detheridge

Alan Catlow's Towyn Wharf in 1995 at an exhibition in the North West. I acquired the layout at the end of 1996.

Going through my records, I've found more pics. This time it's 'Fairlie overload' time. The first one is an original Gem kit from Gem. This is the company's official photo. Notice that the right hand safety valve lever was missing, so was drawn in in biro! The rest are from 1995, when Malcolm Savage supplied the first etched chassis for Double Fairlies, and here they are, together with his original Earl of Merioneth, plus a new version, and models of James Spooner (brass boiler) and Merddin Emrys (lower boiler flare. They are all running on Alan Catlow's Towyn Wharf, at an exhibition in the North West.

Hi Moxy, correct on all accounts. With Dave Scott's loco, the couplings give it away, and probably dates from the Chelthwaite & Beccadale Railway in 009, which was a work of art in itself, and featured the very best in freelance locos and stock. Yes, Alan Catlow's railbus is in 00n3, but he brought it along to 5.5mm bashes on more than one occasion. He also made up an 00n3 single cab electric loco (I think it may have been from Branchlines), but wrote an article for the 55 News (5.5mm Association's newsletter) suggesting it's suitability for 5.5mm scale. Regards, David.

I've just found in my files this selection of pics from the 2003 AGM at the Severn Valley Railway's museum. Many thanks to Mick Thornton for the pics. In order: the room at the SVR; three pics of Dennis Harrison's artistry in 6mm scale; me in slightly hairier days operating Towyn Wharf, originally built by Alan Catlow; two pictures of the odd man out - Alan Brackenborough's 00n3 loco from the fabled Vale of Fawrcarnedd railway (built in the late 60s); I once remarked to Dave Burleigh (then 009 society chairman) that I'd love a Swiss Crocodile on my layout and this was the result; Dolgoch in millennial Apple Green livery; a scratchbuilt TR Midlander by Alan Catlow; Dolgoch in 1960s GWR(ish) green; and Malcolm Savage's 5.5mm demo layout 'Bronaber Sidings'.

Going through my files today I found a disk full of pics from the 5.5mm AGM in 2006, and here's a selection of the best in 5.5mm scale. Upnor Castle and the FR and WHR Funkeys are from Andrew Wilson, the Airfix Dapol railbus is from Alan Catlow, Andy Hyde's 'Dinas" (the one at Blaenau Ffestiniog) is shown in its early days, the 3' freelance diesels are from the late Dave Scott's 'Beccadale Haematite Mines' layout, and there's some of Francis Stapleton's work shown. I forgot who owns the original Gem Linda, Taiiesin and Prince. Thanks to Andrew Wilson for the original pics.

Many thanks to David Gander for these pics of Barrie Johnson's Pen y Craig at the Wigan show last weekend.

More 5.5mm work from Alan Catlow. Dolgoch is not a Gem or MSM kit, but is totally scratchbuilt in brass, as is Talyllyn.

Steve Jones models 3' in 5.5mm scale. Here are some examples of his work.

More pics from the 5.5mm AGM at the weekend. The L&B stock was built by the late Ken Unwin, plus some more pics of 'The Wharf'. Talyllyn is a conversion of the original Gem Dolgoch kit, maker unknown.

George Williamson's 'The Wharf' is now in the care of Francis Stapleton. These pics were taken yesterday at the 5.5mm AGM, and you can see that Francis has added more in the horticultural department, as well as trackwork, stock and facilities.

George Williamson's latest superb mini layout, 'The Wharf'. He's already sold it on and is planning new ventures into 5.5mm scale. Pictures from the new owner in a moment....

FWIW, I store quite a lot of my n.g. locos in Ferrero Rocher plastic boxes. The chocs may be rubbish, but the boxes are great!

Here's a couple of 'what ifs': Suppose that the Metropolitan had not been included in LPTB and continued its existence as a 'main line' railway. What would it have looked like by the 1950s (assuming of course that WW2 hadn't happened)? There is mention of a design for a 4-4-2 tender loco for working up the GC as far as Nottingham (I think in George Dow's books?) Then again, suppose that the Met (who acquired the GN&C in 1912) had taken over the ex GN Northern Heights branch, and run original GN&C stock to High Barnet and Ally Pally, with a double tracked line to Edgware, and used the original Camelback locos for goods traffic, or even some of the 0-4-4Ts? Suppose that Brunel had got his way in 1845 and built a main line to Porth Dinllaen near Caernarvon for the Irish traffic? This would leave Angelsey sidelined. As a result, a narrow gauge 3' empire similar to the IOM Railways would have developed there, with the main terminus at Menai Bridge, and branches to Holyhead and Beaumaris, and the 'main line' to Amlwch for the copper mines at Amlwch. Parys mountain near Amlwch has been mined for copper since Roman times, had its peak up to 1880, and was active supposedly right up to the 1960s. There's a spiffing museum in Amlwch that shows the full history. Regards, David.

Apologies folks, this should be the link: http://ngrm-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/800-is-freelance-oon3-extinct/

Actually what Garry has done is convert Peco HOm (12mm gauge) track to accept Triang standards. The Peco track is (as usual) excellent but is designed for finer standards than Triang. You'll see his amazing work on the thread 'Triang TT technical advice'.

While we're about it, here's the discussion on the subject of freelance 00n3 layouts, and the whole Pug body/Jinty chassis approach: http://ngrm-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/800-is-freelance-oon3-extinct/?hl=%2000n3%20%20clun%20%20valley%20%20tramway Plus an example of early 00n3 loco practice: Arthur is a Triang clockwork loco body on a Jinty chassis. When I saw it at an 009 AGM in Brum some 10 or more years ago it ran superbly as it was weighed heavily with lead sheet. Like an idiot I turned down the opportunity to buy it.... David.

You'll find a whole discussion about it here: http://ngrm-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/16776-anyone-remember-the-oon3-clun-valley-tramway-in-rm/?hl=%2B00n3+%2Bclun+%2Bvalley+%2Btramway (you have to be signed up to the forum first). Here's a pic from the discussion to whet your appetite. Once again, all based on what was available at the time, and using Triang based running gear for both stock and locos. David.

You can see it here: https://archive.org/details/RailwayModellerApril1964 on page 86. Going back a few posts, there's also the article on converting a TT class 31 to twin bogie drive using springs and extra bits on p.92 'Eight wheel drive for a Triang A1A-A1A'. David.

Here are some examples of 'non fine scale' 00n3 modelling from my collection, and all based on early TT mechs. On the left, half a pug/half a J94 body on a Triang TT Continental Pacific chassis (acquired at a MRE in Shrewsbury at least 10 years ago); a Pugbash on what looks to be the equivalent of a motorising kit for the Kitmaster/Airfix original. It's not a Perfecta as the chassis is brass, and powered by a Romford TT Terrier. Lastly a Gem 5.5mm Dolgoch, cut down to something like 4mm scale. Regarding the first loco, this was part of a large collection all based on Triang TT chassis, including a Wills P class as an 0-6-0, two Hornby 1101 bodies as 0-6-2s, and much more. I'm still trying to work out how to get the bodies off the chassis with some of them! David.

Peter Heath's Llanfair Valley suddenly appeared again in RM April 1984 (with two taster pics in November 83), which was expanded out of all recognition from its humble origins. It included a fully blown dock and ship, a ruined castle and some ingenious conversions of Bilteezi card buildings. The stock included Triang based kitbashes, two conversions of Gem 5.5mm locos and a wide variety of stock.

Correct up to a point Robert. The layout, according to Paul Towers some years ago, is now owned by 'an idiot' (Paul's words) in the North West who wanted to convert it to 009 or even standard gauge. The surviving locos and stock are in the loving care of the 009 Society's heritage collection. Loco No.1 (the dark green 2-4-0) is a straight conversion of a Triang Jinty. The others use such goodies as brass curtain rail for chassis, hardwood chassis spacers secured with No.0 wood screws, and 'Dinky' curlers for valve gear bits. Bodies can be Oxo tins and domes and chimneys were turned up from the old round pins of early 3 pin mains plugs. There's an article by Derek Naylor on building 00n3 locos in the January 64 issue of RM, available here: https://archive.org/details/RailwayModeller1964January. (p.11). Absorbing stuff! Best wishes, David.

00n3 may seem to have waned due to the rise of 009, but there is a thriving community of folks modelling IOM and Irish lines. With modern 'standards' (if that's the correct term - fine scale wheels and track) the results are excellent. Paradoxically, over on ng-rm modellers of all persuasions wax lyrically about the early 00n3 layouts that inspired them. The best known is Derek Naylor's Aire Valley Railway, started in 1957 and using Triang TT standards, even using Triang bogies and underframes (just like009 legends like Ted Polet are using N gauge proprietary underframes and running gear now). What 00n3 and 5.5mm scale (on 12mm gauge) offer is far more substance in the power plants that can put some N gauge mechs to shame if using Triang TT based technology. Vintage stuff like K's TT motor bogies (that powered Gem's 5.5mm scale locos) are incredibly reliable and powerful, particulatly with a large lump of whitemetal on top. Even standard Triang mechs will perform very well in 00n3 and 5.5mm scale with modern feedback controllers. Okay, they may look coarse scale, but they can be simple to service and long lived and reliable. There's nothing more embarrassing than a loco that looks astounding with all mod cons to gnat's whisker accuracy that either runs like a pig or gives up the ghost completely. For me, I'd rather sacrifice scale accuracy for something that works as and when you want it to and will continue to do so for decades to come - as HD 3 rail fans know only too well. Best wishes, David.

From memory, it's essentially LNER Apple Green, and was the livery applied by Atlas Foundry in Shrewsbury when Dolgoch was 'overhauled' in 1945.

Yes indeed. On the SVR at Bewdley there's the 2857 railway coach, brim full of books at half price, and I've even seen bound volumes of MRC and RM in the past at £1 to clear the shelves... As an aside, the 009 society has set up an executors service, not the least reason for which were the cases when dealers cherry picked the best models from grieving widows (who had no idea of the models value), or offered derisory amounts, relying on their ignorance.

Things may well change. A few years ago HD on Ebay was priced sky high - even more so for Wrenn. Things seem to have calmed down a bit since then although you can still come across insane prices. Regarding TT, prices may eventually fall. A member of the 3mm society told me a few years ago that there was quite an amount of TT coming onto their members' sales, as TT modellers (and presumably amongst that, 'collectors') were all falling off the perch, and such models were from executors sources, or friends of the dear departed. As modellers as a whole are an ageing bunch (and I'm one of them), in future years might supply actually outstrip demand? David.