Tony Teague

I am certainly one who was put off by early experiences of dealing with what I felt were poor or difficult kits - but it could have been my lack of skills. I model the Southern Railway, and at the time, there were very few RTR SR locos available, and so, having built a number of wagons and plastic coaches I decided to start with the K's Adams Radial; at the time the kit cost me £27 complete with wheels and motor - which dates it a bit. Now I can't say that this was a good or bad kit, but it was certainly a very bad experience for me! I probably didn't have the right tools, and I certainly did not know who to turn to for help, but I was unable to get anything looking straight, square or anything other than "wonky". I think the parts of the Adams Radial later ended up as ballast weight inside some SR box vans... Some years later, I did try what I thought might be an easier route to loco construction through buying a kit based on a resin body that allegedly sat upon an RTR chassis. This time I chose an E4 from Dean Sidings which promised a lot, but turned out to be another poor choice! After two years of chasing parts that were missing from the kit I just gave up, but what I had of the kit was dreadful and the vendor's attitude to customer service sounds rather similar to that of a couple of others mentioned above. Given these experiences it was perhaps unsurprising that I turned to professional kit builders, and although I have generally very high regard for what they deliver, I also had one very bad experience early on. It might be best not to name names here, but I still retain the appalling evidence of what was delivered as a grim reminder that one should not assume that everyone who advertises as being 'professional' can actually deliver a quality result! Tony

I have a man who does this; I will report any progress in case others are interested. Tony

Thanks Horsetan, you have confirmed what I thought / feared. So now the challenge is to get someone to make me some round-topped and round-bottomed signals including some with round-topped 3 - lamp feathers - Simple! Tony

Another very helpful post Suzy, thank you. I think this confirms what I had thought about the rounded tops and bottoms. Tony

Thanks, that's very helpful and may need that I make a decision to narrow the dates at least. I am a bit less concerned about location because I want the freedom to run locos and stock from each of the three sections, and so some compromise will be needed. As I have said elsewhere, I just want it to be very clear that is Southern in style, character and substance. What I have had difficulty is in finding many pictures of Southern colour light signals - there are plenty for semaphores - so Suzy's posting earlier was very helpful in this respect. Tony Tony

It is not based on a prototype, which may help or hinder, it is just Southern - and so this may give additional freedom or not! My aim is for it to be easily recognisable as Southern - which section might depend on what is running, and I can represent all three areas. Tony

Suzie thanks for posting this - the pictures in the article clearly show that the signal backplates had the rounded tops that I had imagined - and rounded bottoms too! Very helpful. Tony

I am developing a SOUTHERN RAILWAY layout set in the period 1938 – 1948 and I intend to have about 75% of the layout signalled with colour lights (with accompanying 3rd rail), the rest in semaphores. My question is, in order for them to be ‘right’ for the SR 1938 – 1948 period, would the colour light signals need to have rounded tops to their backplates? Modern ones are square-ish with rounded corners, but I have a feeling that SR ones were rounded at the top but I have not been able to find any evidence or supporting pictures. If they were rounded, then what happened when they had a route indicator / feather on top – were those then square? Any help greatly appreciated! Tony

Hi Graham I have been working through this excellent thread whenever I had a moment, over the last couple of months - diverting all the way along to look at each of the listed blogs. I now follow a number of these, but one observation I have is that it seems a bit of a shame that so many start blogs and then just let them wither and die without so much as a reason given! Perhaps this is true of all blogs everywhere - I am a bit of a novice on such things - and perhaps it is a bit of a warning which I shall take myself, that you shouldn't start a blog and build up a loyal following unless you have the energy, time and dedication t keep it going. Anyway, I find many of the Southern Blogs that you list to be excellent sources of inspiration as I develop my own layout - so thank you to you and all of those dedicated bloggers who maintain them. Tony

Just discovered this thread and worked all the way through; very enjoyable and great modelling. I have built a number of the Slimrails / ex-Chivers kits, including the 20T SR mineral wagon, 20T SR ballast wagons, 15T SR ballast wagons and LMS Long Low wagons and I agree that they are amongst the best for the close fit of parts, ease of construction and good-looking results. Tony

Stunning model Tony / Bob - absolutely captures the look and spirit of the place; it will greatly compliment the layout. Tony

Merry Christmas to you Tony, and to Mo, whose generous hospitality is always appreciated; thanks for the coaching during the year and for the inspiration that visiting Little Bytham always gives. Tony

To clear up the mystery of the SR van - firstly it does not belong on Little Bytham, it was a visitor only there for weathering / desecration - secondly, and because this was my first attempt at any weathering I took along a couple of wagons that I felt could be safely ruined, and this is a non-authentic Dapol Limited Edition, sold as an SR van but which, as several have observed, bears no resemblance to any SR van that I know! What it is based on, I know not, but it will certainly look better in a train now that it is seriously weathered - perhaps I should go further and ensure the SR markings are completely oblitereated! For the sake of clarity, my layout is SR 1938 - 48. Hope this clears up this point. Tony

I notice that no-one has yet seen fit to comment on today's wagon weathering exercise - but as one of the old gits concerned, I for one had a great time! (Oh and the wagons look pretty good to my inexperienced eye). Tony

Stunning model Les! Look forward to seeing it at Peterborough. Tony

Only just found this thread & worked through it. I find it fascinating that the layout can have been changed so many times - in the time that many of us would take to only half-complete a single layout! I'm not sure why anyone would want to move away from spam-cans, but that aside I loved it, and will certainly look out for it and for Santa Barbara at Warley Tony

This is stunning Allan, and produced in a fraction of the time that most of us would take just to think about it! Amazing. Tony

What a shame that your client lost interest in Bishop's Castle! I sometimes wonder whether people lose interest because they can't make progress fast enough - so their 'dream' is always out of reach. Having made my own layout way too complex, this is something I could understand! Tony

Happy birthday Allan; I hope that I am still as productive at 80, in modelling terms, as you seem to be!

Having been inspired by your cyclist (as above!) I have gone and bought a starter kit from Magnorail... I note that the road surface needs to be no more than 0.5mm thick for the magnets to work, and so I wondered what you used for your running surface? Any help appreciated.

Beautiful weathering!

Have just worked through your blog from the beginning and I love what you have produced. Is there any update on progress since the last post?

Love the rose window but for me it would look more at home on a cathederal or very large church, rather than a local parish church; nevertheless, I am sure there are no rules!

Inspirational layout; I was particularly impressed by the cyclist, and many thanks for directing me towards the details for your Polish supplier of road-system parts.

Allan Looking Fab! I may have missed this - but waht scale is this, 7mm? Tony