AMONGST MY FIRST MEMORIES is being taken shopping by mother and, as an especial treat, being allowed to stand by the entrance to the Goodmayes concentration yard (ER) and watch the trains. Invariably there would be an engine simmering by the gates with the crew enjoying a brew. Then in 1950 I was given a Hornby clockwork tank engine goods set. These first experiences gave me a lifelong interest in goods trains and their handling. I built up my set with the tinplate goods shed and remember going into Bassett-Lowke’s shop in High Holborn to buy W-irons, wheels and couplings to make my own flat wagons. They were very crude, but it started me off modelling things. When I was thirteen, I used my Christmas money to buy a second- hand Hornby Dublo tank engine, track and some wagons. Airfix OO kits came on the scene and I started kit bashing to make what I wanted. However, I always yearned to return to O gauge.

A career, marriage and children followed so modelling railways was not a priority but I made sure the kids had a fold-up model railway in their room. I modelled boats as they don’t require much space!

Retirement loomed so I decided to start a model railway, collecting OO bits and pieces, and reading books and magazines. Those of the late Iain Rice made the greatest impact, especially Creating Cameo Layouts as it showed me that small can be great. I started a small OO layout and joined the Sidmouth Model Railway Group (SMRG). Here I became friends with several members who modelled in O Gauge, and they took me to the Bristol GOG show. I was inspired; I saw that a ready to run Terrier, one of my favourite locos, was available.

My location is fictitious, being named after the stream at the end of my garden, and reflects the Southern Railway and BR Southern Region in the steam era. At my age building a cameo also has the benefit of having a good chance of being finished! I started by building two base boards, layout and fiddle yard, as boxes using 4mm and 7mm plywood, with 32 x 10mm PAR timber to construct box sections for strength with lightness. I had decided that the layout had to fit into my Mini car, so the boxes couldn’t be longer than 4 feet, which is a handy dimension for plywood sheets. The front and top of the layout are removeable, to make access easier for scenic construction. I initially designed the layout box to have a front top bar to increase rigidity but realised I would always be banging my head on it, so it was removed. As the whole back panel is a box section the box remains very rigid.

The goods platform is built of 3mm obechi timber with the surface represented by thin cork sheet painted tarmac colour. The brick faces are represented with embossed Plastikard. Large size PECO painted scenic backgrounds were applied to the box walls to create the impression of an industrial town. At this point SMRG decided to hold a Mini exhibition and I was asked to display the model as work in progress. This I was delighted to do and spent the day shunting my stock. Then came lockdown!

I concentrated on completing the buildings, platform and brick areas adjacent to the track. The main warehouse unit, which was in bare foam board was completed along with a canopy to go over the front and a sack hoist. The main canopy roof is 2mm thick clear acrylic with a thin covering of Plastikard sheet and square sections representing lead sheet joints. The lights were created by leaving holes in the thin covering sheet. Light transmits through the lights which reduces the shade on the platform. The canopy supports and brackets came from LCUT Creative and the valance is a Southern Railway style from Poppy’s WoodTech.

The other buildings were similarly completed using PECO plastic windows for the office and LCUT Creative windows in the other structures. These were fitted flush to the back of the foam so, after painting and colouring, I glazed them with clear acrylic glued to the rear of the foamboard. All the buildings hold the wall sections in place, with a hidden wood screw holding each building in place. So, in case of disaster, it is comparatively easy to remove them.

I have never been very good at dry brushing so when I read Iain Rice’s book Modelling with Plastic Structure Kits, I decided to try out his system of using coloured pencils for brickwork. The mortar lines were filled in with Farrow & Ball pointing-coloured acrylic paint and then coloured pencils were used. Firstly, random darker bricks were picked out with Payne’s Grey and Dark Sepia, followed by all the bricks being coloured with India Red and/or Burnt Sienna. Burnt Ochre was used for lighter walls. The walls were then sprayed with artists’ acrylic matt varnish. I was really pleased with the result, so thank you Iain.

A bridge over the access to the fiddle yard was needed. I based it on a structure that I used to see at Clapham Junction when commuting to work in the early 1960s. It was used to move post, parcels etc. between platforms and sorting facilities. Like the canopy, I built it using 2mm acrylic as the main structural wall and covered it with Plastikard and plastic pieces to represent the steel and wooden structure. The hidden side of the acrylic was abraded with 600 grade wet and dry, to give the appearance of very dirty or frosted windows. This hides the structural pieces behind it.

I built a coaling stage (Poppy’s) and a water crane (Skytrex, SR) to fit them in position, before completing the ballasting. I used PECO weathered brown and weathered grey ballast, in both coarse and fine grades, for track and yard respectively. I scattered coarse coal around the coaling stage. When completed and fixed with 50/50 PVA/water mix it looked almost luminescent, so I toned it down using a mix of artist watercolours in Lamp Black, Raw and Burnt Umber. I built a yard crane (PECO) and fitted it to the loading platform. Brass fret non- functioning point levers were installed along with capstans for handling wagons. The capstans were based on those at Paddington Goods in 1949 and I scratch-built them from doweling, Plastikard and filler. A couple of PECO gas lamps were fitted as a late thought! Some weed spots were then planted.

I then built up stock, painted some Modelu people, built loads and odd bits of detritus to leave laying around. March 2023 arrived and SMRG held their second Mini Show and I was delighted to be invited to display the finished layout.

Now forward to another layout… I have some pointless ideas – so even smaller!