N gauge thoughts

I first started building in N back in the mid 1970s. There wasn't too much British Outline available from the trade, apart from some clunky Graham Farish stuff and, of course, the Minitrix 9F. Oh, and the Peco Jubilee which, back then, was a big step up in quality. Especially when you consider that it was released in 1969 and keeps looking good against models from 2023.The ones I saw ran well too. 

Scenery wise, there was Fleetline, a whitemetal casting company who specialised in accessories like footbridges, vehicles and the like. All very crude compared to today's offerings. The picture is very different today, with a range of locos and rolling stock available from the trade and a vast number of scenic items and building kits supplied by the cottage industry side of the hobby. It's all looking good for the future. I was browsing some photos in a magazine recently and realised with a shock that what I thought was an "OO" proprietary layout was actually "N" gauge... that's how far things have come. I know we've always had Chiltern Green, Copenhagen Fields and many other outstanding layouts, but many early efforts (including mine) just looked like clumsy toys. There's no excuse for that now. 

Harry 

Back in the seventies, I was asked by a gentleman in North Wales to build the structures for his extensive "N" gauge empire. I travelled down from Scotland to meet him and there he was, waiting on the platform of Prestatyn station, holding a copy of the "Railway Modeller" with a big grin on his face. We hit it off immediately and were to become great friends. I would travel down to Wales and stay with him for a week at a time, working on his projects and, of course, having a daily operating session. Sadly, his wife didn't share his enthusiasms and made it clear that she didn't like me by proxy, which was a tad uncomfortable. She hinted that I was somehow duping Harry and trying to grab his money. Unlikely, on the fees I charged back then. Harry told me that she spent all her time at the local golf club- she was certainly off every morning with her golfing gear, to my great relief. 

Of course, I ended up doing much more than I should for Harry, but I knew it was appreciated. I built stations in the Central Wales style, farms and industry and a whole town. After three years of this, Harry suddenly stopped answering my letters and I became worried. I phoned up, but when his wife realised it was me she simply put the phone down. So I asked a couple of the people in the Prestatyn Model Group that Harry had introduced me to- they told me that the poor fellow had passed away suddenly a couple of weeks previously. Harry was in his late seventies, but always full of life and good humour. Perhaps there was another, darker side to him, but I doubt that. So I phoned up Trevor, an electrics wizard at the club who had helped Harry with his railway, hoping to rescue some of the buildings- I would have liked to buy them back. Trevor told me that they had the same idea, but when they got through to Harry's wife she told them, with some relish, that everything had gone up in a big bonfire at the back of the house. Trevor had driven by the next day and seen a charred pile, the remains of Ravenscroft, Harry's pride and joy. Trevor got out and had a close look, because of course, the lady of the house was away at the golf club. He was able to definitively confirm my worst fears. What a waste.

I only have a couple of images of the countless things I built for Harry, here they are-

 

These were taken against a backdrop of the hills behind the farm we lived on in Scotland at the time. I wish I had taken more photos, but I was always in such a rush to get things away to the old chap.

These two are from an article I wrote about a farm I built for Harry, from the August '82 Railway Modeller.

 

Finally, a diagram from the article: