Victor & Loue Martin's Railway - 1966 & 1967

Discussion in 'Running Your Trains' started by Jim Freight, Sep 19, 2024.

  1. Jim Freight

    Jim Freight Full Member

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    An enjoyable glimpse of model railway operation from the 60's.



    Jim :)
     
  2. Echidna

    Echidna Full Member

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    Hello Jim Freight, and Others,
    1 / Vic & Loue Martin, Warden Central Model Railway, ) Gauge, 7mm Course Scale electric, was located at the Toc-H Holiday Centre, Warden Manor, Warden Rd, Warden Point, Warden, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, UK. This establishment was closed, and later sold in 2013.
    I understand that Vic and Loue were on site caretakers for the Toc-H Holiday Centre, which probably explains how it ended up on a Pathe newsreel.
    2 / Gormo directed me to the book, "A Lifetime with 0 Gauge- Crewchester-and Others" Jack Ray (Pendragon Books-Atlantic Transport Publishers,1992)
    isbn 0 906899 54 0, Ch 9 The Gauge O Guild Slide Scheme, pp 73-74, with a detailed description of this layout, but only one photo.
    The layout ran to a 24 hour, 1930 St Pancras LMS Working Time Table, and the layout started at (the fictitious) Warden Point North Station, located on the down side of the (fictitious) Duke of Clarence Tunnel* and St Pancras station. The layout had an 80 ft stretch of visible track, meant to represent a section of the Midland Main Line located between Hendon and Elstree. A fair portion of the railway was located in outside trunking with a protective covering.
    (As an aside, the West Lancs O Gauge Group Model Railway in Cheshire has a similar set up.)
    3 / I emailed Robert Dawson, of the Isle of Sheppey Miniature Engineering and Model Railway Society, who advised me that the only person he knew who had any knowledge of the railway was the late John Carter, who passed in 2005. John occasionally helped operate the railway, but Vic had passed on some (unknown) time previously, and the railway rolling stock shortly thereafter disappeared.
    4 / When Jack Ray visited, and photographed the railway (date unknown, circa 1988 ? ), Vic was in his eighties, and Loue was rather frail, so it appears that the railway, and its rolling stock, and related historic paraphernalia has disappeared .
    From the information available, this railway is on a par with Norman Eagles (who was a LT Bus Time Table compiler) LMS Sherwood Section, and Jack Ray's Crewchester.
    It is unfortunate that, to my knowledge,apart from Jack Ray above, there is no written published record or article that describes the railway in depth (unless someone here knows otherwise ?)
    5 / * The real Clarence Tunnel was originally part of the NSWGR Western Mail Line at Clarence, Blue Mountains, and now part of the ZigZag railway formation, a mere 16,894 km away from Elstree, UK !
    6 / and now for something related, but a bit different !
    Duck End Pictures on YouTube (www.youtube.com@duckendpictures4085/videos) which are a series of whimsical short films, using stop gap animation, featuring a Garden railway in Gauge 1 using historic Georges Carette tinplate trains, and featuring the adventures of Cyril and Daisy, so enjoy.
    A Short Film does not exceed 40 minutes, though in this case, around 10 minutes is the norm.
    The garden layout was built by Peter Strange of Oxfordshire, who sadly passed in 2020, and with his friend, Paul Rhodes, created these charming films.
    7 / Hope the above is of interest,
    Best wishes and regards to all, Echidna.
     
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  3. Jim Freight

    Jim Freight Full Member

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    From the BBC in 1967, including more details of operation from Vic and Loue:-



    Jim :)
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2024
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