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FEBRUARY 2023 UPDATE
'Celebrating the 200th edition'
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To celebrate this edition of the Update, we're not only sharing some recent modelling activity,
but also a few reminiscences which we hope you will enjoy and find interesting. Those early
recollections have without doubt been a catalyst for some of the things we show within these pages.
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Foreword by Tim Shackleton
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KIER HARDY
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Two or three times a year whilst visiting relatives in West Yorkshire, my dad would take me
for a day out in the van somewhere, with Healey Mills, Holbeck and Tinsley being regular stop-off points.
One year we ventured over the Pennines to East Lancashire and Manchester, stopping off to see
some of the remains of his steam day spotting trips, recalling empty sheds and overgrown track. The
highlights of the day were watching the double headed Class 50s passing by on the WCML near Wigan whilst
we had our sandwiches, then finishing off the day at Newton Heath where I'll always remember seeing
212 Aureol in ex-works condition, with the droplets of Manchester rain reflecting off her glossy
paintwork and nameplate..... and has always been my favourite '40' ever since.
After watching an express depart St Pancras station in the early 70s, I was lucky
enough to cab the Peak which followed it up to the signal at the end of the platform. I then
became a 11 year old Secondman for 5 minutes as we were given the signal to go out beyond
the station throat and await the shunt signal to back onto a recent arrival. After
a short while I informed the driver we had 2 white lights, although he still got out of his
seat to check for himself before we set back! A few months later I had the same experience
at Kings Cross, that time on a Class 31.
After a move to Gloucester in 1974 I spent many hours at Horton Road level crossing, as it was
a short bicycle ride and a good meeting point for spotters observing the comings and goings from
Eastgate and Central stations. One of the most memorable moments was witnessing a mixed freight
from Severn Tunnel Junction departing from Gloucester Central behind a Class 31 one evening. As it
approached the level crossing, a van in the middle of the train became derailed and bumped along
the sleepers for a short while before falling on its side and coming to a stop, so I don't feel so
bad when my rolling stock falls off the track after seeing it happen for real.
On one of my many trips from Birmingham New Street to Gloucester (on a Saturday evening
returning from a day out spotting), the Peak with a rake of mark 1 coaches would normally
bomb down the Lickey incline and across the Worcestershire flats at speed, but on this
occasion it slowed down and came to a stop shortly after passing Bromsgrove. After a few minutes
the train reversed a couple of miles back to Bromsgrove much to the amazement of the passengers on
board, stopped and then set forward again taking the line to Droitwich and Worcester instead.
Whether the main line was blocked or the signalman couldn't make up his mind will always remain a mystery.
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PAUL JAMES
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My interest in railways started when I was at junior school, when my mother would take my
siblings and me by train from Bromborough to Liverpool on shopping trips. We changed trains
at Rock Ferry onto the ex-LMS EMUs which took us all the way to Liverpool Central (Low Level)
where it always smelt damp and in a run-down condition, as was most of the rail system around
Merseyside during the 1960s. Occasionally we would take the Liverpool Central to Gateacre
service as far as Cressington & Grassendale on a Class 108 DMU to see relatives, the highlight
being a brief glimpse of Brunswick Dock as we passed by,
which also starting a lifelong interest in ships.
On the return trip home, we would change from the EMU at Rock Ferry and cross the footbridge
to catch a Birkenhead Woodside to Chester DMU. There was a manual clock dial on the platform
showing the time of the next departure, along with finger boards displaying the station stops
(which were stored in slots under the dial), so we always looked out for Bromborough to make
sure we were getting on the right train. Rock Ferry was also a 'go to' destination with my father,
as there was a model shop nearby where I got my first train set from – a Triang Hornby
Freightmaster set with an oval of track. I chose that (with extra lengths of straight track)
because it had more wagons in the set than the others!
It would be several years later when I was involved with the Bulmers railway preservation
group in Hereford that I was reunited with the dial and finger boards from Rock Ferry, and
helped to restore this historical piece of hardware.
From those early days I always knew I wanted to be on the footplate. After a few short
years at Polytechnic studying surveying, along with my parent's best efforts to dissuade me
from joining the railways, I came across a recruitment poster at Kings Cross station. Within
days I had jacked in my course and had signed up as a Secondman (as well as being an
occasional / unofficial driver on the Liverpool Street to Chingford trains where I resided).
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STEVE HARROD
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As a youngster I recall visiting Swindon Works, and whilst in the Con Yard armed with a
screwdriver trying to remove NBL diamond works plates from Warship diesels and being
disappointed when I broke or snapped off the pointed ends. I would then leave them as I
was after an undamaged one. Oh what a fool, as I should have bagged them even though I broke
them, so I apologise to anybody who has a Warship Class 43 NBL builders diamond with
broken or missing ends!
In the summer of 1971 my father would take me to Cheltenham Lansdown station on a Saturday
morning for a few hours, even obtaining a platform ticket - remember those? On this particular
morning D1007 Western Talisman came in on a London train, and paused at the signals awaiting
the road into Alstone Lane carriage sidings. After D1007 departed, a tall lanky lad approached
us (having seen the delight on my face) and asked did I like those locomotives.... where I come
from in Swindon that’s all you get! His name was Steve too, and he'd come to Cheltenham to see
Peaks over Westerns - no way!
Shortly afterwards he invited me to Swindon station for a day spotting Westerns in the morning
and an afternoon tour of the works. On Wednesday August the 18th (a week after a holiday spotting
Warships at Newton Abbot) I duly set off from Cheltenham to Swindon in a cross country DMU seated
directly behind the secondmans side for a great view ahead climbing up to Sapperton, and then
joining my friend on the platform for a parade of Westerns, Brush 4s and more Westerns. In the
afternoon I was taken for a trip around Swindon Works, witnessing a variety of Westerns in 'A'
shop at all stages of overhaul - it was something to behold (if only I had a camera). I even saw
820 Grenville in the final stages of overhaul.
On another trip to Swindon to see my new friend and take in a days spotting, found us on the
island platform as D1037 Western Empress arrived on 6A37 Bristol Malgo Vale to Old Oak Common
vans, as per normal we asked if we could cab? The answer from the driver was a yes, however when
we got into the cab, Steve said to the driver "Hi Dad".... Steve did not disclose before that his
father was a train driver! D1037 needed to uncouple so a 08 shunter could add some more parcel
vans to 6A37. We stayed aboard for the shunt move up to Cocklebury Yard and return, which meant
not only did I get D1037 for a ‘C’ (as it was entered into my Ian Allan combined volume), but
it also had a ‘CR’ (my first and only one in BR days). On our return we all had to duck down as
another loco was approaching the station, just in case a travelling inspector was on board.
My final memory of going around Swindon Works was in March 1972, it was a day best described
as freezing fog. On the station in the morning it was especially cold, so a walk to the works
warmed us up passing through ‘A’ shops where Westerns were being overhauled alongside other hydraulic
locomotives which were in for component recovery prior to cutting up. Finally we were back outside visiting the
Con Yard, with the afternoon sun burning off the frost and leading to the eery sight of seeing steam
rising from these dead locomotives almost as a last act of defiance before their ultimate ending.
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JONNY DUFFETT
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The first model railway I played with was my friend's as I couldn't afford one. He had
lots of hand me down Dublo and Triang which raced around track laid on the carpet at
such speed that even Magnadhesion couldn't cope with inevitable launching off the curves
and under furniture. My favourite train was the Southern Region EMU, as there was just
something endearing about it. The first model railway of my own was a complete 009 layout
with rolling stock given to me by my uncle on my 12th birthday, and my mum and dad bought
me a trusty H+M controller which is still in use more than 45 years on.... I still have
the rollling stock to this day, although the layout got left behind in a house move.
I really wanted a 00 layout and this finally happened when my dad bought me the then
newly released Airfix 61XX Prairie Tank in GWR Green. This was bought to cheer me up after
breaking both my right ulna and radius playing football at school. In fact the only times
I've ever been to A+E as a patient have been due to sporting injuries, never from model
making. I think there's a life lesson there!
I remember the last days of steam on the Southern
Region. The family lived in Winchester and on a Saturday or Sunday morning my dad would take
me and my two older sisters down to the station whilst mum cooked lunch. We would stand on
the end of the platform waiting to see what was pulling the next train, and on hearing the
rails sing, my middle sister would ask dad if it was a 'mad one' (meaning a steam engine).
If so she would hide behind him as the dirty, dark, monstrous, noisy thing would thunder
through rhythmically belching smoke, with steam coming out from all over it seemed. I also
remember a trip to Eastleigh works where a few steam locos were to be seen there too.
My Grandparents lived in South Wales and I have an early memory of a running line at the
back of the house and one at the front too. I recall looking over a bridge down onto a great
throbbing green diesel trundling below with clanking wagons full of coal. I was surprised by
the green colour as I thought all diesels were blue and more surprised by smoke coming out
of the top of the loco. I can still remember the oily smell.
The highlight of a visit to my Grandparents was a trip to Barry where hours were spent
climbing over, into and under the rusting engines, reading the forlorn messages and
pretending to be a footplateman. Afterwards we'd go on the Mighty Mouse rollercoaster
at Barry Island Funfair. Happy days.
In 1969 we moved to Highworth near Swindon, so from then on GWR indoctrination started
with the annual trip to the works open days throughout my childhood. I was never impressed
with the smelly lines of diesels being scrapped. They all looked too careworn and alien all
at once. I still wandered through the cabs and tried to figure what all the wires and pipes
and bits of metal sticking out were for. Other visitors to the scrapyard produced
screwdrivers and pliers with the opportunity to take souvenirs.
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PETE JOHNSON
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An interest in railways was already running in my family before I was born. My
grandfather on my father’s side had had some involvement in their running through
being a civil servant in the transport ministry. This in turn had lead to my father having
some of the very early Ian Allen ‘spotting’ books, probably to pass the time during
railway journeys to and from boarding school as a boy. A bookcase full of copies of the
‘Railway Magazine’ going back to the early 1950s was a feature of our lounge, and
every month a fresh edition, with pictures of the latest developments, dropped onto the
door mat. At the end of our street the recently electrified line between Mauldeth Road
Junction and Wilmslow brought EM4 (later 304) sets twice every hour, except on
Sundays. Other traffic was sparse but the Manchester Pullman passed on weekdays,
and there were occasional freightliner trains for the recently opened Longsight terminal.
My first train of my own was a Triang ‘Dock Shunter’ set when I must have been only
six or seven. The freelance 0-4-0T clockwork locomotive would chase round the oval of
clip-together ‘series 4’ track like a frightened mouse until the spring began to wind down
and the speed became slightly more realistic! The two wagons from the set, a planked
box van and a plank-sided mineral wagon, were my pride and joy. On the rare
occasions that my father and big sister assembled their larger range of track around the
lounge floor it was shear delight to watch the little train disappear behind the sofa and
expectantly wait for it to reappear from the other side – provided the spring didn’t run
right down….. If it did an electric engine had to be found for the rescue mission.
It is hard to say how much this first clockwork set influenced my later interest in dock
railways and shunting operations, but it must certainly have played a part…. It clearly
made a deep impression as over half a century later I can still picture the yellow and red
box with its dramatic cover artwork of the small train in front of a large ocean liner, and
the yellow cardboard insert with neat places for each item to be placed when not in use.
…….maybe six year olds were more easy to impress in 1967 than they are today?
I never managed a cab ride back to shed or any of those kind of things, but
getting shown through the pitch dark and very loud engine room of an idling Peak at Manchester
Piccadilly when it was waiting to drop onto the Harwich Boat train was the closest I got.
I had three encounters with 40 106 in its original tatty green livery in quick succession, all
on dull dismal Manchester days when I had my very basic instamatic camera and 64 slide film. The
results were just an almost black looking locomotive, a most common and frustrating problem back
in those days.
It didn't happen to me but to one of my school mates who was sat on a minor station out
Ashton under Lyme way, when a Leeds United football special came through and he had to run for
cover from a shower of light bulbs and toilet rolls! Gosh wasn't life more fun and spontaneous
back then, even if you didn't mind a bunch of yobs wrecking a set of mark 1s.
Several years later when I was a student in Bristol I got on a 253 HST set with a bicycle
at Swindon, and the station stop was so snappy that it had set off before I'd
finished stowing the bike, then the connecting door to the train was locked, so it was me
and a Paxman Valenta at close to full chuff all the way to Reading! That was loud.... they
put the powercar luggage compartments out of use quite soon after, in favour of the quieter
TGS additions.
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STEVE CARTER
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I was fortunate in that my dad worked at Springs Branch so I've one or two fond memories of
the depot. He started off his railway career as a cleaner / fireman, then love took him
away from the railways. After a few years he returned, first working for the PW Dep't and
then as a guard but he did carry out shed shunts at Springs Branch before he unfortunately
died aged 50 in 1991. During my school days I'd only paid scant attention to railways but
my interest gradually grew and dad would take me around the shed if he was spare. The depot
building had doors at both ends of the shed because it was originally intended for Bamfurlong
Sidings to be developed as the main sorting centre, so locos would have worked to the yard
then go on shed for exam / refuelling. Being open at each end meant they could pass through
the shed and back to Bamfurlong without having to reverse out and stopping other locos from
entering. After building the depot it was then decided to use Arpley Yard at Warrington
instead so the tracks were never installed at the north end of the shed, although this did
mean it was then very easy to drive one's car from the car park into the shed to carry out
your own automotive repairs undercover!
During my RAF days I lived in Carlisle and dad would sometimes work up on a Fidler's
Ferry to Knockshinnoch coal empties working which he took as far as Carlisle New Yard, and if
I was off I'd go to the station and join him on the loco for the short trip to the yard. I'm
fortunate to have a DVD of him working a train to ICI Hillhouse at Burn Naze on the old
Fleetwood branch (it was from an enthusiast's video who joined them for the trip). On visits
home it would sometimes coincide with dad working something that I could join him on, so I had
quite a few cab rides with him in the North West.
As a relatively late car driver, then all of my travels involved railways and I was always
fascinated that the infrastructure was still pretty much as it had been in steam days. I
travelled a lot on the 21:20 Bristol - Glasgow / Edinburgh sleeper (as a foot passenger I hasten
to add) and on occasions it would require the Class 37 bankers to lift it up the Lickey, so
I'd watch them buffer up to the last coach. Further north during the winter months, the train
loco would provide the spectacle of seeing the moorland around Tebay and Shap illuminated by
the arcing and sparking of the electric up front as the pantograph hit ice on the wires - magic!
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IAN MANDERSON
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I can't be sure what came first, the Hornby Freight set or the train spotting. Either way,
it all began when we moved a few doors down to a house that backed onto the ECML just north of
Berwick station, where the exit signals for the northbound loops were right outside my bedroom
window. I would often fall asleep to the whistling of a Class 40, or a 37 chuntering away to
itself, only to be awoken in the small hours by a northbound sleeper service!
My first conscious introduction to railways started after choir practice on a Friday evening,
so rather than hang around after 7pm listening to the adults exhaling their chords, I would
wander up to the station to join another chorister railway enthusiast, as well as another lifelong
friend to see the Anglo-Scottish trains pass through. There was a chip shop just around the
corner which, on reflection probably served the worst chips in Berwick, and the confectionary
it sold was suitably museum aged! There would be parcels trains with filthy ex-SR style vans so
dirty you couldn't tell whether they were blue or green under the grime, as well as mixed
freights (usually Class 37 hauled) and a couple of Newcastle - Edinburgh locals which could
have anything on the front. This became a regular Friday night thing and my interest grew, with
a particular fondness of the big fast noisy engines with wonderful names.
This interest grew into a passion which I still hold strong today, helped at the time by a mate
who's dad worked for BR and would bring us the most recent TOPS report so we could see the latest
situation for all of the Deltics. We'd sit on the steps just up from the long gone ticket booth
at the foot of the overbridge stairs in the booking hall, digesting the information to the tune
of passing trains. Occasionally I would wander down to the station on a Saturday morning, go home
briefly for lunch, then go back down in the afternoon. There was little freight about on a
Saturday but there was enough passenger activity to keep one interested, so I'd keep an eye on
the lights controlling the barrow crossing at the end of the station, indicating an approaching
southbound train.... on one occasion it was the Up Talisman hammering through at speed which
sticks in my mind. Saturday's would see some odd workings - there were often a pair of 37s that
would come up from Gateshead and stable at the end of the long sidings. On other days the
regulars would turn up like clockwork, such as the Class 40s on grain hoppers and the Haverton
Hill to Leith ammonia tanks, 37s on cement workings, unfitted minerals....
Occasionally the adult choir practice would go on a bit longer and we would be able to just
hang on to see the Aberdeen - York which was often Deltic hauled, watching it leave southbound
over the Royal Border Bridge and hearing it accelerate through Tweedmouth, Spittal, and if the
wind was in the right direction, even further along the cliffs - certainly one of my all time
favourite memories.
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MIKE WHITCHURCH
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My introduction into model railways was via the fairly standard route with the usual Hornby
clockwork O gauge on the carpet in the late 50s and early 60s. I was probably influenced by my
dad having been a shunter at the Wicker Goods and Queens Road yards in Sheffield. Memories are
a tad hazy, but I remember having a turntable and level crossing, their garish colours standing
out in my mind!
For whatever reason when we moved house, I remember having gravitated to a
Triang series 3 based system, with Brush 2 and pseudo Met Camm DMU. This layout was again carpet
based, but later after another house move it progressed into a piece of unframed insulation board
to which the track wasn’t permanently fastened, and was stored in between sessions in a
draughty garden shed. It made for some interesting operating sessions, with re-assembly of the track on
the board making a rather a good impression of the Lickey incline and Tinsley hump rolled in to one.
Something this layout did have was a couple of sidings, and what I enjoyed at the time was running
goods trains between them and shunting them in and out, which I reckon subconsciously has driven my
preference for freight wagons and operations in current times.
That was the pinnacle of my railway modelling achievements at the time, and so it stayed as such
because sometime in 1967 I discovered and became interested in the real railway, although I don't
quite know what sparked this off. Modelling went on the back burner whilst I engaged in train spotting
with some gusto, initially via bicycle and dads car (oh yes Mum you’ll love a day out in Clumber Park,
and by the way dad can we go via Rotherwood, Tinsley and Shirebrook as they're on the way), progressing
to public transport, and finally my own car as work kindly provided me with spotting tokens.
When the telephone (TOPS) numbers started being put on the side of locos
and the mass withdrawals of the
early seventies occurred, that was the point at which I abandoned the real thing, but discovered
something even more expensive and time consuming (but that and my journey into EM are another story
and I’ll not clog the website with my autobiography)!
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HYWEL THOMAS
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My introduction to model railways like most people was a childhood
Triang Hornby set, mine being the ‘Car-a-Belle’ set comprised a Jinty
0-6-0T, two double-deck car carriers (with a fine selection of 1960s
Minix cars) and a brake van. Once the novelty wore off it went back
into the red box... until a primary school trip a few years later to
the parcels depot at Cardiff Central station! Don’t ask me why.
After a tour of the downstairs sorting area we were taken up to what
was Riverside Platforms 8 and 9...and given a cab ride up and down the
platform in the class 08 parcels pilot. I returned home with a new found
railway enthusiasm and convinced my dad that I needed a board to attach
the Super 4 track to. This ended up being a hardboard topped frame acting
like a drum – and running sessions very soon brought noise complaints
from my mother, so it had soon been relegated to living under the bed and
there it pretty much stayed until a family holiday in 1974.
We had always gone to Tenby in West Wales but that year my parents
decided on (what was for us) a major expedition... two weeks on the
Isle of Bute in Scotland! To keep me and my sister entertained on the
long train trip north we were presented with an Ian Allan spotter book
(as it turned out, the DMU book) the mistake only being realised when
none of the locos we saw were featured, so a visit to the John Menzies
stand at Glasgow Central provided us with the correct volume! The trip
was a game changer as I realised how much variety was out there on the
railways of Britain. An abiding memory was a long line of withdrawn
Class 24s in Carlisle Kingmoor yard. The bug had bitten and soon I’d
convinced my dad to provide a six-by-four board up in the loft. The 00
empire was soon growing.
Around this time my dad’s friend took us down to Woodham’s scrap yard
in Barry Docks. I’d never heard of this place and was hooked! Hundreds of
old steam locos, wagons everywhere and piles of
fascinating scrap, plus no restrictions on where you wandered or
climbed. Something never forgotten was that great smell of old rust, oil
and damp vegetation. Bliss! My early teens were spent travelling the
country in search of elusive locos but soon I began to take more note of
what was behind the usually filthy blue and green machines,
and trying to replicate that in my models. A birthday present of a couple
of Larkin’s first Bradford Barton wagon books added a whole new dimension
to the spotting trips.
Fast forward a few years and I had just learnt to drive, borrowing my
parents car on a Sunday morning and head down to Barry (soon with my very first
SLR camera), wandering those rows of derelict engines and condemned, rusting
rolling stock that has inspired my modelling choices ever since. What were
these wagons? What did they carry? For whom? And why? My explorations began
to take me to more and more unusual, often semi-derelict, locations in search
of wagon oddities. This was always with a slight sense of foreboding as very
few of these visits were official, so there was always the worry about who or
what lurked around the next dark corner, or at the head of that flight of dank
mossy steps. Was there a slight movement in that old, windowless building?
One memory involved hiding amongst several rakes of old internal user
single bolsters on Newport Docks whilst a security guard and large
Alsatian prowled nearby, and wandering through an old ordnance factory
(with permission) and being startled by a large sheep! Exiting a semi-derelict
yard at speed after hearing something large scrabbling about in the undergrowth,
along with all those various formative memories have inspired the construction
of numerous models since.
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KARL CROWTHER
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Again at Aberystwyth in warmer times! The highlight of the week (in summer) was the Saturdays
Only train from London Euston, invariably at this time worked by a pair of Class 25s onwards
from Birmingham. Here we see 25 218 leading 25 212 in open countryside between Bow Street and
Aberystwyth on Saturday 9th June 1979.
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GREG BROOKES
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The prototype HS4000 locomotive Kestrel built by Hawker Siddeley was sold to the USSR in
1971 and I never got the chance to see it whilst it was in BR service. In the June of that year
there was an item in the midweek evening newspaper showing a picture of Kestrel passing through
Hereford in a train from Crewe works to Cardiff Docks. As one of a small group of schoolmates
who haunted the railway in Hereford, we were gutted that our last chance had gone.... or had it?
A plan was hatched amongst us Platform Enders at school the next day to scrape together
enough pocket money to catch the 07:35 train to Cardiff on the Saturday morning (a Class 120
cross country set), in the vague hope that we could see Kestrel before she left our shores.
After getting the right bus to the docks area, we just needed to hunt down that rare bird
that had eluded us over the years, dodging lorries and other hazards on the quayside. Our
eyes lit up briefly when we spotted a Russian ship, but excitement soon turned to disappointment
having found it was loaded with timber!
Eventually we came across a pair of locomotive bogies alongside a ship adorned with a red
hammer and sickle on its funnel, but it seemed we were too late and the bird had already flown.
One of our gang Newman Noggs said he had come too far to give up easily, so began making his
way up the steps and on to the ship. After a while we started to worry that he had been gone
a long time and could maybe end up in a Siberian salt mine!
Minutes later a shout from the gunwhale high above, caused us to look up to see Newman
alongside a sailor wearing the biggest hat I've ever seen, waving at us to come aboard, where
to our amazement we were shown to the open hold and looked down at Kestrel stowed alongside a
large ship's propellor.... That was one of the most satisfying underlines in my combined volume!
As well as getting the cop, a Russian officer produced for each of us a small lapel pin with
the emblem of the shipping line. He also signed our notebooks and wrote the ship's name
'Krasnokamsk' in Russian.
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It's almost 20 years ago that a group of EM gauge modellers set about showcasing their
various 1970s themed layout and rolling stock projects online under the name of the Gloucester
EM Gauge Group. Those early free-hosting blogs have been lost in the midsts of time, so this
website was created (as the group expanded globally!) to provide a historical record of our
activities, in addition to sharing interesting and prototypical information.
Thank you to everyone who has supported, contributed, or just popped in for a browse from time to time.
I’ve been profoundly interested in railways – real and model – for the last 65 years
and I’ve always thought the early 1970s were the dullest of the lot. After the frenzy of
steam’s last knockings it was one big anti-climax, yet at heart things were little
different except the trains were now blue and monotonous, the glowing promise of XP64 and
the ‘New Image’ had long evaporated and the surrounding infrastructure was shabbier than
ever. The only article of mine that even vaguely touched on this period was entitled
‘The Land That Time Forgot’.
About ten years ago Roy Jackson introduced me to Kier Hardy and in turn to the website you
are now holding in your hand. Stap me I thought, this is good stuff. One by one, as Update
followed Update, the scales fell from my eyes and over the months and years that followed I
realised that, as a modelling subject, the early-to-mid 1970s were as rich as any and
possibly richer.
Equally importantly, the way guys like Pete, Karl, Hywel and the others interpreted their
themes was fascinating and highly individual – here were modellers of rare talent and
perception who, for whatever reason, were largely denied access to the mainstream media.
This wasn’t always the hair-shirt modelling I’d embraced as editor of MRJ but it was
pretty damn good all the same and it showed just how lacking in flair, imagination and sheer
visual impact the finescale movement (inflated by its own self-importance and quest for
ideological purity) had become. The skills-based modelling that was conspicuous by its
absence from the popular red-top magazines and forums was here in abundance, while
complicated methodologies were communicated succinctly and with commendable clarity. The
standard of photography was and still is uniformly excellent.
As far as modelling’s concerned I’ve largely given up on print and digital media but I greet
the arrival of each new Update with all the excitement once associated with the latest MRJ.
I’m honoured to be invited to help celebrate its 200th iteration. Having once affected
indifference to the delights of the early 1970s, I can truthfully say I’ve now read all the
previous website Updates from cover to cover.
A recent excursion back into The Land That Time Forgot – a Holbeck class 25/1 diesel still
with its D-prefixed number shunts an LNER-built plate wagon loaded with a pair of invalid
saloons. The vehicles have been carefully (and prototypically) roped to avoid movement in
transit – note the cushions protecting the windscreens. The loco was originally from Greg
Brookes' Shenston Road fleet while the Invacars were inspired by a characteristically
off-the-wall Update piece by Mike Whitchurch. The real thing was manufactured by the same
company that made the fearsome AC Cobra.
Reinforcing the North London flavour with a pair of Class 125 DMUs, one heading to its
home depot of Stratford for servicing whilst another is seen coasting over the
flyover on a inner suburban service.
The new additions to the fleet are seen here during the last stages of detail work and
are ready for painting, showing the alternative bufferbeam pipe arrangement. I don't
remember the first set taking as long, and that involved a lot of reasearch.
Two views showing each side of the Class 125 powercars, with the set which was completed
last year being used as a guide for what to make and fit for this second unit. The new
underframe parts are mostly strene with brass wire and tube.
I've gone around the edges of the glazing on the 2 powercars with a fine point marker pen
which improves the look of the aperture and window, shown here with the centre car still to
do. The difference is obvious, so I'll have to revisit the first set to improve the glazing.
DMS E51005 lasted into the early 1970s with a small yellow warning panel, so it was
decided (there's peer pressure for you) to model this particular powercar for a bit of
variety. The chassis on E51005 will be swapped with the other DMC so that the bufferbeam
arrangement matches the photographs of this unit.
A 6-car 'rush hour' formation heading for Kings Cross.
English Electrics type 4 and type 3 at Healey Mills yard in 1971. This snap was taken on an ancient
camera which my grandad was throwing out.... it had a folding out bellows behind a spring
loaded door. This scanned print was processed by my dad in his makeshift darkroom, so although
the quality may be poor, it's a lovely reminder of my early train spotting days.
A couple of dodgy snaps taken on that old camera, featuring Class 37 - 6801 at Healey Mills, and
Class 40 - 391 on a freight at Carlisle. Eventually the camera became unreliable,
as there was some light bleeding in through the worn out bellows, as well as suffering occasional
film jams which caused an upset when I lost a snap of Warship 803 Albion at Royal Oak.
Weekend excursions and mystery tours by train were commonplace in the early 1970s, so my dad
having seen a Merrymaker trip from London to Cardiff advertised in a 1972 Railway World magazine,
gave me the money and train fare to go and get a couple of tickets. After school one day I made my way
to Kings Cross and then on the Underground to the ticket office at Paddington station to book and
pay for the excursion. A few days later we travelled in comfort in a first class mark 2 coach
to Cardiff, then a DMU to Barry to explore Woodham's scrapyard. A chippy tea was had in the city
centre before heading back to London after dark with the seat reclined, looking through pages of
numbers and notes from a grand day out.
Beyond the Peaks stabled on Horton Road depot, a pair of Class 47s accelerate away from Gloucester
in 1975.
This shows the current state of play with Woodend Sidings, in preparation for more scenic
work to the embankments which will include a variety of foliage and additional fencing. A
selection of large trees have been acquired for planting at the end of the layout to form
the scenic break.
As originally planned, Wood End Sidings would have been a simple end to end layout with a
4 foot fiddle yard at the one end. As the layout developed I realised this concept would
not work, so with a bit of careful planning I found that a 3 foot radius end curve would
just fit and allow me to move the fiddle yard around to the the other side of the garage,
allowing for more storage sidings as well. Here the outer track will be hidden from view
whilst the inner track (industrial branch) will be visible from inside the layout.
This view shows an EMU at Rock Ferry station, date unknown. Image courtesy of the History
of the Wirral Peninsular website, which features a variety of subjects including dock yards
and railway stations.
I transferred to Hereford in 1987 as a Relief Driver, as the promotion prospects at Kings Cross
would take many more years to acomplish. Here's a shot of me at the controls of 37702 on the
last lap into Hereford on the 24th March 1988.
Showing the front end modifications for 6323. Back in the mid 60s this loco had a prang
and wrote off its A end which Swindon re-built, however they put circular cover plates over
the old air horn capsules. The North British type 2 D6300’ers had 4 diamond works plates
(one on each cab side) and one either end centrally placed above each connecting door, so
6 plates per loco in total. The end ones just showed a year of manufacture.
Im really enjoying getting stuck into this 4mm project and have pulled the wheel sets out to
EM gauge, although these probably need turning down to go through point work, but for NA 83A
will be OK, and converted it to DCC operation. The boiler port modification has been done, the
small boiler extractor was plated over and the large boiler port has had the correct side
blanked off. I needed some 5 thou plasticard for this but as usual did not have any, nor the
local model shop, so out came an emery board and I took a 10 thou strip of plasticard down to
5 thou with pleasing results. I noted the depth of the recess of the headcode boxes, so I have
made some glazing inserts that allow me to put the alpha / numeric code in as well, which will
then be nice and flush.
I have made up 2 sets of headcode glazing, one from 10 thou and the other from 15 thou clear
plasticard, then deciding which looked best The 10 thou left some shiny edges even after blacking
the edges with a permanent marker pen, so 15 thou it is. I have cut out some alpha numeric
headcodes - 7A08 & 7C24 both appropriate for Newton Abbot, in fact 6323 was withdrawn at 83A
with the 7A08 at one end. Headcode blinds and glazing temporarily fixed and will be removed
before the weathering starts.
Here is Lanky Swindon Steve in white shirt, me in dark top and faded jeans ripped at
the knee, to the right of Steve and my old best pal Phil with his back to the image. This image
was published in the Bradford Barton book 'BR Diesels in Close Up’ 1200 Falcon at Swindon on
August 25th 1971. N.E.Preedy.
There's been a flurry of activity on the CAD and 3D printing front during the last month.
Here's a few projects showing progress so far, starting with an ex-GWR CC3 6-wheeled tool
van. Built from 1903 onwards, some lasted through to the 1970s. Most were in S&T use. There
was a 4-wheel variant with a different undertrussed chassis and sliding door, which has also
been drawn.
The Thompson designed BZ 6-wheel passenger brake vans were built from 1950 and were
withdrawn during the mid to late 1970s. I've drawn the buffers and torpedo vents as
separate prints so they can be used on other models as required.
I was recently sent some more detail information with diagrams and dimensions on the
outriggers and chassis for the Matisa Neptune track recording trolley. Making the outrigger
wires was quite involved, so I've made a jig to form the wires consistently. I still need to
add buffers heads, glazing, and most daunting of all produce the Neptune lettering. The
information came via Thingiverse from Sweden where the vehicles were also used.
Here's my print of a 16t mineral wagon with a Bachmann model behind. The version I've drawn
has 8-shoe brakegear which is not available elsewhere. Alternative brakegear can also be fitted.
GWR breakdown mess van.
GWR breakdown tool van.
The step ends of the breakdown vans - they usually ran together either with or without a crane.
The prominent angle irons on the step ends were for flare lamps to help illuminate work
sites. There's a little more to do with finishing my models, but these designs and all the
others are available for free download at
Thingiverse
Another new type for the layout is the Lowmac ER to Dia 2/243. This diagram was built in
larger numbers than any other BR Lowmac design, although even that meant only 126 examples!
As built the 2/243 had side rails to the deck, although many seem to have lost these in
later years. The model is for the 1960s so 0.5mm plastic has been used to add the edge
strips. The Hornby livery of a London Midland Region Lowmac MS has been tweaked slightly
to become the Eastern Region’s B904585.
B904606 is another Lowmac ER from the Airfix/Hornby r-t-r product. This one has been
finished with the markings applied on the deck edge strip, a slightly less common
position used on some.
The Class 47 re-shelling project has definitely taken the slow line on my hobby bench, but
after two years the first of the four has finally been completed. 47 367 has been finished
as it would have appeared in 1974-75. The other three Vi-trains shells, also for the 1970s,
are nearing completion.
The three newly finished models appeared on the layout during the 60th anniversary Kendal
MRC exhibition. To celebrate the special occasion the club had a couple of cakes made to
share with the exhibitors…..
During both the Saturday and Sunday there was a Merseyside theme to the layout. Hudswell
D2502 is pictured during a 1967 sequence.
After a blend into 1969 to close the Saturday, here is a seagull’s eye view of a Class 03
working vans on the dockside.
A selection of BR Class 24 & 25 locos stabled in the upper sidings during the weekend. Recent
addition to the fleet D7577, in all-over green with full yellow ends, was one example.
A telephoto lens view after 5216 had joined D7577 in the stabling road.
Sunday took the layout into the 1970s, and during the opening sequence 02 003 was seen
heading for the exchange sidings across the dockside.
The Class 02 is pictured again as it approaches the dock branch curve.
25 242 was another type 2 to pause between tasks in the stabling road.
Stealing the show alongside the Leyland crewbus was this showroom condition Mini Cooper……
strictly not of the correct era of course, but hard to resist as it drove around the
dockland environment – and even boarded a flat wagon in the low-level sidings for onward
rail shipment on a couple of occasions. R-T-R out-of-the-box from Turbo Racing, available
in the UK from HobbyRC amongst others….great value for money, and great fun!
A trackside view from the closing sequence as 25 047 arrives with a short rake of 35 ton grain hoppers.
03 069 makes ready to take the grain delivery down the dock branch. Many thanks to all
involved with the show for a very enjoyable weekend!
A split box Peak at Manchester Piccadilly.
Withdrawn Westerns awaiting dismantling. The only souvenir I managed was the engine
overspeed warning light surround off Western Pathfinder in Swindon scrapyard.... a similar
lack of suitable tools so I had to bend it back and forwards till it broke off.
The last major piece of scratch building for the Hudswell shunter involved fabricating
four sand boxes as the supplied white metal versions were of a different shape to those
seen fitted. The process involved shaping brass sheet and sections to try and depict the
hoppers and their valve assemblies (the actual sand pipes will be fitted when the chassis
has been painted and fitted).
To allow for removal of the brake gear if necessary then 1.5mm brass tube with an internal
bore of 1mm has been soldered in place and then each brake hanger is given a 1mm diameter
spigot which can then plug into these. A lower spacing bar is yet to be fitted, this being
necessary to fix the blocks into position and prevent them from shorting against the wheels.
The running plate with steps, air tanks and the lower portion of the tool boxes now fitted.
Additionally four brackets on each side have been fitted as per the prototype with three of
them lining up with the centre line of the brake hanger support tubes.
The purpose of the brackets revealed as they align the chassis assembly and fix it into position.
The purpose of the small fitment to the right of the tool box (on one side only) is unknown and
was not fitted when the locos were new so was a later addition (as were the cranked footsteps).
Thankfully the build is now coming to completion with only a few more components yet to be added;
lamp brackets, three link couplings, fuel filler assembly, front grab rails, radiator filler cap,
upper tool box portions, front and back buffer beam support brackets and connecting rod detailing.
A good line up of motive power at rest on a weekend at Springs Branch depot in July 1979. The old
steam shed behind was later demolished, leaving just the servicing shed to the right.
40035 sits inside the shed at Wigan Springs Branch depot on the 2nd July 1983. This is one of the
many thousands of photographs taken by the late Steve Chambers. Thankfully Paul James is in the
process of cleaning and scanning Steve's (and many others) collections which can be found
here in the Jamerail Flickr albums.
One memorable cab ride alongside my dad was aboard 40150 which ran light from Springs Branch
depot as 6L46 to the Ince & Elton UKF sidings to bring back empty chemical (ammonia?) tanks
bound for the Marchon chemical works at Corkicle on 7th May 1983. A view through the Secondman's
cab window shows the return working approaching Warrington Bank Quay with an unidentified
Class 47 leaving with loaded MGR wagons for Fidlers Ferry power station. Hard to believe it
was nearly forty years ago!
The south end of Springs Branch depot in 2022.
A 2-car Metro-Cammel DMU pauses at Hartburn with a Morpeth to Rothbury service. This layout
will be appearing at the Newton Aycliffe exhibition on the March 25th 2023.
A (later) view from my bedroom window, and on the right a picture of Deltic 55019 at Berwick upon
Tweed.
A Class 40 held in the loop with the northbound ammonia tanks (the house on the extreme right
of the picture was mine).
Family holidays were spent with my Aunt in Bishop Auckland, and I would look forward to
catching the DMU to Darlington. At that point Bishop Auckland still had most of its buildings
intact, albeit a little worse for wear, but if you were lucky you'd also catch sight of the
cement train heading to Weardale (usually a 37), along with a couple of hours spent on
Darlington station before catching the unit back. Oh how life was simple then..... sadly it
lost its grand buildings in the early 80s and the old station was completely demolished some
time later, and the station re-sited a little further up. It's these memories which inspired
the building of my first exhibition layout Easington Lane.
55015 at York. After a couple of years of underlining numbers, I ventured out one school holiday
with my mate, armed with a Northumbrian Ranger ticket. Superb value allowing unlimited travel between
Berwick and York, and across from Newcastle to Carlisle. By this time we were only really interested in
being hauled by a Deltic and so the ticket was usually used to catch the Edinburgh-Plymouth
from Berwick to York, and then the return working, having made a very quick visit to the NRM
in the meantime, or perused the wares in Collectors Corner which used to be alongside the station.
Occasionally one would get bowled when a 47 would trundle round the corner instead. All great fun
looking back, although I don't think my parents were quite as enamoured with my passion,
particularly when it seemed to impact on my studying - well, when you're sat at the dining
table revising and you can see the passing trains, it's easy to get distracted.
37106 at the bottom of the garden. Following the withdrawal of our beloved Deltics at the end of
1981 I lost interest, but thankfully rekindled in 1983. There was still variety in the freight
traffic and summer Saturdays could still throw up surprises. By this time I had moved on from
the trusty 126 instamatic and finally got an SLR - Praktica MTL3.
Having spent half of January in the UK I’m afraid progress has been a little scant on the
layout recently. The end of the old goods loop is now foreshortened has converted into a sand drag,
I didn’t want to remove all the track and leave the area somewhat bare, so this was my solution.
One of Dave Franks buffer stops has been used, although why I went to the trouble of putting
chairs on it I now wonder! The right hand image shows the new track arrangement for the parcels depot.
D5233 at Sheffield Midland in 1970.
Withdrawn operational Class 15s at Ipswich depot prior to being moved to Crewe works for breaking.
‘... cab ride up and down the platform in the class 08 parcels pilot.’
‘... and piles of fascinating scrap...’
‘What were these wagons? What did they carry?’
‘...who, or what, lurked around the next dark corner...’
‘...or at the head of that flight of dank mossy steps.’
‘Was there a slight movement in that old, windowless, building?’
Not a huge amount of progress this time, though the bridge structures that featured last
month have now been painted.
That said, I’m not totally happy with the colouring which I
think needs to be somewhat paler for the local limestone. These first two images show the
bridge at the south end of the Kentside station scene. It has left me wondering if the
signal now needs to be taller for sighting purposes….
This is the skew bridge at Kendal Castle.
The bracket signal has had to be raised so it can
be seen above the bridge. It will eventually need to be raised some more once the backscene
has been installed! The triple ground signal is a static feature at present…..
All ground signals (apart from the aforementioned triple) are now fitted and fully operational,
as seen here at Kentside.
Delving into the past seems a long time ago now! I started spotting in the mid-1970s – Leeds
was a regular haunt, with occasional forays to places like York and Manchester. In the early
days I had no camera but did manage sometimes to borrow the family’s Kodak Instamatic. On
bright days it took good pictures. I well remember the excitement of D1023 Western Fusilier
visiting York on 20th November 1976 with the Western Talisman Railtour from London Kings Cross.
It was a cold, but bright day, perfect for the Instamatic. As these two pictures illustrate,
just about every modern traction enthusiast from the north of England had made their way to
York! There was another trip, the ‘Western Finale’ the following year (February 12th) from
Exeter St. David’s, but the weather was grim, so the photo not good. And this was the day
the loco struck a herd of cows en-route near Charfield on the outward leg, causing a 1 hour
delay on arrival at York (info. from Six Bells Junction website).
We now step forward to 1977 and in June of that year we had a family holiday to the far north
of Scotland, which sees this image of 26 042 at Fearn on June 10th of that year. By this time
I’d pestered my parents to buy me a ‘proper’ camera - a Zenith EM – a.k.a the brick! Having
said that it was actually quite a good camera, it was just big a lump to carry around on trips.
I still have it somewhere….
Now we can get a hint of my passion for Class 40s and desire to model the Cumbrian Coast. The
family were invited on a number of occasions to stay in a holiday cottage near Grange-over-Sands.
Fittingly this picture, one of the best I’ve ever taken if I may be so bold, was taken on my
very first visit to Grange-over-Sands station (19th June 1977 to be precise). It’s very obviously
a Sunday engineering possession; with an amazing three 40s in view – namely 004, 051 and 100.
We now move forward to 23rd July 1977 and a chance sighting of 40 106 at Leeds still in its
(very trashed) green livery. I think it was very soon after this it finally got a new coat of
(green) paint.
Around this time I went on a number of ‘Merrymaker’ excursions and this one was especially
memorable; the ‘Deltic Over Shap’ tour from Chesterfield on 10th November 1977, the motive
power being provided by 55 007 Pinza. It was quite a day: outward via the ECML to Newcastle,
then across to Carlisle. From there it was down Shap to Carnforth where the train reversed
and returned via Skipton and Leeds. Again, details from Six Bells Junction.
Back at Grange on another lovely sunny day (23rd August ’77) and we see a Class 108 DMU heading
towards Barrow. I like this view (though not technically perfect) because it features the semaphore
signal with arms facing in both directions. I’d have liked to do one such for The Kentside Branch,
but it wouldn’t have fitted in with the required signalling.
Now into 1978 and here at Bristol Temple Meads on 23rd September we have 45 036 and 46 004.
I can’t remember why I was there……
Now we migrate to Aberystwyth where I spent my first year at University. One very memorable
occasion was, when as a member of the Rail & Transport Society (RATS,) we had an outing on 13th
January 1979 to Barry Scrapyard. The main thing I remember is that it was cold, VERY COLD! We
started out on the first DMU from Aber, bound for Shrewsbury, at something like 05.20. There
was no heating on the DMU, so we froze, looking forward to a change of trains and a chance to
warm up. At Shrewsbury to our dismay, our onward loco-hauled train also had no heating! I can’t
remember the exact route we took, but we somehow ended up at Bristol Parkway where I took this
shot of a frost-encrusted 50038 on a Paddington bound service (how did the driver see out!). I
seem to remember there was some dispute at one point with a guard who said we’d gone a route
that wasn’t allowed by our tickets – via Bristol I’d guess. But we eventually got to Barry and
some nice photos in the sunshine, but it was still freezing, a very memorable day out that was!
Projects at the Shenston Road workshops continue and are mostly awaiting finishing, so
I'll have some of the latest wagonry to show soon.... with another rake of tank wagons no less.
Kestrel boarded over and minus bogies, being lifted onto the Russian ship 'Krasnokamsk' at
Cardiff Docks on June 11, 1971. Image courtesy of The Railway Hub - for further information
on HS4000 Kestrel from design to discard, you can find it here by clicking -
The Railway Hub, The big bird that flew too far - Kestrel.
We hope you have enjoyed this special edition of the website and we'll be back next month as usual.
Although not 1970s, this footage was retrieved from a 8mm video tape which captured the return
journey from the Shipley model railway exhibition in September 1994... frightening to think
that was nearly 30 years ago! It's split into two parts - the first one taking a look at the
remains of Bradford Exchange & Forster Square stations, Hall Ings and Petergate traffic, and the
second one featuring the depots Healey Mills, Tinsley and Toton. Please click on the image to view the videos.
