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JUNE 2023
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Gavin Clark writes......
After Geraint had left school, he exhibited for the first time at the Manchester Model
Railway Exhibition, which by this time I think was in the main UMIST building. Peter and
I gained special permission to miss school on a Friday afternoon so that we could be
Geraint’s operators, as the show was then open on that afternoon as well as a Saturday
and Sunday. Practice at Geraint’s parents house a few days before had not gone entirely
to plan. Peter never forgot his accidental running of Geraint’s 4F off the end of the layout
and on to the floor below. I think Geraint fitted an end stop before we actually exhibited!
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Kier Hardy writes......
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Karl Crowther writes......
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Mike Whitchurch writes......
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Steve Harrod writes......
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Andy Morris writes......
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Tim Shackleton writes......
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Paul James writes......
"There was a moment I keep seeing in my
minds-eye when I was looking on from the storage yard..... the 0-6-0 Hunslet was
busy 'train building' in the run-around loops, the 0-4-0 tram was just emerging from
around the curve from the docks, and the crewbus was doing a three-point turn by the
bricked-up dock gates.... it looked fantastic, and I swear I was back in the mid-1960s
for a few moments".
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.... And last, but certainly not least, Ian Manderson writes......
Rest in peace Peter.
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A tribute to Peter Johnson 1961 - 2023.
Peter and I met when, aged 10, we both started at Cheadle Hulme School in 1972. Well
suited for those with a growing railway interest, as the school is right alongside the
Crewe to Manchester main line and visible from a variety of classroom windows. We were
part of a small group of like-minded individuals that joined the existing school model
railway society, of which Geraint Hughes was already a member albeit a few years ahead
of us, and the society was a fruitful ground for learning about the delights of model
railways. Eventually an annual show was held in part of the school, and by this time
Peter was the Treasurer and I the Secretary. We reached the lofty heights for more than
one year of getting 2000 people through the door, the sort of numbers current exhibition
organisers can nowadays only dream about. Odd parts of the school were found for us over
the years, ranging from cockroach homes to freezing barns, in which somehow we managed to
build a few bits of railway.
Peter is with other friends from
the school Model Railway Society. Unfortunately time has dimmed the memory and I cannot
remember sufficient of their names reliably to make it worth mentioning them. This was
one of the society’s OO layouts and was using some of Peter’s diesel locomotives.
01002 & 01001 in the process of being dismantled at Hollyhead Breakwater in early 1982.
Peter was passionate about shunting locomotives, in particular the Class 01s and made
several trips to this location to measure up and make plans for a layout based on the
line between the quarry and the breakwater. Scratchbuilt 01002 was completed, the
baseboards built and track laid, but the project never advanced further. The incomplete
Soldier’s Point shed building was incorporated into the stabling point on Wibdenshaw many
years later, whilst the loco that was to be 01 001 was finished instead as D2954 in an
early ‘60s guise for use on Canada Road (and later Canada Street).
University years appeared with Peter studying aeronautical engineering, and then
Canada Road emerged. As my girlfriend (now wife) Helen was in Germany studying for a year,
Peter and I (together with another friend Mark) spent a merry time exhibiting the layout
at various shows around the north west. I seem to remember at this stage that the layout
travelled to and from a show in Peter’s Dad’s car but other transport was down to us. I
have very clear memories of travelling home from Wigan one Saturday evening after the first
day of the show, by train and in the snow. The weather was so bad that we travelled back at
5mph, sat behind the driver’s compartment in the DMU, watching the road ahead as the herd
of cows that had apparently broken through from a field and meandered slowly ahead of us
with nowhere else to go. Eventually the guard found an industrial estate on to which they
were diverted.... the poor farmer having to find them all the next day!
Those exhibitions generated many good memories, not least the one where we ended up with
the layout positioned in the hall directly opposite the open bar. The presence of the pints
of cider for Peter and me, and Mark’s beer, together with the constant shunting on Canada
Road, probably had some influence in my eventually avoiding the use of three-link couplings
on future exhibition layouts. Peter used to blame me for persuading him to move from OO to
EM so I think we were fairly even. Life had eventually taken its toll on the exhibiting of
Canada Road so it was put into store for a good few years.
Peter’s plans to be a jet pilot were to no avail due to issues with his eyesight but he had
a lifelong fascination with flight. After his degree he eventually got his first job with
my Dad in an engineering company to get him started, then moving on to work eventually for
Thunder & Colt near Oswestry on hot air balloons. He became godfather to our first daughter,
and strangely enough we both completely and independently looked at the same run-down
cottage in the borders which he eventually bought. We both stayed living along The Marches
area, with Helen and I eventually moving to Ludlow, and continued to meet, sometimes planned,
sometimes not at various venues and occasions. Peter eventually gained his balloon pilot's
licence and we had a few occasions helping him rescue the balloon from some of the more
challenging farm tracks. Our Landrover was fine, but his estate car perhaps not. This
resulted in some superb flights from Peter for our family over the local countryside which
will never be forgotten. With roots still firmly planted in his mid-Wales cottage, a change
of job found him lodging in Gloucester which is where he met Carole.
Peter’s skills with colour, and his modelling, always left me in awe and still remains
something I will forever be trying to equal. Peter had chosen Art as one of his subjects at
school, whereas I chose metalwork, and it showed in the quality of what he produced. He was
also always the expert in what was then the ‘modern image’, but I had been distracted at an
early age into the world of steam engines.
Eventually last year at the Scalefour AGM where Pete was demonstrating, we realised that
now having both passed 60 that we had known each other for half a century. The icing on the
cake was this year at Expo EM where Tony Sullivan (by accident) had invited us both to
exhibit at the same show and we were next to each other! None of us knew at the time but
Geraint had also been invited but was unable to attend due to other commitments. We were
slowly hatching plans to arrange for all three of us to be invited to a future show, perhaps
a Scaleforum and have our own private ‘school reunion’ - sadly now this will not happen.
The last communication I had from Peter was an email which started with an apology for
disappearing so quickly at the end of Expo EM without saying goodbye properly, with neither
of us knowing how prescient that would be. Our family’s thoughts remain with Carole, Julia and Craig.
It was around 1996 when my wife invited her old school friend Carole and new boyfriend
Peter around for drinks and nibbles. During the evening the conversation turned to models,
with the opportunity to let the women chat to themselves whilst I took Peter out to see my
layout Holmeworth partially set up in the garage. It turned out that he was also into EM
gauge 1970s modelling - what a coincidence that was! A couple of days later he brought
over a couple of stock boxes full of scratchbuilt shunters and wagons which hadn't seen
the light of day for over 10 years. I don't think there's ever been a moment in my modelling
lifetime to match that jaw dropping moment.
The friendship grew due to our mutual interests, and soon after we spent a weekend at
Peter's cottage in mid-Wales with a couple of days out and about the surrounding area. Kier,
Gill, Kris & Kate Hardy with Carole & Peter at Lake Vernwy in 1998.
Peter with Kris & Kate in the stream which ran alongside the cottage. The dam was
great fun to build, but was demolished soon after we departed. It's funny how
things stick in one's mind - losing Peter's frisby in a tree being one of them!
Peter became a regular helper with Holmeworth, seen here at Leicester in September
1998 with Ian Manderson, Steve Adcock and Mark Hazel at the controls.
On the 24th April 1999 Peter and Carole were married at Lake Vyrnwy Hotel. Lots of
laughs and adventures along the way!
Peter's modelling interests were rekindled without a doubt after that chance meeting a
few years previously, so it wasn't too long before Canada Road was dusted off, repaired
and brought back to life. The layout made its comeback at the Gloucester 2002 exhibition
after a long absence, with Gavin and myself helping out during the weekend.
Fast forward a few years and here we see a young Craig and Julia with Mum and Dad in the
family balloon. Having worked in the hot air balloon industry for many years, the
enthusiasm and dedication became as much a pastime as it was a job.
After Peter's hard work on the design and testing of the fuel system, the Breitling Orbiter
3 launched from Chateau-D'oex, Switzerland in March 1999 on its way to a round
the world record. The gondola is seen here on display at the Udvar-Hazy Centre of the
National Air and Space Museum near Washington, D.C. with Peter looking on.
Canada Road at Expo EM Bracknell in 2011, with Peter and Ian operating. The layout was
withdrawn from the exhibition circuit the following year, with Railex at Aylesbury being
its final appearance. The bigger and better replacement Canada Street made its debut at
the Wigan show in 2015.
Flanked by Steve Jordan and John Harvey at the Saturday evening social event at Burton on
Trent in June 2015, celebrating 21 years of DEMU and a weekend playing trains on Wibdenshaw.
A proud dad in December 2019 - collecting Julia's Hot Air Balloon Pilot's Licence from
the CAA at Gatwick Airport - Happy landings Julia. A picture of the cake made for Peter's
last day at work in July 2021.
This has been one of the most emotionally difficult updates to put together, and without
doubt a bit of a choker at times. I'm honoured to have known such a talented and
inspirational friend - Peter has gone, but his legacy lives on.... Rest in peace.
It was a huge shock to hear that Peter had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly some 10
days after exhibiting Canada Street at Expo EM 2023. I was fortunate to be there
as one of the operators on the layout and it’s a small comfort that we all had a
brilliant time and Peter was really happy with how it had all gone.
Canada Street was as usual very well received by visitors to the show, some lingering for
a good while on the seats provided in front so they could watch the proceedings.
And ever modest, Peter was overwhelmed to be awarded two trophies at the show, namely
The Peter Denny Memorial Trophy for the layout operated in the most prototypical manner
and the Watlington Trophy for the best scratchbuilt or kitbuilt item (this for the
layout’s Maltings Building). Peter receiving one of the trophies at Expo EM by
the EMGS Chairman Bill Wyatt-Millington.
It was a privilege to be asked to become one of the operating team on Canada Street and I
will treasure fond memories of spending time with Peter and friends behind the layout. He
was an extremely talented and gifted modeller, one of the best we have ever seen and I’ll
miss him dearly. My heart felt sympathies go to his wife Carole, daughter Julia and son Craig.
At the York show a good few years ago Peter was going through the various segways on the
layout and was starting a Western Region theme. Knowing my weakness for such things
hydraulic, he specifically went to the Shawplan stand where I usually helped out Brian,
just to tell me a Western was due in soon. For him to remember my interests and make the
effort to find me I think shows just what a great bloke he was.
It's with heavy heart I write this, as I was looking forward to visiting Expo EM at
Bracknell a couple of weeks ago and meeting up with Peter, but thanks to the rail
strikes I never made it.
I first met Peter at a local model show, as we all kind of knew each other through our shared
interests. I recall when Rob Mabbett used to run his slide shows in Cheltenham, and Peter's
enthusiasm towards the incredible colour images of diesel shunters Rob had in his collection.
Many years ago I was invited over to see Canada Road at his house, which even then highlighted
what an superb modeller Pete was.
Through this website and the modelling press, Peter has showboated some incredibly inspiring
work, whether that be locomotives, wagons, trackwork or buildings, he could turn his hand to
almost anything. Peter I know your family will miss you incredibly, as will we all, however your
legacy as one of the most gifted of modellers goes undiminished. May you fly your own air
balloon to the great gig in the sky. RIP my old friend.
Very sad and shocking news about Peter. He was a top man and modeller to boot, and it was a
privilege to have known him. My thoughts are with his family and he'll be sorely missed.
I’ve known quite a few modellers in my time and Peter Johnson was one of the very best. He
worked in the same genre that I do – post-war urban grot – but he made a much better job
of it, both technically and artistically, and I'm pleased now that I told him so. The
half-sunken barge in my opinion, is the single most effective piece of model-making
I’ve ever seen in my life.
I first became aware of Peter’s work in the pages of Rail Express. I was editor of Model
Railway Journal at the time and Philip Sutton very generously made available a selection
of images of Canada Road for us to use. Paul Karau, I recall, was seriously impressed
and he’s never been an easy one to please.
As I wrote in the standfirst: The whole place, we imagine, has long since been bulldozed
to make way for a chic marina or heritage centre, but the dockside setting recalls the
workaday seediness of the immediate post-steam period. Weed-strewn and quietly rusting
into oblivion, Canada Road is a gentle masterpiece of observation, mirroring the dying
embers of one era and the uneasy birth of another.
We were particularly taken by the quality of Peter’s scratchbuilt rolling stock and I was
able to commission him to write a short series of articles about how he did it – this was
fifteen years before the ready-to-run people offered decent models of things like bulk
grain hoppers, and the available kits (if any) were pretty dubious. He wasn’t able to
supply the photographs himself so he took the extraordinary step of bundling up a
selection of wagons and posting them to me. I was going through a brutal marriage
break-up at the time and setting up a small outdoor diorama and taking my time over
photographing Peter’s wagons was one of the few positive episodes in a bleak period of my life.
What made Peter such a great modeller? He knew how to look, and to interpret the everyday
things that were his primary subject matter. As a builder, he was neat and precise and he
had an engineer’s grasp of the properties of different materials and how best to achieve
what he was after – if, like me, you’ve scratchbuilt 4mm scale Covhops from styrene sheet
you’ll know these things are a lot more difficult than you might imagine. For their time,
those early diesel shunters were sensational and this was another thing that no one else,
as far as I’m aware, was doing to such a standard in 4mm scale. They ran pretty well too.
He was consistent, and stuck to the same themes – he didn’t often go wandering off into
pastures new, and as a result his focus was highly concentrated. His idea of making Canada
Road & Canada Street flexible in terms of time and space without obvious overlaps was
inspired and, as far as I know, wholly original – I’ve never known anyone else come up
with such an effective game-plan. He avoided over-detailing the scene and he knew when
enough was enough.
His awareness of colour was sublime – we could and did discuss at
inordinate length the exact purplish shade of old rust (Revell 84 Leather Brown is your
starting point), and his portrayal of decrepit steel-bodied mineral wagons was some of
the best weathering I’ve ever seen. But then, you could say that of almost anything
Peter Johnson did. His premature and wholly unexpected death has deprived us of one of the
most inspirational modelmakers I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Thornbury (Bristol) exhibition 2022. I first met Peter when I joined Kier's band of operators
on Wibdenshaw a fair few years ago. I became aware of his love of shunting locomotives and
it was a passion I shared with him as one of the operators on Canada Street. I was
particularly inspired by Peter's concept behind the layout as it was not based on any
actual location or time period, but it could be set up to represent a docklands scene from
anywhere in the UK, dependant on the locomotives and rolling stock on show.
I was extremely privileged to accompany Peter on a balloon flight in September 2014. He
was a very knowledgeable and professional individual who was attentive to detail, which
is something that could be seen in his modelling projects.
Out of the blue an e-mail would occasionally appear from Peter asking a question about a particular
(and usually obscure) shunter, regarding the detail differences, liveries and operational history.
This would result in some digging around on the internet, followed by some interesting
discussions on what had been found, and then not long after a model of the loco would appear!
As well as shunting wagons in 4mm scale, Peter became familiar with the real thing as he
was an occasional helper at Moreton Park with the D2578 Loco Group, where he became
familiar with various aspects of shunting from a drivers point of view, including the
visibility (or lack of) from the cab. He also left a lasting legacy in that he marked up
some of the lettering on the Conflat L B738718 and made a donation to refurbish the cab
seats on our Class 05 D2578.
After spending a most enjoyable weekend helping out on Canada Street at Expo EM 2023 in
Bracknell, I shook Peter’s hand and wished him a safe journey home not knowing that it
would be the last time I would see him. I can't think of a more fitting tribute to Peter
than to quote some lines he wrote in the last e-mail I received from him after Expo EM.....
The shock of hearing of his passing and to be writing these words so soon after such a
really enjoyable weekend exhibiting in Worthing is heartbreaking. Whilst I tap the
keyboard I'm supping a pint of traditional bitter, Peter’s preferred tipple on an
exhibition weekend – none of that new wave pale super-hoppy citrus stuff for him. It
just wasn’t proper beer. “What’s wrong with a nice simple bitter” he’d often say.
I have known Peter for well over 20 years. At the time I first got to know him, he, Kier
and I were all living within 5 minutes walk of each other, so having three modellers in
such close proximity (all modelling BR 1970s and in EM too) was pretty special, and I
learned so much from the two of them. His love of railways grew from his time growing
up in Manchester and in particular it was the freight traffic and shunters that caught
his eye, the inspiration for Canada Road which he built back in the early 1980s and
exhibited a few times before mothballing it.... only to bring it back out on the circuit
after moving to Gloucester and getting to know Kier.
Peter soon became a regular operator with Holmeworth, followed by Wibdenshaw, and my
own exhibition layout, Easington Lane. Being the extremely generous guy that he was,
Peter soon offered to bring some of his excellent stock along to run on the layout.
This generosity continued after I had sold Easington Lane and built Hartburn. As well
as providing the majority of the stock for Hartburn from his vast fleet of wagons, he
also built the trio of J27s, and the station building and made a far better job of them
than I could ever have done. For both Easington Lane and Hartburn, it was his stock that,
to me, really made the difference in bringing them to life and I will be forever grateful.
His wagon weathering was something special and sparked many a conversation at a show. The
sheer variety of stock at his disposal to fulfil all those different time periods, from
Parkside and Airfix kits to scratch builds, was simply mind boggling. All done to an
incredibly high standard. Those grain wagons – beautiful.
In return, I became part of the regular team on Canada Road. It really was a joy to operate,
different eras, different regions, so much variety. You really could lose yourself with a bit of
wagon worrying, only to find a couple of hours had gone by and you’d missed your lunch slot!
Thank goodness for those magnetic bottom links on the 3-links which made it so much easier.
Then came Canada Street.... Wow. That extra dockside board made all the difference in being
able to tell the story of what all the shunting was meant to represent. The buildings are just
exquisite. Not content with that though, he and his son Craig introduced the radio-controlled
crew bus, and most recently the radio-controlled LWB Landrover complete with trailer, which
kept me busy, or should that be highlighted my inability to reverse! The added animation proved
really popular with the viewing public and brought a new dimension to the operating sessions.
People often thought it was the Faller road system until you did a three point turn. Great fun.
Image taken at the Bristol Balloon Festival. It’s not just the railway modelling I will
remember Peter for. In 2005, I had the pleasure
of helping him and his family at a balloon festival in France. What a great experience that was
and I got to see first hand his skill and passion for something other than railways. Then there
were his ballooning career exploits – being a big part of the development team on the Breitling
Orbiter 3, and my favourite, his work with the adventurer David Hempleman-Adams, testing out a
balloon that involved riding the jet stream at 100mph at 30,000ft in an open basket! Somewhere
I still have the newspaper clipping.
Despite what his slim physique might have suggested, Peter could be an eating machine during an
exhibition weekend, and often you would see him with a Tunnock's Caramel Wafer in his hand. At
one of the shows we did with Kier, we attended the show social on the Saturday night and one of
the exhibitors did a hilarious stand-up routine and when it came to the buffet, Peter had to try
each and every different trifle.... there were at least four! I recall a similar trifle consumption
pattern at the Nottingham show. Premier Inns across the country would have to send out for
emergency croissant supplies after we’d been down for breakfast, and when it came to a curry,
Peter could often be counted on to mop up any leftovers. Though to be fair to Peter, at the
Newcastle show last September he declined such an offer to hoover up.
Ian and Pete helping out on Steve Adcock’s American layout at Wakefield. Canada Road at Expo EM
Bletchley. Pete gets embroiled in some shunting, whilst John Poole runs the outer circuit on
Holmeworth at Utrecht in 2000.
Tangmere Air Museum replica Spitfire en-route to the Worthing exhibition. Normally I would wait
for people to move out of shot, but am glad I didn't on this occasion. I can’t not mention his
love of Manchester United. Being a Leeds supporter myself, we’d often
engage in friendly banter and chew the fat on the state of the round ball game. He was looking
forward to next season with much hope for a successful campaign. Peter would always like to set
off early on a Friday for a show so that he could stop somewhere on route for some number
crunching or a look at some aeroplanes. It might be Toton or Doncaster, Newark Air Museum or
Tonbridge yard. On the way to Worthing we stopped at Fairford to take in a U2 spy plane that had
just landed, followed by Eastleigh for some Class 66 numbers.
At the Fareham exhibition with Easington Lane, it was quite a hike from the van to our spot
so Tony Wood had commandeered a shopping trolley that he found in a stairwell to help move
the layout and Peter having fun with it all. The right hand image shows Peter and Tony
measuring up the Clayton at Princes Risborough after Pete had bought the Dave Alexander kit.
He just had to get it right, as he did with all of his projects.
Easington Lane at Manchester with the last brakevan special as Steve, me and Peter look on.
Above all that, he was a very humble, kind, generous man, always willing to chat to the viewing
public, pass on hints and tips, and helped me in so many ways. His passion for his hobbies was
infectious and he was great company too. An exceptional modeller who was such an inspiration....
in fact he was exceptional at everything he put his hand to - well almost - It was during the
first period exhibiting Canada Road in the 1980s, when Peter won a prize at a show which was
presented by Miss Blackpool, at which point Pete fumbled the trophy and dropped the lid!
Inspired by a company awayday at Perrygrove, we hired the railway for the day to run it,
basically being given schedules, goods to move, and curved ball requests from the management.
We all took turns as driver, operations manager and shunter. Great fun shunting with something
a little bigger than 4mm - Canada Road on steroids.
Away from the exhibition circuit he was a proud family man, who loved his wife and children to
bits and was extremely proud of their acheivements. We have had so much fun over the years, from
Glasgow to Utrecht, Hull to Liverpool and a lot of places in between. A lot of curries have been
eaten, a fair few pints drunk, and a lot of laughs shared... OK, just one more croissant…. It
has been a real pleasure and privilege to have known him and I could never thank him enough for
all the help he has given me over the years. He lived life to the full and had so much more he
wanted to do. Like many, I’ve shed a tear this week, for a life that had so much more to give.
His passing leaves a big hole. My heartfelt condolences to Carole, Julia & Craig.
