Geoff Ashdown 1945-2023

[Pacific231G]

Apart from discussing his EM Tower Pier layout  with him at various shows, I didn't know Geoff Ashdown personally though others on RMWEB may have known him better. However, those conversations and the layout itself were enough to form an opinion of a very fine modeller who was also generous in sharing his knowledge and experience.  Geoff did invite me to come to one of his regular operating sessions near Southend but circumstances meant that I never was able to take him up on that. I only found out about his death, on 24th March 2023, while trying to find out more about Tower Pier and, as is so often the case, discovered far more about him.  

As Major Geoff Ashdown he was an officer in the Salvation Army associated with the Southend Citadel, where he had been the "commanding officer" and the Hadleigh Citadel from which he retired in 2017.  I think he also worked professionally as a surveyor in the Churchs property department. In his spare time he was also a keen motorcyclist and was a member of the EM Gauge Society.  

 

His obituary describes him  as "a remarkable individual who touched the lives of many. with a  legacy of kindness, understanding, and faith. He was a wise counselor and a great family man. His caring ministry touched countless lives, offering help and blessings to those in need. Geoff’s warm presence, his listening ear, and his ability to make people laugh will be remembered fondly."

 

Geoff Ashdown's layout,  Tower Pier, was obviously inspired by Cyril Freezer's Minories, though the track plan was somewhat different and he added a separate set of goods sidings. It depicted the terminus in 1955 of the imaginary Metropolitan Widened Lines Extension Railway.  Tower Pier was the endpoint of the railway running from Moorgate down to the Thames, just north of the Tower of London with a goods branch to St. Catherine's dock . The layout was fully signalled and operated in strict accordance with the rules. Geoff told me that the layout,  with the station slightly hidden between retaining walls,  had been built as a home layout. Though portable, he had never intended it for exhibition. It was though exhibited at least eleven times and always drew large crowds.  What was remarkable about it was that the entire layout, including a metre long cassette based fiddle yard, was only three metres by fifty centimetres (10ft x 20 inches)  but, with clever use of scenic breaks and a short overall roof, you never realised that the longest train was a tank loco with a single "quad-art" set.   

 

Edited February 27 by Pacific231G
typos and grammar

[Barclay]

Nearly a year ago, the time has flown. Geoff was a stalwart of our Essex area group of the EM Gauge Society, and, as described above, a lovely man, his passing came as a real shock.

Tower Pier survives in the hands of one  of his operating team.

[Flying Pig]

On the small number of occasions I saw Tower Pier, I was as impressed by Geoff's interactions with the public as by the excellence of his layout.  The personal qualities recalled in his obituary were certainly on display. 

 

It's very pleasing to hear the layout is in safe hands, since it is in my view one of the greats.

[Pacific231G]

I agree and I'd love to see the layout again, even though, sadly, without Geoff.