Railway modelling and the great train robbery in England

I have always thought of  'Railway Modelling' or 'Model railroading' as one of the most fascinating hobbies. This is a hobby, where enthusiasts create rail transport system models at a reduced scale(size). The scaled down models include almost all track and non track equipments used by Railways in reality like locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, tracks, signalling, and roads, buildings, vehicles and lights. To make the modelling more realistic, enthusiasts even add full scenarios with model figures and features such as streams, hills, and canyons.

This hobby perhaps is as old as the Railways themselves are. Wikipedia says: “The earliest model railways were the 'carpet railways' in the 1840s. Electric trains appeared around the start of the 20th century, but these were crude likenesses. Model trains today are more realistic. Today modelers create model railway / railroad layouts, often recreating real locations and periods throughout history.”

The hobby is so popular that all over the world, 100's of manufacturers offer specialty Railway models to the enthusiasts. Yet, historically speaking, the hobby of Railway Modelling and the name of a British company 'Hornby,' go almost synonymously. This company was founded by one Frank Hornby (1863 - 1936) who applied for a patent in 1901 to protect an invention he called ‘Improvements in Toy or Educational Devices for Children and Young People’. Nobody then would have imagined how this product would influence the model railway hobby eventually.

Interestingly, this Frank Hornby was also the inventor of one of the greatest mechanical toy ever invented, popularly known as Meccano. Frank Hornby Hornby introduced his toy trains in 1920. These were powered by a high quality clockwork motor, and made of metal pressings held together by Meccano nuts and bolts. Hornby Trains were an instant success and the company was quick to introduce more engines and accessories. In 1925 the first Hornby electric train was produced, By 1929, Hornby had evolved a much safer system and electric models worked from a six volt DC source.

Model railway layouts usually require much floor space and physical efforts for a single man or a family. This lead to development of model railway enthusiast's clubs and it may not be an exaggeration to say that in almost all major cities of the world ( and even in small towns and communities of developed world), we have such clubs in existence. These clubs regularly create new layouts and hold exhibitions, which are extremely popular with elderly people as well as children.

When I was young, I inherited a small railway track from my father with one locomotive and couple of bogeys. This toy unfortunately was almost in broken condition, yet I used to play with it for hours. I was never ever able to get another model railroad as these were all imported and prohibitively expensive. This has however never dampened my enthusiasm for model railroads and whenever I get a chance, I still enjoy visiting a model railroad layout. In my hometown Pune, one of my business friend ( he is unfortunately no more) had created a wonderful model railroad layout. This layout is still functional (being maintained by his son) and draws number of visitors even today.

I recently came across details of a layout created by a model railroad club in Luton England. The club has its own website, which says following about themselves.

“We are a small friendly club which has been in existence since the mid 1950's and caters for a wide range of modelling and general railway interests. The club has around 30 members and has ownership of its own premises in the centre of Luton. We meet on Monday nights from 8pm until around 10pm.

The building comprises two floors with the ground floor being a general members meeting room and this area can be arranged for more formal meeting such as speakers, AGM or quiz nights. Our 'N' Gauge layout also occupies part of the space and a second layout is currently under development. The upper floor currently houses the 'OO', 'On30' and 'O' gauge layouts and working materials. We have a small reference library for members use, facilities for refreshments. Each year we hold a modelling contest and photographic competition, which is open to all members and all gauges. Exhibitions are held in alternate years as a main club show featuring all gauges and in the intervening year therer is a specialist 'O' Gauge show in a neighbouring location. Regular visits are made by club members to other exhibitions and shows, sometimes we even can be found exhibiting a layout or two!”

There is nothing extra ordinary about this club and there must have been thousands of such clubs all over the world. Yet this club has created recently one of the most creative model railroad layout, that I find absolutely remarkable. The club calls this display as “ Loggies group layouts - 03:24 08-08-1963 (The Great Train Robbery)” and describes it as “A number of the Club members in the 'O' Gauge section (Loggies) have constructed a themed Diorama. This portrays the event that became commonly known as The Great Train Robbery.”

On 8^th August 1963, the train travelling between Glasgow and London Euston was stopped by the gang of crooks at 3 AM on a bridge between Linslade and Cheddington in Buckinghamshire. The thieves had then broken into the High Value Package coach and managed to run away with 120 mailbags weighing about two and a half tonnes stuffed with £2.6m in used banknotes.

Luton model railroad club has created in miniature this diorama (A three-dimensional miniature or life-size scene) that depicts the night in August 1963. Scenes created show bags of cash being unloaded from a carriage and the robbers making off with their loot. It took a group of club members almost one year to complete the diorama, which features sound and lighting effects along with 15 figures on display. However no personalities have been identified.

I find this initiative by the Luton club really remarkable. Instead of creating dioramas where model trains just go round and round, this is something highly creative and should be followed by other clubs of the world. Luton Model railroad club however deserves all praise for their efforts from the model train enthusiasts.

12^th April 2014

Toys of yesteryear

These days, my granddaughter (age 8) is visiting us. Yesterday night, I was chitchatting with her at the bedtime, asking about her favourite toys and books. While chatting, she suddenly asked me, what were my favourite toys, when I was of her age? I was completely floored by the question as I did not remember a single toy of my childhood immediately. I just managed to save my face by telling her that my favourite toy was off course a LEGO set. She was apparently satisfied and was asleep within minutes.

But this little discussion set me thinking because, what I had told her was no way true. When I was a young child, no one knew about a toy called LEGO, as probably it's manufacture had just started in Denmark and it was not known anywhere else. Off course, it is kind of silly for a senior citizen like me to talk about my toys now, yet I find the subject so interesting that I must write about it. What were then my favourite toys, when I was young? I really had to scratch my memory.

I then remembered that I had inherited two of my favourite toys from my father, as was the practice then. My grandmother had carefully preserved my father's toys over the years and when I was old enough, they were handed over to me. The first toy that was given to me was a building construction set known as 'Mobaco.'

Mobaco was introduced in the 1920's by N.V. Plaatmetaalindustrie ( sheet metal factory) van Mouwerik & Bal in Zeist, The Netherlands. Van Mouwerik & Bal was later also referred to as Mobal. The construction set consisted of square wooden columns of various lengths that would fit into evenly spaced holes in a thick fiberboard base board. The columns had slots on all four sides, into which cardboard panels can be slid. The panels had different colors, and were either solid, or had window or door cut-outs in various shapes. To provide Structural rigidity, they supplied horizontal cardboard strips and floor panels that slide over the columns and rest on the wall panels. The system even allowed pitched roofs. The design was so good that even with a limited number of parts, complex models could be made. As far as I remember, models just looked great and now I think that they had a distinct 19th century European houses look. They were really easy to put together.

One problem with 'Mobaco' was that the panels were made of cardboard, which made them fragile and the set had to be used with lot of care. I must have had got soon bored with 'Mobaco,' because my grand mother then gave me the real thing that was made out of steel and was just unbreakable. Off course no one built houses with this set. The set was so versatile that it was possible to make almost anything with it, cars, cranes, carts, locomotives and even human figures. The toy was known as a 'Meccano.'

History of 'Meccano' is well over hundred years old. Wikipedia says that Meccano, a model construction system was invented in England by Frank Hornby. It consisted of re-usable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, with nuts and bolts to connect the pieces. It enabled the building of working models and mechanical devices. The ideas for Meccano were first conceived by Hornby in 1898 and he developed and patented the construction kit as "Mechanics Made Easy" in 1901. The name was later changed to "Meccano" and manufactured by the British company, Meccano Ltd, between 1908 and 1980. The only tools that were required to assemble models were a screwdriver and spanners (wrenches). It was more than just a toy: it was educational, teaching basic mechanical principles like levers and gearing.

The Meccano set, which I had inherited from my father was originally brought for him by my Great Grand mother from US, when she returned to India in 1920. It came in a wooden tray like box with a sliding cover and had little compartments to keep the parts. I have no idea about what kind of set it was, because Meccano sets came numbered from 1 to 6 in those days. I must have made hundreds of Meccano models over a span of next 6 to 8 years. I also added few more parts to the set, after purchasing them from Mumbai. No other toy of my childhood has given me as much pleasure as my Meccano.

Today, Meccano still lives, though it has gone through many ups and downs. It is now manufactured in France and China. "Erector Sets" currently sold in the USA are actually Meccano sets manufactured by Meccano S.N. of France, part of the Nikko Group of Japan.

As I grew up, I received my first ever construction set that was not inherited but rather a brand new one. It was also a set where buildings built with the parts looked stunningly beautiful. 'Bayko' was an English building model construction toy invented by Charles Plimpton, an early plastics engineer and entrepreneur in Liverpool. First marketed in Britain it was soon exported throughout the British Commonwealth and became a world wide brand between 1934 and 1967. The name was derived from Bakelite, one of the world's first commercial plastics that was originally used to manufacture many of the parts. Bayko was one of the world's earliest plastic toys to be marketed.

It was much similar to my earlier Mobaco,but had steel pins of various lengths as columns. It came with a sturdy plastic base with blind perforations in which the steel columns would stand. Bakelite bricks, windows and other parts could then be slotted between pairs of rods in order to create the walls of the building. In the original sets, bases were coloured green, walls were red or white, windows were green and roofs were maroon. The main advantage of Bayko over its rivals was generally regarded as the high standard of realism of the models constructed with it. The built up buildings just looked terrific.

Off course, this does not mean that I did not have my fair share of other toys such as model cars and games like Monopoly or Ludo. They were all there along with assortments of bats, rackets and balls and an inexhaustible stock of books. But these three toys have a special place in my heart and I would never be able to forget them

16^th December 2013