A PAGE FOR MODELLERS SEEKING A SOLUTION TO THE

PROTYPICAL APPEARANCE OF MODELS AND LAYOUTS 

If a space-traveller from a far-distant galaxy were to land in one of Britain’s major cities, he or she - or

 
it - would have great difficulty working out which part of the country they were in. Nowadays, modern architecture no longer reflects the region’s origins because many once-proud Victorian buildings have been mindlessly razed to the ground. As a result, British cities have lost their individual features and become identikit replicas of each other. For example, our High Streets are bereft of independent retailers which leaves shoppers with the same chain stores selling the same brands as they do everywhere else.

The same can be said of our railways. The BRB’s drive towards uniformity in the Sixties took place on a massive scale and scarcely anything remains of the old days, especially pre-grouping days (pre-1923).

 
We cannot stop progress from happening, of course, but all too often our railway infrastructure, much of it built by the former ‘Big Four’ railways companies, has been replaced by soulless concrete and glass structures, which, in all fairness, are light, airy and clean - but that’s not the point. Quite simply, today's property developers seem to live in a world with little or no sense of history. I'm mindful of Euston's historic Doric Arch and Wembley's twin towers...

So what has this to do with railway modelling? Well, it is not easy to research a project which no longer exists therefore railway modellers must rely on a good quality photograph from the old days in order to achieve accurate prototypical appearances of layouts. The same goes for the railway artist seeking to paint accurate detail of wheels and motion beneath a locomotive’s running plate.  

So why not produce a webpage showing close-up detail of both steam and diesel locomotives along with shots of the railway infrastructure from yesteryear? John Black from Cambridge was interested in the Pilot Scheme Diesel page; in particular the fitting of brackets to the lamp irons of ER's allocation of diesels to allow a named train headboard to be carried. A close-up of the nose-end ladder on an early EE Co Type 4 (featured on the 'Train Spotters' page 4) is included below..if you have any requests or wish to add something of your own then I’ll gladly paste something on this page. Just drop me a line...

CONTACT ADDRESS: david.hey2@ntlworld.com 

Polite notice...all photographs are protected by copyright.
Reproduction prohibited...


 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 



(Above Right and below Right) Barry Simpson of Stroud asked for front end detail of the 'Hymek' class diesel-hydraulics...note the shed plate.
(Bottom Left) One for rivet counters!...


 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 








































 


























































 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

  





Mr Shaw of Wakefield asked if I had an elevated view of the ash plant at Holbeck shed. I haven't - but I've got this one of the shed entrance at Peterborough...note the discarded shovels! I mention shovels because I'm mindful of a story I heard about a dedicated '0'-gauge modeller, who had a perfect scale model of a double-track main line running around the entire garden which he operated from a control centre in his garden shed. Every weekend, he ran a train service using a condensed 24-hour timetable - starting off the day with a morning postal, milk train etc and finishing the session with an overnight sleeper. One winter morning, however, he awoke to find an overnight layer of snow covering the track, so he attached a snow plough to his trusty Class 8F and sent it out through the tunnel from his garden shed to carry out snow clearing duties on the 'down' main circuit of track, then he waited...and waited, but after five minutes there was no sign of the loco returning. He was about to investigate when he heard a rustling sound from inside the tunnel...the 8F had ground to a halt, its wheels spinning furiously, as it tried to push its accumulation of snow (by now a sizeable lump) through the entrance to the shed. Undeterred, he grabbed a shovel...but this was no ordinary shovel, it was a '0'-gauge scale shovel which he picked up gingerly between finger and thumb and started digging...now there is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.



 

 



































































 
 

 

 

 

 

 


Frank Whitticker of Halifax saw this shot (above left) of the ex-L&Y Rly's coal staithes at Sowerby Bridge on the 'Lost Railways West Yorkshire' website and asked for a blown-up photo. He suggested it would make a fantastic feature at the front of a layout. I'm sure the coal staithes are still there today. Incidentally, the 'Lost Railways West Yorkshire ' is back online...