ThePurplePrimer Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Hi guys It seems that the traditional oval layout on something like a 6 or 8 x 4 has fallen out of favour but there is something about them that stirs memories and personally I think they have a charm of their own I would love to see some pictures ( or plans of ) ones you have seen that you thought looked great or maybe are even your own There must have been a lot built over the years and I am sure that some of them were quite worthy of a mention 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2013 The trainset that made the most impression on was this one; http://triangtrains.co.uk/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29859 Many many years ago a schoolfriend had one, there seemed to be so many wagons, I remember it well. Probably unknowingly started my wagon fetish off! Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) Probably the one on pages 48-49 of the Lego trains iIdeas book of 1981. I think, with the exception of bridge and the gas holders, everything was official sets of the time. http://www.peeron.com/scans/7777-1/48 http://www.peeron.com/scans/7777-1/49 However the front and back covers were even more inspiring http://www.peeron.com/scans/7777-1/84 http://www.peeron.com/scans/7777-1/1 For 'proper' models, mention has to go Bredon which was in the July 1985 Railway Modeller Edited December 13, 2013 by Talltim 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Legend Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2013 That was my first train too Mike. 1965 You used to go to department stores and they would have Triang trainlayouts usually with elevated sections and maybe also minic motorways. For me it was the catalogues and track plans books that were inspirational. I very well remember the 1974 Hornby catalogue which more innovative ways of using 8 x 4 than just two loops of track. The inside front cover of the 74 catalogue , whiich was also the cover of the third and fourth editions of the track plans book looked very exciting. Inclined track and diamond crossing so that inner and outer circles crossed over themselves, or by changing points became one large circuit. Not at all prototypical but very inspirational and above all fun! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Nothing beat the Gamages layout in my opinion. Strange that there is very little online about that shop though. Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2013 The one that made the most impression on me (then aged about 10) was a Marklin layout belonging to a friend in Hamburg. It all worked so well be comparison with the Triang that I had and even contemporary Hornby-Dublo. And there were so many accessories including full lighting, a working turntable and a roundhouse with doors that opened automatically to let locos in and out. Only criticism would be that it was very noisy, running on tinplate track. Must have been hell for the people in the flat below unless they were deaf. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahame Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 The train set I remember well is the one on one of the upper floors of Hamleys in Regent street that went around the stair well. It must have been around the late 60s/early 70s. G. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) Nothing beat the Gamages layout in my opinion. Strange that there is very little online about that shop though. Stewart Totally with you on that one Stewart. My friend's parents used to take us there every Christmas. I'm guessing that would have been the mid 50's and it was Lionel 0 gauge, although I seem to recall later set ups were in 00 gauge. As a child it was immense and that feeling of wonderment has stayed with me ever since. The catalogue alone would keep me going all year till the next Christmas. A search on Gamages and then images, brings it all back. The other one was an out and back layout put together by the North Middlesex Railway Club and exhibited in Lacey Hall, Hazlewood Lane, Palmers Green. Again I would have only been 6 or 7 but I stood in awe watching the trains come and go... Edited December 13, 2013 by gordon s 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&WR Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Mine as was and as resurrected for my boy 25 years later: I never tried to do all the scenic stuff as there simply were not the products, the advice or the money there is now. I had a kit station building (but no platforms), scratchbuilt a hut and a coal staithe (with real coal smashed up), and a fairly good collection of locos and rolling stock. I made posters and signs copying pictures in books, using paper and pencils and to my delight these were still attached with Blu-Tack to the side walls of the baseboard. I loved it. In the holidays I was allowed to fold it down from my bedroom wall and sleep on a mattress on the floor underneath. Absolute boy-heaven, camping out and not being disturbed with my trains for weeks at a time! Having taken up the hobby again it's more like this, now, and has developed a lot since then: I don't need to sleep underneath it any more, but as it's still at my parents' house don't get to play nearly as much... 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2013 The train set I remember well is the one on one of the upper floors of Hamleys in Regent street that went around the stair well. It must have been around the late 60s/early 70s. G. It was still there up to a couple of years ago. Hamleys had two layouts; one 'official' Hornby set on which the Flying Scotsman and an industrial goods train used to hurtle round 2 loops, often derailing, and the Gauge1/LGB-type one on the shelf running round the stairwell. Odd thing about that one though was that you could only see it at eye-level as you ascended the stairs so couldn't really stop and look for fear of being trampled in the crush!! Probably been lifted and replaced by Nano-turtle-powered quasi-spatial galactic-busting pokemon-driven Halo-themed high-impact plastic hovercars in dayglo primary colours as it seems most other toys in the shops are these days... David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) Probably been lifted and replaced by Nano-turtle-powered quasi-spatial galactic-busting pokemon-driven Halo-themed high-impact plastic hovercars in dayglo primary colours as it seems most other toys in the shops are these days... David I was tempted by some these but after reading 'the internet' it seems there are some accuracy issues with the roofline. Edited December 13, 2013 by ThePurplePrimer 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share Posted December 13, 2013 I just dug my Peco planbook out and am now interested in Talltim's nomination of Bredon Has anyone seen any good pictures online ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share Posted December 13, 2013 That's a great example C&WR Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2013 It was still there up to a couple of years ago. Hamleys had two layouts; one 'official' Hornby set on which the Flying Scotsman and an industrial goods train used to hurtle round 2 loops, often derailing, and the Gauge1/LGB-type one on the shelf running round the stairwell. Odd thing about that one though was that you could only see it at eye-level as you ascended the stairs so couldn't really stop and look for fear of being trampled in the crush!! Probably been lifted and replaced by Nano-turtle-powered quasi-spatial galactic-busting pokemon-driven Halo-themed high-impact plastic hovercars in dayglo primary colours as it seems most other toys in the shops are these days... David David, I don't think you are thinking of the same one. It must be thirty years ago now that Hamleys was rebuilt to provide more metres of selling space but making the shop just like any other. Don't know how it got past planning. Before that, it had the classical department store layout (see Galeries Lafayette in Paris) with a huge atrium around the stairs which extended all the way up from the ground floor. I think it was at first floor level (although trains were sold on the third floor) that a layout ran all round the "balcony edge" of the atrium. It was oval shaped and, I would guess about 60' x 40' It was actually very simple with three circuits of track (one double, one single) at different levels with quite a lot of bridges, flyovers and tunnels. I loved to visit it on afternoons off from school. But it is not quite the sort of thing the OP had in mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&WR Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 That's a great example C&WR Many thanks! As I say, not elaborate but built with love & much loved. Dad, aside from being a Civil Engineer, was and is a very handy carpenter. When we rebuilt it over the past couple of years he was delighted to relay some of the points with new ones. He explained he would never have designed some of the crossovers we had in his real job, but had to lay it out of the box of second-hand track we could afford! As for Hamley's I wouldn't go near the place these days. The Long Haired Controller's family are Kiwis, so whenever the visit they have to go there & Horrids and pay well over the odds for stuff, just to be able to say they've been & to get the carrier bags. I book an afternoon in my Club or the pub... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2013 Ah, ok that would make sense; I was only introduced to Hamleys I think in around '83/84 on a family weekend in the capital so it would have been in its newer incarnation... David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 The trainset that made the most impression on was this one; http://triangtrains.co.uk/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29859 I followed the link and was amused by some of their descriptions - worthy of e-bay's best! How about: "It would have been in mint condition but the varnish is lifting on the GNSR to one side of the train" and, on the same item "Comes in a Hornby box but this is not the original one" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2013 I just dug my Peco planbook out and am now interested in Talltim's nomination of Bredon Has anyone seen any good pictures online ? Only thing I found was this:http://www.osbornsmodels.com/peco-setrack-oo-plan-7--bredon---a-classic-scenic-oval-layout-22372-p.asp I couldn't get the picture to load though... David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 The one that made the most impression on me (then aged about 10) was a Marklin layout belonging to a friend in Hamburg. Likewise, family layouts owned by continental European family. Better looking and detailed models with a far more ambitious range available, that ran much better than UK RTR. No idea when the Krokodil was introduced in HO form, it captivated me when I was operating in short trousers mode. Interesting that it is Heljan involved in the imminent availability of a UK prototype rod coupled articulated loco for OO. Just that little bit more ambition from the HO RTR producers perhaps? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 For me it is Commercial Road by Scenic Model Railways... http://www.scenicmodelrailways.com/page_315363.html This has appeared in numerous Hornby catalogues. In fact, I was/am so taken with the layout that I am creating a version of it in N Gauge. Merry Christmas Paddy 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2013 I just dug my Peco planbook out and am now interested in Talltim's nomination of Bredon Has anyone seen any good pictures online ? The last time I visited Pecorama they had this layout as an exhibit.Very nice too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I know that I was taken to see the Gamages layout, and probably the Hamleys one, more than once because my parents used to remind me about it in later years. However, I don't remember anything about them. The two that I do remember most from my childhood were the Gainsborough 0 gauge layout of the ECML (which still absorbs me now), and one that was somewhere just off the main traffic centre in Bournemouth and was a 'must see' every time we visited the town in the 1960's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2013 I just dug my Peco planbook out and am now interested in Talltim's nomination of Bredon Has anyone seen any good pictures online ? The last time I visited Pecorama they had this layout as an exhibit.Very nice too. Found this thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&p=611674 Post #153 gives the last update I believe... David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2013 Hope no-one minds but in context I'd like to post a few pics of my Dad's current 'train set layout' which he is building in their garage; it's a work in progress, and he loves it as it gives him something creative and fun to do with his time. He's always looking for new bits to add to and change the existing arrangement; he's constructed all the buildings, bridges, barge etc out of wood, card and paper (apart from the footbridge and water tower I think) and it's given me loads of inspiration to just go and enjoy watching the trains run and seeing his enthusiasm for his layout...oh, and it's called 'Hornby Junction' 'cos that's where he was born, not due to him being a supporter of a certain manufacturer; he likes Bachmann and Dapol too...!! David 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Trevellan Posted December 13, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2013 Bredon gets my vote too. A compact design, yet a lot of operating potential and achievable for most people. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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