Pylon King

On 28/02/2021 at 18:18, Ramrig said:

Does it say in the book which power station it  is in the last shot next to the canal please?

Coventry power station.

Early PL1east of Edinburgh.

132kV polon models together .

A few more photos from the book.

Arrived  in the post a couple of days ago  , looking forward to reading this one plus a large selection of great photos . 

1:76 scale : 132kV Portal utility polon (maximum height variant ) which can be found across Britain.

6 hours ago, L2's are great! said:

An L2 D10 with a height extension just next to the mainline down to the South West

Byfleet and New Haw station to the left .

18 hours ago, L2's are great! said:

Just got back from visiting West Weybridge Substation

Here are a couple from 2018.

On 19/02/2021 at 17:18, L2's are great! said:

I didnt know this had happened to the L9s up at inverkip but if u go to 2:02, you will see an abandoned L9 LD30 lying on its side

Amazing footage , you should post this one on ‘The Pylon Appreciation Society’ Facebook group.

The process for producing commercial photography back in the sixties was very expensive which meant only a few shots were taken for each catalogue. Rovex never really envisaged the long term aspects for creating  an archive and after a while would dispose of these colour masters . Fortunately Richard Lines managed to save some of the best photos .

 The following photos show the process in reverse from publication to the studio master colour transparency.

On 09/06/2020 at 08:39, Silverfox17 said:

I like the studio set shots and wondered if the same baseboards were used for all the different scenarios.  I cannot imagine them pinning all the track down and gluing scenery down etc just for one photo.  The one I always liked was the large centre piece one in the amalgamation brochure that included the small ex Hornby Dublo range that Tri-ang were marketing at the time. 

 

Is there any TT slides in the collection Pylon King? 

 

Garry

Sorry no TT transparencies, the archive consists of Triang/Hornby , Hornby Railways, Model-Land , Minix and Minic Motorways . 
The process for producing commercial photography back in the sixties was very expensive which meant only a few shots were taken for each catalogue. Rovex never really envisaged the long term aspects for creating  an archive and after a while would dispose of these colour masters . Fortunately Richard Lines managed to save some of the best photos .

 The following photos show the process in reverse from publication to the studio master colour transparency.

National Grid still trying to locate ongoing power issues.

Just completed : 1:76 scale model 132kV Trident terminal ‘polon’ . Over the last forty years the Trident design has been steadily replacing traditional lattice pylons .

On 19/12/2020 at 10:53, Legend said:

These pylons go back further than 1993 Ryan .  I believe they were modelled on real ones outside the factory in Margate . Maybe introduced in the early 60s as part of the model land series . Anyway you can see them here on a layout in the 1969 Tri-ang Hornby book of trains . This is part of the layout that featured in the amalgamation leaflet of 65 .  It is interesting because the narrative tells us that the coach behind the B12 is Maroon but the next one could easily be green or crimson and cream and still authentic , completely ignoring the fact that you really wouldn’t have seen a B12 and blue Class 31 together , never mind a Hymek on a Freightliner . Oh well , it didn’t matter at the time .

 

As others have pointed out the binding on this book is an issue , this is my original 1969 edition which through lots of use is falling to pieces , so apologies for the binding line that goes up the middle of this layout , but I think it still captures the essence . I do have a pristine Book of Trains as well , but I certainly didn’t want to wedge the page open 
 

 

The Triang pylons were definitely  a design compromise , the original PL1 designs were  larger with different  designs for tension , deviation and terminal . Using the original CEB blueprints this 1:76 scale PL1 D30 model was constructed , the prototype is located just behind Hornby’s Margate headquarters.

1 hour ago, Legend said:

But not any of the factories , which is a shame

Dapol  also acquired  the Factory Production building  tooling . Sadly it was never used.

On 02/01/2021 at 13:15, Flying Pig said:

 

More details of the Model Land range and the interesting modular Arkitex system.  Model Land was a bit of a mixture, but there are some real gems in there that would stand up well today and were a great loss when they disappeared.

 

The same goes for the Tri-ang Modern Stations.  These were current when I had my first set so perhaps I'm biassed, but they seem much better observed than later Hornby buildings of the 70s and 80s which always had a strongly made-up feel to me.  I remember a box-top illustration on, I think, a curved platform piece with canopy which was well as exciting as anything on an Airfix box. 

The late seventies old style stations /engine shed/signal box series was definitely a step backwards and although still in production in many respects are more dated and toy oriented.

 Regarding the Model-Land range there certainly were a few gems . The factories and Victorian shops/town houses command high prices and still look great to this day . Marketed alongside the  Triang/Hornby range and regularly featured in the catalogues  they are generally more elusive to locate .

Old Central Electricity Generating Board map from the late 1960’s early seventies.

3 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

True, though I was referring there to the railway range. Listing of those other three ranges in the T-H catalogues was on/off over the years. The 4mm Arkitex range (other than the adopted R589 Ultra-Modern Station set) was never listed, though they did feature in the mid-60s catalogue layout photos.

It also extended to their 1970’s in-house built shop display layouts as well .  I recall wanting several Model-Land figures which were glued on the Bentalls department store layout , to my amazement the sales team popped a few off free of charge .

On 20/12/2020 at 17:07, Legend said:

Well as it’s coming to Christmas , everybody deserves a Hornby Trainset .  The new Black 5 center stage .  R550 black 9F on top level with brightly coloured freight , evening Star on the Pullman and the 37 (complete with front slot , why didn’t they turn it round?) on the Inter - City . Another layout where I tried to figure out where all tracks went . Little did I know it was just a scene for the catalogue . It went on to be in that years advertisements 

The very first print run (quite hard to find) from ‘73 contained numerous errors , the original photo featured the ‘son’ lying while the background was dark blue . Subsequent editions amended him to a seated position while superimposing the backdrop to light blue.

On 19/12/2020 at 10:53, Legend said:

These pylons go back further than 1993 Ryan .  I believe they were modelled on real ones outside the factory in Margate . Maybe introduced in the early 60s as part of the model land series . Anyway you can see them here on a layout in the 1969 Tri-ang Hornby book of trains . This is part of the layout that featured in the amalgamation leaflet of 65 .  It is interesting because the narrative tells us that the coach behind the B12 is Maroon but the next one could easily be green or crimson and cream and still authentic , completely ignoring the fact that you really wouldn’t have seen a B12 and blue Class 31 together , never mind a Hymek on a Freightliner . Oh well , it didn’t matter at the time .

 

As others have pointed out the binding on this book is an issue , this is my original 1969 edition which through lots of use is falling to pieces , so apologies for the binding line that goes up the middle of this layout , but I think it still captures the essence . I do have a pristine Book of Trains as well , but I certainly didn’t want to wedge the page open 
 

 

The original 1967 studio photo featured in this publication.

On 15/12/2020 at 16:45, Ruffnut Thorston said:

 

 

 

Notice the inset books on the right.

 

The Tri-ang Hornby Book of Trains.

 

Contains a very good pictorial history from  the Rovex Train Set, to the then current models. Recommended.

 

 

The Model Railway Track Plans book. As it says in the title...

 

The Model Railway Wiring Plans book...

 

I would bet that no one has seen a copy of the Wiring book?

 

As far as I know, it was never issued!

 

I am not sure that the Track Plans book that was produced actually had that cover?

 

 

 

 

Although the Wiring Plans Book never went to press much of it’s content was featured in the 2nd edition Hornby Railways Track Plans book from 1972 . 
 

On 15/12/2020 at 11:41, Legend said:

We seem to be missing an entry today, so to keep the pot boiling hope LNWR18901910 doesn’t mind me posting an image .  This was the back of the catalogue one year. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to when ? I think we have already covered it , so not too difficult 

 

This was one of these images I used to stare at for hours looking at the different stock . There is another picture somewhere showing LNER stock on the same layout and I think they used it for several MPD shots . The box cover for the R408U turntable is certainly derived from this.  I used to plot where all the tracks would go assuming the tracks curved round at the back . It never dawned on me  that the suspension bridge behind Dad must lead to ........the floor!  Oh well .

 

Looks like one had to put a tie on to play with ones trains .

This one is probably the most featured of layouts throughout Rovex history and so memorable. It featured on/ inside British  (1971/72/73) , Australian ‘71/72, Canadian ‘71 catalogues as well as the R408U turntable box lid , R002/003/004/005/006 station set lids as well as the 1st/2nd edition Track Plans books. Hours if not years of studying and wondering where the double left hand side track disappeared to were put to rest by the accompanying photo. 

On 29/11/2019 at 16:15, Woody100 said:

Talking of 73, here's some images to make us all quiver.. 

Makes you almost want to take samples from your pile of mags and retire away for some brief 'me time' doesn't it? 

 

 

Wonderful photos , thank you for posting these . Although  cropped out , the original studio photo (taken in autumn ‘72)  ‘9F cement wagon/valley scene’ page 2 1973 catalogue also featured an extensive upper station with additional lower level sidings .