Rob McM

I'm continuing work on my 'final' model, a District Railway interpretation of Minories, a plan by C J Freezer and at the other end an interpretation of Bossington, again owned by Oxford MRC. Surely, Minories was designed to be a basis for modellers: Bossington has a beautiful simplicity with operational interest. These are tried and tested plans so are worth the effort, however, much of what goes into the final result will be individual.

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.

I am building my 'final' layout, as a pensioner, and decided to use 'Liveway' points which came from Ebay. I knew about them from many years of interest and some needed restoration. However, I am really pleased with my progress. Liveway looks good even though it is code 100. The crossings look very finescale (viewers have said) and the layout is running in nicely. The comments on tie bars and switching are correct but one can wire in pole switches which do the job with some extra wiring. I use GEM style point levers without omega loops, just gently throw the points and the levers secure them. I've laid in a small stock in case I decide to extend the layout. Incidentally, Super Liveway reduces the need for insulated rail joiners but Liveway is the real modellers' system. What a pity Graham Farish did not carry on with their product. I think the latest PECO track is a homage to Liveway but at twice the price!

I'm restarting the Bossington topic, a layout that is now owned by the Oxford group. It is a classic design and provides lots of operational options. Does any contributor remember it?

I have struggled for some weeks to log in, however, reusing tbe 'forgot password' facility I eventually received an email inviting me to set password. Sid this and, currently, I'm back in!

Pleased to be back after being allowed to reset my password. Looking forward to joining in the topics. RobMcM

I am gradually building my 'last' layout and the town terminus is in SMP code 75 with the country terminus in old Formoway Liveway. A Peco adaptor rail will connect the two ends. Both ends of tbe layout are running well with some adjustments to be made in fine tuning. The code 100 Liveway looks fine and the small number of viewers have commented how real it looks. I feel the cleanliness of the rail heads and the metal frogs and check rails are key to the overall appearance

Further to my post on 18 September 2021, I think Railway Modeller is right on the ball with this. There was an enthusiastic audience viewing the full sequence of operations and, like me, people went back for another view. I am surprised to learn the track was hand built but the points purchased. Les would have loved live frogs!

Bossington was exhibited at the Model Railway Club's forty third exhibition in 1968, at the Royal Horticultural Hall. The track layout is in the layout section of that handbook (two shillings since you ask). I remember viewing it; it ran well, had a taped commentary and, I believe, offered a vision of a workable layout at an affordable cost for a new modeller. I am currently attempting to build a similar layout based of a Metropolitan/District Railway flavour. I have purchased old Graham Farish Liveway to recreate it and the board is around 8' by 1'4". Incidentally, the other end is based on The Minories by C J Freezer. I think one essential of tbe original layout was 5he smooth operation which was achieved by good track cleaning. I hope that, should I live long enough to enable the project, the combination of live frogs and good track cleaning will give me great operation.