Model Railways

[Longpockets]

I think it was Folkestone as he was asking for any detail anyone had on parts of the harbour.


I think I have found him here - http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/folkestone-harbour-a-railway-model-adventure.72350/


And here - [size=78%]http://cfv.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=700[/size]


He mentions [/size]Gauge O Guild Exhibition 2018 on the first site perhaps they have contact details for him. [/color][/size][size=78%]https://www.gaugeoguild.com/[/size]


Hope this helps.

[Dave Smith]

Smiffy. Ah, Commander Chuff- a name from the past. I would have loved to have seen that layout- I still think it was Dover but you seem certain it was Folkestone. I tried to go on the old KHF to see the list of members, in case there was a way of contacting him, but no. My nephew had a large layout of Trix 3 rail & I bought him a boxed set of ack-ack gun, searchlight, etc. waggons. Probably worth a fortune now for prices are reflected by new & as you say, they are horrendous. These all came from a little shop in Liverpool in the late 70's, that bought & sold everything model railways. Was there a shop like that in the Medway Towns?

[Smiffy]

Invicta Alec, I get what you say. I saw a youtube video a while back comparing a modern 0-6-0 tank engine with the equivalent from 40 years ago from the same company. Close up you could see the finer details, but as you say, pull back to a normal viewing distance and you'd barely notice the difference.

[Invicta Alec]

Take a look at the Hornby website these days and be staggered, not just by the incredible detail of the new models, but also the prices. It's much more of an enthusiasts hobby now, and primarily aimed at adults rather than youngsters.

Yes the detail is very very good. The daft thing is, especially if you model in N gauge, much of the detail becomes irrelevant once the loco gets more than a couple of feet away. Failing eyesight and all that! 
I've got a really neat Maidstone and District liveried bus. Lovely detail right down to the tiniest but authentic Kent registration plate. I need a magnifier to read the plate. 


Alec.

[Smiffy]

My brother had the original Rovex Princess Elizabeth train set (the one with the plunger pick-ups) which was later added to by Dad who bought a second hand layout with a later Princes Elizabeth and extras like a bridge, station etc. This was all with the old grey track. I remember before this having a clockwork set with just a circle of track, which I can only assume was by Hornby.
 
Take a look at the Hornby website these days and be staggered, not just by the incredible detail of the new models, but also the prices. It's much more of an enthusiasts hobby now, and primarily aimed at adults rather than youngsters.
 
Dave, I think it was actually Folkestone Harbour that was the scratch built model you remember and I'm pretty sure the builders name was CommanderChuff. It would certainly be very interesting to see how it all turned out.

[Dave Smith]

IA. Scratch building, a man after my own heart. I did this with model aircraft- in wood- but afraid not with model trains. But I am interested in what people do & remember one of the KHF members-the old one- built a model of Dover harbour where the railway ran many years ago. He showed pictures & I would have loved to have seen it in the flesh. 

[Invicta Alec]

Dave,

For me there is an obvious connection between my love of history (in particular social history) and model railways.

There are many different aspects to the hobby as I'm sure you are aware. For me probably the most important part is researching why for example a station once stood, enjoyed its heyday, declined and is now probably completely obliterated, overgrown by weeds or buried under bits of concrete motorways. Why was it built in the first place? What changed so that it was no longer needed?

Whilst I'm no fanatic (a.k.a. rivet counters in the hobby) I do try to get some degree of accuracy on my layout. It pleases me that one of the trains that I own is a miniature (148th scale) of the actual ones I travelled to school in during the mid 1960s. I'm also happy with the signal box I've just scratch built which is my attempt at a copy of the Rainham signal box from photos. In a few years time we'll be able to tell a youngster we remember when Rochester station was moved a couple of hundred yards nearer to Chatham. Maybe he'll be fascinated, just as I was when I learned about the old stations at Rochester Common and Rochester Bridge.

I wonder whether kids will still do railway modelling in years to come?

Alec.

[Dave Smith]

I've started a new thread as the previous one under Industry- measurements was becoming model railways orientated. My first train was a boxed set of O gauge, wind up engine, tender, 2 carriages & oval layout in 1938. Hornby I expect. When evacuated I added a 2nd hand GWR tank engine- in the next class up as it went forward & reverse! Over the next few years I added many trucks, including my favourite guards van. In those days, smaller scales -& particularly electric- were unknown to me. When my son was about 7 or 8 we bought a load of TT engines, rolling stock & track from a chap who was selling up. His attic was full with a layout of many loco's( 16 I think) & all the stock to go with it. Ours was GWR with the obligatory Prairie tank & Castle class. The layout was 3 sides of his bedroom. It's said that fathers buy things for their sons that they never had themselves- very true in my case!