Bossington

[RailWest]

In the mid/late 1960s a small GWR (or possibly BR(WR))  '00' gauge BLT layout called 'Bossington' appeared at one of the MRC annual exhibitions in Central Hall, Westminster.

 

Allegedly it was built by a member of the Oxford MRC, but enquiries to them have drawn no response   I'm just curious to know more about it and its ultimate fate.

 

Does anyone recall it and can provide more info please?

 

[Note to moderator: please feel free to move this to another forum if you feel it more appropriate elsewhere. ]

[Poggy1165]

I'm fairly sure it appeared in Railway Modeller and had a commentary. My old RMs have nearly all gone to Ingrow, but a search through an old RM Index might be the way forward.

[RailWest]

I don't recall it in the RM in the subsequent years, but my memory does have few holes in it

 

Does anyone have old RM Indexes please?

[unravelled]

I was in the ODMRC in the 60s and remember Bossington. I will dig out some show guides and post again shortly. No idea how it ended up though.

 

Dave

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Yes, it appeared in the RM in the mid 1960s - poss '66 or '67. Quite a narrow layout with PECO Streamline trackwork if I recall. A very neat job.

Edited July 10, 2013 by Western Sunset

[unravelled]

Les Eden was the builder. It was shown at the first 3 ODMRC shows, 1966,7,8, and at Central hall in 1968 I think. Also in at least one magazine around that time.

 

Described as a representation of a GWR country branch terminus in the 1930s, 00 scale, 6'x1'6", with a 3 track pivoting fiddle yard. Operated to a sequence with recorded commentary.

 

There is a comment that a Beeching like axe wou8ld fall after the 1968 exhibition.

 

hth

 

Dave

Edited July 11, 2013 by unravelled

[RailWest]

Somewhere in a folder I still have the relevant page from the Central Hall Exhibition guide booklet, but sadly it had not date on the page.

 

Thanks for the info so far. Dimensions was one of the details not in the guide book page IIRC, so useful to have that.

[unravelled]

The article is in Railway Modeller, December 1968.

 

Dave

[RailWest]

My thank for that effort. Once the weather has cooled down a bit, I shall get into my loft and look for my back-copies :-)

[RailWest]

Whilst waiting to get at my old RMs, I did manage to find the page from the MRC Exhibition Guide to which I referred originally. I have uploaded it here  http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee224/railwest/BossingtonMRCguide_zps68d6829e.jpg for those who may be interested.

[hicksan]

Oxford Club have acquired this layout following the death of Leslie Eden. It has been in storage for over 30 years. The plan is to repair and restore it to full working order to include in the 55th Anniversary Oxrail 2021 Virtual exhibition, from October 9th.

[RailWest]

By coincidence, I had a message from his daughter last year telling me that they were looking for a new home for the layout, so glad to hear they were successful. It will indeed be good to 'see' it again, even if not in the real world :-)

[hicksan]

I am curious as to your interest in a 1966 layout. What triggered it? It looks a very nice, finely made layout but what makes it so special apart from its age would be good to know - whether it was particularly innovative in its day - anything to help our researches much appreciated. We still don't know what condition it will be in; if the boards have warped due to damp it might be a challenge. Part of it is in Witney and the rest in Southampton so we can't get it any time soon, as things stand.

[RailWest]

I have sent a PM.

[bécasse]

A minor correction to an old topic. The layout would not have appeared at Central Hall in 1968 as the Model Railway Club's Easter show that year (and in 1967) was held at the New Horticultural Hall, also in Westminster. The availability of that hall was governed by flower shows and it proved impossible to stage an Easter show there in 1969 forcing the MRC to move the date to August. That proved to be one of the best shows that the MRC had put on to date (and it was the 44th) but was a financial disaster. The MRC moved back to an Easter show at Central Hall in 1970 but, with the lower hall no longer available, it was necessarily rather smaller.

 

It is perhaps interesting to recall that, with the show open five days 10.30-21.00, somewhere between 40 and 50 thousand people paid for admission.

 

[John Mair]

I have some recollection of seeing the Bossington layout at a MRC exhibition held in the late 1960s or perhaps 1970?  It had a pleasing simplicity, and seemed to exert a fascination upon many visitors.   Perhaps one reason for this was that the operation was accompanied by a well written tape recorded commentary, which began as I seem to recall with something like 'The real Bossington ...', and then there was, if I remember correctly, a description of the (imaginary) station's setting.   As the sequence of movements proceeded, so did the commentary explain what was happening.

 

'The real Bossington' was - and is - a charming small settlement situated about one mile north east of Porlock, and about half a mile from the sea.  To the east is the massif of Selworthy Beacon, and (considerably) further to the south are the steeps of Exmoor.   Not easy terrain for railway building!

 

 

[Rob McM]

I viewed this lovely layout at the MRC's forty third exhibition at the New Hoticultural Hall in Westminster in 1968. It was built by Leslie Eden of the Oxford MRC, had a recorded sequence commentary and has indeed been recently restored following the donation of the layout to that club. It featured in Tailway Modellet in October 2021. I understand it was built with ABC Chairway track and Peco points. Mr Eden would have loved live frog points. I am building a layout based on Bossington but with a Metropolitan/District Railway flavour, using old Liveway points. I think the reason it is so remarked upon is that it provided a layout with lots of operating potential with a cost which could be managed by young enthusiasts.  The plan in the guide book is more free flowing than the model as built which I have followed.

[t-b-g]

There are some nice photos on the Oxford MRC webpage. It was one of those layout that while not particularly exceptional in any particular aspect was very neatly built, well designed and presented and as such, is remembered all these years later. It is good to see it looking in such good condition in good hands.

 

This link should take you there.

 

http://www.oxfordmrc.org.uk/bossington/