Ian Futers' Profileration of Layouts

[Lacathedrale]

I was captivated by Ashleigh (00 LNER) in the 70's Railway Modeller, 'A Branch Terminus in a Week' and it was as I then enjoyed Lochy Loch (P4 BR) his layouts started coming thick and fast - it felt a little ridiculous that I would see a layout I found enjoyable (Fisherrow, Newcastle Haymarket), and then look up at the attribution and find it was yet another of Ian's layouts.

 

Searching for his name in the RM online archive and one of his recent editorials suggests that he's made 36 layouts in 50 years!

 

Having agonised over the specifics of my layout plans for so long, it seems a completely alien approach. Clearly he is not sentimental and has a very well attuned growth mentality - some of his layouts work better than others, but it would appear few of them last more than a couple of years before being replaced. With some notable exceptions (Fort William?) it seems they are almost all three or four turnout termini and generally follow a single theme. This seems to have some fairly obvious benefits:

 

• Stock, and sometimes structures are reusable reducing the impact of each layout in both cost and time to readiness
• The non-reusable components of the layouts such as the baseboards are limited in size and expense and so do not represent a large sunk cost
• The simple trackplan means that there's less track to buy and exponentially less investment in anciliary equipment such as point motors, frog juicers - and a low level of electronic complexity.

 

My favourite design of his is Newcastle Haymarket (June 1994 RM). Any thoughts?

 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Lacathedrale

[37114]

11 minutes ago, Lacathedrale said:

I was captivated by Ashleigh (00 LNER) in the 70's Railway Modeller, 'A Branch Terminus in a Week' and it was as I then enjoyed Lochy Loch (P4 BR) and then looking, his layouts started coming thick and fast - it felt a little ridicolous that I would see a layout I found enjoyable (Fisherrow, Newcastle Haymarket), and then look up at the  attribution and find it was yet another of Ian's layout. Searching for his name in the RM online archive and one of his recent editorials suggests that he's made 36 layouts in 50 years.

 

Having agonised over the specifics of my layout plans for so long, it seems a completely alien approach. Clearly he is not sentimental and has a very well attuned growth mentality - some of his layouts work better than others, but it would appear few of them last more than a couple of years before being replaced. With some notable exceptions (Fort William?) it seems they are almost all three or four turnout termini and generally follow a single theme. This seems to have some fairly obvious benefits:

 

• Stock, and sometimes structures are reusable reducing the impact of each layout in both cost and time to readiness
• The non-reusable components of the layouts such as the baseboards are limited in size and expense and so do not represent a large sunk cost
• The simple trackplan means that there's less track to buy and exponentially less investment in anciliary equipment such as point motors, frog juicers - and a low level of electronic complexity.

 

My favourite design of his is Newcastle Haymarket (June 1994 RM). Any thoughts?

 

Like you I have often admired Ian's work, Newcastle Haymarket was a favourite of mine in the 90's as well, and a couple of my layouts have definitely been inspired by Ian's work. He has made a nice 7mm terminus of which the name escapes me which I like as well.

 

I would say the above is very much how I approach modelling so to give my view (which may or may not align with why Ian is a prolific builder)

- Building layouts is more fun than exhibiting, I get bored with it so once it has done a few shows the layout gets sold on.

- As you say a simple 3 or 4 point layout can be built quickly. Carpentry = an Afternoon, Track laying = 1 nights work, Ballasting = 1 night. Electrics = 1..... you get the picture. I use standardised components/dimensions off base boards etc so it makes the building much easier.

- A good layout that has appeared in magazines and or shows can be worth more than the materials cost (exclude labour) with a ready market of people who hate building but want to play so the hobby self finances. (Separate discussion/thread but smaller layouts generally sell better/raise much more money per foot than larger ones)

- I get bored easily!

[woodenhead]

Only 36, so you've not noticed @Andrew P of this parish, I think he bests that in terms of layouts per year.

 

Seriously, you should look at these sorts of approaches, model railways are transient things, build something, get pleasure from it and move on.  Searching endlessly for the best scale, location and techniques only leads to angst and procrastination.

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

Only 36, so you've not noticed @Andrew P of this parish, I think he bests that in terms of layouts per year.

 

Seriously, you should look at these sorts of approaches, model railways are transient things, build something, get pleasure from it and move on.  Searching endlessly for the best scale, location and techniques only leads to angst and procrastination.

Thank you kind Sir, Ian's books are still an inspiration, (one a signed copy), and I have spoken to him and his Wife many times at Shows, and both are generous with their time and information.

Many of his 3 Point Plans are stored in my Ideas Folder on my Lap Top, and one day, another will emerge, as did the O Gauge St Budoc.

 

Or the first incarnation of Deesdale Road in OO.

 

 

[Lacathedrale]

I didn't realise Ian had published books - any recommendations? Certainly I can't get enough of his articles in RM :) 

[woodenhead]

6 minutes ago, Lacathedrale said:

I didn't realise Ian had published books - any recommendations? Certainly I can't get enough of his articles in RM :) 

Modelling Scotland's Railways by Santona publications and Scottish Layout Projects.

 

I have the former but not the latter.

Edited September 20, 2022 by woodenhead

[Andrew P]

3 minutes ago, Lacathedrale said:

I didn't realise Ian had published books - any recommendations? Certainly I can't get enough of his articles in RM :) 

Modelling Scotland's Railways = Santona Publications = ISBN No 0953844889.

Scottish Layout Projects, (More Plans, ideas and inspiration = Santona Publications = ISBN No 9 781907094194.

 

Although mainly Scottish based ideas, he has many of his other Plans in the books as well.

 

I hope this helps.

[Andrew P]

4 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Modelling Scotland's Railways by Santona publications and Scottish Layout Projects.

 

I have the former but not the latter.

We must have been typing together mate. 🤪

[woodenhead]

4 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

We must have been typing together mate. 🤪

You took longer, typing in those ISBN references 😄

[New Haven Neil]

We used to be so rude to Ian, but he still took it all with good humour and still bring layouts to the odd show!  A lot of his ideas are highly inspirational, I liked the circular layout the name of which I forget, he really and literally broke the mould with that one.  I preferred his early nationalisation steam, Border Counties line stuff to the BR blue era, but that's personal.

 

I must get those books.

[MarkC]

Ian's circular layout inspired me to build one of my own - my first exhibition layout, in fact, back in 1976

[New Haven Neil]

16 minutes ago, MarkC said:

Ian's circular layout inspired me to build one of my own - my first exhibition layout, in fact, back in 1976

 

What was that Mark?  I presume I may have seen it!

[Lacathedrale]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

We used to be so rude to Ian, but he still took it all with good humour and still bring layouts to the odd show!  A lot of his ideas are highly inspirational, I liked the circular layout the name of which I forget, he really and literally broke the mould with that one.  I preferred his early nationalisation steam, Border Counties line stuff to the BR blue era, but that's personal.

 

I must get those books.

 

We did? He definitely mentions some less kind comments about his three-turnout plans but I assumed that was from the general unwashed masses?

[New Haven Neil]

2 minutes ago, Lacathedrale said:

 

We did? He definitely mentions some less kind comments about his three-turnout plans but I assumed that was from the general unwashed masses?

 

I refer not to the 'we' on here, but to the members of the club in North-east England I belonged to at the time - humour was very cutting back then, but he gave as good as he got.

[Alcanman]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

What was that Mark?  I presume I may have seen it!

According to Ian's book he states that his first circular layout was 'Glen Douglas' which he exhibited at York in 1976.

 

This was followed by two more circular layouts, 'Saughtree; on the Border Counties line and then 'Longwitton' on the Rothbury line in Northumberland.

 

Seeing these latter 2 layouts at local exhibitons in the North East were my introduction to Ian Futer's work. When 'Lochside' came along a few years later I was inspired to return to railway modelling and my interest in BR. 

 

Since then, I have followed his layouts with interest with 'Lochside and Newcastle Haymarket being my favourites.

 

I've also followed Ian's path down the road of serial small layout building having built countless small layouts over the past 40 years. My current layout has only 3 points just like most of Ian's recent layouts.

[Andrew P]

3 hours ago, woodenhead said:

You took longer, typing in those ISBN references 😄

I had to dash into my POD, (The Pit of Doom) for the books to get the numbers. 🤓

[RobinofLoxley]

Is there another factor involved in making a lot of similar size layouts, such as available space? When I decided to restart the hobby SWMBO refused me the use of a spare bedroom for no obvious reason, and banished me to the loft. I could build small layouts up there but all that space proved too tempting. I decided against converting the garage, as being rather eccentric we still keep a car in it.

[PMP]

Reviews of both books here

http://albionyard.com/2011/03/05/book-review-ian-futers-modelling-scotlands-railways/

 

@Lacathedrale’s three bullet points in his first post do cover quite a bit of Ian’s methods. I’ve always found his layouts inspirational and despite their simplicity completely engaging. My latest layout is based on those principles and it’s been an interesting and enjoyable build so far.

 

 

 

[DavidB-AU]

Lochside and Newcastle Haymarket were real eye openers. The classic Freezer-inspired BLT was a bit stale when Lochside was built, but I remember reading the letters of criticism in RM about it. This was a time when there was a lot of antagonism towards modern image and some strange attitude that if you model P4 you had to model pre-grouping or you weren't being serious. Likewise Newcastle Haymarket showed that (Minories notwithstanding) a "city" terminus didn't have to be a big main line station to be interesting.

 

Sadly I've never seen an Ian Futers layout in the flesh, although I did see a Lochside clone (albeit in OO) in the early 90s and a 7mm scale Victoria Park about 5 years go.

[MarkC]

17 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

What was that Mark?  I presume I may have seen it!

I forget what I called it now, Neil, but it was at the 1976 Merseyside MRS Exhibition, held at a hotel next to Lime Street station, representing my school's own Model Railway Society.

Sadly any photos are long gone, but at least one of the locomotives I built for it - a K's Johnson 0-4-0T - is still extant, still on its original (K's) motor, gears & wheels, and a veteran of many, many shows.

 

Mark

[Lacathedrale]

@PMP it was Albion Yard that came up when I started looking for an online version of the Newcastle Haymarket pictures, and of course I forgot (assuming that's you!) that you also did the various Shelfie layouts which I had assumed were his too. Unless you are infact Ian in disguise? :)

 

 

[St Enodoc]

This was one of Ian's larger layouts.

 

[sb67]

Ian's Lochside was the layout that really hooked me, the weathered diesels were something to behold at the time. I like his use of just 3 points for all the above reasons and I've based my latest layout, Docklands yard on one of them. Victoria park is one of my favourites but I still always look back on Lochside and have got the original Railway Modellers it was in. 

An under-construction Docklands Yard. 

 

[New Haven Neil]

On 20/09/2022 at 19:01, Alcanman said:

According to Ian's book he states that his first circular layout was 'Glen Douglas' which he exhibited at York in 1976.

 

That's it!  Thanks.

 

On 21/09/2022 at 09:42, MarkC said:

I forget what I called it now, Neil, but it was at the 1976 Merseyside MRS Exhibition, held at a hotel next to Lime Street station, representing my school's own Model Railway Society.

 

I recall going to a Merseyside show, not sure if it was 76 or 77 when I was in Phase 1 at Riversdale.  Foggy memory now, I have no details in my head of what I may have seen there.  Beer at the time may also be responsible.

[MarkC]

31 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

That's it!  Thanks.

 

 

I recall going to a Merseyside show, not sure if it was 76 or 77 when I was in Phase 1 at Riversdale.  Foggy memory now, I have no details in my head of what I may have seen there.  Beer at the time may also be responsible.

I also had a layout at the 1978 show - a through station with a fiddle yard at each end. By this time I had progressed from whitemetal loco kits to etched brass - I'd just completed an MPD MR Deeley 3F, which is also still with us as a runner, complete with Romford drivers (that I had to drill & tap myself), and a Romford Bulldog motor 😎