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1928 Model Engineer Exhibition - Silver Medal Winners


2mmMark
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Wow, they look surprisingly 'modern' looking, particularly underneath, considering they are at least 85 years old! How wonderful to see.

 

It would be nice to think these historic models, from the very dawn of 2mm scale and miniature modelling, could find a more permanent home in the care of the Association. 

Edited by Phil Copleston
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It would be nice to think these historic models, from the very dawn of 2mm scale and miniature modelling, could find a more permanent home in the care of the Association. 

 

I'm no longer on the committee, and the existance of the Langridge models came to light after the last AGM.  But, I doubt that the Association could or should look after them.  Some years ago, I recall you telling me that museums need disposal policies before acquisition policies.  We have neither and are not in any sense set up to be a museum - we have a real problem looking after our own archives (box of stuff which never sees the light of day), let alone adding to them.

 

Perhaps a member with interest in historic artifacts might be interested in looking after them, that's a different matter.

 

- Nigel

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So long as they are in safe hands - and their significance and worth is appreciated - I don't think it matters all that much where they are. Should that be threatened, that would be another matter. They are extraordinarily fine pieces of work (a C14 would be 'challenging' even now in 4mm - I don't blame the builder for not doing the full Walschert's valve gear) and photograph well though it's a sobering thought that they are wearing what were nearly contemporary liveries! Presumably 488 was modelled from the real thing then on the East Kent Railway? There were very few Radials in SR service by that date.

 

Adam

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On the Britain From Above web site, there's a shot of a train on the LSWR line through Ashford Middlesex that looks like it's being hauled by a Radial. It's just possible as these are 1920's photographs. As Mr. Langridge lived in Isleworth, he might well have seen them in service.

 

A long shot maybe?

 

Edit - my mistake, it's a 0-4-4

http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/EPW023523

Edited by 2mmMark
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I'm no longer on the committee, and the existance of the Langridge models came to light after the last AGM.  But, I doubt that the Association could or should look after them.  Some years ago, I recall you telling me that museums need disposal policies before acquisition policies.  We have neither and are not in any sense set up to be a museum - we have a real problem looking after our own archives (box of stuff which never sees the light of day), let alone adding to them.

 

Perhaps a member with interest in historic artifacts might be interested in looking after them, that's a different matter.

 

- Nigel

 

Perhaps we should have a Museum of British Railway Modelling? Should be enough interest out there and it would be a great draw as an extra attraction at a railway preservation site.

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Perhaps we should have a Museum of British Railway Modelling? Should be enough interest out there and it would be a great draw as an extra attraction at a railway preservation site.

 

I'm sure something similar was mooted some years ago, and never got off the ground. The nearest thing at present is perhaps the HMRS study centre at Butterley.

 

The Association has considered since these models came to light whether we should maintain an archive of models, but as Nigel mentions above, there has been little/no interest from our members in setting this up, and we are just not set up to look after collections such as these. The limited archive of models we do have is stored by one of our senior members with an interest in these things, and has only been displayed once, at our Golden Jubilee Expo in 2010. Far better that they go to someone who will appreciate and maintain them, even if there are then in private hands. Mark very kindly agreed to photograph the models so that we at least have a detailed record of them in their current state.

 

Andy H

2mm Scale Association Secretary

Edited by 2mm Andy
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Does anyone know whether there was any connection with the Eric Langridge who wss a premium pupil under Drummond at Eastleigh and later went to Derby? He died in 1999 at the age of 102. If so, it would explain the choice of LSWR prototypes.

 

 

For good order's sake it may be worth checking spellings . There was certainly a Michael Longridge , who was a member of Wimbledon MRC between the wars,  modelling in HO, and of the MRC in the 1940s, when he was a pioneer of EM. He seems to have known A R Walkley , another early member of Wimbledon MRC who as well as being a pioneer of interwar finescale in the mid 1920s in HO, is known to have experimented with a precursor of 2mm and was reported in a wartime magazine to have built a Johnson 0-6-0, in this scale, described as very controllable.

 

I assumed when I first read the thread that this must be the provenance, but Langridge is not Longridge...  However a connection with Wimbledon MRC would certainly explain the choice of prototypes, and the models are of exactly the right period

 

While the paintwork has suffered a little from the passage of time, with modern paintwork both models would grace any layout built today   

 

Personally I think the award of a silver medal was a little grudging. The gold medal winner must have been extremely fine to beat these

Edited by Ravenser
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For good order's sake it may be worth checking spellings . There was certainly a Michael Longridge , who was a member of Wimbledon MRC between the wars,  modelling in HO, and of the MRC in the 1940s, when he was a pioneer of EM. He seems to have known A R Walkley , another early member of Wimbledon MRC who as well as being a pioneer of interwar finescale in the mid 1920s in HO, is known to have experimented with a precursor of 2mm and was reported in a wartime magazine to have built a Johnson 0-6-0, in this scale, described as very controllable.

 

I assumed when I first read the thread that this must be the provenance, but Langridge is not Longridge...  However a connection with Wimbledon MRC would certainly explain the choice of prototypes, and the models are of exactly the right period

 

While the paintwork has suffered a little from the passage of time, with modern paintwork both models would grace any layout built today   

 

Personally I think the award of a silver medal was a little grudging. The gold medal winner must have been extremely fine to beat these

 

The chap who is currently holds the models is an executor of the estate of Mr Langridge's son, so I'm pretty sure that we've got the spelling right. In addition, J.J.Langridge wrote several articles in the 2mm magazine in the 60s/70s featuring some of these models.

 

Andy

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Didn't the little 0-4-0 appear in a magazine sometime ago? Model Rail springs to mind, it also included a photo of the length of track and controller. I think there maybe have also been a period receipt.

 

Pix

Edited by Pixie
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I've been looking stuff up in the 2mm Magazine for Winter 1969.

 

It looks like Langridge did in fact know A.R. Walkley and both were in the Wimbledon MRC. Langridge & H.B. Whall also knew each other and I'm told that Langridge built some of Whall's commissions. Around 1952/1953 P.D. Hancock commissioned a C14 from Whall for his Gleish Valley 2mm layout and this was documented in the Railway Modeller for August 1960. It's possible that Whall based the C14 on Langridge's design, or maybe Langridge actually built the Hancock C14. There are definite similarities but the later C14 looks rather more simplified. For example, disc rather than spoked driving wheels.

 

It also looks like the actual medal winners were the C14 and an Adams 0395 class 0-6-0, plus a pair of LSWR coaches. The 0395 wasn't in the batch of models I photographed, so it may well be missing. In the 1969 photos, they are in Southern livery, not LSWR.

 

By 1973, the Langridge models were definitely in LSWR livery, as there's a photo of the C14 & Adams Radial in the Feb 1973 2mm Magazine.

 

Sounds like we need to get Pete Frame & his Rotring pens to do a 2mm version of "Rock Family Trees"!

 

Mark

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I've just had a root through the box of 2mm archive photos (mostly paste-ups from old issues of the 2mm Magazine which are waiting to be scanned and catalogued when I have a spare week or two!) and have found photos of a LSWR '02'  0-4-4t No. 197 and an Adams 'Jubilee' 0-4-2 tender loco No. 548, plus what looks like an aerial photo of one of the layouts built by Mr Langridge. Both loco are in LSWR livery. See photos below (photos from 2mm Scale Association archives - original photographer unknown)

 

post-8055-0-67660400-1358893779_thumb.jpg

 

post-8055-0-78582800-1358893887_thumb.jpg

 

post-8055-0-58578700-1358893924_thumb.jpg

 

Andy

Edited by 2mm Andy
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I've just had a root through the box of 2mm archive photos (mostly paste-ups from old issues of the 2mm Magazine which are waiting to be scanned and catalogued when I have a spare week or two!) and have found photos of a LSWR '02'  0-4-4t No. 197 and an Adams 'Jubilee' 0-4-2 tender loco No. 548, plus what looks like an aerial photo of one of the layouts built by Mr Langridge. Both loco are in LSWR livery. See photos below (photos from 2mm Scale Association archives - original photographer unknown)

 

Andy,

 

Those look like the photos I rescued from the collection of 2mm Magazine material inherited from Geoff Balfour when I was Publicity Officer. There were sack-fulls of yellowing gluey copy text and paste-ups from 25 years of Geoff editing the Magazine. I separated out and cleaned all the photos and original artwork (including Stewart Hine Magazine covers from the 1960s). The whole lot eventually was passed to Nigel Cliffe when I gave up the post; I guess that's how you got it. There should be loads more fascinating period stuff in there somewhere!  

Edited by Phil Copleston
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Phil,

 

Sounds very much like them. There are still some photos stuck to paste-ups, but most photos and drawings are loose. The intention is to scan them and catalogue them as best I can (probably by subject, as there are little/no details on most photos) so that we have electronic copies as well as the originals. I'll try and put the photos into some sort of archive album as well - at the moment they're stored loose in a cardboard box which isn't ideal.

 

Andy

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Thanks Phil. I'll try to get them scanned and onto a CD - that at least makes it easier than sifting through stacks of loose photos. I can identify a fair chunk, but there are some unidentified ones where it would be nice to have the modeller's name or even a date. I'm sure Chris H might be able to use a few of the better ones when the history section of the 2mm Handbook gets written.

 

And to get back on topic slightly, details of the Langridge models will be posted in the next 2mm Newsletter, due to be posted to members in a week or so.

 

Andy

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Mark,

Thanks so much for the links to these excellent photos. For me, this is the first time I've really had a good look at these pioneering 2mm scale models by J J Langridge. These are rare models indeed, with a style of John Ahern about them. I've looked through them all, and although of their period and perhaps lack some of the fine detail expected of current 2mm finescale models, they nevertheless simply ooze character and convey a certain delightful hand-made charm and quality. It is such a pleasure to see these lovely skilfully scratchbuilt models to true 1:152nd scale. A tribute to what can be achieved with simple materials such as tinplate, card and gummed paper. Absolutely superb!


Seeing their 'For Sale' notice in the latest 2mm Scale Association Magazine, I only hope they go to an appreciative new home, are kept together as a collection, and are periodically made available for display at future Association events. (I only wish I could afford them myself!) Please let us know what happens to them.

Edited by Phil Copleston
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It's a little odd to think that these were 'modern image' when they were built! Like Phil, I really hope they end up in a safe place and, assuming it wouldn't be destructive, they're still used every now and then as the builder intended.

 

Pix

Edited by Pixie
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A thought... the 16mm NG folks keep a register of historic locos and have a display stand at their annual gathering plus a layout where they can show their paces if the owners so desire.

 

Maybe something we could do at an Expo or AGM (a small display cabinet at least) so that more folks can get a peek at the output of previous generations of 2mm modellers?

 

Regards, Andy

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