James Bacon Editors Chris Garcia garcia@computerhistory.

org
 The Drink Tank Issue 283 - May 2011
James Bacon & Chris Garcia - Editors
Page 1 - Table of Contents
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Page 2 - Editorial by Christopher J Garcia

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 I had a train set when I was a kid. 1860 Briar-
wood Dr.’s garage was famous in the neighborhood for
the train set. It was a piece of plywood on top of two
saw-horses. Dad made it himself. I should have known
that something was up when four year old Chris wasn’t
allowed in the garage for a month. The garage was my
favorite place other than the toybox where I’d throw
out all my toys and climb in with all my blankets.The ga-
rage was transformed, a car never again parking inside.
The reason it was famous? It was almost all pa-
per.
Dad, ever a DIY man, made the buildings from
heavy, folded paper. He’d take them from work and
come home and do his version of origami. It was the
kind of origami done with scissors and tape. He’d draw
out buildings and then cut them up, fold them into
shape, install them This allowed him to make hundreds
of different buildings. Sometimes, he’d improvise, like
taking the Quaker Oats tube and turning it into a grain
silo, or the time he turned a mini cereal box into a sort
of Arc de Triumph for the layout. In the three years that
I was interested in it, there were hundreds of different
buildings, that we’d cycle in and out. Dad even made a
three story firehouse that was a near-exact duplicate
of the one that he worked at!
Of course, the trains were the cheapest ones
ever made.
I swear they were made from former plastic
milkjugs. They were cheap, something like 3 dollars a
car, and they were all-plastic. You could only run the
engine for a few minutes before you had to stop and
let it cool or little whisps of acrid black smoke would
come off of it. It was a piece of crap, but it was mine.
Well, it was actually Dad’s, but I got to play with
it.
I lost interest when I got into baseball and roll-
er skates and books and my Fisher-Price tape recorder.
I would go in and play with the set-up once in a while,
but it never held the sway again. We moved from 1860
Briarwood in 1987, a full 9 years after Dad made it, and
we never took it down. It wasn’t until we moved to a
smaller apartment that the set-up was tossed, the cars
and engine along with it, the paper buildings crumbled
up and binned.
This issue is about model trains, one of those
things that a lot of us have in common. We loved them
once, some of us forever, and we all have stories about
them.
And these are ours...
 The Day At The Depot
by James Bacon

It’s a wet and dreary Sunday morning, I feel a is their overstock storage space and its pretty awe-
mild fug upon myself as I awaken, I throw down two some, and brilliant, that well, people like me, twice a
paracetamol and following a shower and Coffee I am year get to look into the store room, and see all the
alive. cool things.
Strangely I As I walked
question whether I up the sloped road
am mad or just mad. to the Depot, an old
I am up a little ear- Routemaster bus,
lier than expected, which was running
I have had a good a shuttle drive past,
eight hours sleep, but and made for the de-
I fell into bed at 2am pot itself.The smell of
following a long but smoke was in the air,
not arduous shift. In- and the Acton Min-
stead of lounging or iature railway had a
relaxing I am prompt 4-4-0 London Under-
about my move- ground Metropoli-
ments. I start work tan Steam train, on
today at 4pm. 16 oh a 71⁄4” gauge track,
something to be ex- drawing two carriag-
act, but shift working es with children atop
is odd like this, so although I don’t have an evening like it, puffing away from a covered space, which was the
a nine to fiver this morning I have a few hours, and my station in this narrow gauge world. It is a beautiful en-
intent is clear. gine, visiting the AMR which has a permanent line laid
It is a very short drive from Uxbridge where out in the grounds of the Museum.
I am currently staying to Acton. Acton is one of those The metropolitan railway are one of the most
west London boroughs that has a lot of railway stations interesting metro railways, having a freight operation
- tube stations - and a pretty serous depot I supposed at one stage as well as going some distance out of the
the land was available. city.
East Acton north Acton and West Acton are all This year, I was focussed on the model rail-
on the central line - East acton is a eight minute walk to ways which use London Underground as their focus.
my work at old oak common, Acton central and Acton Although there was once a London Underground train
south are on the London overground. Acton Town is set from Ever Ready, it seems to be a railway that has
on the Piccadilly and district line, while Acton Mainline not had much popularity, as some companies, in the
is on the Great Western Mainline and I pass through it modelling world. Perhaps its the unusual setting or the
when I drive my train. difficult in modelling it, but this means that there are a
I drove down to Acton Town, where there are more select bunch who go out and model these trains,
a number of major train depots, one of which is a de- and also the art of necessity bringing on invention is
pot especially for the London Transport Museum. This quite fervent.
 ERTL make diescast model Underground trains
as static displays, and these form the basis of many a
model, as they are relatively easy to modify to run on
regular HO track.
It also has created what could be considered a
Cottage Industry, Metro Models which have the won-
der ‘Abbey Rd’ model, which brilliantly demonstrates
the different type of stock on the Underground as well
as featuring part of the station – sub-surface- are actu-
ally a manufacturer of model trains. I got chatting with
one of the men, he explained that they design and
manufacture ready to run ‘00’ scale etched brass mod-
els of tube trains as well as stocking the EFE tube which
can be purchased as static displays or with motors fit-
ted.
The owner John Polley faced many difficulties
building and running his first model, and from this his
company was born and now today they have a factory
workshop operation in Sri Lanka.
The variety of trains that this model had, the
modern and old Tube and Sub-surface stock, the per-
manent way machines, the Isle of Wight liveried stock,
it’s wonderful, and the greatest advertisement for not
only having a model, which is fairly unique, but also for
the will power of people who enjoy the hobby.
On then to London Rd., another timeless set-
ting to allow a number of workings to pass through.
This model is some 30 years old, but like many things
has been renewed, with points and signalling being up-
graded. I especially like the North London line workings.
Again a whole fleet of different trains are on hand.
I walk around the museum, which I love, mostly
for its rawness and the fact that it’s a working museum,
where not only can you get close to things but get in
and look around. And then I see that as if in some sort
of crazy synchronicity, the greatest London Transport
‘what if’ is sitting there with a south Croydon destina-
tion blind on it. The rear engine Routemaster. It may
look like similar buses of the rear engine period, but
this one is fairly special, it was the failed attempt at
common sense. Routemasters, out lived many hundreds
of the initial rear engine successors, and the work load
and time associated with the rear engine buses took
the bus industry London Transport by surprise. Cost-
ing a whole lot more than expected. Here Robert Cog-
ger explains;
‘The only thing I would say is that it wasn’t re-
ally ‘the industry’ that was surprised. It was just London
Transport, where the standard rear engined models did
not easily fit with its overhaul/refurbishment practise
of literally pulling buses apart and putting them back
together again. The rest of the industry got on with
them just fine. Which is why they were very keen to
buy them all up when London Transport started sell-
ing the earlier models off at a ridiculously early age. It
was basically the inflexibility of London Transport to
adapt quickly that was the problem, and why, ultimately,
Routemasters lasted so long.’
‘The way Routemasters (and RTs etc.) were
overhauled was fascinating. As for Vendetta Tube for an Easter-
a bus drove in one end of the con item, and I hold him in the
works the registration plates highest regard, a very gentle and
and tax disc would be taken courteous man, with an obvious
off and put straight on another eye for civil engineering.
completely different bus that There were a number of
was coming off the other end people selling wares, a man build-
of the overhaul line. How they ing tube stock and a few selling
got away with it for so long tube stock, Radley models being
I’m not quite sure as it should another notable enterprise that
really have been quite illegal! caught my eye.
When being overhauled the I then went to one of the
body and the running units talks, that was planned for the
would be split up and then day, Christian Wolmar, a journal-
at the end of the process put ist and author was on hand to
back together again, but only talk about his latest book En-
very rarely did the body end gines of War How wars were
up on the same chassis. The won and lost on the railways. He
completed bus would then was later giving another talk, but
just be given the number of I had to go to work, so I decided
the next one entering the that this was the one for me, and
works and the paperwork it was a brilliant talk, essentially
swapped as described. That’s giving the crowded room a his-
why if you look at Routemas- torical overview of the impor-
ters at rallies they often have a tance and indeed brutality that
detailed list showing what dif- connects the railways with war-
ferent fleet numbers the body fare in the 19th and 20th cen-
has been associated with over tury.
the years!’ It is an interesting sub-
Not exactly what one ject, crashing two of my per-
would expect when it comes sonal favourites together, and al-
to maintenance, but sure though I admit I am researching
there you go! armoured trains, in various guis-
I then came across es in Ireland during the Civil war,
David Tabners London Un- it is something that needs more
derground model, made out writing about. Christian seems
of Lego. This is some con- to have that open eye awareness
struction and grows in size that he brings to a subject that
with each viewing, this time it a journalist can capture where-
seems to have gotten higher as an expert may lose track of
as some of the buildings in- the importance of history being
crease in stature, while he has somewhat entertaining as well
added new trains, both new as enlightening.
to the service and also old trains that are new to the I of course was sold and bought the book.
model. This is always hugely interesting to children, not As time marched on, I watched the model tram
that all models are not, but because they all have Lego, carrying people, with a real electric five foot overhead
and it’s a realisation of what is possible, anyone can line equipment, and departed for my own machinery,
build Lego... less delightful but equally as enjoyable for me at least.
The trains run around this layout really smartly,
and David is on hand, and I great him, he built us a V
 Railway Connections
by Alastair Reynolds

I’ve always liked trains, and I’ve always been to another country, got a job, and was happily settled
aware that railways have a history. I was born in Barry, down with my wife to be. Before very long, I was hatch-
home to the famous Woodham’s scrapyard, where hun- ing tentative plans to bring my old trainset out of stor-
dreds of redundant steam locomotives were gathered age and resurrect it in Holland. I was allocated a spare
to be cut up. My family also had modest railway con- bedroom and told to get on with it. I started off by
nections – my father was a civil engineer, and in the swearing I’d work to a strict budget, only using second-
sixties worked on the demolition of Crumlin viaduct hand items wherever possible, and that I’d confine my
in South Wales. My great grandfather was a porter on activities to a couple of hours each weekend. It didn’t
the Somerset and Dorset railway, which closed six days quite work out that way, though.
before I was born. Most modellers have what I’d call a core interest,
with a few branches. My first love is the Great Western
“You know, if they didn’t have the Railway. While you can get some fantastic models off
the shelf, I really enjoy building and painting things my-
model train, they wouldn’t have self, and luckily there is a vast range of resin, plastic and
gotten the idea for the big trains.” metal kits available. Here’s a picture of City of Truro
From Christopher Guest’s A Might Wind (fig 1), which I built a few years ago. It’s a mix of metal
and plastic parts, actually based around an old static kit
My father also had a small trainset. It con- which was once part of the Airfix range.The model has
sisted of an oval of grey track, a temperamental black a working chassis and some fine details provided by
Tri-ang “Princess Elizabeth” locomotive, and a few red etched brass and cast parts. I’ve a particular affinity for
and cream coaches. I remember sitting in a high chair, this loco since I used to live in Truro.
watching the engine whizz around its loop. Later, my
father laid some track onto a permanent board, and I
had my first model railway. It was a pair of circuits on
an 8’ x 4’ board, on which we operated a variety of
elderly and second-hand models. I used to enjoy po-
sitioning the cardboard buildings made by my mother,
making up little villages and arranging the plastic trees
and bushes into a semblance of woods and hedgerows.
I kept this layout right into my early teens, and it gave �

me tremendous enjoyment. In 1980 we dismantled it I also like making buildings, and where possible I
and built a slightly larger and more realistic effort in a 6’ try to make them completely from scratch, using card,
x 8’ garden shed. I was able to pop up into the middle plastic and a variety of embossed sheets to represent
like a meerkat. My father and I developed it to a rea- bricks, slates and so on. It’s therapeutic to start with
sonable degree before it had to be dismantled and put an expanse of flat cardboard (I use old office calendars
into storage. I wasn’t too downhearted, since by then printed onto thick stock) and after a few hours end
I was more interested in spending my pocket money up with something that looks vaguely like a building.
on more mainstream activities such as prog rock and Sometimes I follow a scale plan, at other times I let my
Larry Niven. That was pretty much it for me and trains imagination rip. This model (fig 2) is one I’m working
for the next fifteen years. on, and is almost entirely plastic; it’s intended to be a
By the mid nineties I’d got an education, moved Welsh nonconformist chapel. There’s been some de-