Gerald Road take two?

Regular readers may remember I started an N gauge cameo shelf layout inspired by the Avonside branch in Bristol titled 'Gerald Road'. This became an operational (and successful) little layout but the scope felt too big, overwhelming even and I made the decision to sell it on as a working blank canvas...

D2121 at Lawrence Hill, April 1972, Andy Kirkham photo (https://flic.kr/p/gSRPoH)

I kept the stock though - I wasn't ready to say good bye to the possibility of revisiting in the future. The little Farish blue 03 and the coal, cement and molasses tanks were all put away carefully but not forgotten.

Last week I placed the 03 on Wrecsam Canolog and found myself musing on whether I could blend the success of Paxton Road as a Speedlink 'pointless' scheme with the concept that led to Gerald Road? But what was Gerald Road? Let me remind you...

A slice of Bristol in the late 1970s early 1980s, a chance to capture a part of Bristol changed forever from run down and semi-industrial inner city to gentrified apartments and small light industrial units and offices (I believe Modelu are in the area!). Taking inspiration from first and second hand inspiration, bringing ideas and structures from other areas of the city that had a special meaning for me and woven into a believable and scenic blanket for an otherwise simple two turnout scheme!

However, the physical scope of the layout felt overwhelming - what if I could take the best bits, the key structures and scenes and create a smaller and more compact composition?

I've kept the structures I had started, the warehouse and pub - so these feature with that signature level crossing - whose gates would always be closed to road traffic in my new scheme as shunting would always be across the road! Perhaps these could be made posable, removable even? The scrap yard is compressed and the cement silo omitted - assumed off stage through the fence (over the road and onto the wharf). Just a single 'semi' remains, a nod to my childhood and time spent in the home my Dad grew up in - and all the while, the layout operated mainly by the diminutive 03. Cute and wonderfully performing but more, a time machine.

Model railways can tell a story. Their meaning can be as deep as we like and yet I wonder, the more we understand about why we're creating the model, can that actually increase the enjoyment? Yes, this scheme means a lot - and in the larger format felt too much - but stripped down to the basics it feels achievable and something to tick along with... those structures would be a simple way to keep moving forwards wouldn't they... perhaps that's the answer? The fact I wasn't ready to say good bye to the concept, only that format tells me enough for now. I'm not done.

Until next time, more soon...

 

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