Amberdale

[Hroth]

One wonders why it ended up in the Mails "femail" reportage. Was it thought of as "crafty" and not appropriate for the male gaze?

 

I treasure the description in the subheading bulletpoints of the railway as a "steam train line"!

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by Hroth
I wanted to say a little more but pressed the wrong button...

[Edwardian]

27 minutes ago, Hroth said:

One wonders why it ended up in the Mails "femail" reportage. Was it thought of as "crafty" and not appropriate for the male gaze?

 

I treasure the description in the subheading bulletpoints of the railway as a "steam train line"!

 

 

And the tabs etc are in pink! Bless.

 

Perhaps the Mail assumes that the Fairer Sex should subsist on a diet of harmless trivia while their Menfolk decide the important issues of the day, like criminalising peaceful protest, breaching international treaties with the EU and ramming migrant vessels at sea before deporting the survivors to Africa.  Then they can tell their Little Women how to vote without troubling them to think about it.

 

Too much? Yes, sorry.

 

Anyway, these are a good selection of pictures.  Quite a few of them are of the low-viewpoint type that characterise the book, but there are a couple of more conventional layout pictures, like the heading one that also features Mr Harvey, so all in all the article gives a pretty good taster, I would say. 

 

Thanks to Nick for linking.

[CKPR]

"Detailed right down to a miniature Ramsey McDonald having an illicit brown ale before giving a hypocritical talk to the local working men's temperance society" 

[Regularity]

The June RM has a review, with two criticisms.
One is about the size of the photos.

The other is that the book doesn’t go into details about the modelling techniques.

I presume that reading the foreword and understanding what the book is actually about is deemed to be outside the purview of a reviewer?

 

Whilst there are two or three things about this layout that I wouldn’t choose to do, if minded to follow in the same vein, I understand the creator’s reason for so doing, and am happy about that - they are his choices, made consciously (which, to me, is the essence of “finescale”) - and frankly this is ****ing brilliant.

Although whoever it was who commended Edwardian for bringing this to the attention of a wider audience, I forgive you!

[awoodford]

Thank you Edwardian for the review, which I came upon by chance while idly scrolling through the forum and being hooked in by the word Amberdale. Like others here, I remember this layout from the MRJ article, and was blown away when I saw it then. I'm not an internet shopper, but I'll certainly be scrutinizing the exhibition bookstands in hopeful anticipation of finding the book there.

As an aside, an even earlier version of Mr Harvey's ECR featured as Railway of the Month in the December 1957 edition of RM, when he was no'but a teenager, if I've done my sums right. Although that layout was very much of its time it inspired me as a youngster, and the article makes for interesting reading in the light of what he was to go on to achieve. As he writes there... "Indeed even now I am thinking of my next effort - which I hope will be a distinct improvement on the present layout - but that is well in the future." Aah, bless. Be careful what you wish for...!  

 

Alan.

[Andrew Young]

A very thorough review @Edwardian I too have been very impressed with Amberdale and also reviewed the book, but not in as much detail as yours. 

 

Andrew

[brumtb]

Thank you Edwardian, I've just received my copy of Amberdale and I'm really pleased with it.

I can really relate to the author's modelling philosophy and the inspiration from Edward Beal, John Ahern and Peter Denny definitely resonates with me. 

As well as nostalgia for our old time railways I also feel nostalgia for earlier modelling ideas and practices (I started modelling in the early 1950's) and this book now has a special place in my library.

 

Tony

[Edward]

"Omnianism" - certainly had to look that one up!  Like others just got my copy of Amberdale.  Just dipped in to it but I've found one sentence that really confuses me.  "Buckingham has several stations but no railway".  Was he referring to the real world?  Or is it that Denny made up the story as he went along extending and improving the layout? 

 

[DLT]

I take that to mean he felt there wasn't much distance between stations.  The road-bridge at the end of Buckingham let straight into the road-bridge at Grandborough junction.

Amberdale has stretches of open country and scenic features that separate the stations.  There is no "hole in the backscene" type of scenic brake between scenes.

[t-b-g]

I read that sentence about Buckingham and took it to mean that the stations on Buckingham are divided by scenic breaks so the whole line from one station to the next isn't fully modelled. The trains leave one station and in the imagination disappear from that scene and then re-appear on another scene some miles away. Whereas on his layout, the whole journey is "on scene".

 

That is quite true but my preference is for the arrangement on Buckingham which creates more of an illusion of distance between the stations.

 

The actual length of run between Buckingham and Grandborough and then from Grandborough to either the fiddle yard or Leighton Buzzard is actually considerably longer than the distance between stations on Amberdale so I don't see how the Amberdale approach is, in any way, better than Buckingham, just that it is a different approach by modelling the whole of the run from one station to the next.

 

Edit to add:

 

I have just measured the distance from the end of the platform ramp at Buckingham to the start of the platform ramp at Grandborough and the distance of scenic run is approximately 14ft, 11ft on the Buckingham side and 3ft on the Grandborough side of the roughly 1ft long hidden scenic break between the two. From the end of the platforms at Grandborough to the scenic break to the fiddle yard is approx. 7ft. The Leighton Buzzard branch as a scenic run of around 10ft from the bay at Grandborough to where it goes "off scene" at the scenic break.

 

The total scenic run from leaving the fiddle yard to the buffers at Buckingham is around 32ft, which is longer than many layouts around.  

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by t-b-g
To add content

[DLT]

8 hours ago, t-b-g said:

I don't see how the Amberdale approach is, in any way, better than Buckingham,

I don't think that was any suggestion that one was better than the other, just a different way of doing things.

 

 

[t-b-g]

8 hours ago, DLT said:

I don't think that was any suggestion that one was better than the other, just a different way of doing things.

 

 

 

The exact words were that "Buckingham has stations but no railway" so whereas Amberdale is a model of a railway, Buckingham is not. I was simply pointing out that Buckingham has more railway between its stations than Amberdale. The difference is that there are a couple of very short sections of scenic break to suggest a much longer run.

 

I really like Amberdale and think the design and modelling is superb. As you point out (and as I said before), it is just a different approach. I thought the comment about Buckingham could have been worded better. To say it has "no railway" when Amberdale does is simply incorrect.

[DLT]

Hi Tony,

 

I read Amberdale cover to cover, I don't recall reading that sentence and I'm not going to try and find it now!   I expect we're looking at it out of context and misunderstanding it.

 

As I've said elsewhere, I still think that Buckingham is the greatest model railway ever built, and is still hugely influential and inspirational to this day.  We all owe you a huge debt of gratitude for taking it on.

My time operating it was a great experience, and I wish it could have been longer.

 

I would love to see Amberdale, but its not going to keep five of us on our toes for several hours at a time!

 

All the best, Dave.

Edited August 23, 2022 by DLT

[t-b-g]

15 minutes ago, DLT said:

Hi Tony,

 

I read Amberdale cover to cover, I don't recall reading that sentence and I'm not going to try and find it now!   I expect we're looking at it out of context and misunderstanding it.

 

As I've said elsewhere, I still think that Buckingham is the greatest model railway ever built, and is still hugely influential and inspirational to this day.  We all owe you a huge debt of gratitude for taking it on.

My time operating it was a great experience, and I wish it could have been longer.

 

I would love to see Amberdale, but its not going to keep five of us on our toes for several hours at a time!

 

All the best, Dave.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I will happily agree with you. There isn't another model railway that I would ever want to swap with Buckingham. Individual models may be dated and have been surpassed but as a complete layout, giving operators many hours of absorbing fun, I have still not seen anything better.

 

I get a bit defensive sometimes when people have a bit of a dig at it, especially when what they say or write is not correct.

 

Cheers,

 

Tony

 

 

[Johnson044]

8 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

There isn't another model railway that I would ever want to swap with Buckingham.

I agree. ....but Craigshire, the Madder Valley and, now, Amberdale are very close runners.

 

A railway in a similar genre, I think, might have been The Westcliff and Bayness Railway by P R Wickham - I've only seen the passing references to it in his book "Modelled Architecture". The photos in the book are reproduced courtesy of Model Railway Constructor, so there must be a magazine article somewhere. Anyone ever seen it?

[t-b-g]

14 minutes ago, Johnson044 said:

I agree. ....but Craigshire, the Madder Valley and, now, Amberdale are very close runners.

 

A railway in a similar genre, I think, might have been The Westcliff and Bayness Railway by P R Wickham - I've only seen the passing references to it in his book "Modelled Architecture". The photos in the book are reproduced courtesy of Model Railway Constructor, so there must be a magazine article somewhere. Anyone ever seen it?

 

I would agree that there are some superb model railways about. New and old. I would add Borchester to the list. That would tick boxes for me.

 

I have had the great pleasure of seeing, operating and even contributing to some fine layouts but I have yet to find one that is as much fun to operate as Buckingham.

 

Such views have to be very personal and I know some very good modellers who don't rate Buckingham very highly at all in their lists of favourites. To me, any layout has to be great fun to operate. A layout can look great but if it is dull to operate, then it hasn't ticked all the boxes for me. We have had running sessions on Buckingham that have lasted all day and we could still have carried on further.

 

I tried to get a feel for how Amberdale operates from the MRJ articles and the book but I don't think that I really got a very good idea from them. It was an aspect of the layout that didn't really get covered in great depth. There is a reference to automation and he does write that the running of trains may appear to be dull as so much happens automatically but he likes watching the trains roll through the various scenes. That is fine but doesn't really reflect how I like to run a model railway.

 

I would like to see either an article or even a video showing how it all works. That part of layout design is just as interesting to me as any other aspect.

[Edwardian]

Just spoken to the charming Mr Harvey. I am expected in Amberdale on Thursday afternoon. So, off to consult my Bradshaw ....   

 

I have Jim Fin to thanks for the introduction.

 

 

 

 

[t-b-g]

47 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Just spoken to the charming Mr Harvey. I am expected in Amberdale on Thursday afternoon. So, off to consult my Bradshaw ....   

 

I have Jim Fin to thanks for the introduction.

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky you. The way the layout has been photographed has been very well thought out. There are no real views showing how all the scenes fit together as a whole layout. Each scene would make a very nice scenic diorama but the way they have all been fitted together creates an impression of a layout that, in my view, has far more going on than should be possible in that sized room. That is what stands out for me from the layout, along with the quality of the scenic modelling. If I just saw the photos in the book and was asked how large the layout is, I would suggest something much bigger than its real size.

 

It will be interesting to hear how seeing the whole thing compares to seeing the photographs of the individual scenes.

 

A report on how it operates would also be much appreciated if you think it appropriate to do so.

[DLT]

59 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Just spoken to the charming Mr Harvey. I am expected in Amberdale on Thursday afternoon. So, off to consult my Bradshaw ....   

 

I have Jim Fin to thanks for the introduction.

Excellent!  I presume you will be suitably equipped with you Victorian plate-camera for the occasion?

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

Just spoken to the charming Mr Harvey. I am expected in Amberdale on Thursday afternoon. So, off to consult my Bradshaw ....   

 

I have Jim Fin to thanks for the introduction.

 

 

Take a good pair of boots, walking about Amberdale could be quite energetic!  😀

 

Seriously, I'm looking forward to your impressions.

 

 

11 minutes ago, DLT said:

Excellent!  I presume you will be suitably equipped with you Victorian plate-camera for the occasion?

 

Thats a tad cumbersome, I could lend you something a bit more lightweight

 

 

And a 120 rollfilm back, less awkward than cut film cassettes....

 

 

 

 

[Edwardian]

3 hours ago, Johnson044 said:

I agree. ....but Craigshire, the Madder Valley and, now, Amberdale are very close runners.

 

A railway in a similar genre, I think, might have been The Westcliff and Bayness Railway by P R Wickham - I've only seen the passing references to it in his book "Modelled Architecture". The photos in the book are reproduced courtesy of Model Railway Constructor, so there must be a magazine article somewhere. Anyone ever seen it?

 

Apropos Mr Wickham ...

 

 

Currently on Flea Bay ....

 

 

 

And Most Interestingly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Edwardian

[Johnson044]

Well found Edwardian!

 

Yes- the link is pretty darned good.

 

The ebay box has exquisite artwork and instructions are lovely but I fear not much of the kit contents remain- just scraps of balsa and the printed parts that were not used. Having just spent a small fortune on pieces of elderly motorcycle I shan't bite on this occasion, much as I'd love the box. I didn't realise Anorma had a connection with P R Wickham.

 

 

[Johnson044]

That box artwork is truly beautiful.

 

[DLT]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

Take a good pair of boots, walking about Amberdale could be quite energetic!

 

And muddy

[Hroth]

51 minutes ago, DLT said:

 

And muddy

 

Perhaps not this year...