Home

CHELTENHAM GWR MODELLERS GROUP

MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION

SATURDAY 5 APRIL AND SUNDAY 6 APRIL 2008

THE UNTOLD STORY

  
   
  In reporting model railway exhibitions I always try to find one - or perhaps two - shots for each layout that sum up not only its technical brilliance but the kind of atmosphere that it sets out to re-create. Sometimes though there are just too many interesting facets of a layout to cram into just one digital frame. As such, I present here some of the stories about the Cheltenham GWR Modeller's Group exhibition of April 2008 that would have made the regular review too long and involved but were also too good to be forgotten.
     
  ARDLORN FERRY by Rob Newman 00 Gauge 4mm Scale  
     
  Ardlorn Ferry was one of those layouts that - while never appearing cramped - still managed to feature intriguing vignettes of landscape, maritime and road vehicle modelling as well as railways. In fact the only addition that I could have suggested was a single engined pusher propeller seaplane being flown out of the harbour by PC Edward Woodward! Any lack of wicker men however was more than made up for by the fleet of MacBraynes buses, depicted at road level above around an Inverness bound Bedford OB. The SB - another Bedford product - bears the destination Fort William on its fender level display to the right while a Reliance variant bears the winged AEC badge to the left.  
     
  Ardlorn Ferry was one of those layouts that - while never appearing cramped - still managed to feature intriguing vignettes of landscape, maritime and road vehicle modelling as well as railways. In fact the only addition that I could have suggested was a single engined pusher propeller seaplane being flown out of the harbour by PC Edward Woodward! Any lack of wicker men however was more than made up for by the fleet of MacBraynes buses, depicted at road level above around an Inverness bound Bedford OB. The SB - another Bedford product - bears the destination Fort William on its fender level display to the right while a Reliance variant bears the winged AEC badge to the left.  
     
  Ardlorn Ferry was one of those layouts that - while never appearing cramped - still managed to feature intriguing vignettes of landscape, maritime and road vehicle modelling as well as railways. In fact the only addition that I could have suggested was a single engined pusher propeller seaplane being flown out of the harbour by PC Edward Woodward! Any lack of wicker men however was more than made up for by the fleet of MacBraynes buses, depicted at road level above around an Inverness bound Bedford OB. The SB - another Bedford product - bears the destination Fort William on its fender level display to the right while a Reliance variant bears the winged AEC badge to the left.  
     
     
  Scenery notwithstanding, Ardlorn Ferry also added a thoroughly Scottish twist to the familiar steam-meets-early-diesel layout format. 57587 depicted above, for example, was an1899 vintage McIntosh designed "812" Class 3F 0-6-0 designed for the Caledonian Railway before belonging to the LMS and BR Scottish region. The 45 ton 14 cwt locomotive worked at a boiler pressure of 180 psi two 18 1/2" x 26" inside cylinders acting upon 5' diameter wheels to produce 22 690lb of tractive effort. Twenty examples of this class were also fitted with Westinghouse air brakes for working passenger trains. 57587 remained a Helmsdale ( 60C ) locomotive throughout the 1950s.  
     
  Scenery notwithstanding, Ardlorn Ferry also added a thoroughly Scottish twist to the familiar steam-meets-early-diesel layout genre. 57587 depicted above, for example, was an1899 vintage McIntosh designed "812" Class 3F 0-6-0 designed for the Caledonian Railway before belonging to the LMS and BR Scottish region. The 45 ton 14 cwt locomotive worked at a boiler pressure of 180 psi two 18 1/2" x 26" inside cylinders acting upon 5' diameter wheels to produce 22 690lb of tractive effort. Twenty examples of this class were also fitted with Westinghouse air brakes for working passenger trains. 57587 remained a Helmsdale ( 60C ) locomotive throughout the 1950s.  
     
  Poised between a group of Naval personnel and a lifebelt for possible harbour use meanwhile, D5054 ( 24 054 from February 1974 ) was outshopped from BR Crewe works in December 1959 and initially allocated to March ( 31B ) before withdrawal from Crewe Diesel (CD) in July 1976 and entering Departmental Stock as 968008. Further discussion of the Sulzer engined Class 24 as experienced from the footplate can be found by clicking on the picture.  
     
  Poised between a group of Naval personnel and a lifebelt for possible harbour use meanwhile, D5054 ( 24 054 from February 1974 ) was outshopped from BR Crewe works in December 1959 and initially allocated to March ( 31B ) before withdrawal from Crewe Diesel (CD) in July 1976 and entering Departmental Stock as 968008. Further discussion of the Sulzer engined Class 24 as experienced from the footplate can be found by clicking on the picture.  
     
  Fair enough, there might have been no aircraft as such at Ardlorn Ferry but the blue vehicle on the harbour side is a Thorneycroft crane from the Airfix RAF Recovery Set. Wearing a different shade of blue in the background is a Pullman vehicle converted for use as a camping coach while near to the stem of the Clyde Puffer is the head of a seal, cunningly made from a deer shorn of its antlers.  
     
  Fair enough, there might have been no aircraft as such at Ardlorn Ferry but the blue vehicle on the harbour side is a Thorneycroft crane from the Airfix RAF Recovery Set. Wearing a different shade of blue in the background is a Pullman vehicle converted for use as a camping coach while near to the stem of the Clyde Puffer is the head of a seal, cunningly made from a deer shorn of its antlers.  
     
  ASHTON DEPOT by Neal Mansell 00 Gauge 4mm Scale  
     
  I almost used this shot in the main review of April 2008 as the interior and exterior lighting and sheer craftsmanship of Ashton Depot was so realistic it did not look like a model! However, I liked the line up of diesel types at the back of the shed even better!  
     
  I almost used this shot in the main review of April 2008 as the interior and exterior lighting and sheer craftsmanship of Ashton Depot was so realistic it did not look like a model! However, I liked the line up of diesel types at the back of the shed even better!  
     
  The shot above also showed how the fine, understated detail of the depot building led the viewer's eye naturally to the blue era locomotives - in this case a split-box Class 37 waiting indoors for a lowly intra-regional working while "Peak" 45 048 "The Royal Marines" inches past to the storage sidings at the rear. Like D5054 at Ardlorn Ferry, 45 048 was a Sulzer engined product of British Railway's Crewe workshops, being turned out as D70 in November 1960 and receiving its unique non-army, non-Lanashire town nameplates in December 1964. A Crewe North ( 5A ) locomotive to begin with, the Crompton Parkinson equipped 1Co-Co1 was withdrawn from Toton ( TO ) in June 1985 and cut up by MC Processors of Glasgow in November 1988.  
     
  The shot above also showed how the fine, understated detail of the depot building led the viewer's eye naturally to the blue era locomotives - in this case a split-box Class 37 waiting indoors for a lowly intra-regional working while "Peak" 45 048 "The Royal Marines" inches past to the storage sidings at the rear. Like D5054 at Ardlorn Ferry, 45 048 was a Sulzer engined product of British Railway's Crewe workshops, being turned out as D70 in November 1960 and receiving its unique non-army, non-Lanashire town nameplates in December 1964. A Crewe North ( 5A ) locomotive to begin with, the Crompton Parkinson equipped 1Co-Co1 was withdrawn from Toton ( TO ) in June 1985 and cut up by MC Processors of Glasgow in November 1988.  
     
  Representing Brush Type 5 locomotives among Neal Mansell's beautifully detailed locomotive fleet were a number of Class 56s, including 56 077 seen here at the highly realistic fuelling point. Outshopped from BREL's Doncaster works in May 1980, Tinsley allocated 56 077 was named "Thorpe Marsh Power Station" in September 1990. At the start of 2008, 56 077 was still on capital stock at Crewe painted in BR Loadhaul black livery with orange cabsides, although coded as WNXX - EWS locomotives stored unserviceable.  
     
  Representing Brush Type 5 locomotives among Neal Mansell's beautifully detailed locomotive fleet were a number of Class 56s, including 56 077 seen here at the highly realistic fuelling point. Outshopped from BREL's Doncaster works in May 1980, Tinsley allocated 56 077 was named "Thorpe Marsh Power Station" in September 1990. At the start of 2008, 56 077 was still on capital stock at Crewe painted in BR Loadhaul black livery with orange cabsides, although coded as WNXX - EWS locomotives stored unserviceable.  
     
  Another reason that no one frame could capture the allure of Ashton Depot was that the "country" end featured working multiple aspect colour light signals and top class scenery - such as the platelayer's hut and brambles being passed by that most ubiquitous of British diesel electric locomotives, the English Electric powered Class 08.  
     
  Another reason that no one frame could capture the allure of Ashton Depot was that the "country" end featured working multiple aspect colour light signals and top class scenery - such as the platelayer's hut and brambles being passed by that most ubiquitous of British diesel electric locomotives, the English Electric powered Class 08.  
     
  BAD CARDHU by Brian Silby N Gauge 2mm Scale  
     
  Decision time again! If the close up of the DB Class 212 diesel used in the main report had not turned out so well then I might well have used the above image of the brewery with its twin towers. However, the wider "establishing shot" below also captures the fine scenic values of Bad Cardhu while 212 350-3 in its red DB Cargo livery allows students of diesel locomotive design to reflect on the survival of these centre-cab machines on a system that still thrives on trip workings and wagon load traffic. In contrast, the equivalent Classes 14,15, 16 and 17 barely lasted a decade in service with British Railways in the era of block freight train operation.  
     
  Decision time again! If the close up of the DB Class 212 diesel used in the main report had not turned out so well then I might well have used the above image of the brewery with its twin towers. However, the wider "establishing shot" below also captures the fine scenic values of Bad Cardhu while 212 350-3 in its red DB Cargo livery allows students of diesel locomotive design to reflect on the survival of these centre-cab machines on a system that still thrives on trip workings and wagon load traffic. In contrast, the equivalent Classes 14,15, 16 and 17 barely lasted a decade in service with British Railways in the era of block freight train operation.

Class 212 B-Bs date from 1962 and are powered by either an MTU or MAN engine of 1350 bhp through a Voith hydraulic transmission. Formerly numbered in the V100 2001 - 2331 and V100 2342- 2381 series, numerous examples are now fitted with door controls to allow one person operated push pull passenger workings.

  
     
  Decision time again! If the close up of the DB Class 212 diesel used in the main report had not turned out so well then I might well have used the above image of the brewery with its twin towers. However, the wider "establishing shot" below also captures the fine scenic values of Bad Cardhu while 212 350-3 in its red DB Cargo livery allows students of diesel locomotive design to reflect on the survival of these centre-cab machines on a system that still thrives on trip workings and wagon load traffic. In contrast, the equivalent Classes 14,15, 16 and 17 barely lasted a decade in service with British Railways in the era of block freight train operation.  
     
     
  Class 212 B-Bs date from 1962 and are powered by either an MTU or MAN engine of 1350 bhp through a Voith hydraulic transmission. Formerly numbered in the V100 2001 - 2331 and V100 2342- 2381 series, numerous examples are now fitted with door controls to allow one person operated push pull passenger workings.  
     
  BEMBRIDGE by Mark Pretious 00 Gauge 4mm Scale  
     
  A close up of the station nameboard, picket fence, old time advertisements and other platform furniture encapsulated the attention to detail that made Bembridge such a show-stopper but I could not resist putting the vignette in the context of the wider station platform and sidings and giving the motive power an equally atmospheric monochrome feel with Photoshop.  
     
  A close up of the station nameboard, picket fence, old time advertisements and other platform furniture encapsulated the attention to detail that made Bembridge such a show-stopper but I could not resist putting the vignette in the context of the wider station platform and sidings and giving the motive power an equally atmospheric monochrome feel with Photoshop.  
     
  Class A1X "Terrier" 0-6-0T 13 "Carisbrooke" pauses on the sector plate at Bembridge before running round its train. Based on the 1872 Stroudley Class A1 built for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, the A1X variant were rebuilt from 1911 with Marsh boilers and extended smokeboxes. A1X number 13 was to pass its name on to O2 number 36 on the Isle of Wight after its withdrawal in the 1950s.  
     
  Class A1X "Terrier" 0-6-0T 13 "Carisbrooke" pauses on the sector plate at Bembridge before running round its train. Based on the 1872 Stroudley Class A1 built for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, the A1X variant were rebuilt from 1911 with Marsh boilers and extended smokeboxes. A1X number 13 was to pass its name on to O2 number 36 on the Isle of Wight after its withdrawal in the 1950s.  
               
  Class O2 0-4-4 28 "Ashey" runs round its train at Bembridge. Based on an1889 Adams design for the London & South Western Railway, the Isle of Wight O2s introduced in 1923 were fitted with Westinghouse air brakes and their coal bunkers were enlarged in 1932.  
     
  Class O2 0-4-4 28 "Ashey" runs round its train at Bembridge. Based on an1889 Adams design for the London & South Western Railway, the Isle of Wight O2s introduced in 1923 were fitted with Westinghouse air brakes and their coal bunkers were enlarged in 1932.  
               
 

ISLE OF WIGHT LOCOMOTIVES

  
 

1944

1950

1959

  
  1 Medina E1 0-6-0T 1 Medina E1 0-6-0T      
  2 Yarmouth E1 0-6-0T 2 Yarmouth E1 0-6-0T      
  3 Ryde E1 0-6-0T 3 Ryde E1 0-6-0T 3 Ryde E1 0-6-0T  
  4 Wroxall E1 0-6-0T 4 Wroxall E1 0-6-0T 4 Wroxall E1 0-6-0T  
  8 Freshwater A1X 0-6-0T 8 Freshwater A1X 0-6-0T      
  11 Newport A1X 0-6-0          
  13 Carisbrooke A1X 0-6-0 13 Carisbrooke A1X 0-6-0      
  14 Fishbourne O2 0-4-4T 14 Fishbourne O2 0-4-4T 14 Fishbourne O2 0-4-4T  
  15 Cowes O2 0-4-4T 15 Cowes O2 0-4-4T      
  16 Ventnor O2 0-4-4T 16 Ventnor O2 0-4-4T 16 Ventnor O2 0-4-4T  
  17 Seaview O2 0-4-4T 17 Seaview O2 0-4-4T 17 Seaview O2 0-4-4T  
  18 Ningwood O2 0-4-4T 18 Ningwood O2 0-4-4T 18 Ningwood O2 0-4-4T  
  19 Osborne O2 0-4-4T 19 Osborne O2 0-4-4T      
  20 Shanklin O2 0-4-4T 20 Shanklin O2 0-4-4T 20 Shanklin O2 0-4-4T  
  21 Sandown O2 0-4-4T 21 Sandown O2 0-4-4T 21 Sandown O2 0-4-4T  
  22 Brading O2 0-4-4T 22 Brading O2 0-4-4T 22 Brading O2 0-4-4T  
  23 Totland O2 0-4-4T 23 Totland O2 0-4-4T      
  24 Calbourne O2 0-4-4T 24 Calbourne O2 0-4-4T 24 Calbourne O2 0-4-4T  
  25 Godshill O2 0-4-4T 25 Godshill O2 0-4-4T 25 Godshill O2 0-4-4T  
  26 Whitwell O2 0-4-4T 26 Whitwell O2 0-4-4T 26 Whitwell O2 0-4-4T  
  27 Merstone O2 0-4-4T 27 Merstone O2 0-4-4T 27 Merstone O2 0-4-4T  
  28 Ashey O2 0-4-4T 28 Ashey O2 0-4-4T 28 Ashey O2 0-4-4T  
  29 Alverstone O2 0-4-4T 29 Alverstone O2 0-4-4T 29 Alverstone O2 0-4-4T  
  30 Shorwell O2 0-4-4T 30 Shorwell O2 0-4-4T 30 Shorwell O2 0-4-4T  
  31 Chale O2 0-4-4T 31 Chale O2 0-4-4T 31 Chale O2 0-4-4T  
  32 Bonchurch O2 0-4-4T 32 Bonchurch O2 0-4-4T 32 Bonchurch O2 0-4-4T  
  33 Bembridge O2 0-4-4T 33 Bembridge O2 0-4-4T 33 Bembridge O2 0-4-4T  
      34 Newport O2 0-4-4T      
          35 Freshwater O2 0-4-4T  
          36 Carisbrooke O2 0-4-4T  
     
  EAST STREET WHARF by Margaret Evans EM Gauge 4mm Scale  
     
  Like Ardlorn Ferry, East Street Wharf delighted the eye both with the wide sweep of its scope and with the attention to detail. Just look at the variety of cargo being handled both by narrowboats and trains - the limestone in the 16 ton mineral wagons in particular making a refreshing change from coal. Like Ardlorn Ferry too, the late steam / early diesel genre provoked some interesting comparisons with layouts nearby. The black diesel shunter with the red coupling rods was the ancestor of the Class 08 seen above at Ashton depot while the black ex-Great Western 0-6-0PT was a lineal descendent of the half cab pannier tank seen on Oakley. Of course all eras in railway history contain some kind of overlap between old and new rolling stock but the changeover from steam to diesel was perhaps the most noticeable - hence its continuing fascination for so many modellers half a century later.  
     
  Like Ardlorn Ferry, East Street Wharf delighted the eye both with the wide sweep of its scope and with the attention to detail. Just look at the variety of cargo being handled both by narrowboats and trains - the limestone in the 16 ton mineral wagons in particular making a refreshing change from coal. Like Ardlorn Ferry too, the late steam / early diesel genre provoked some interesting comparisons with layouts nearby. The black diesel shunter with the red coupling rods was the ancestor of the Class 08 seen above at Ashton depot while the black ex-Great Western 0-6-0PT was a lineal descendent of the half cab pannier tank seen on Oakley. Of course most eras in railway history contain some kind of overlap between old and new rolling stock but the changeover from steam to diesel was perhaps the most noticeable - hence its continuing fascination for so many modellers half a century later.  
     
  Like Ardlorn Ferry, East Street Wharf delighted the eye both with the wide sweep of its scope and with the attention to detail. Just look at the variety of cargo being handled both by narrowboats and trains - the limestone in the 16 ton mineral wagons in particular making a refreshing change from coal. Like Ardlorn Ferry too, the late steam / early diesel genre provoked some interesting comparisons with layouts nearby. The black diesel shunter with the red coupling rods was the ancestor of the Class 08 seen above at Ashton depot while the black ex-Great Western 0-6-0PT was a lineal descendent of the half cab pannier tank seen on Oakley. Of course all eras in railway history contain some kind of overlap between old and new rolling stock but the changeover from steam to diesel was perhaps the most noticeable - hence its continuing fascination for so many modellers half a century later.  
     
     
     
  In the background of this shot however is what at first glance appears to be a seven plank open wagon 425 of the Highley Mining Company. In fact it was one of ten 10 ton wagons ordered in 1923 by the South Wales and Cannock Chase Coal Company of Worcester - a long standing and substantial customer of Highley Colliery, located near today's preserved Severn Valley Railway. The ten wagons, built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, measured 15'6" x 7' x 4' and featured side and end doors and brakes on each side and was registered with the Great Western Railway as number 84931. When new, italic letters in the bottom left hand corner of the body read "Empty to Highley Station, Severn Valley Branch G.W.R." while a similar solebar inscription read "For repairs advise Wagon Repairs Ltd, Stoke on Trent" next to an oval plate carring the legend "SW&CC Co owners Worcester  
     
  Another delightful aspect of East Street Wharf was the shunter's mess hut, converted from an old carriage body, accompanied by a corrugated lamp room with a bicycle leaning against it and the workmen themselves with their barrows, dog and alfresco furniture.

In the background of this shot however is what at first glance appears to be a seven plank open wagon 425 of the Highley Mining Company. In fact it was one of ten 10 ton wagons ordered in 1923 by the South Wales and Cannock Chase Coal Company of Worcester - a long standing and substantial customer of Highley Colliery, located near today's preserved Severn Valley Railway. The ten wagons, built by the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, measured 15'6" x 7' x 4' and featured side and end doors and brakes on each side and was registered with the Great Western Railway as number 84931. When new, italic letters in the bottom left hand corner of the body read "Empty to Highley Station, Severn Valley Branch G.W.R." while a similar solebar inscription read "For repairs advise Wagon Repairs Ltd, Stoke on Trent" next to an oval plate carring the legend "SW&CC Co owners Worcester.

The Highley Mining Company's pit was located high above Highley station yard - between Kidderminster and Wellington - and connected to it by an incline. There was also a subsidiary colliery at Kinlet, three miles away, which had its own mineral branch connection. By 1945 The Highley Mining Company employed 851 people and produced household and manufacturing coal, which in 1936 had amounted to 10 000 tons a month worth £13 000 at the prices of the time.

Sixteen 8-ton wagons were hired from the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company in November 1885 for a six month period, renewed in June 1886 for a year and again for six months in May 1887. Short haul traffic to local towns such as Kidderminster, Worcester and Wolverhampton was in contrast to smaller quantities sent as far afield as Malmesbury, Weymouth, Torquay and London - with customers such as Austin brothers of Kidderminster taking 1000 tons a month and the South Wales and Cannock Chase Coal Company of Worcester four times as much: or over 100 wagon loads per week. The South Wales and Cannock Chase Coal Company would also have used Highley Mining Company wagons to distribute coal across Worcestershire, Herefordshire and the Welsh Borders.

In 1936 The Highley Mining Company stopped billing their customers direct and instead used a coal selling agency - the Wellington based Shropshire Associated Collieries Ltd. One surviving Highley Mining Company wagon - number 136 - has been preserved on the Severn Valley Railway.

  
     
  EASTBRIDGE MPD by East Grinstead MRC 00 Gauge 4mm Scale  
     
   
     
  This was another Photoshop monochrome experiment and shows Southern Railway locomotive 1915 taking on coal brought in by railway owned seven plank wagons. 1915 was a W Class 2-6-4T designed by R.E.L. Maunsell and built between 1931 and 1936 based on the N1 Class 2-6-0. Weighing 90 tons 14cwt, each one of the 15 class members had a Belpaire firebox and taper boiler to feed steam at 200 psi to three 161/2" x 26" piston valve cylinders actuated by Walschaerts valve gear and yield 20 452lb tractive effort through 5'6" driving wheels. In 1948, 1915 was renumbered 31915 and was allocated to Stewart's Lane (73A) depot during the 1950s.  
     
  HAMMOND ST JAMES by Mick Scarrow and John Pearce 0 Gauge 7mm Scale  
                           
  One of the delights of modelling in larger scales is that small details such as people, luggage and signage come into greater focus from the viewpoint of the audience.  
     
  One of the delights of modelling in larger scales is that small details such as people, luggage and signage come into greater focus from the viewpoint of the audience.  
     
  One of the delights of modelling in larger scales is that small details such as people, luggage and signage come into greater focus from the viewpoint of the audience.  
     
  Equally, I could not resist this low level shot of some very realistically weathered wagons in front of the impressive station building.  
     
  Equally, I could not resist this low level shot of some very realistically weathered wagons in front of the impressive station building.  
     
  LOOSELY WARREN by Ann Silby Z Gauge 1.5 mm Scale  
     
  These pictures show both how Ann Silby masterfully captured the Devonian sandstone of the coast around Dawlish Warren and also how the British Z gauge modeller is limited to mainly German motive power and rolling stock. Even at high speed, the carriages look a little too long to pass as BREL Mark IIIs while a closer inspection of some of the British Rail monastral blue liveried diesels find them to be Deutsche Bundesbahn Class 215 B-Bs in disguise!  
     
  These pictures show both how Ann Silby masterfully captured the Devonian sandstone of the coast around Dawlish Warren and also how the British Z gauge modeller is limited to mainly German motive power and rolling stock. Even at high speed, the carriages look a little too long to pass as BREL Mark IIIs while a closer inspection of some of the British Rail monastral blue liveried diesels find them to be Deutsche Bundesbahn Class 215 B-Bs in disguise!  
     
  These pictures show both how Ann Silby masterfully captured the Devonian sandstone of the coast around Dawlish Warren and also how the British Z gauge modeller is limited to mainly German motive power and rolling stock. Even at high speed, the carriages look a little too long to pass as BREL Mark IIIs while a closer inspection of some of the British Rail monastral blue liveried diesels find them to be Deutsche Bundesbahn Class 215 B-Bs in disguise!  
     
  Despite the limitations of what is still a specialised foreign format though, just look at the detail that can still be achieved in such scenic areas as the caravan site above and the tennis match at the Hotel Europa below.  
     
  Despite the limitations of what is still a specialised foreign format though, just look at the detail that can still be achieved in such scenic areas as the caravan site above and the tennis match at the Hotel Europa below.  
     
  OAKLEY by Sutton Coldfield MRC 00 Gauge 4 mm Scale  
                           
  As with Aston Depot, I was torn between scenic detail and rolling stock and in the case of Roger Strike and Mark Bradley's Oakley, the duelling cats won the first round! Just to prove that there was a railway on the other end of the stationmaster's garden though, a typical pre-1939 hand cranked station crane stands guard over a CWS milk tanker and Bradley's Brewery van as well as the Great Western Railway's own cattle wagon, auto coach and half cab pannier tank. The working lower quadrant semaphore signals were a treat as well!  
     
  As with Aston Depot, I was torn between scenic detail and rolling stock and in the case of Roger Strike and Mark Bradley's Oakley, the duelling cats won the first round! Just to prove that there was a railway on the other end of the stationmaster's garden though, a typical pre-1939 hand cranked station crane stands guard over a CWS milk tanker and Bradley's Brewery van as well as the Great Western Railway's own cattle wagon, auto coach and half cab pannier tank. The working lower quadrant semaphore signals were a treat as well!  
     
  As with Aston Depot, I was torn between scenic detail and rolling stock and in the case of Roger Strike and Mark Bradley's Oakley, the duelling cats won the first round! Just to prove that there was a railway on the other end of the stationmaster's garden though, a typical pre-1939 hand cranked station crane stands guard over a CWS milk tanker and Bradley's Brewery van as well as the Great Western Railway's own cattle wagon, auto coach and half cab pannier tank. The working lower quadrant semaphore signals were a treat as well!  
     
  As with Aston Depot, I was torn between scenic detail and rolling stock and in the case of Roger Strike and Mark Bradley's Oakley, the duelling cats won the first round! Just to prove that there was a railway on the other end of the stationmaster's garden though, a typical pre-1939 hand cranked station crane stands guard over a CWS milk tanker and Bradley's Brewery van as well as the Great Western Railway's own cattle wagon, auto coach and half cab pannier tank. The working lower quadrant semaphore signals were a treat as well!  
     
  MODEL FAIRGROUND by Roger and Robert Webb 4 mm Scale  
     
  The fast food caravan was unusual enough to warrant a place in the main review section but most fairground afficionados - and lorry enthusiasts - would also have been looking at the vehicles forming a cordon around the rides and side shows. Nearest the camera - with a green and silver generator, spare wheel and oil drums on the back is an AEC Matador - perhaps most famous as the tractor for the British 5.5" artillery piece as well as numerous other wartime roles.  
     
  The fast food caravan was unusual enough to warrant a place in the main review section but most fairground afficionados - and lorry enthusiasts - would also have been looking at the vehicles forming a cordon around the rides and side shows. Nearest the camera - with a green and silver generator, spare wheel and oil drums on the back is an AEC Matador - perhaps most famous as the tractor for the British 5.5" artillery piece as well as numerous other wartime roles.