RailWest Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Sometime about 1967/68 a layout called "Bossington" appeared at the MRC's Easter show at Central Hall, Westminster. It was built by Leslie Eden of the Oxford MRC, and was an 'OO' RTR 'quickie' GWR branch-line terminus. (Although the name comes from a real place, I believe the layout's imagined location was un-related.) I have a copy of the relevant page from the show brochure with the track-plan, but no info about its size etc.Does anyone know of its fate or have any other information about it please? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesG Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 If I remember correctly there was an article in Railway Modeller or Model Railway Constructor a long time ago. the rael village is just north of the A39 between Minehead & Porlock, probably not railway country. If you can find an index to one or both magazines you may be able to track down the article which hopefully will have the dimensions. Regards, LesG. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold unravelled Posted September 17, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 17, 2011 I remember Les and the layout from when I was in the Oxford Club. I can't remember it in any detail, but will see If I have one of the Oxford club exhibition guides, in case it was described there. At a guess it would be under 6ft scenic, but it's a long time ago.. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawsienna Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Bossington was given a two page spread in the December 1968 edition of Railway Modeller. No dimensions were quoted but counting up the series of large radius PECO points shown in the photos. I would agree that the layout was about 6 feet in length (excluding fiddle yard of course). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hicksan Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 Oxford Club were recently (Feb 2021) offered this layout by a relative of the owner (Leslie Eden) who sadly passed away. It was last exhibited in Oxford in 1990. It appears to be folded shut according to the description we have, so may be well preserved for something 50+ years old. If anyone is interested in restoring it please let us know quickly before it is disposed of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob McM Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 Bossington was exhibited at the Model Railway Club's forty third exhibition in 1968, at the Royal Horticultural Hall. The track layout is in the layout section of that handbook (two shillings since you ask). I remember viewing it; it ran well, had a taped commentary and, I believe, offered a vision of a workable layout at an affordable cost for a new modeller. I am currently attempting to build a similar layout based of a Metropolitan/District Railway flavour. I have purchased old Graham Farish Liveway to recreate it and the board is around 8' by 1'4". Incidentally, the other end is based on The Minories by C J Freezer. I think one essential of tbe original layout was 5he smooth operation which was achieved by good track cleaning. I hope that, should I live long enough to enable the project, the combination of live frogs and good track cleaning will give me great operation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKPR Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Definitely the best article in this month's RM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 I remember watching the operation at an exhibition when I lived in Grendon Underwood. It was quite inspirational as the operation was slick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob McM Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 Further to my post on 18 September 2021, I think Railway Modeller is right on the ball with this. There was an enthusiastic audience viewing the full sequence of operations and, like me, people went back for another view. I am surprised to learn the track was hand built but the points purchased. Les would have loved live frogs! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hicksan Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 The layout is now restored and fully operational. For its age it runs remarkably well. There is a video about it on the Oxrail 2021 website, up for a few more days. After which you'll just have to see it live at exhibitions. We are applying the same ideas but with newer technology to other layouts. An arduino-based timetable unit has been designed for the Abingdon layout, able to operate another arduino as a sound unit to play narration tracks every second or third step in the timetable. Timetables are read from a micro-SD card allowing operators to choose timetables for different years / rolling stock sets. The module also sets all the points and signals for every move and communicates text message status updates with a sister module in the fiddle yard. It uses the MERG CBUS protocol for communication over a 4-wire layout control bus. All inspired by Bossington. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ROSSPOP Posted July 23, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) Ah ! Bossington........... I remember standing and watching it many times at an exhibition in Bedford way back in the very late 1970`s. The memory of it`s performance and it`s impression on me has lasted all this time...... Edited July 23, 2022 by ROSSPOP 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now