Peter Elmslie

[roythebus]

Sad news this week that Peter Elmslie, a life-long member of the Model Railway Club passed away on Monday 2nd March 2015.

 

Peter was well known at Keen House, having appeared there in the early 1960s just after its opening. He was well known for his loco building, starting in OO, then progressing to O gauge. Peter built a number of locos for the MRC's Happisburgh O gauge layout.

 

He was also an enthusiastic supporter of the Talyllyn Railway where he was commonly known as BEN.

 

In his earlier years Peter had a large layout in his place in Sutherland Avenue in north west London. One of the stations was known as Uckett Junction; Peter was well known for his colourful use of the English language, the fact that your loco didn't run properly because the "back to backs are wrong", and seemed to finish every statement with BOY!

 

In his latter years Peter moved to Diss and relished telling all and sundry that it rhymed with p***!! He never married or had any descendants. He will be missed at the club and the annual exhibition where he was well known for his beard, sandals and tatty jeans!

 

I don't know how old Peter was, late 70's probably! Rest in peace.

[Grovenor]

Sad news, its three or four years since I last saw him at Keen House, and that after a long gap when I was overseas, but the memories of the visits to Sutherland Avenue will stay with me, RIP Peter.

Keith

[bécasse]

As Roy and Keith's posts hint, Peter Elmslie was one of the real characters that made the Model Railway Club what it was over the years. 

 

He always seemed to have long list of things wrong with him that he couldn't really complain about but, somehow, one felt that he was going to be one of life's great survivors. Sadly it wasn't to be and Keen House and Ally Pally will be poorer for it.

 

It shouldn't be forgotten, either, that he was a very fine modeller of the old school, not afraid to cut up bits of metal and to use a soldering iron to good effect, and no one who went there will ever forget his house in Sutherland Avenue.

 

RIP Peter

 

David Woodcock

Champlon, Belgique

[roythebus]

Oh I don't know, considering the amount he smoked and drank (in his earlier years) he lasted considerably well!

 

Peter was a REAL character at the MRC. My son made a comment: "hope he has a sandalwood coffin"!! I'm sure Peter would have appreciated that.

[rupertb]

Peter was definitely from a bygone era - Diesels and f****** computers never agreed with him - as well as keeping HMRC in Tobacco Excise Duty revenue he was an avid reader of the Telegraph and a keen student of classical music.

As well as a few models we built together for Happisburgh (that sodding K3 with the wrong cabside profiles) I also have an old Leak amplifier of his - I never will get rid of the smell of Senior Service with no filter tip etched into it and perhaps I don't want to now.

I'll miss you - you old - and yes I did get the Epping Ongar Push Pull drawn and built :-)

[tc]

Following his move to Diss I hadn't seen him at Keen House for several years, but for my first 20 or so years as a MRC member Peter was a regular Thursday evening fixture. Although he vowed to resign if the Club upheld the smoking ban, he stayed and continued to generously provide help and assistance to those who asked. Although in fairness he rarely withheld his views even if he wasn't asked! 

 

Peter was a key part of the Happisburgh team, building many of the wonderful steam locos and later the coal tippler which I believe is now being used by Luton MRC on their layout. And back in 2004 he encouraged me to take my first steps into compensated chassis building in EM, and helped with the fiddle yard traverser on Minories.

 

RIP Peter

 

Tom

[roythebus]

Here's the details of Peter's funeral arrangements. Please contact The Model Railway Club for details of the post-funeral  arrangements, I have been asked not to make them public.

PE CREMATION DETAILS.doc

[kevinlms]

Peter was definitely from a bygone era - Diesels and f****** computers never agreed with him - as well as keeping HMRC in Tobacco Excise Duty revenue he was an avid reader of the Telegraph and a keen student of classical music.

As well as a few models we built together for Happisburgh (that sodding K3 with the wrong cabside profiles) I also have an old Leak amplifier of his - I never will get rid of the smell of Senior Service with no filter tip etched into it and perhaps I don't want to now.

I'll miss you - you old ###### - and yes I did get the Epping Ongar Push Pull drawn and built :-)

I recall reading your joint articles, on various problem solving in Model Railways in the 1990s, based around constructing a pair of K3's - in 4mm & 7mm IIRC.

[Brian Kirby]

Very sorry to hear of Peter's passing, he was one of the real characters of the model railway world, inevitably outspoken, but usually right, i can picture him now holding court at the MRC, or striding around an exhibition with his entourage in tow. He had a deep authorative voice, sometimes booming, he would broadcast his views across the room in his stentorian tones, i remember him carrying on a conversation with me on a crowded commuter train, discussing the merits of split axles on model locos, and he was ten seats away from me (not here Pete), surrounded by baffled commuters. He was a great modeller, especially on the mechanical side, building fleets of strong reliable locos and often helping others improve their's. It has to be said that some of the more timid were almost scared of him, but his bark was certainly worse than his bite, but you could have a blazing row with him (i often did), and still be good friends at the end of it, in fact he enjoyed and appreciated a frank exchange of views. If you never met him, appearance wise, think of that WW1 Lord Kitchener poster pointing the finger "Your Country Needs You" and put the letters "T R" on the cap. The flat-top engineman's cap was a regular part of the outfit, complete with donkey jacket, thick army surplus jumper, peculiarly short leg jeans and finished off with jesus sandels, carrying a carpet bag or grip, full of locos wrapped in bath towels. He even tried to convert us younger members to this form of dress, but i used to advise him that it would be no good for pulling birds and trying to gain entry to nightclubs. God bless Peter, R.I.P.

                                       Brian Kirby

P.S. For anyone who met him, here's a list from memory of Pete's numerous "catchphrases", see if you remember any, plus by all means add any you recall.

 

"Let's be straight about this", "As i said to Ken Keyser . . .", "Not wishing to be catty, but . . . ", "The whole thing is a complete abortion", "Hello mate, how's it going?"/"How goes it?", "Well basically speaking . . .", "I've done a Mike Sharman on the tender", "Bring the chassis around to my place mate", "Look mate, do yourself a favour", "Check your back-to-backs, boy" (boy optional), "Baseboard ends need brasses", "Mind the Siphon J, it's Mallard don't you know", "I'm off to Towyn mate", "I'll be using some three-eighths square brass on the chassis", "I've split-axled the whole thing (Wills 4F)", "The tank wagon slogan is "Consolidated P*** "  mate", "The coal wagon is lettered "Norfolk & Good", "I live in British West Hampstead", "We're all off to Teddy Boston's", "It won't work you know", "These alloy nucro wheels are crap" (pronounced "quapp"), "These new K's plastic-centred driving wheels are quapp", "These new K's HP2M motors are quapp", "It was going at a rate of knots", "Have you done much lathe work lately?", "Oh yes, i've turned all the wheels on the lathe", "Done any decent modelling lately?"

[bécasse]

Some real memories in that lot, Brian. I would add one more, in response to a question about the state of his health a good decade or more ago, came the response "I'm f***ing dying mate". Oh, well I suppose it comes to all of us in the end and, considering his addiction to the weed, Peter didn't have a bad innings.