CONSTRUCTION

I have my father to thank for building me a train set when I was very young and for indulging my ever-growing hobby at birthdays and Christmas. I have always had a train set as long as I can remember.

Like so many other kids I would add to it, change it or re-build it from time to time. They were always 'OO' gauge train sets. 'N' gauge had not really been invented as a commercial reality when I was young and I would probably have been too ham-fisted to do anything with it in any case. 'O' gauge in the form of the old Hornby tinplate was definitely on the wane in the 1960s and it was 'OO' gauge that most parents were buying for their children at the time. All this kept me happy for years, either having the train set up in my bedroom and then, following a move of house, in the cellar.

I started building my first 'serious' end-to-end layout in the cellar of my parents' house when I was about 15yrs,
using Peco track and making crude scratchbuilt buildings.

A year or so earlier I had joined the school model railway club and helped build a club layout in our very cramped premises next to the main hall. While the club layout was in an unfinished state the headmaster asked us to move elsewhere on the site. We traded a small but well-lit room for a larger space under the gym with no natural light! It was all good, clean fun, though, and definitely better than football or cross country running. When we joined the Sixth Form, a few of us got together to form the '005 Society' (click on 'Other Items' for more information on 005).

I eventually moved on to 16.5mm finescale and with the help and encouragement of friends, set about aiming for higher standards of modelling. I started a new layout based on a fictitious GWR branch line in Herefordshire, but this didn't advance much due to my going to University and then getting a job with British Rail.

In the university holidays I had started to build loco kits for a local model shop as a way of earning a bit of spare cash, and this activity took up most of my available modelling time for several years.

In the 1990s, having got married and moved house a few times, I built my first exhibition layout 'Engine Wood', followed a few years later by 'Bleakhouse Road'. One day I would like to build the extension to Bleakhouse Road - 'Burrowbridge' -  which will also be capable of standing alone as an exhibition layout in it's own right (click on 'New Projects' for more information).

In 2004 I started to model in P4, having joined the newly-formed Devon Riviera Group of the Scalefour Society, although I stayed with OO Finescale as well.

My modelling philosophy is to aim to get it all 'looking right' (whatever that really means when you are dealing with a hobby that involves a fair degree of artistic interpretation) and putting as much detail into each model or scene as I reasonably can. A good maxim on exhibition layouts is to say that 'if you cannot see it from normal viewing distance, why bother putting it in?' Fair enough and I do sometimes follow this line of thinking, but sometimes I do try to put as much detail in as possible, because it's not just the exhibition visitor who always stays at 'normal viewing distance'. Sometimes people crane forward and squint right up close (and so do I!), and then there is the unforgiving macro lens on modern digital cameras. 

And then there's always the debate between OO, EM and P4. There has been much correspondence on this subject in various model railway periodicals over the years and more recently on the internet. Some people seem to think that manufacturers will suddenly want to start mass producing EM or even P4 R-T-R models. There has been an alternative viewpoint expressed to the effect that modellers of the UK scene should all convert to HO (at the same time as adopting the Euro, no doubt). This is all very well but I can't get too excited about it, I'm afraid. I think that OO is here for a long time yet, as the majority of customers who buy model railways/train sets don't really worry about the inaccurate scale/gauge ratio. It would be nice to be able to buy R-T-R EM or P4 models, but I just don't think that Bachmann et al will go there.

To be perfectly honest, despite starting to model in P4, I retained my connections with OO because:

a) the thought of converting everything was (and remains) too daunting

b) I can borrow/loan stock with friends who also do 16.5mm

c) I do think that well built and weathered track in 16.5mm can look good as long as you don't dwell on the 'head on' view too much.

 I have been a member of both the EMGS and the Scalefour Society for several years, because they represent the finescale end of the 4mm hobby, which is where my interests mainly lie. In late 2003 the Devon Riviera Area Group of the Scalefour Society was formed locally and together with other members living in the locality, I was invited to come along to an inaugural meeting in a local pub. I went along and met other like-minded modellers and had a very good time. I was still completely committed to developing my OO projects at the time and didn't really think that we would do anything other than meet in the pub once a month and have a good chat about our hobby. How wrong I was! By the time we next met in January 2004, plans for a Group test track were being drawn up and one of our members had found a venue for us to meet once a month.

It was clear that unless I wished to remain an armchair member, I would have to start building something in P4. This was the impetus I needed and during 2004 I started building and converting locos and rolling stock, although I have left the existing OO exhibition stock intact.

Being part of the Scalefour Area Group continues to be a very rewarding experience, with new friendships being made and useful experience and tips being shared. We now meet twice a month and are currently completing our Mk 2 test track, the first one (now scrapped) suffered from the inadvertent use of poor quality timber, with the result that warped boards have caused a number of serious track misalignments that are simply not worth the bother of putting right. The new test track is a large quadruple track affair, with a long running loop on the inner and outer tracks, various configurations of crossovers to test different types of loco wheelbases, plus a circuit of OO track, to enable us to test our R-T-R purchases!

As for my own P4 modelling, my first P4 layout 'Callow Lane' is edging slowly towards completion, although having started it back in 2005, it has taken far longer than I would have liked.  I have also done some work on a second P4 layout, and have constructed the baseboard frames and the point work. This layout will be based on Travellers Rest Level Crossing in the Forest of Dean. This was the first block post north of Parkend, situated halfway between that location and Coleford Junction. Interest in c

I think that it all boils down to personal choice at the end of the day, because there are a lot more serious and important things going on in the world today and this hobby should be about bringing a bit of light relief and fun to our lives.

I still work in the railway industry, but find that doing the models is a good way to unwind after the rigors of the working day (you'd be surprised how many model railway enthusiasts there are out there working for 'the big railway!').

I have to say that I could not possibly have contemplated constructing this website without the help and support of my wife, Madeleine, to whom I am very grateful.

Please note that all written and photographic material on this website is the intellectual property of and copyright Tim Maddocks 2010, unless otherwise credited.

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