In The Beginning

Photography IMHO is the greatest media invention of all time. Not so much for technological innovation but more of its ability to show long past scenes today. When this relates to ones own past it is even more amazing, especially when that scene or event is mostly lost from memory.

This was the case when recently I discovered two very old photographic negatives among my possessions that depict a model railway/ train set that I must have once owned. The negatives measure 1 and 3/4 inches square. I don't know what size of film this is or what camera was used. The quality of the snap shots are poor, looking over exposed with little detail visible. 

My scanner has a facility to scan negatives, well 35mm negatives to be precise which is a little smaller than the old negatives. Never the less I was able to fit the negatives in the scanners film holder. The scanned output produce very dark images but by using a photo editing application I was able to enhance them to some degree to reveal details not obvious from looking at the negatives. I recognised objects in the scenes as being mine but the model railway itself was a mystery. The snap shots  must date back to either the late 1950s, when my father set up a train set for me on permanent boards in the bay window of their ground floor flat or, late 1960s when I built my first model railway on a 6 x 3 foot board.

This first scene shows a tunnel mouth embedded in landscape and a train disappearing into it. I can see that the trackwork is the original Triang Railways standard grey track from the 1950s - the rails are embedded in a cambered, grey substrate depicting ballast.

The rolling stock in the tunnel is probably the last coach of the train and this would have been a Triang Railways maroon suburban brake coach from the same period. The track was lost during a house move in the 1990s and the rolling stock sold some time later. I don't know what the building is on top of the tunnel mouth. Whilst I tend to keep (or sell) my past accessories I don't recall this building.

Another scene from the same layout. There is more going on here. In the centre we see what appears to be a timber yard with a group of large tree trunks awaiting processing. On the right is a Lesney Matchbox Rotinoff Super Atlantic Tractor and Trailer Nos 15 & 16 dating from the late 50s (since sold). On the left is a tractor. Now I remember having doubts as to it being a Lesney product as there were no identifying marks on it. It shows rubber tyres that replaced worn out caterpillar tracks. This change might place the layout as the 1960s version. I don't remember where the tractor is now. The fences in this scene I still have.

At the bottom is an Airfix detached house and at the top an Airfix public house (both since sold).

A Landy for Corona Quay

 

This is the Airfix 1:43 scale Land Rover Series 1 kit released 4th quarter of 2023. The Series 1 was manufactured by Land Rover from 1948 to 1958 so, I thought it would be a nice addition to my Corona Quay layout, set in the early 1960s.

I did not intend this to be a kit review but there were some issues that you may wish to consider if wanting one. Never the less it is an easily assembled kit delivering a fine looking model.

This Airfix kit, whilst highly detailed in parts, has some notable exceptions. Being a 'Starter' kit for novice constructors this may be excusable but there is one glaring omission that is highly visible on the prototype. More on that latter.

The components are weakly mounted on the sprues and can be easily knocked off and lost. This happened to me as after washing in soapy water, as instructed, I noticed one component was missing from the sprue. The front axle is a two part assembly, I only had the lower part that does not have the axle stubs for fitting wheels. I can only assume the missing part containing the axle stubs was sent down the sink plug hole! I remade the missing part from a wooden cocktail stick.

I used the paints from the kit. The body colour provided looked white to my eye. It should be light grey so, I added a small amount of black to the pot. By the way, red for the rear lights is not provided.

About the kit omissions, I'll start with the cabin.

The three gear levers are not included in the kit and the footwell moulding has no foot pedals. The later, if it was provided, cannot be seen after assembly so its absence is of trivial concern, except for the purist modeller of course! I decided not to fabricate pedals.

The gear levers I did make but, even these are not noticeable unless the cabin is lit with LED or sun. All levers are made from 0.5 mm diameter wire. The knob on the longest lever was fettled from kit sprue and the two smaller ones were made from a drop of superglue on the wire end and then dipped into bicarbonate of soda to solidify and bulk up. (Note: The 'yellow' lever was a later addition to Land Rover's range).

Next is the exhaust pipe.

This really should be part of the kit as it is highly visible on the prototype. There are a couple of holes in the chassis frame that look as though they are for a pipe to feed through since they serve no purpose in the standard kit. If they are for an exhaust pipe then one is in the wrong place because the pipe bends to the side of the landy in photos I have seen and not out the rear. That hole can be seen in the photo.

I made the pipe from sleeved solid wire with the wire pulled back a bit to reveal the open end of the sleeve. The two silencer boxes were provided by slipping over a sleeve taken from thicker wire.

Finally the wing mirror.

A brochure from the period shows a single wing mirror on the drivers side. It may be that not all landys of the period had wing mirror(s). The prototype in the photo on the Airfix box does not have one.

But, since I was having fun making the previous missing parts I decided to continue to make a wing mirror, fabricated from wire and kit sprue. The mirror itself being silver paint.

48th Farnham & District Model Railway Expo.

Plenty of quality exhibits and traders seen at this show. Unfortunately, with young, active grandsons to keep an eye on I did not feel able to study the layouts in detail (not a complaint). A couple of layouts had been seen before including Arun Quay which, was an inspiration for my own 0 gauge Corona Quay layout. Wanted to chat about this with Gordon (Arun Quay owner) but, he had been waylaid by another visitor who would not stop talking! I previously voted Arun Quay my personal 'best in show' at the Basingstoke expo. so, felt I should select another for this show.

I know there were some very interesting layouts that I only glimpsed while passing. Two that I did dwell on were Rossiter Rise (00). A London underground railway scene set above ground that was full of atmosphere.

My personal 'best in show' goes to Copper Wort (00). Now, I am not a great fan of Brewery scenes but the detail and quality of buildings on this layout is outstanding. Many industrial buildings (many more than in my photo) scratch built in plastic card and some with internal lighting that showed off internal furniture and décor. Must have taken a very long time to construct this layout.

I only had a pot of paint on my shopping list (duly bought) but, came away with a major purchase as well. For years I had been wanting a Bachmann Class 5MT Red Knight locomotive (only available from the after market). I wanted one because the Southern allocations took on the names of the King Arthur N15 locomotives after they were withdrawn. Low and behold here was a trader with a rare pristine model including accessories and name plates still in bags. I felt compelled to purchase it. A discounted price was non-negotiable so, I payed the asking price which, to be fair, is the going rate for it.

Anyone who has just acquired one and wants to know how to open it for DCC fitting visit this Trains of Thought Blog.

Class 5MT accessories and route discs installed. Awaiting a crew.