RevStew

An interesting parallel is that in the world of scale model aircraft, the propellers are not scale, but they are not derided for that. They also regularly scale up the empennage in order to provide stable flight characteristics. Some participants in railway modeling do get somewhat fixated with a few mm here and there. It's very admirable. The way I see it is that they produce the amazing models so I don't have to!! One thing I never see modeled, and something that exists seemingly everywhere on the real stuff, is grease! During my first week in S&T the P-way gang took great delight in covering my lovely new orange overalls in stiff black grease! Oh, and the area between the rails being covered in streaks of toilet roll! Model that, I dare you! RevStew.

DaveF, those must be wonderful memories. Teddy Boston seems to exemplify a life well lived and showed what can be achieved by the determination to create, and having a real passion for what you love, along with the desire to share it with others. My only reservation about modeling such a subject would be my inability to do such a place justice. It deserves a special treatment.

Ah yes. I think there are 2 books on the subject. Font to footplate, and the story of the Cadeby light railway. What a lovely subject for a layout. I think it would probably have to be O14, but in a smaller scale 009 would not be far off the mark for the nimble fingered. I wonder what sort of space would be required in either scale? also the issue of crossing the drive to make it a full circuit...perhaps a 'what might have been'

Right there is the reason for joining the forum. Ask and lo it shall appear! Cheers guys. Goodness knows how Rev. Boston afforded all this stuff. Clergy these days are lucky to get a salary never mind a house! I would love to have met the guy, People like that are all too rare.

Has anyone got a plan of the line?

I wonder if anyone has ever modelled Rev. Teddy Boston's Cadeby Light Railway? I would have thought it would be a nice subject for 009. Lots of interesting stock and as it was a short line, potential for a charming little layout.

Thank you all so much for your input so far. I'm sure good old code 100 has it's adherents in those for whom track is more of a means to an end, rather than an end in it's self. Choice of track is just another box to tick off the list for those poor souls like me who have no burning desire for any particular location, scale or period. We must agonise over those choices until something seems 'right'. For me it's looking like 4mm scale, OO gauge, and some sweating still to be done over period and location. Perhaps if I spend some money the urge to change my mind may not be as strong!

I have considered the fact that people modify the spacing of code 75/100 etc, taking every 5th sleeper out and shuffling them etc, but part of me wants it to look like model railway track. I like that it is a model, and I want to look at a model railway when I build it, rather then a small ultra realistic scale model of a railway, if that makes sense? In the same way that Dublo and tinplate 'O' has it's charm.

Cravens DMU fan. That looks amazing, it could easily be a photo. Very nice indeed. The cable troughs however make me shudder. As an S&T apprentice for BR, I was carrying a signal head between two of us along the cess, and as I was at the rear I tripped and fell and the signal head jammed my finger between it and an open trough, breaking my finger and tearing the nail off... I now have a slightly fatter finger as a permanent reminder of my brief career on the railways!

Whilst browsing some old books from the on the subject of railways, in particular ones with high quality black and white photos of the days of steam, I was struck by the way the track stood out in a view from the photographers eye level, and (I'm not joking), how much it reminded me of the more 'obvious' side profile of code 100 rail. It's quite hard to describe what I'm attempting to get across, but In the old photos from this POV, the real rails look, if anything, more toy like than the representations in finescale. I wonder if in scaling down the real rail to say, nicely laid P4 standard, the visual impact loses some of it's 'Pop'? Has anyone else noticed this? (Photo from the Mike Morant collection) .

Hello all. I'm new to model railways, with little experience other than a childhood Hornby train set, which gave me much pleasure. For the last two years I've read everything I can get my hands on about the subject of railway modelling, and been to see a few exhibitions. Of all the books I have read, the one on Buckingham Great Central by the Reverend Peter Denny is my favourite, and embodies all I like to see in a layout. Reading this book has left me with a few questions, and I wonder if anyone 'in the know' might like to help me out? I love the 'Leighton Buzzard' section of this system, which still does the exhibition rounds, and I would dearly love to see it in the flesh. Does anyone know the width of this layout? From what I can make out it's a shade shy of 2 feet? It's proportions seem perfect for a stand alone layout. The points and signals are operated by 'keys' on the baseboard, do these then operate cranks fixed to rods that go below the baseboard to the point in questions? or are all the roads hidden under the scenery/ballast etc? For me the subject matter, the track gauge, and total scale accuracy matter little, it is the operation, timetabling, signalling, bell codes, and interlocking that are fascinating to me, so I'd like to build a layout of similar proportions that can be extended over time and operated by a small team of friends. The railway company is immaterial at this point, although the L&Y has provided a recent fascination. Although I've said that gauge matters little to me, I've joined the E.M gauge society, (Rev. Denny influence I guess) so I really should pull my finger out and have a go at making some track and a few wagons, and perhaps a basic loco to pull them. I was going to go with Peco Bullhead at the start, but I do like the look of handmade track. Final question, Rev Denny mentions using ERG track pins. Is there a modern equivalent? How long are/were these? Thanking you all in advance! Stew.