Pannier Paradise…

As one goes out the door another comes in the back! No sooner have I sold Pont Dulas and the Dapol 57xx I find another venerable example joining my collection. Regular readers will have read about my relationship with this quintessential of Western engines before, but never has it been so obvious a connection as now, with another BR liveried N gauge example due here next week…

Rail’s photo of the model due here next week. Etched plates to be replaced and detail to follow.

The catalyst, or touch point for this latest re-invigoration of my Pannier passion can be traced directly back to last weekend and the kind gift of ‘The Forest of Dean Branch - Vol.2’ from Simon. I picked up this older Wild Swan title and was initially drawn in by the diesel photos (now, this post is about Panniers but a green Class 14 has also joined my collection following the recent physical acquaintance with D9525 in the valley) but the longer I spent within its pages the more I was reacquainted with this purest of first loves…

I tried to slow things down. I avoided reading the book… but the more I ignored things, the more my mind wandered to parallels seeing similarities between the last days of the FofD branch and other favourite muses including the Minera and Brymbo branches local to me here…

Yesterday I finally gave in and spent the day lost in its pages… as well as digging out my old Middleton book on the branches out of Lydney (which are covered in the Wild Swan titles on the Severn and Wye). Thoughts turned to how this would make a wonderfully engaging room sized layout… 

Sketching started with the system, and recognising the shape and arrangement of key junctions and places of interest. The book has a series of signalling diagrams that helped flesh this out whilst the photos and descriptions of operation explain how things worked in practice. A larger layout gives space for a more complete recreation of both operational and artistic influences - and it’s good fun to consider then how to map this out into a space…

Determine the space you have and marry that to a prototype, and scale

I don’t have space for a room sized layout. It is difficult to imagine a scheme without some constraints, so in this case, with this prototype in mind and because my workshop is at the back of what was once the garage in our home, I chose a typical single garage to provide a footprint. In N this gives enough space to breathe, 2ft wide aisles and yet, relatively scale interpretations of the key locations.

I got carried away with the dream… but I don’t have that space.

I felt a little sad, that the moment would pass… I don’t have a single garage, just an IKEA Lack…

Re-imagining some of the things I had read, how empty trains to Northern United were propelled up the branch from Bilson, I took the ‘ten minute shelf’ double tuning fork but shrunk things to N. In this scale we have space for a little more scenery, more character and choreography. As my digital pen found comfort in the space that I do have, its flourishes became more confident.

In selecting a junction, I’ve deliberately doubled the interest. Trains need to reverse here… the terminus or destination requires more shunting, yes, but also more track and more space. The cropped cameo scene gives us the sense of a much larger location but focuses on the bit we can see from where we’re standing, trackside, enjoying witnessing the show.

Initial thoughts for including the ‘typical’ GWR branch station fuelled by childhood, gave way for a more pragmatic generic goods shed. Generic in period, not region… this allowed me to dare to imagine the same shelf playing out different Western locations, perhaps North Wales? Perhaps even the Burry Port and Gwendraeth… and more, what is to stop us taking liberties with period and making such a scheme a home for cut-down Class 03 and 08 as well?

So an innocent touch point, the humble Pannier. It has drawn me into another rabbit hole, deep enough to have committed funds, deep enough to adjust other plans… perhaps this is the chance to ‘stretch my legs’ and apply all I’ve learnt in N to a slightly wider cameo scene?

Until next time, more soon…

Support my work

I love writing and creating material for the blog. If you enjoy what you read and engage with I would be appreciative of any donation, large or small, to help me keep it advert and restriction free. Alternatively, feel free to buy me a coffee.