RM July 2019 Broad Aston

[Edwardian]

I tend to read magazines cover to cover.  i tend to read the articles in order.  I tend to fall behind the publishing cycle.  Typically I read RM in the month on the cover, not the month published!

 

July's is another good issue.  Even though, these days, layout descriptions tend to read like they are all written by the same hand in a rather bland prose style (editing?) and lack the individuality of the varied voices of the past, the content, as ever, was interesting and covered a good range of our broad church.

 

This morning I had the pleasure of reading an article on Broad Aston. I wasn't a reader of RM in the early-mid '70s, so I only have this article to go on.  I took it for granted, as one would, that this was an O gauge layout, as stated. I thought "wow, that's a lot of layout for 7mil".  Then doubts crept in.

 

Funny, I thought, parked by the goods shed in the first picture that looks just like the old Keil Kraft 1924 Atkinson Colonial steam wagon, even down to reproducing the transfers of this 1/72nd scale kit in 7mil, which struck me as an odd thing to have done. Then I spied the GW Thorneycroft parcels van poking out of the loading bay, once standard issue on all 4mil GW layouts.  Recognisably 4mil scale figures next came to my attention, prompting a closer look at the stock and the track.  A picture of the builder next to the layout and a consideration of the plan (which is not, as usual, divided into grids squares, making the scale less immediately obvious), confirmed my suspicions.

 

Surely Broad Aston is a 4mil layout, probably OO?

 

Is there a correction in the August RM (it'll be weeks before I catch up with that!)?

 

It just made me think that, even with kit-built locos and scratch-built structures, the scale of a layout can often be given away by its accessories. Certainly, it is possible to work out the scale of Broad Aston from the plan and photographs, but without the 'giveaway' accessories, I doubt I would have looked closely enough to have done so.  

 

Was I slow on the uptake, or did others need to work this out from particular clues?

[vaughan45]

The original layout in the 1970s was 4mm scale and the later layout appears to have been featured in BRM May & June 2009 where it was also identified as 4mm Scale, OO Gauge. The track plan in that article looks very similar to the one in the July Modeller, so presumably this is the same layout. The photos in the BRM article include one of the goods shed with the Thorneycroft poking out.

 

Regards Vaughan

[Nile]

It's described as OO on the contents page.

[kevinlms]

Broad Aston appeared in 1974 November as Railway of the Month.

[Edwardian]

Thanks for the pointers. Well, that'll teach me to read the contents page - though, as I tend to plough through cover to cover, I realise that I seldom need the contents page to select an article. Obviously it's a layout with a certain prior foot print in the press, but that had eluded me and I did not come at it knowing or expecting it to be OO gauge, so a single simple error in the top right of every other page informed my perception of what I was seeing. 

[drmditch]

The 1974 article was in one of the first RMs that I bought. I still have it. Broad Aston inspired me in many ways. What I liked especially was the simple, uncluttered space of the original layout and the ability to emulate a train service to different destinations. These are aspects that I am still working towards on my own railway.

 

Having said the latest development of Broad Aston appears to considerably 'less simple' !

[Regularity]

On 23/07/2019 at 08:20, drmditch said:

Having said the latest development of Broad Aston appears to considerably 'less simple' !

The original article is one of my most frequently re-read articles. That layout was ahead of its time in many ways: open, flowing and not based on a long catalogue of RTR stock and locos.

Well, times change and obviously the builder has his own choices and priorities and the new layout (hopefully!) fulfils them, but for me, his original layout was streets ahead of the current version. Not that I expect anyone to build anything for my pleasure/edification, just commenting on the impact.

[Caddy]

And for those of a certain age or better you can always start the journey with H W Burchell in the February 1967 Railway Modeller with "Kingscroft and High Storrs". Who else remembers fibre sleepered track, Ratio "Brunel" viaducts, and creating any GW loco you want out of the old Kitmaster/Airfix City of Truro and 61xx kits! Those were the days...................

[CKPR]

On 27/07/2019 at 13:27, Regularity said:

The original article is one of my most frequently re-read articles. That layout was ahead of its time in many ways: open, flowing and not based on a long catalogue of RTR stock and locos.

Well, times change and obviously the builder has his own choices and priorities and the new layout (hopefully!) fulfils them, but for me, his original layout was streets ahead of the current version. Not that I expect anyone to build anything for my pleasure/edification, just commenting on the impact.

I can only agree  - I bought that copy of RM when it first came out and it is still in the small pile of magazines under my bedside table.

[Pteremy]

The 1974 article opened my eyes. 'Tre Pol and Pen' - what sort of name is that for an engine? But the layout looked like a real stretch of branch line. I agree that the layout featured in July RM is a very different beast, in terms of size. But there is still a real sense of trains going to and from places, not just glimpsed in passing at a single location. It must be a fun layout to have lived - and live - with.

[D9003]

I have only just become aware of this thread, but I can confirm that Broad Aston is OO gauge.  The current layout incorporates most of what was there in 1974, with Camwell Junction still capturing the atmosphere of a GW country junction station in spite of the addition of an extra siding and a dairy.  
 

Yes, some of the country branch line feel has got lost over the years, but there are still areas of the layout where you can shut the mainline out of your sight and just enjoy the rural atmosphere.

 

As a number of you have commented, the layout is all about running trains from somewhere to somewhere and with a purpose.  The system of using cards for freight wagons brings a whole challenge to the shunting of goods trains with each wagon having a specific destination.  Having grown up with the layout, it really is a fun layout to operate and can easily absorb 7 experienced operators for a full weekend, stopping only for meals.
 

Sadly, there will be no more articles by HW Burchell as he died in August 2020.  What will happen to Broad Aston is not certain as none of Howard’s children has an empty 10m x 4m shed.  Rest assured that Tre Pol and Pen and the rest of the rolling stock will find good homes, hopefully largely together.

[LNER4479]

Despite not being of any sort of GWR persuasion myself, I can confirm that the layout is thoroughly absorbing to operate.

 

I too recall reading the 1974 RM and being intrigued at the name Tre Pol and Pen. Hoping that, despite the sad news of its builder's passing, I can help this long-lived layout have some form of continued existence.

[47401]

I too have been privileged to operate Broad Aston on a number of occasions and can equally vouch for its ability to maintain operation interest. It has always looked good but equally important it is fun! I was even once allowed running rights and LNER pacifics did make it to Broad Aston! Just! one struggling on the slope into the terminus! Fortunately the layouts normal traction never have these problems!

 

It was sad to hear earlier this month the passing of HWB who certainly provided much support and inspiration in my formative years.

[Pteremy]

Sad news even in these sad times. I hope that the layout has a second lease of life somewhere. But whatever it's fate the inspirational will live on. One of the things I have been doing during lockdown is a cardboard mock up of a stretch of the 'Bolham deviation' on the Exe Valley line, the consequence of an obsession stretching back to 1974-77, in part fuelled by Broad Aston.