Page 18 - September October 2001

is about right for meets and exhibitions. Any finer detail work would probably prove too delicate. I am never sure who is going to handle the layout and how ham-fisted they might be. I always imagine that I will meet the grown up versions of those kids who used to wreck my toys!
Thank you
A big thank-you to everyone who has ever helped in any way with the construction, transport or operation of the modules. There are too many people to list individually but I would like to give special thanks to my neighbour, and fellow Region member, Harry Brown. Almost every time the modules have been transported, Harry has been the person who helped me stagger down the garden from my shed with them and stuff them in the car. Also, the excellent road vehicles that have appeared on the layout from time to time are the work of Harry and his father, Harry Senior.
An idea at one time was to connect the track behind Medusa Cement to a third module to provide an alternative main line path.
This never came to fruition but SP GP60 9767 and DRGW GP40-2 3130 show what might have been.
mounted face to face as a 2ft x 2ft x4ft unit. The weight was ridiculous. On one occasion, Alan Rogers and I heaved this colossus up two flights of stairs at Rainhill. When we got to the top we felt like the guys who put the final stones on the tops of the Pyramids! To ease matters a bit, the two modules are now transported separately, with thin ply covers protecting the structures. This is much more manageable but still unwieldy. My new home layout will be a series of transportable module-like pieces but construction will be based on some of the lightweight plywood/foam techniques featured in recent issues of Roundhouse.
Is it finished?
Layouts are never really finished. It would be possible to add much more detail to Thorn Tree Flats and the layout would certainly benefit from more model people. Apart from this, the present level of detail
Minor additions
As part of the detailing, two yard offices were scratchbuilt to fit particular situations. The white “wooden” yard office (left) is built from Evergreen styrene siding with a single Grandt Line window. It is painted with white and grey auto primer from aerosols.
The more modern steel office building (right) is also scratchbuilt from styrene with Grandt line windows. These have had some of their framing removed to give a more modern look. The air conditioners were made from redundant roof-walk material from plastic boxcars. Locations of these structures are shown on the plan. I felt that two cosmetic improvements would give a better impression of the Region at public shows. I made a proposal for this, which was approved by the B.O.D. earlier in 2000. A pelmet- like structure was built which holds two 4ft fluorescents. This gives very good lighting, even in the gloomy corners of exhibition halls. In addition, a small, 6-inch wide, shelf was mounted along the front edge of the layout, angled down towards the public. This holds placards describing layout construction, individual models and so on. It has been well received and I wish it had been my idea. However, I have to admit I copied it from the Alton Model Railway Group’s American HO layout.
Finally
After looking after the layout for the Region for the last few years I expect to hand it over to someone else during the next few months. In the meantime, if you see the layout at an exhibition or meet and would like to operate you only have to ask. Provided you aren’t one of those people who used to wreck my toys that is.
18 ROUNDHOUSE
The Proto 1000 RDC was the inspiration to add a passenger service to Thorn Tree Flats.