What are your favourite "average" layouts featured in Railway Modeller?

[montyburns56]

I'm sure that most of of us have been inspired by some of the creme de la creme of railway modelling that have been featured in Railway Modeller over the years such as Nempnett Thrubwell, Evercreech Junction or the various Ian Futer's layouts, but what about the "average" layouts that have inspired you? As someone who was interested in the so called "modern image" RM was a bit of a desert for me in the 80s, so I was often inspired by the few layouts portraying what was then the current rail scene.

 

One that sprung to mind for me was one called Heysham Harbour which despite its very compact nature was fully signalled and run as per the prototype.

 

Another was actually Layout Of The Month and was a compact end to end multi level layout which was inspired by Sheffield Victoria in the 1,500V DC period.

 

I mean no disrespect to those who created these layouts by labelling them as "average" as I know that most of us have aspects of modelling that we concentrate on and are more skilled at, but sometimes an achievable standard is more inspiring  to the average modeller.

 

 

 

[33C]

Allied Marine. No question. 

[Nearholmer]

They were presumably all “average” before they dropped that tag line from the front cover because of the shift in implications of the word.

 

 

Edited January 30 by Nearholmer

[The Johnster]

Define 'average' in this context.

 

It is sort of the nature of 'average' layouts that they are forgettable, and hence hard to bring to mind in response to this topic.  The OP has raised a good point, though; there have been some very effective layouts that do not necessarily conform to our ideas of 'inspirational scale modelling'.  A layout that strikes one as average should not be dismissed, as it may well contain innovative and inspirational ideas on use of space, control of sight line, presntation, and lighting that are not directly affected by the assumed 'standard' of the railway modelling.  The quality of current RTR/RTP products means that very good results can be achieved without much actual modelling, but the above points about presentation &c have to be paid attention to.  If they are not, then rather bland and uninspiring layouts can be produced to the highest and finest scale standards.  Museum presntation is not effective on layouts, which have to be considered holistically.

 

Take as an example Rob (NHY581) Gunton's inspirational ovine-themed small layouts.  The scenery, buildings, and weathering is of the finest, as is the presentation, and to add to the mix they are fun to operate.  But the railway modelling, under the top-quality weathering, is basically oob RTR locos and stock with NEM tension-lock couplings, and RTP track, in other words, conforming to one definition of 'average'.  It struck me watching the action on one of these sheepish layouts at the first 'Small Cardiff' show that it was every bit as good as the layout next door, a similar concept in P4.  Kevin Johnson's Little Muddle comes into the same category, I'd contend, and some of his engines don't even run.  He has a Triang Hornby Kneller Hall, ffs, and an old Peco town backscene, pretty lo-fi in railway modelling terms, then you see the (in)famous Snowflake at the quay, and the buildings, and that magnificent scenery with the Colonel's wife fishing under the bridge, and you are immersed in modelling that is anything but average...

 

I'll mention Gopher's Dewchurch as well; again, pretty much weathered out-of-the-box stuff, using a trackplan and general concept that is not especially remarkable, but as soon as you start applying epiphets like 'average' or 'typical' to it, you're floundering, and regretting that your own abilities prevent you from making anything like that! 

[DCB]

Garsdale Road, David Jenkinson (?)   EDIT  Not that big, not complicated  but it's the one which stands out in 50 years or so reading RM and apart from being EM well within the compass of almost any modeller.   Different league to Buckingham and Craig  which were a lifetime's work

Edited January 31 by DCB

[Chris M]

I would not describe Garsdale Road as anywhere near average; it was far better than that.

[Hibelroad]

Great Moor street (April 2015). Compact, doable and operational potential. 

[Enfys_Rainbow]

Not sure about average, but I was also a big fan of Heysham Harbour, plus it's successor Baslow (or Barlow).

[montyburns56]

10 hours ago, Enfys_Rainbow said:

Not sure about average, but I was also a big fan of Heysham Harbour, plus it's successor Baslow (or Barlow).

 

I remember the name of Baslow as well, but can't remember what the layout was actually like.

 

Another name that has sprung to mind was G. Fereday Glen and his various layouts.

[ColinK]

10 hours ago, Enfys_Rainbow said:

Not sure about average, but I was also a big fan of Heysham Harbour, plus it's successor Baslow (or Barlow).

when was Heysham Harbour in the mag?

[Enfys_Rainbow]

22 minutes ago, ColinK said:

when was Heysham Harbour in the mag?

October 1984 - I was looking at the article the other day!

[Enfys_Rainbow]

46 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:

 

I remember the name of Baslow as well, but can't remember what the layout was actually like.

 

Another name that has sprung to mind was G. Fereday Glen and his various layouts.

 

Baslow was the same author, same Prototype buildings (as appeared in the background above Heysham Harbour) but much smaller - it was mounted on an ironing board!

[Flying Pig]

On 30/01/2024 at 17:32, montyburns56 said:

One that sprung to mind for me was one called Heysham Harbour which despite its very compact nature was fully signalled and run as per the prototype.

 

Just looked that one up.  Average hardware but distinctly above average operation and a very thought-provoking article.

[Flying Pig]

12 hours ago, Hibelroad said:

Great Moor street (April 2015). Compact, doable and operational potential. 

 

That edition also had Oldham Junction which included some interesting design decisions that would never get past the committee on here 😀

[ColinK]

5 hours ago, Enfys_Rainbow said:

October 1984 - I was looking at the article the other day!

Thanks, I must try and find a copy.

[CKPR]

On 30/01/2024 at 17:32, montyburns56 said:

Heysham Harbour which despite its very compact nature was fully signalled and run as per the prototype.

 

 

 

 

I was very impressed with this layout when I first saw it in RM and recently sought out a back copy of the relevant issue to read about it again. It seemed to me to be very much in the spirit of the old O gauge layouts from the 1940s -1950s such as the Millport & Selfield that used current RTR items in a very railway like manner to portray current practice.

Edited February 1 by CKPR

[Richard_A]

One layout i remember as very good, was set in the peak district and had the obligatory limestone quarry features, the article explained how the rock faces were made from layers of Cork sheet and had a lima class 50 in one picture. 

 

Can I remember the name? Of course not. 

 

Another layout i liked, was Prinston in the June 1992 publication

[John Clitsome]

I'm going back a looooong way - early '70's. I think it was named South Brent and I remember it because I based my first layout on its simple trackplan. Happy days!

[MartinRS]

I can remember reading about an automated N gauge German outline layout in RM sometime in the 1970s. I have no idea what issue it appeared in or the name of the layout. It was, IIRC, a couple of reversing loops connected by a single track looped around a rectangular baseboard with one loop passing over the other. I think the automatic system was proprietary and manufactured by Arnold. It set me off playing around with relays and experimenting with automation.

[MartinRS]

Another layout with an influence on my modelling choices was of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad which featured in a 1960s issue of RM as Layout of the Month. It was the first ever issue of RM I had bought for me. I didn't (and still don't) know anything about US railroads but when I switched from 00 to N US outline was my first choice. A follow-up article on using a random card system to generate freight traffic also influenced how I operate layouts and my preference for freight operations.

[montyburns56]

There's another one that I was thinking about, but I can't remember it's name. It was featured the 80s and was seemed to be basically a glorified trainset set in the 60s but I remember that the author had built a large number of Class 15 locos for it.

Edited February 1 by montyburns56

[Enfys_Rainbow]

4 hours ago, Richard_A said:

One layout i remember as very good, was set in the peak district and had the obligatory limestone quarry features, the article explained how the rock faces were made from layers of Cork sheet and had a lima class 50 in one picture. 

 

Can I remember the name? Of course not. 

 

Another layout i liked, was Prinston in the June 1992 publication

Litton Mill by any chance?

[Big James]

There was a layout based on Bredon. For me it has always been my dream layout and to this days I’ve always said I will try and model it one day. 
 

Big James

[Richard_A]

10 hours ago, Enfys_Rainbow said:

Litton Mill by any chance?

I've had a look on ebay at the article, and it might be that, thank you. 

[Hibelroad]

Bassenthwaite Lake (April 2007) was another one of my favourites, basically a simple roundy roundy but very well done and very atmospheric. I saw it at a few exhibitions and it never failed to impress me. As a bonus it is of course also the answer to the old trick question “how many lakes are there in the Lake District ?”