A Future for Maindee East Engine Shed

[PJT]

The late Steffan Lewis's very highly regarded and beautiful finescale P4 Maindee East Engine Shed exhibition layout went to auction last week, failed to sell and was subsequently bought by me after the event as the start of an attempt to safeguard its future.  This has been discussed quite a bit on Wright Writes over the last few days.  In fact on one day last week it began to feel a bit like Wright Writes had been temporarily hijacked for Maindee East's benefit, so I thought it was perhaps for the best to start a new topic here, dedicated to the subject. 

 

The story so far:

I bought Maindee East Engine Shed after it failed to meet its reserve at auction.  What drove me to buy it was the strong possibility, as I saw it, that the layout's failure to sell might well be misinterpreted as the layout being of little worth by the owners or those charged with selling it (whereas it may actually have had more to do with other factors like the modelling community not being aware of the auction, or because the layout is built with P4 finescale track rather than using the far more common OO gauge).  It seemed to me it could very easily end up being scrapped if it was decided it had little value.  Any modeller who's seen Maindee East, a thoroughly authentically detailed model of a fictional South Wales engine shed, either at an exhibition or in magazine articles will know that would have been a tragic end for such a wonderful example of model making. 

 

I know that for several reasons there's no way I can keep Maindee East myself, long term.  What I would therefore like to do is to place it with an individual, organisation or museum that will provide a good future for it and, importantly, be able to continue displaying it to the public, most preferably as a working layout or, at the very least, as a non-working diorama.  This has so far evoked strongly positive feedback from RMweb members, although a few comments about difficulties I'm likely to encounter have also been made - and taken note of.

 

What happens next:

Once the layout has been moved from the auctioneers to my home this coming Thursday, I'll then start evaluating what repairs etc. need doing to it before it can be shown again.  The photos of the layout in the auction catalogue clearly show a handful of bits of reasonably easily repaired damage.  Of course the photos might not be capable of showing more serious problems that only come to light when I take a good hard look at the layout.  That's the gamble I've taken in buying it, though if it turns out to be just a case of a list of things that need mending I am pretty confident I have the skills to cope with that.

 

Probably the biggest uncertainty is the type of rolling stock that comes in the auction lot with Maindee East.  In the auctioneers' photos it rather looks like it's all OO stock and therefore useless for the layout (which cannot be regauged to OO without destroying it), but I won't know for sure until I see it all on Thursday.  I'm under no illusions that a lack of suitable P4 rolling stock to use on the layout could be a difficult problem to solve.

 

I've not made a rigid plan in my efforts to save Maindee East Engine Shed and I'm happy to receive suggestions from the RMweb community on how to go forward, on people I could or should contact, or even offers from those who feel they can give Maindee East a good future themselves, so long as they are prepared to make it available for public viewing.  Suggestions about people or organisations I might talk to have so far included AIMREC, The Scalefour Society, Pendon Museum and The Great Western Society at Didcot.  I realise some of these may not have the ability or desire to take on the layout themselves, but again if they come up with useful advice or suggestions I'll be very happy to hear them.

 

Once I've got Maindee East back here I'll take some photos and post them on RMweb so you can all see the current condition of the layout and hopefully appreciate why I and quite a few others believe it's worth saving.  In the meantime, the photos in the auctioneers' catalogue will give you half an idea.  They may be viewed at http://wottonauctions.co.uk/Catalogues/2019/gs200819/lot1429.html

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Congratulations on your perspicacity.

It seems to me the layout wasn't put through the best auction house it could have been, one of the more railway savvy companies could have realised a better sale price I'm sure.

Being the owner of similarly iconic layout which I purchased for a number of reasons, not all model railway related, I sympathise with your dilemna, although my intentions are to fettle and operate mine, I realise that is not an option for you.

I hope you achieve a successful outcome.

 

Mike.

[BlackRat]

I had a similar situation with Bodmin General in P4.

 

 The layout was advertised for sale MRJ, and it had appeared in there more than once.

 

It would have been an ideal retirement project for me, as I had just finished with the plod.

 

To cut a longish story short, a price was agreed but I ended up being given it for free.

 

Given that it was professionally built with track etc being made by Normal Solomon the price was unbelievably cheap.

 

No one else was interested and I believe I was the only enquirer.

 

The much larger layout it was a branch of, a beautiful P4 job ( also in the journal) was I believe destroyed. The widow of the owner couldn't even give it away.

 

Subject to very tight time constraints I was fortunate enough to secure the services of the local P4 group ( SWAG) who managed not only to dismantle the layout but store it for me to.

 

Repeated issues with builders ( I needed a room for it off the garage) saw me reluctantly donating it to the group, I'm not sure what stage they are at with it.

 

The 'no sale' is in no way a reflection of the layouts worth, it's just in my experience no one wants them, especially in 'minority' gauges.

 

A recent visit to a shop where a stack of lovely hand built P4 points were going for £3 each tends to confirm this.

 

I did offer the layout to Bodmin museum, and to the steam railway, no one wanted it, especially as it was in P4, yet paradoxically I was asked if I could build a layout for the railway in OO.

 

Good luck with your endeavours, I hope you find a home for the layout.

 

Its harder than you think isn't it.

Edited August 28, 2019 by BlackRat

[Evertonian]

A wise move to create a dedicated thread for "Maindee East" Pete, and I re-iterate my congratulations and thanks for saving such a

wonderful piece of work from an unknown fate. I will follow progress with much interest  and again repeating myself, would be pleased 

to contribute financially to a fund should you find that necessary in the future. Should available storage space become a real problem

whilst you seek a permanent home I am a member of a railway modellers group with access to premises where we store three exhibition

layouts , I am sure we could find sufficient room for M.East if necessary while you progress its future. Best regards,

 

Chris Knight

[PJT]

12 hours ago, BlackRat said:

Its harder than you think isn't it.

Yes, it is hard to successfully secure a future for a 'minority interest' P4 or EM layout, due partly to fewer people being interested in (or perhaps capable of) being involved with it.  There's also the fact that, being finer and more delicate than many layouts, it's potentially more susceptible to wear or damage.  This is true especially of a layout that's suffered a bit of rough and tumble on the exhibition circuit - with the greatest of care and best of intentions, exhibition layouts will always suffer stresses and distresses not usually experienced by home-based layouts. 

 

My hope is that Maindee East Engine Shed, having done fewer exhibitions than some others, may not have suffered so much in that respect and is not worn out.  Tony Wright ventured the opinion on exhibition layouts in this September's BRM that 'one or two layouts carry on for too long, often in the hands of others rather than the original builders' and went on to explain why he thought they ought to be retired to a life in private hands where they might receive the remedial care and attention they need.  In my opinion he's quite right, as I found out when talking a while back to a member of Newhaven MRC about the battles that club had against life-expired equipment while trying to keep Frank Dyer's Borchester Market operable.  Ok, an extreme case of a very old layout, but by degrees it seems true of some other much more modern layouts too.  From what I know so far I don't believe that Maindee East Engine Shed has yet reached this point and obviously I hope I won't be finding out soon that it has.  I am aware though that for a period earlier in its life it was withdrawn from exhibitions for repairs made necessary by some kind of accidental damage, the details of which I don't know. 

 

I do have a bit of a reputation amongst friends for taking pity on things mechanical or electrical, coarse or fine and restoring them to good health despite longish odds and those friends agree that my involvement with Maindee East Engine Shed is exactly what they'd expect me to do once I'd heard of its apparent plight.  I believe I have the resolve to see it through.

 

I have to say that I'm very, very encouraged and inspired by the goodwill shown so far on RMweb.  I've spent much of my working life in engineering in the motor manufacturing industry, where every person who has an inspirational idea seems to have to swim against a tide of 99 people queueing up enthusiastically to tell him/her every reason under the sun why it can't be done, shouldn't be done or should be done another way.  It's really refreshing that it really hasn't happened (so far... touch wood!) on RMweb in the posts concerning this layout;  some have warned me of difficulties I'm likely to face, which I don't mind at all and I'm very grateful for, but so many have wished me and the layout well.  It seems a lot of people really loved Maindee East Engine Shed.  Thank you all for your support.

 

Pete T.

 

 

 

[BlackRat]

Think of it as preserving 'fine art'.

 

One snag with Bodmin was that it was a permanent layout, never designed to leave home.

 

I was given the dimensions and had a number of builders quote for a layout room, but due to the sale of the departed owners property I was on a strict timescale.

 

Without SWAG the layout would have simply been destroyed.

 

I wonder how many more end up this way.

 

Im aware of at least one other, O fine with many things beautifully scratch built.

 

Most of it, including buildings, boards and some stock ended up on the renovating builders bonfire.

 

Did manage to save some bits and pieces but alas will never know what went up in flames!

[polybear]

7 hours ago, PJT said:

I am aware though that for a period earlier in its life it was withdrawn from exhibitions for repairs made necessary by some kind of accidental damage, the details of which I don't know. 

 

 

I recall talking to Steffan about this - from memory it may have occurred on the journey home (minor car accident maybe?) and it was an insurance job to repair.  I seem to recall that, because the repair work was carried out by a professional model maker (insurance company insisted?) rather than Steffan, he became somewhat disheartened with the layout because he felt that it was no longer "his" work.  I do recall suggesting that he could've done a deal, with the model maker sub-contracting the work out to.....Steffan  

[Andy M]

Pete,

Did the smoke system that Steffan devised for the layout survive and be included in the Auction Lot?

It was a remarkable piece of engineering, that he only used on a few occasions due to its tendency to activate venue fire detectors!

Regards,

Andy.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Andy M

[PJT]

7 hours ago, Andy M said:

Did the smoke system that Steffan devised for the layout survive and be included in the Auction Lot?

Andy,

 

It's clear I don't have some of it, but I haven't as yet had the time to work out exactly what pieces of the system are not there.  All is far from lost though - very fortunately, one of the items included in the lot was a lever arch file stuffed full of Steffan's scribbles, drawings, workings-out and also proper plans for design and operation of the layout and its features, including the smoke system.

 

When I picked up Maindee East I asked the auctioneers if they would contact the sellers to see if they would mind me contacting them (you have to do it that way round because these days of course the auctioneers can't just give away the contact details of the sellers).  I'll be chasing the auctioneers for an answer this week.  I would dearly love to be able to speak to the sellers, not least to ask if there's any other bits still lying around in their garage.  I suspect there might be, because the layout shows signs of not being very sympathetically stored for the last 18 months since Steffan's death.

 

Pete T.

 

 

 

[Andy M]

Pete,

It saddens me to hear the layout has fallen into slight disrepair, but I hope you can piece the puzzle back together and have at least secured its future. Maindee was a beautifully executed example of observational modelling, which I didn’t even realise was being placed on the market. I also wonder what happened to Steffan’s locomotive roster and those fantastic cranes?

Regards,

Andy.

[PJT]

54 minutes ago, Andy M said:

It saddens me to hear the layout has fallen into slight disrepair

I was saddened, too, to see some of the damage in the flesh for the first time when I went to collect it, though I was mostly prepared for it by closely studying the auctioneer's on-line catalogue photos beforehand.  Actually, I realise looking at my last post that I've possibly been unfair to the layout's last owners.  I don't know for sure that the unsympathetic storage all took place in the period since Steffan's death; the deterioration might well have started during Steffan's later years and the more recent owners simply received something that obviously needed some repairs and TLC but didn't know how to get it administered or weren't really interested.  What I can say for sure, though, is that even the most delicate looking features on Maindee East were strongly constructed and firmly attached and that had they not been quite so resilient then an awful lot more bits would have been broken or disappeared by the time I took ownership.

 

1 hour ago, Andy M said:

I also wonder what happened to Steffan’s locomotive roster and those fantastic cranes?

Hmm, yes, rather.  I am waiting for the sellers (previous owners?) to contact me so that I might get some information that helps me track down the missing bits and rolling stock.  If I'm lucky, of course!  If I'm unlucky they won't want to talk to me and the opportunity to reunite Maindee East with its unique rolling stock will be lost.  Fingers crossed.

 

Pete T.

 

[Barry Ten]

On 29/08/2019 at 06:52, polybear said:

 

I recall talking to Steffan about this - from memory it may have occurred on the journey home (minor car accident maybe?) and it was an insurance job to repair.  I seem to recall that, because the repair work was carried out by a professional model maker (insurance company insisted?) rather than Steffan, he became somewhat disheartened with the layout because he felt that it was no longer "his" work.  I do recall suggesting that he could've done a deal, with the model maker sub-contracting the work out to.....Steffan  

 

From what I remember, it was something along the lines of Steffan braking down on the way back from an exhibition, and the layout then being loaded into a recovery van and some mishap then happening - the van doors not being secured or somesuch.

[PJT]

Having picked up the layout a fortnight ago from the auctioneers, I've at last found a few hours to go through the damage to buildings and structures.  The good news is that in every instance of damage where something has been broken off I've been able to find the missing bit in the margarine carton of assorted bits that I carefully collected together as I packed everything up at the auctioneers. 

 

It's taken several hours to match all the bits up with their buildings and structures, because some of the structures on Maindee East evolved over the years, some quite subtly, so looking at earlier photos of the layout gave me one or two false alarms about things that might be missing.  Finding later photos (possibly taken at exhibitions after the mishap and repairs referred to above by Polybear and Barry Ten) and comparing them to what I actually have here gave me somewhat different and really encouraging results.  Thus, in terms of its scenery and structures, restoring Maindee East will genuinely not be a difficult task - it will just require time and patience, either mine (I'd love to, but have I got the time?) or a future custodian's (more likely).  I'm so pleased to be able to say that.

 

The next stage (in another week or two's time) will be to work out exactly what I have here in terms of the controls etc., including of course Steffan's fabled smoke system.  I know I have the main control panel and on quick inspection it seems complete, both on top and underneath - except for a power source and controllers.    

 

I'm still waiting with crossed fingers and hoping that the sellers will decide to make contact with me after the auctioneers made contact with them on my behalf.  I would love the opportunity to (at best) reunite Maindee East with some of the cranes and other rolling stock that were synonymous with it - or at least know where they are, keeping the chance alive that they might be reunited in the future.

 

Pete T.

 

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

I don't know whether you're aware, but the layout is on the cover of the current Scalefour news.

 

Mike.

[PJT]

9 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

I don't know whether you're aware, but the layout is on the cover of the current Scalefour news. 

Thank you Mike.  No, I didn't know.  I'll see if I can get hold of one.

 

In fact it's probably about time I joined the society.  I'll do it later today.

 

I dug out my copy of MRJ 170 last night and reread Steffan's article in it.  A few more things about Maindee East clicked into place as a result.

 

Pete T.

 

Edited September 12, 2019 by PJT

[AndyGWR]

Hi Pete,

 

May I thank you for saving Maindee East.

 

As I returned to the hobby only a few years ago and being an avid GWR fan, when I saw Maindee East photos on the scalefour society website for the first time I was absolutely stunned by the quality of the modelling, attention to detail but above all that elusive quality “Atmosphere” that Stefan created so well.

 

So much so that I tracked down a back copy of the write up in one of the Railway mags and was inspired enough that I would build a GWR engine shed layout and aim for stefan’s results even though I’d probably miss.

 

I was desperate to see it in the flesh but then I realised it was on the circuit years ago and then when I read that Stafan had sadly died my hopes of seeing it in the flesh were dashed.

 

Oddly enough I occasionally google images of Maindee East and did this only this week and saw the Auction site had it for sale at a disrespectfully low price. No date on the auction page so I assumed it was current and I did put some thought to bidding for it.

 

But as your original post said, I stalled because of it being P4 and because it wouldn’t have been built by me.

 

Then I found this thread and I’m glad it has been saved. I hope you are able to find someone who will exhibit it, even if it is a static diorama at Didcot, Swindon Steam Museum or Pendon, perhaps even the NRM?

 

I understand Didcot’s comment that it doesn’t model a real location but for anyone who wants to represent what the working conditions were like for shed workers in the early 60s with grimy dilapidated buildings and wall to wall filth and junk and ash everywhere, I can’t think of anything better.

 

Many thanks again and good luck and I hope I will be able to see it at some point.

 

Kind regards

Andy

Twickenham and District MRC

[bécasse]

5 hours ago, AndyGWR said:

 

I understand Didcot’s comment that it doesn’t model a real location but for anyone who wants to represent what the working conditions were like for shed workers in the early 60s with grimy dilapidated buildings and wall to wall filth and junk and ash everywhere, I can’t think of anything better.

 

I wouldn't have called the hotchpotch which is today's Didcot a "real site" either. It demonstrates bits and pieces of the old GWR as well as it can in the circumstances but it bears far less resemblance to any real GWR location than the model of Maindee East does. Ironic really, since the Didcot site was a genuine GWR loco shed once upon a time.

 

My comment isn't intended as any form of criticism of the excellent work done at Didcot other than that they should be wary of being the pot calling the kettle black!

[PJT]

17 hours ago, AndyGWR said:

Then I found this thread and I’m glad it has been saved. I hope you are able to find someone who will exhibit it, even if it is a static diorama at Didcot, Swindon Steam Museum or Pendon, perhaps even the NRM? 

 

Thank you, Andy, for your kind and supportive words, also your description of how you view Maindee East, which underlines once again the depth of appreciation some people have for it.

 

Currently I'm working on rectifying the damage to the scenery, which isn't a difficult job at all but does require patience and time.  The latter I don't have as much of as I need at the moment because my self-employment is being squeezed by having to give a lot of help to an elderly family member (my own railway model is necessarily taking a back seat at the moment).  But they say if you want something done, ask a busy man and bit by bit, the appearance of the layout is definitely improving. 

 

Incidentally, at this point I should mention another person who briefly was very important in saving Maindee East.  One of the 'hired hands' at the auctioneers was a retired BBC props engineer who recognised the artistry of the grot and filth on the layout and only by pleading just managed to stop another member of staff from trying to clean it to brighten it up!  I'm sure the damage that would have caused would have been almost beyond repair and I was very grateful to the chap who stopped the well-meaning cleaner. 

 

Having mentioned cleaning it, that's really the most time consuming bit at the moment.  On top of Steffan's intentional filth (that was so nearly polished away at the auction house) there is a layer of dust and a lot of cobwebs from the layout's long-ish period in store following (and I suspect also prior to) Steffan's death.  I'm using artist's soft brushes to remove the dust one small area at a time.  Very slow, but very rewarding.  I haven't taken any photos yet, but once it's clean and undamaged again I shall and I'll post them here.  In the meantime, for those who haven't seen them yet, if you scroll back to my original post you'll find a link to the photos on the auctioneers' website which will show you what the layout looked like when I started. 

 

My plan is just to get it nicely presentable again but not working, yet - that's a whole project in itself and may be one for a future custodian or owner of Maindee East because while I have the skills I seriously doubt I'll have the time.  Once it's presentable I'll start talking to people and organisations about where it can go on display.  I won't contact anyone now because I feel it's likely they'd be put off by the current state of the layout.  It would be unreasonable to expect any organisation to accept something that needed substantial work doing to it before it could go on display: (i) they probably wouldn't want to do it; and (ii) it might just end up with the layout going into storage again, waiting for ever for someone to have the time to restore it.

 

My preference for a display location is a museum or organisation with the enthusiasm and experience in model railways to look after it properly.  Having seen model railways displayed in town museums and similar places and even those permanently on display at preserved railways, the vast majority deteriorate quickly because the staff either aren't model railway minded people or simply don't have the time to maintain them because of more important priorities.  I realise I'm talking myself into a corner that might only include AIMREC as a possible location, but we shall see when the time comes, when Maindee East has been tidied up and repaired and is ready to show people again.  In the meantime I'm open to all suggestions and I'm not ruling out contacting anybody.

 

Through studying several magazine articles and looking on-line, I'm now well aquainted with the evolution of Maindee East over time - when you get into the details, quite a bit changed over the years - and I'm now satisfied that, when you take into account all the items in the ice cream tub of broken bits I'm repairing and reinstalling as I clean each area, I have every part of every detail that featured on the layout in its latter days.  Nothing is missing, thank goodness.  Apart from the rolling stock.

 

The only real downside so far is that the auctioneers have not received a response at all from the sellers of the layout following my request to be able to contact them.  This means I can't find out what happened to Steffan's locos and rolling stock, or indeed the beautiful ash crane and breakdown train that were so much a part of Maindee East.  Half a dozen old-ish OO gauge locos came with the layout when I bought it, clearly nothing to do with the layout at all.  It's a very disappointing outcome.  I don't fancy scratchbuilding another working model of an ash crane to replace Steffans!  Never mind, at least the layout still exists.  We so nearly didn't have that, either.

 

Once again, thank you for your interest and enthusiasm and I look forward to being able to show some photos of a revived Maindee East in the not too distant future.

 

Pete T.

 

 

 

[polybear]

Would there be any chance of taking some "before and after" photos, showing the restoration work?

Many thanks.

 

p.s. Regarding the Breakdown Crane, I'm pretty sure Steffan made a few extras to order - priced at the wrong side of 1K IIRC.  So if the layout sellers were aware of this then maybe the original layout crane went the same way (or has been saved, intending for it to be sold at a later date?).

[PJT]

15 minutes ago, polybear said:

Would there be any chance of taking some "before and after" photos, showing the restoration work?

 

I'll certainly have a go, when I get the time, probably a couple of weeks or so.

 

16 minutes ago, polybear said:

So if the layout sellers were aware of this then maybe the original layout crane went the same way (or has been saved, intending for it to be sold at a later date?).

 

That's the frustration of not being able to talk to the sellers.  I imagine the ash crane and breakdown crane would have had limited sales potential, being 18.83, particularly if there was substantial work required to regauge them to the more popular EM or OO - it might even be impossible to regauge them.

 

Pete T.

[Staffordshire]

 

    Hi, 

 

     Perhaps I can confirm or confuse a few of the above statements etc....

 

       Steffan definitely did produce a few of his 35T Crane kits as ready to run models.  I am lucky to own 2 of these, both built to OO gauge.

The price of these when purchased, approx 5-6 years ago was a couple of hundred less that the £1,000 mentioned.  They are beautifully finished

and weathered models.   

 

     One of the above maybe for sale at  a  price.

 

    Steffan also built the ash crane and wagon,  unfortunately I bought one of these, but it was back with Steffan for a small repair.

I have so far been unable to collect this item, along with a couple of GWR County 4-6-0's he had built for me, I am starting to feel I may

have to put this loss down to experience and a sad set of circumstances.

 

    I was lucky enough to see Maindee East a few years ago at the Southampton model railway show, I remember talking  to Steffan

and him saying it was one of the few shows he could attend and use all the smoke effects without  causing Fire alarms to go off.

 

   It was an amazing model, he was a very talented and lovely man.

 

     Ian Bradford 

[bécasse]

4 hours ago, Staffordshire said:

I was lucky enough to see Maindee East a few years ago at the Southampton model railway show, I remember talking  to Steffan and him saying it was one of the few shows he could attend and use all the smoke effects without  causing Fire alarms to go off.

 

Oddly, I was at an exhibition today in the GDL where there was a layout depicting a test station (à la Rugby) which was emitting a lot of "smoke", and my immediate thoughts were as to how long it would be before the fire alarms started sounding. They didn't go off though. I had seen the particular layout twice before but hadn't then appreciated just how much smoke it produced.

[craneman]

I am very pleased to hear that the future is assured for this magnificent model, well down for saving it!

 

I too have the good fortune to own a pair of Steffan's 36-tonners, built to my specific and rather precise instructions to represent Nos 2 and 3 on particular dates and in particular build conditions, for which purpose I supplied Steffan with many photos and details not only of the changes the cranes went through over their long working lives, but also the differences between Nos 2 and 3, which were never identical.

 

I can attest to the fact that they are spectacularly good models, in my opinion completely worth the cost. I do wonder how many of these cranes Steffan actually built.

[polybear]

41 minutes ago, craneman said:

I am very pleased to hear that the future is assured for this magnificent model, well down for saving it!

 

I too have the good fortune to own a pair of Steffan's 36-tonners, built to my specific and rather precise instructions to represent Nos 2 and 3 on particular dates and in particular build conditions, for which purpose I supplied Steffan with many photos and details not only of the changes the cranes went through over their long working lives, but also the differences between Nos 2 and 3, which were never identical.

 

I can attest to the fact that they are spectacularly good models, in my opinion completely worth the cost. I do wonder how many of these cranes Steffan actually built.

 

Could we see some photos please?

[craneman]

I don't have any photos at present, but will try to remember to take some next time I have a camera in my hand.

Edited November 18, 2019 by craneman
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