfarlane]

I have known Richard since about 1985, through David Walker, a fellow resident of Leeds, who had another Irish Broad Gauge layout, Killaney. 

I remember Killaney, both from the RM and seeing it at one of the Peterborough shows, when I was about 10 or 11 back in the days when they were held in Bretton. It was a pretty impressive layout to see in the flesh - I wonder what happened to it?

[DLT]

I remember Killaney, both from the RM and seeing it at one of the Peterborough shows, when I was about 10 or 11 back in the days when they were held in Bretton. It was a pretty impressive layout to see in the flesh - I wonder what happened to it?

 

I had been wondering much the same; I saw Killaney once, at Bristol I think.  

 

Sadly though, I never got to see any part of the great Castle Rackrent system.  Living at the opposite end of the country didn't help!

 

I met Richard once when he visited our club; he brought with him the little 2-2-2 in bright green, and a test track to run it on.  When I asked him how it was driven he took it apart to show us.  I was amazed by the way it was arranged, a Portescap RG4 mounted ACCROSS the loco, driving a lay-shaft which in turn drove the leading and trailing axles through bevel gears.  The loco's actual driving wheels were unpowered.  This was one of the first examples I had seen of real "thinking outside the box" and it left quite an impression on me.

 

Dave.

Edited July 14, 2017 by DLT

[Caley Jim]

Shocked and saddened to hear of Richard's passing.  Shocked because I was speaking with him only three weeks ago at the Perth show.  Saddened because he was such a great guy, a prolific modeller with very eclectic interests and a great sense of humour.  It was always a joy to listen to what off-beat project he had in mind next.

 

I first got to know him through the HMRS in the early 1970's and while he will most be remembered for Castle Rackrent, I will never forget his rendition of Kyle of Lochalsh, to scale in 7mm!  It occupied the whole of one side of one of the side galleries in the McLellan Galleries (and a bit) when the Glasgow show was held there.  Not only that, but it was operated to timetable, in real time, which meant that on the Sunday no trains ran!  I also recall seeing a photograph of a Brunell timber viaduct which he built in his parents garden.

 

Richard was a big tall chap who not only modelled in a large scale, but on a large scale.  A sad loss to the hobby.  RIP friend.

 

Jim Watt