A Llangollen overlap…

In recent weeks I’ve wondered what a ‘James Hilton’ model of my ‘local’ would look like. Considering Llangollen is not anything new, most memorably Neil Rushby considered it in the December 2004 Railway Modeller. Llangollen is so beautifully situated, more, beautifully conceived that I’m sure many visitors have pondered a small scale recreation…

25313 at Llangollen goods, Keith Valla photo (embedded from Flickr https://flic.kr/p/bkxGZr)

The difference to a more typical layout scheme is I had something quite specific in mind in terms of its setting… a ‘what if’ the line to Ruabon had remained open into the 1970s. DMU service would see trains run from Chester via Wrexham, perhaps just a few a day to a single tracked station. The goods yard would remain open, and by the late 70s just see regular coal trains with occasional extras for seeds and fertiliser perhaps, an agricultural merchant set up in the yard, perhaps a branch of Corwen Farmers? Motive power typically mundane, all over blue 108s and 104s from Chester - later blue grey 108s. Class 24s on the freight which petered out about the same time so whilst 25s were seen in the early 80s the line was closed in 1984 and the preservation company took over, the rest, is history… 

The juxtaposition of short passenger services serving the station and larger goods services seemed semi plausible and attractive. Overlapping the scenes allows a compact form, focusing on two specific locations and enjoying them in their purest forms. Chris’s overlap concept has appeared here previously - usually with a hard visual back scene between the views, but what if trees and the goods shed did that for us, and the single line of the platform road became another siding in our goods yard? 

“A thing about the Overlap, that I think about and you’re exploring here too, is the idea of that central backdrop not really needing to be floor-to-ceiling. This is really nicely balanced plan”.

Perhaps this is 24081 at Llangollen in the late 70s. The preservation society had already taken over some of the goods yard?! Actually 1994, David Burrell photo (embedded from Flickr https://flic.kr/p/2nqkEcT)

Operation is not prototypical, but let me explain the thinking… DMU just serves the station, now singled. Freight trains run in to the layout arriving from right to left. They reverse into the goods yard via a sector/turntable. Upon leaving the turntable is rotated so the locomotive is on the front and it runs through the station to the fiddleyard, stage right. No turnouts. Conceived as a compact exhibition piece, in N probably 4-6ft long, it would be possible to model either scene seperately in a more traditional cameo. I asked myself was this an overlap too far but the concepts creator was quick to enthuse me about this sketches potential so you’ve now all been subjected to it too!

Breaking some of the ‘traditional’ ideas about formal layout design and presentation, perhaps reconnecting with how we created our ‘first’ model railways, blending inspiration and overlapping scenes through lack of space, can help us reinvent our hobby. I feel that a scheme like this resonates with me and I would love to see something creative like this in action. Not an accurate recreation with working signalling lever frames but an observational love letter to a prototype and time period of deep personal connection. Until next time, more soon…

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