Travel and Transport > Railways

Model Railways

<< < (5/5)

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!   

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page