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Older Inspirational Layouts


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On 13/12/2019 at 23:12, PMP said:

Ruyton Road was in MRJ 75 and 170. I saw it a couple of times and it was a brilliant capture of a Colonel Stevens type light railway. If it’s still with Marc it’s in good hands.

 

 

Got an early xmas pressie for myself :) I managed to find a copy of MRJ No75, the article on Ruyton Road is fantastic, if only the photo's were in colour. 

It's a cracking layout, well worth checking out and the picture of the overbridge might just help me out of a problem I'm struggling with on my layout! 

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Having just got my copy of MRJ 276, it occurred to me how much it has changed (and I don't just mean the price).  So off up into the loft to look at my back copies.  I have to confess I did miss the original preview copy (but got a reprint) but I have every copy since then.  No.1 was bought in W H Smiths Preston when I lived in the north west for some years.  Having a look at it to see the difference 275 issues has made, I came across Stanmore by Dave Pennington, and what a stunning layout it was 35 years ago and today as well in my opinion.  I wonder what happened to it??.  I think it must be a rarity given its LNWR in the home counties, which rather appeals to me as I think I may have posted elsewhere.  Apart from Aylesbury, I wonder if there have been any other LNWR BLT's??

Martyn

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1 hour ago, Martync said:

Having just got my copy of MRJ 276, it occurred to me how much it has changed (and I don't just mean the price).  So off up into the loft to look at my back copies.  I have to confess I did miss the original preview copy (but got a reprint) but I have every copy since then.  No.1 was bought in W H Smiths Preston when I lived in the north west for some years.  Having a look at it to see the difference 275 issues has made, I came across Stanmore by Dave Pennington, and what a stunning layout it was 35 years ago and today as well in my opinion.  I wonder what happened to it??.  I think it must be a rarity given its LNWR in the home counties, which rather appeals to me as I think I may have posted elsewhere.  Apart from Aylesbury, I wonder if there have been any other LNWR BLT's??

Martyn

I have certainly seen a model of Holywell Town, and you are right about Dave Pennington's Stanmore, it was a superb model.

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Ken Hill and I have Valleyfields, which uses buildings from the Red Wharf Bay branch on Anglesey. We changed so much we felt that a new name had to be used.

 

565131477_Valleyfields2.jpg.01757e871067f6c77bc05eccee478710.jpg

 

229601597_Valleyfields3.jpg.54572ec7b19de78167f686e673f906c1.jpg

 

There was an unfinished (but what had been done was very nice) layout of Holywell Town that appeared at an EXPO EM event several years ago. I did hear that it was finished and maybe under new ownership but I haven't seen it since.

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Dave Pennington's current project is a model of Liverpool Lime Street, although not as "grandiose" as John Holden's version, as he was building it single handed. 

 

I haven't seen David for some time so have emailed him for an update on the whereabouts of Stanmore.

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28 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

Ken Hill and I have Valleyfields, which uses buildings from the Red Wharf Bay branch on Anglesey. We changed so much we felt that a new name had to be used.

 

565131477_Valleyfields2.jpg.01757e871067f6c77bc05eccee478710.jpg

 

229601597_Valleyfields3.jpg.54572ec7b19de78167f686e673f906c1.jpg

 

There was an unfinished (but what had been done was very nice) layout of Holywell Town that appeared at an EXPO EM event several years ago. I did hear that it was finished and maybe under new ownership but I haven't seen it since.

Tony,

 

a 17" Goods with vacuum pipes? Surely not.

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2 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Tony,

 

a 17" Goods with vacuum pipes? Surely not.

 

Not one of mine Jol!

 

Although I enjoy modelling the pre-grouping scene, the LNWR is very much a minority interest and I am no expert. I didn't even know that it was a 17" goods until you mentioned it. The kit box says "Coal Engine" and that is what we have always called it.

 

Ken built that from an old M & L kit some 35 or 40 years ago and if the kit had vacuum pipes in the box, on they went! I wouldn't even guarantee that the number is correct for the loco. There was a small stock of etched numberplates in the drawer and Ken would almost pick one at random. At the time, we had no books or information and "winging it" was the order of the day.

 

The loco appeared on our first joint exhibition layout some time in the early 1980s and has been seen in public many times since and it is the first time anybody has mentioned it. I will remove it when Ken isn't looking!

 

The Watford Tank is one of mine, from the London Road kit. Is the red cab interior right? Information was very sketchy when I built it just after the kit was introduced, many years ago.

 

 

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1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

 

Not one of mine Jol!

 

Although I enjoy modelling the pre-grouping scene, the LNWR is very much a minority interest and I am no expert. I didn't even know that it was a 17" goods until you mentioned it. The kit box says "Coal Engine" and that is what we have always called it.

 

Ken built that from an old M & L kit some 35 or 40 years ago and if the kit had vacuum pipes in the box, on they went! I wouldn't even guarantee that the number is correct for the loco. There was a small stock of etched numberplates in the drawer and Ken would almost pick one at random. At the time, we had no books or information and "winging it" was the order of the day.

 

The loco appeared on our first joint exhibition layout some time in the early 1980s and has been seen in public many times since and it is the first time anybody has mentioned it. I will remove it when Ken isn't looking!

 

The Watford Tank is one of mine, from the London Road kit. Is the red cab interior right? Information was very sketchy when I built it just after the kit was introduced, many years ago.

 

 

The official "title" was 17" Goods,  Tony. They were commonly known as Coal Engines and were only used for goods work so were never vacuum fitted.

LNWR cabs were painted Indian Red, but that seems a fairly variable colour depending on which railway used it!

The LNWR a minority interest?  It seems that you are not alone, many lesser railways than the Premier Line - which means all of them - seem to attract more interest.

 

Jol

 

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47 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

The official "title" was 17" Goods,  Tony. They were commonly known as Coal Engines and were only used for goods work so were never vacuum fitted.

LNWR cabs were painted Indian Red, but that seems a fairly variable colour depending on which railway used it!

The LNWR a minority interest?  It seems that you are not alone, many lesser railways than the Premier Line - which means all of them - seem to attract more interest.

 

Jol

 

 

When I say that the LNWR is a minority interest, I mean that out of the pre-grouping companies that I model, it takes 4th place behind the GCR, the GNR and the Midland. My interest is due to helping Ken rather than it being a company I would choose although I do like the style and livery of the locos and stock. In terms of overall interest in the hobby as a whole, it must be one of the best supported companies due in part to the wide range of kits and now RTR available.

 

I am quite pleased that the period is still a minority interest generally as it means that my models stand out from the crowd a bit, as you have done with your modelling.

Edited by t-b-g
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Inspiration comes in many ways- here's a press cutting unearthed during a lockdown clearout session, from the Daily Telegraph of 23 April 1973. Easter, Central Hall, one of the first trips I was allowed to make on my own- and the following morning my parents got proof that I was really there! I am the boy bending down to look closely at bottom left, and I remember being awestruck at seeing my childhood heroes in the flesh, and in the metal/plastic. Does anyone else recognise themselves, or indeed recall gaining inspiration from this layout?

 

Stuart J

NMRE73 001.jpg

Edited by 4069
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I would have been stewarding on the Southern static models stand at the time, having exhibited, with a group of friends, a layout two years previously (1971) and, indeed, will exhibit again the following year (1974). It is interesting to note the Telegraph's estimation of the likely attendance, less than a decade earlier the show had regularly attracted attendances around 45.000 over five days, albeit when Central Hall still had two floors available for exhibition use.

P4BembridgeBR5.jpg.38f88754d4fa3d04c076252ea8f13918.jpg

photo courtesy British Rail

 

I look just a tad older these days but I have still exhibited a small P4 layout (at an exhibition in France) within the last six months.

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24 minutes ago, bécasse said:

I would have been stewarding on the Southern static models stand at the time, having exhibited, with a group of friends, a layout two years previously (1971) and, indeed, will exhibit again the following year (1974). It is interesting to note the Telegraph's estimation of the likely attendance, less than a decade earlier the show had regularly attracted attendances around 45.000 over five days, albeit when Central Hall still had two floors available for exhibition use.

P4BembridgeBR5.jpg.38f88754d4fa3d04c076252ea8f13918.jpg

photo courtesy British Rail

 

I look just a tad older these days but I have still exhibited a small P4 layout (at an exhibition in France) within the last six months.

Bembridge?

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5 hours ago, 4069 said:

Inspiration comes in many ways- here's a press cutting unearthed during a lockdown clearout session, from the Daily Telegraph of 23 April 1973. Easter, Central Hall, one of the first trips I was allowed to make on my own- and the following morning my parents got proof that I was really there! I am the boy bending down to look closely at bottom left, and I remember being awestruck at seeing my childhood heroes in the flesh, and in the metal/plastic. Does anyone else recognise themselves, or indeed recall gaining inspiration from this layout?

 

Stuart J

NMRE73 001.jpg

They're all looking extremely serious including the Rev. Awdry

I think it was Ffarquahar Mk 1 (the 6x4ft one) that inspired me at the MRC Easter show some years earlier. I was just thinking how early 70s the visitors looked, especially the chap at the back with a beard and horn rimmed glasse. Then I remembered that in 1973 I also had a beard and horn rimmed glasses though it isn't me. I was still at Uni in 1973 and didn't move up to London till the following January so wouldn't have been at that exhibition. I don't actually remember any Central Hall MRC exhibitions after that  though I must have been to one or two; I was even a member for several years. When was the last of them?  

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Thanks for posting that Pacific. Brought memories flooding back to me. Although I don't know if I made it in 1973.  But I was stewarding at most in the 1960s which I would say were some of the happiest days of my life at that time. Brilliant. 

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On 02/12/2019 at 21:24, Nearholmer said:

Many years back someone, and I've no idea who, built a very good model of Aston Rowant.

 

It was possibly the first truly fine scale compact layout that I saw close-up at an exhibition, and for all its extreme simplicity I found it very engaging ........ not much happening, modelled very accurately indeed!

Hi

Myself and 2 others build an early P4 Layout of Aston Rowant must be around 1976/77 when we were members of the Western Model Railway club based by Acton station. It was exhibited at their local show, cannot remember where think it was in Greenford. 

I have a photo somewhere, if I find it I will publish it to see if it the one you are thinking of

 

Ian

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There are so many that have inspired but I love the writings and layouts produced by Iain rice, especially the Rice and Barlow escapades like the Snape Maltings.

I would have a long list but a Inkerman street was inspirational.

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I was inspired by all the old faithfuls, especially the Rev. Denny and Frank Dyer, but one layout that still stands out to me is Wickham LMS by Chris Matthewman. It was in an early issue of MRJ and still sums up what I would like to achieve. 

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I have been a big fan of Neil Herd's 'Helford Creek' layouts ... first the OO one, then the O gauge version. Not quite sure what it was about them, but there was a subtle effectiveness to the buildings and the design. Pics in the Railway Modeller and the GOG Gazette, but I haven't seen anything online, or whether he has built anything else.

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43 minutes ago, Jack said:

I have been a big fan of Neil Herd's 'Helford Creek' layouts ... first the OO one, then the O gauge version. Not quite sure what it was about them, but there was a subtle effectiveness to the buildings and the design. Pics in the Railway Modeller and the GOG Gazette, but I haven't seen anything online, or whether he has built anything else.

 

Sadly Neil passed away some years ago - he was a very talented modeller.

 

The buildings from the 00 layout were donated to Reading Society of Model Engineers (his club, of which I am also a member). Some of them have been reused on the Club's 00 layout, and we were in the process of constructing a new scene to incorporate more of them when the lockdown came along. Some of the other buildings, like the curved row of shops, and the station buildings, we have yet to work in owing to their awkward shapes.

 

Incorporating the buildings hasn't been easy, as many of them were built with a degree of false perspective or to fit a slope, meaning we have to attempt to recreate his ground levels!

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