A short film today. It's sunny so you won't want to be stuck in front of the computer when you could be out doing sporting things in the healthy fresh air will you? (Must check the demographic of my blog readers)
This film kicks off with a potato railway - specifically, the Nocton Estate Light Railway. Little narrow gauge lines like this proliferate when rural roads were hopeless for the lorries of the day. Sadly, both roads and lorries improved and the railway closed in 1960.
After this we head off to a gentleman's grand house complete with 3-rail model railway. I can't work out if it's O or 1 gauge. The Meccano Ferris wheel in the background is quite nice though.
2 comments:
Not Nocton. Another of the Dennis Estates railways, but at Deeping St Nicholas, just up the road from here. The loco is a LIFU flash steamer.
The model railway is pictured on page 51 of the Model Railway News for February 1926 under the title 'A Country House Model Railway'. The Meccano Ferris wheel is clearly visible in the corner of the room and appears to be standing on a grand piano! The description reads:
'For the entertainment of his grandsons, Sir Edward Nicholl has installed a Model Railway system, seen in the photo above, in a large room at Littleton Park, near Shepperton. There are 550 feet of track, 5 lines (4 of which are main lines), 2 for electric, 1 steam and 1 clockwork; 7 locomotives and various rolling stock, stations and bridges.'
One of said grandsons appears in the photograph to give some scale. To my eye the railway looks closer to gauge 3 than gauge 1 and the video has foreshortened the room which in actuality is huge.
Clearly the 'I bought it for the grandson' excuse has been around for a long time.
Best wishes
Bill
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