A Prototype Station where rule 1 seems to apply.

[DCB]

This is a question often asked.    Then I started watching videos,

 Tim Geaney's videos of Carlisle Citadel in recent weeks.

68s Pendolinos, LNER 800s, Horrible Colas class 70(?) Sprinters , mixing it with LNER black Sir Nige,  Tornado, Rebuilt and non rebuilt spam cans in BR Green, Scots Guardsman in BR Green. Mk1 sets  purporting to be BR carmine and cream, West Coasts red set, A brown Pullman I believe,  The Blue Pullman HST with an intercity power car one end, Class 47s 57s in WC Red and I/C red stripe, Class 37s in WC red, Green Class 20s, freightliners, tankers, Logs, 66s   I'm still waiting to see a Castle.

At one stage the wires came down and stopped all the trains to Glasgow, and no one remembered there was another line via Kill Marnock so they sent folk to Newcastle(!) or by Stage Coach, or was it Stagecoach and the station filled up like an overfull fiddle yard. With only three through platforms, roughly half as many as any self respecting  model "Main Station" would need to feel even remotely important  Up trains were arriving at down platforms down trains at up platforms there were two steam specials awaiting departure at once, (Just like steam days when Thames Clyde and Royal Scot were due to be platformed together)

All framed by a beautiful 1890s station.   So if you can't decide which era you want  to model why not model Carlisle, Mid 2022. That's as long  1890s architecture and 1980s trees don't put you off.

Edited August 3, 2022 by DCB

[DavidB-AU]

If you can't decide which era you want  to model, apply Rule 1.

 

Rule 1: It's my layout and I'll run what I like.

Rule 2: If you don't like it, see Rule 1. 😀

[cypherman]

Or run a preserved railway. That way you can run what you like as well.

[Wheatley]

37 minutes ago, cypherman said:

Or run a preserved railway. That way you can run what you like as well.

Ah, but is it a Rule 1 preserved railway, or an authentic preserved railway where you can only run stuff which is actually preserved ? Madness beckons ...

[KeithMacdonald]

26 minutes ago, Wheatley said:

Madness beckons ...

 

Alternatively, one can model an authentic preserved SR/GWR junction railway, with museum, based next to a still-open modern era station, with visiting Specials from other heritage railways and tour operators.

 

Rule 1+++ , sanity restored.

[Il Grifone]

Inventing your own preserved railway means you have to 'save' locomotives and stock that were actually scrapped....

[bigdiesel]

I'm modelling the 1985-1993 period. Blue and grey diesels. The 25's and 40's were in their last years, but I still run them with the Class 60's which 1st appeared in 1990?.

I'm not a rivet counter, I just stretch things a little and I'm happy at that. Whatever floats ones boat as they say, as long as you're happy then its OK.

[cypherman]

If I was to model a preserved line it would be the West Somerset Railway with the extension through to Taunton from Bishop's Lydeard. That gives you 20+ miles of preserved railway and a connection to the BR mainline.

[RobinofLoxley]

When I have finished laying track and can run trains, I will have what I am told is a system layout, based in the West Midlands, with 1960 Wolverhampton (remodelled to a single station earlier than the real thing) being the central, through station. Its absolutely amazing what the photographic record shows in the area in the time period; I can literally run almost anything,  for example I have got some yellow/red Thompson coaches from the ER  that appeared on services from Norwich/Peterborough for example. Just to cap it I'm planning to run an A4 with heritage (1920's) Pullman coaches as an excursion train. That is all without invoking rule 1.

 

Some locations would have less leeway, clearly. 

[HonestTom]

My current layout project is designed to give no indicators as to location or era (I want to be able to run stock from the 1860s to potentially the preservation era), which is surprisingly difficult even for a sleepy, independent country railway. There are clothing styles, architecture, soil colour, even things like breeds of sheep to consider.

 

On the subject of preservation, I've often thought you could do a good layout set in the 60s or 70s, dealing with a heritage railway in its early days. A couple of industrials running the trains, a mishmash of rolling stock, some scrapyard condition locos in the yard, maybe even fictional liveries on the rolling stock a la the Bluebell or KWVR.

[Steamport Southport]

I've very rarely seen "preservation" done convincingly apart from a handful of layouts, mostly based on narrow gauge prototypes. I think there was one based on the SVR that was very good, Bewdley?

 

 

Usually it's just an excuse to have a mish mash of stock on a normal layout, usually with the layout still based in a time warp that screams pre 1950s rather than an era that seems like it's a heritage railway. All old road vehicles and buildings with people in period dress rather than what they would be like in the preservation era.

 

Also the fact that the modeller still wants to run goods trains and participate in shunting when such things would hardly ever happen on a heritage railway unless it was a gala or a photographic charter.

 

Oh, and the "scrapyard locos" is probably one of the worst clichés in the entire hobby. I've never seen it done properly. Usually it's just an old non running model or Airfix kit smothered in rust coloured paint.

 

A bit like those WWII layouts that have a selection of Airfix kit vehicles that would never have been seen together in real life and is just an excuse to put tanks on a layout.

 

 

As Hedy Lemar would say "I hate that cliché!"

 

 

That's Hedley....

 

 

 

Jason

Edited July 28, 2022 by Steamport Southport