Pop and his grandkids with the family dog, are standing behind the fence on the hill watching 4821 conduct shunt operations in the yard
Background.
Whilst there are many excellent HO and N scale layouts on the exhibition scene, there are not many O scale layouts.
To redress this self-perceived imbalance, Brian Thomas convinced Bret Warburton and myself to investigate the opportunity to build a small O scale layout suitable for exhibition! The initial concept was to restore an old portable shunting layout based on two small fold-out baseboards, but there is nothing small about O scale. With each member keen for a challenge, the size of the layout expanded to meet the dimensions required of a reasonably realistic track plan.
We progressed the plans in accordance with my carpentry and track laying skills, Bret's electrical skills, Brian's project management skills and the actual space available. After a prolonged discussion, track plan development and some re-work delays, by July 2021 trains were running and our enthusiasm buoyed. Excited by the prospect of developing scenery, scratch building the infrastructure and confirming the operational concept, a satisfying by-product was the enjoyment of running some ‘big’ model trains.
A younger Michael Portillo stands beside the railway crossing observing locomtoive 4909 shunting. Later he would be Minister of Transport in a United Kingdom Thatcher Government and then presenter of documentaries such as ‘Great Railway Journeys’. There is no reference to Glasson in his dog-eared copy of ‘Bradshaw's Railway Guide’!
O scale may be twice the size of HO scale, but the baseboard footprint is times four. Grand ambitions of grain silos, Witton truss bridges and return loops etc were quickly tempered and every square centimetre of space was optimised to present a purposeful, realistic branch line operation
