Allan Downes

I know I'm a little behind the times, but I note with sadness the passing of model-maker extra-ordinaire, Allan Downes, in August (having only just noticed a passing mention now I've renewed my Railway Modeller subscription).

For both my dad and I, he was one of the main reasons to race to grab the copy of Railway Modeller when it turned up in the mid/late 70s. His scenery making talents were flat out unbelievable.

If you want a long read, here's a thread of him and almost equally gifted modeller Iain Robinson having a good-humoured 'model off' in RMWeb, that lasts right up to his passing, and is littered with utterly drool-worthy photos of their handiwork.

Hrm..., Marshbrook...

After a conversation on RMWeb, there's also this alternative....

Marshbrook, as it was in the '30s.

Yes, yes. I know. Make your %^&*()ing mind up, Mike :D

In other news,. just scored a Millholme Models LNWR 4-6-2T kit on eBay.

Locos on the Marches Line

Having had a bit of a trawl around various shed lists, photo archives etc, it's plain to be seen that there's a lot of potentially interesting locos to be seen... Here's a by no means complete list:

GWR:

• Shrewsbury shed
•   Saints
•   Stars
•   43xx (lots)
•   56xx
•   ROD 2-8-0
•   Dean Goods (lots)
•   1016, 2021, 57xx class Pannier
•   Bulldog
• Wellington/Wenlock sheds
•   2721 Pannier
•   58xx
•   517 class
• Hereford shed (in addition)
•   Aberdare

LMS:

• LNWR Webb coal tank
• LNWR Cauliflower
• LNWR Webb 0-6-0ST
• LNWR Prince of Wales
• LNWR Prince of Wales tank
• LNWR Super D/G1/G2
• 3F 0-6-0 (Johnson/Deeley)
• Fowler 2-6-4T

and I'd guess at LNWR Experiments, 17" Goods, Precursors, Claughtons, etc... not a lot of info on what of the LMS (Fowler, Hughes, early Stanier) classes were about. Bear in mind we're only 10 years from the grouping, and the likes of Cauliflowers still have a life ahead of them...

Bishop's Castle Railway

• No 1 (essentially a 517)
• No 2 (Kitson 0-6-0)

So, here's the current track plan

Subject to a bit of fiddling in the area of the passing loop, of course.

Designed for the new Peco code 75 bullhead, assuming they do eventually produce a single slip!

The master plan

Might as well get this down somewhere as plans start to solidify :D

After discussion with my likely partner in crime, we're shooting for the original (wow, how far back was that?) idea I had.

Onnybrook Junction will be set between Craven Arms and Marsh Farm Junction: it's a smallish through station on the LMS/GWR joint line from Hereford to Shrewsbury: the date is late summer 1934 (with a tiny bit of leeway to allow me to run a 4-4-0 County (all of which were scrapped by 1933). Track plan to follow (it's on the other computer) but basically it's typical of that line in that it's two through platforms, and then a refuge siding on one side, and a loop and some goods sidings on the other, and the classic crossover with single slip feeding the loop. We don't yet have space for a full oval, but we do have a lot of length, so currently it'll be about 15' with a fiddle yard either end.

Someday, I may yet have a go at Craven Arms and Stokesay, but, as they say, This Is Not That Day. 

Well, that took a bit longer than anticipated!

Largely, to be honest, because despite the supposed extra space that having the workshop converted and the spare garage turned into a storeroom generates, we still have Too Much Stuff, compounded by being in a band with all the attendant stuff that entails.

Still, after much juggling, changing jobs, and other fun, I now have a clear shelf onto which I can move all the model railway stuff out of the back of the storeroom, and have started doing so. (Apart from anything else, once I get the toys out of the big Really Useful Box in there, it can be used for storing the band lights that are cluttering up my workbench!)

Please tell me I'm not the only person who has this kind of problem?

Inspiration from YouTube

Been trawling YouTube a bit for inspiration: lovely to see how many folks are getting cameras on to their layouts and documenting the build process.

Two I'm particularly taken by:

Everard Junction: entirely NOT my period (1980s Network South-East) but some beautiful, and detail-obsessed scenic work;
Lakeside: again, not quite my period, but he demonstrates (especially in the village) how every little piece of scenery is placed and thought about and detailed, and tells a story.

A little bit of shopping this week produced some more PO coal wagons on eBay, a metre of flexitrack and a point, both in Peco's new code 75 bullhead, and some spare wheels and couplings for the 'make everything run on fine scale track' project.

Aiming to get a board for Longville built as soon as I get my bit of the workshop back next month.

2018 announcements, planning

*sigh*

No love for the GWR this year from Bachmann or Hornby, and Dapol are releasing their own versions of things that already exist and I already have (61xx, Churchward Mogul).

Ah well, still got some catching up to do on LMS stock - the Webb coal tank from Bachmann is lovely, new since I took a break and ubiquitous on the area I like. Now if someone would make a Cauliflower....

Picked up an online PDF of the GWR 1936 working timetable for the Shrewsbury/Hereford area, which is fascinating reading (very distracting from what I'm supposed to be doing!).

I have drawn up the Five Year Plan (aka what happens when the tenant in the workshop gets to the point where they need more space and moves out), and the short term part of it is to go back to my original plan of building Longville on the Wenlock Branch, only on an 8'x2' (so plenty of room for scenery). I've been reading John de Frayssinet's "Scenic Modelling: A Guide for Railway Modellers", which is very inspiring, as it talks about the Pendon-esque approach of making the railway a part of the landscape. Recommended reading.

2018

Yes, that does mean I last posted 7 years ago. :D

Railway modelling has been a bit on hold for a number of reasons - first off, I'm also a wargamer, and have been quite (publicly) active in the hobby which has been taking up a fair amount of my time. Secondly, due to that and being in a couple of bands, available space for a layout has dropped to almost nothing. And thirdly, James is now 18, and has other interests (including a drum kit)

That said, the itch won't go away. We have just had the workshop floor relaid, which has entailed a massive clearout as well as getting one of our garages converted to a storeroom for all the accumulated junk. Unfortunately, there are other uses planned in the short term for the workshop, but that doesn't preclude some advance planning, and reverting to one of my older plans for a layout, namely Longville on the Wenlock branch, as a first step that can go elsewhere in the house.

I'll try and post again before another 7 years pass! (Apart from anything else, I'll be retired by then!)