AMALGAMATED WAGON WORKS

Discovered after languishing in a barn for 14 years, Ben Lord saw potential in this fictitious layout, with remedial repairs and subtle trackplan upgrades.

Set on a rainy autumn afternoon, 'Amalgamated Wagon Works', or 'Am Wag' as it's more affectionately known, depicts an industrial railway scene sometime in the 1930s or 1960s. The railway is a small local wagon repair shop specialising in repairing, refurbishing and building railway wagons. The layout isn't based on a specific region or place – such scenes could be found all over the country. Most large towns or industrial works would have had an area for carrying out servicing work to the many thousands of rolling stock items in use on the railway network. While the buildings are reminiscent of those found in the North, they aren't based on any one location – it’s the rolling stock and road vehicles that set the time and place.

I work as a special needs teacher. I am a husband and a father of two young boys, therefore my time is at a premium. Any spare time I have, I like to relax by making models. In the past, I have enjoyed making military dioramas; painting, sticking the model to a base trying to recreate the picture on the box. Once completed, this diorama would then go on a shelf, only to be knocked off and smashed by an inquisitive cat or an over-enthusiastic spring clean. Around the time my first child was born, I thought I needed to find a new hobby and stumbled into model railways. While not at first being particularly interested in railways, I realised that my interest in realism and researching the history of an object could be met through the hobby of model railways, with the added bonus of each completed model being a part of a larger overall scene.

Layout origins

The layout was started in the late 1990s as an experiment by Rochdale Model Railway Group as a change from their usual 4mm layouts. The layout was designed to fit on two 4ft x 2ft boards and fit in the back of a Ford Focus hatchback, while still giving room for two operators and luggage. The baseboards are standard 4in x 2in softwood frames with 9mm ply on top that are held inversely, with end protectors making a self-contained box. The buildings are 3mm ply shells with either Das clay or Plastikard sheets stuck to them. Interestingly, the corrugated shed uses 4mm:1ft scale Wills sheets, which I believe looks better than the 7mm:1ft scale ones. The track has been hand-built from C&L components to an amazing standard and points are controlled by the wire in tube method. The layout was shown a few times, then mothballed for approximately 14 years, until I acquired it.

After removing the layout from the barn and setting it up in my garage, it was apparent just how well built it was. The buildings and track had suffered a little damage and the Das clay carved cobbles had chipped and lifted in parts but, as a whole, it had lasted really well – a testament to its original builders. I was keen to investigate

why a layout built to such a high standard was so detestable to operate.

Lights, Camera, Action

After a few hours of operating the layout, I realised the original trackplan didn't have an operation focus or story. Stock was continuously shunted around the layout, but it never left the scene. Operation over a short time became very monotonous. After helping to operate other exhibition layouts, I quickly realised that the performance of a layout is similar to a theatre production. With the rolling stock as the actors, they tell a story in the scene of the layout. Stock needs to enter the layout, perform a duty, then be taken off-stage to the wings or fiddle/preparing board. 'Am Wag' didn't have this function, therefore the story became lost.

After making a simple fiddle yard, trains of wagons could be brought onto the board, broken up and sent to different areas. Goods could be dropped off, wagons taken into a repair shop, or newly-repaired wagons brought on scene via the sector plate. The train could then be remade in the holding siding, ready to be collected and taken off-scene. While this sounds simple, the inclusion of a runaround track and reverse siding can't be overlooked as this, together with a turntable, adds complexity to the proceeding, which makes it interesting to operate.

Enhancements

After the layout began to function, I looked to update the scenic sections. After seeing pictures of industrial yards, I realised they were busy and scruffy places! I wanted the feel of a real hard working yard with the detritus of broken and abandoned engineering around. Being a Northerner, life is usually spent in damp overcast weather and I find that this is rarely modelled. A pristine chocolate box view just wouldn't have felt right. I, therefore, raided my scrap box, together with bits of Lego and broken toys, and began painting the bits using only a limited palette of colours – red, blue and green, before being dry-brushed with a dirty brown. This was then scattered around, with some scrunched up dried leaves. Figures from various manufacturers were added in realistic positions, producing little cameo scenes along with boxes and packing cases from the extensive Skytrex range.

I think the layout works because thought has been given to what stock and vehicles you can find on it. I particularly like the variation of stock found in the pre-war eras – local wagon owners with their bright liveries, interesting moving advertisement boards. However, I also like the look of early diesel locomotives and wooden-bodied wagons looking distressed at the end of their lives. To meet this requirement, scenic items have been purposely left ambiguous and dateable items such as road vehicles can easily be swapped when stock from a different era wants to be run. Road vehicles are from the ready-to-run ranges such as Corgi that have been lightly weathered and toned down to blend into the scene.

At the end of the day, the process of building a plastic wagon kit is really therapeutic. It’s great to switch off from the world and get absorbed in sticking and painting. A layout like 'Am Wag' doesn't require a great deal of stock, therefore you can be choosy about what you buy. This is particularly relevant when you consider the cost of O gauge stock. However, this is balanced out by the fact that you don't need as much.

I usually spend around £30 per wagon, and again use a simple colour palette to weather. My preferred paints are Citadel acrylics from the Games Workshop. I have had a go at building locomotive kits, but

I prefer to use the excellent ready-to-run locomotives available, which, when suitably weathered, run well and look fantastic.

Exhibiting success

I was initially daunted by the prospect of exhibiting a layout, but this has been a wonderful experience. I came to the world of modeling from a solitary position but as the layout was always intended to be exhibited, and initially had been taken to a few shows, I decided to get it to one. I received an invitation to a local show, and after a number of test runs putting up and taking down, it paid off.

After more than 20 exhibitions, I can safely say the formula for the layout really works. 'Am Wag' is operated from behind, giving an uninterrupted view of the scene. The fiddle yard screen has information about the locomotives being run, which people enjoy reading. The layout is well-lit

and the lighting rig protrudes slightly in front of the baseboards so that the front edge isn't in shadow. The public, young and old, like that something is always moving, be it the wagon turntable, a locomotive running around to shunt, or the train taking wagons through the arch into the fiddle yard. There has been one criticism and that is the 'hand of God' uncoupling the three-link couplings. The layout was originally intended for Dingham magnetic automatic uncouplers, but I've chosen to use the original three-link couplings because I like the realistic look of them. I change the last ring to a wider loop, however, to make it quicker to operate because the hook can pick the loop up easier.

Some viewers feel inspired to build a small shunting layout because the overall size is quite achievable in a modern home. Exhibitors like the unusual theme and the low transportation costs because van hire isn't needed. I think the layout has probably

come towards the end of its life on the exhibition circuit as I have done all the local shows around my area. However, one can never say never!

Future projects

I am currently building a small colliery layout with a similar cameo format to 'Am Wag'. However, I want to try to get the scenic section on one board, again using stock to set the place and era.

I have learned so much from owning and operating 'Am Wag' that I now feel confident to try building another layout from scratch. If you are new to modelling, or like me, short on time, when layouts become available to buy, doing so is certainly a way to get into railway modeling and I would encourage anyone to try it. For me, this has opened up a new pastime and a social circle and I am hugely grateful to the members of Rochdale Model Railway Group for their help along the way.

A Fowler diesel shunter is working on the run around loop. First introduced in the 1930s, they were found in industrial yards for many years.

A fireless locomotive waits next to the office building. These locomotives ran on compressed air and the model has been made from an Eric Underhill kit.

The layout features many barrels and crates from the Skytrex resin-cast range. Cobblestones have been scribed in dried Das clay.

Figures are used sparingly throughout the layout, but help create small cameo scenes such as this one, where a dog is biting the driver's leg!

A Heljan Class 05 0-6-0 diesel locomotive waits with a train to take off-scene. This is the largest model to feature on the layout.

After reading his paper, a worker stands to work on a tatty tar wagon which has been dropped off at the repair shop.

A red Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST produced RTR by Ixion shunts goods to the engineering works via a turntable. The layout features a few road vehicles from the Corgi range that have been lightly weathered.