Tri-ang Layout00 Gauge Introduction This
layout is an attempt to re-create the child-hood enjoyment of ‘having
a train-set’; being able to run whatever you wanted without having to
worry about people remarking that “they never ran together like
that!” or “it doesn’t look very realistic, does it!”.
Basically, it’s just what I did when I was a kid when that sort
of thing didn’t matter! History Over
the years, I have been collecting the various “Tri-ang” and
“Tri-ang Hornby” railway locomotives, coaches & wagons, along
with associated buildings and accessories from the same series’. I
started some time ago by trying to get hold of the items I remember
playing with when I was a lad. But
it doesn’t end there though, does it? … …
Well, no, so I have ended up collecting a lot of the items I always
wished I could have had, as well as many more besides as I have become
familiar with the extent of the range - as surveyed by Pat Hammond in
his popular range of books on the subject! A
while later I looked at what I had collected, and it seemed a pity to
have a lot of trains with nowhere to run them, so I decided (and was
somewhat ‘encouraged’ by friends) to build a layout on which to do
so. This,
then, is my tribute to the allure of those red and yellow boxes, which
so typified the “Tri-ang” and “Tri-ang Hornby” brands of the
Fifties, Sixties and Seventies – I guess it’s a delve back into my
child-hood (Some will say
I’ve never left it!). The
Layout I
designed the layout to utilise the Tri-ang “Super 4” track
throughout, along with the ‘modern series’ lineside structures from
the sixties, as this is what I had as a lad. Some earlier buildings are also used, though, where
appropriate. It
is laid out on seven 4ft x 2ft baseboards, arranged to form a 12ft x 6ft
set-up with an operating well in the centre. The
layout features three continuous runs, with, at the front, a through
station incorporating a small goods yard and an engine shed area with a
turntable. The
rear is essentially a visible fiddle yard, with storage roads separated
from the front by a ‘scenic break’ made up of various high-level
bridges from the Tri-ang range. Apart
from the structures, there is no scenery, so as to create the
‘train-set’ feel to the layout.
Indeed, the baseboards are painted yellow, with the edging and
curtain in red to emulate the Tri-ang box colouring! All
sides to the layout are designed for viewing if required. Rolling
Stock The
layout features a large variety of Tri-ang and Tri-ang Hornby rolling
stock, from both British outline and the “Transcontinental” series,
ranging from the late 1950s to the early 1970s (just as the finer scale
“System 6” track was being introduced). I
did try to limit the rolling stock to that which was available in the
1960s; locomotives with see-through spoked wheels and coaches &
wagons the‘pin-point’ bearings. However,
there are a number of the earlier ‘solid-spoked and ‘open-axlebox’
types from the late 1950s in use also, and a few of the more recent
vehicles with the ‘finer-scale’ wheel profile, but none from the
later 1970s “Silver Seal” range. The
trackwork is, as mentioned above, laid with “Super 4” track and
trains are controlled by Tri-ang Controllers.
All points are operated electrically using the correct Tri-ang
motors and lever-frames. The
two outer circuits are equipped with the later style overhead catenary
system, although this is not used to power the trains. |
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Shows attended so far Haywards Heath September 2008
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