It has fascinated Rob Elliott so much that this is his third and finest rendition of Lostwithiel to date.
Words: Chris Gadsby Photography: Chris Nevard Artwork: Andrew Mackintosh
What makes this layout great?
"We often talk about compression with a model railway, but with ‘Lostwithiel’ being an ‘N’ gauge layout, Rob has been able to get a realistic depth to his station area without having to cram everything in. It makes for a far more pleasing result."
Think back to the last time you bought a house. Whether it was six months ago or 60 years ago, you almost certainly had a list of requirements. A lovely garden, side by side parking, perhaps a good sized kitchen. A model room? Some of us could only dream of such a designated space, but when Rob Elliott and his wife moved house in 2015, a room dedicated to an ‘N’ gauge layout was high on the list of priorities. In the interest of fairness, a sewing room was also a must. Fortunately, the pair found a house that fulfilled both of these requirements and work began on Rob’s depiction of Lostwithiel almost before the cutlery had been put in the drawer.
“This is my third layout based on Lostwithiel in Cornwall, each one bigger and better than the last. My first was relatively basic, but the more I researched the area, the more interesting it became. Today, model number three is finished. The room is 9ft square and the layout almost fills it, with a 9ft by 5ft looped section and a branch totalling 11ft in an ‘L’ shape. There’s enough room to get in and for me to have a decent-sized workbench. As usual, I began by creating a plan on Anyrail, getting as many of my desired features as possible. I wanted a passable representation of Lostwithiel station with the crossing and sidings, the branch line to Fowey station incorporating Golant causeway and the clay docks at Carne Point, a version of the goods shed and dairy at Lostwithiel and a continuous run double track main line for clay trains. The branch line also needed to be long enough so that I felt I was sending the trains somewhere. It’s no good having the rear of the train at Lostwithiel station as the front arrives at Fowey. Cramming all of that into the available space was a challenge, and some of the points are in a different place from how they are on the prototype, but thankfully, in ‘N’, I was able to get almost everything in. I do wish there was additional room for a non-scenic fiddleyard though.”
THIRD TIME’S A CHARM
With his plan in place and the walls painted a pleasing sky blue, Rob could begin building this iteration of ‘Lostwithiel’.
“Similarly to the vast majority of modellers who have opted to build their layouts based on a real location, there was nothing available off the shelf that would fit, so I had to do a lot of kitbashing. The signal box on the Down line has been bashed from a couple of Ratio kits and plastic card, and the buildings on that side have a scratchbuilt canopy. The main station building was a wooden structure, and although I did have a go at scratchbuilding this, I discovered it was beyond my skill level at the time and have instead made use of a Ratio stone building. Other buildings, such as the dairy and clay structures, are converted Walthers cornerstone buildings that I’ve altered to fit the space.”
Although the buildings were installed without a hitch, the same couldn’t be said for the river and harbour, which was not only time-consuming, but very expensive! All in all, there’s around 13ft of water at ‘Lostwithiel’, and a deep river meant a lot of resin. “I used Woodland Scenics Deep Pour resin, but because I made the river too deep I needed 12 packs. At around £40 a pack you can see how quickly the cost adds up! The saving grace is that it does look very pleasing, now it is all set. That felt like a major milestone because it signalled the end of the major components, and I could move on to the signals. Some signals on the Western region were quite distinctive so I had to make sure I got them right. Rather helpfully, my dad was a locomotive driver for 50 years, so he was instrumental in telling me exactly where the signals would be placed on the prototype. These were built from lower quadrant Ratio kits with finer details added from Model Signal Engineering, brass fret, and plastic card. The small details make the world of difference, so adding things such as point rodding through the station area makes the whole area look so much better. The station nameboard and BR ‘hotdog’ signs were created by Sankey Scenics.”
Rob’s attention to detail is evident in his scenic elements. He used sheets of old newspaper covered with a cardboard lattice to create the frame for his embankments, which were then covered with plaster cloth, paint, and static grass. The trees, which are etched brass tree kits from The Model Tree Shop, were meticulously assembled by Rob, who added varying flocks to achieve a realistic look.
“After trying various combinations of trees and flocks, I decided that these were the most realistic. With so much track, there wasn’t a lot of space for scenic items and non-railway buildings, so I couldn’t get as many buildings in as I wanted, just the indication of the start of the high street.”
AUTHENTIC STOCK
‘Lostwithiel’ is set in the late 1950s/early 1960s, so Rob makes sure the majority of his stock suits the time period and region. However, he occasionally runs a London Midland, Eastern Region, or Southern Region service to change things around a bit.
11 A china clay port is a key element of a Cornish-themed layout and, since Model Rail visited, Rob has added a large clay vessel to the harbour scene.
”I used Woodland Scenics Deep Pour resin, but because I made the river too deep I needed 12 packs. At around £40 a pack you can see how quickly the cost adds up!
“Most of my rolling stock is either Farish, Peco or Dapol, but as the range of models for the period and region is, thankfully, increasing, I’ve recently added some stock from Revolution and Sonic. I was very pleased when Farish produced its range of china clay wagons with Kernow MRC as they’re much better than the Peco offering, although I have removed the tarpaulin and made my own from cigarette paper. These spend a lot of time travelling up and down the branch line at Fowey. All of my trains run with a headcode and lamps (provided by ModelU). Since all steam era trains had to run with them, the omission is just something I cannot have on mine. Also they must all include crew and the necessary fire irons, brass lamp irons and real coal. Weathering models is probably my favourite part of modelling. I can’t wait to get the airbrush or the powders out and get rid of the plastic look of the models. I enjoy it so much that I’ve started my own weathering business in ‘N’ gauge, covering everything from renumbering to a full respray. It’s a nice little side hustle.”
Although Rob and his wife aren’t thinking of moving house again any time soon, he is already thinking about where another layout could go in the house and is eyeing up the loft for such a model. Does this mean we might see ‘Lostwithiel Mk 4’? Only time will tell, but for now, Rob’s work and shunting in Fowey is giving him enough to keep him occupied and away from building more baseboards.
12 When building in ‘N’ gauge, the track laying has to be perfect to avoid derailments. Rob has used Peco Code 55 track with medium and long radius, live-frog points throughout, and all of the locomotives are fitted with stay-alive modules to improve reliability.
19 Despite always modelling in ‘N’ gauge, Rob also has a fair-sized collection of ‘OO’ gauge locomotives, which he runs at his local model railway club.
3 things we like
1 This couple having a lovely boat trip.
2 Lostwithiel, the Caribbean of Cornwall.
3 The period appropriate advertising.
FACTFILE: ‘LOSTWITHIEL’
Gauge and scale: 2mm:1ft, 9mm gauge, ‘N’
Size: 9ft by 9ft
Track: Peco Code 55
Power and control: DCC
Time to build: Nine years
ABOUT THE MODELLER: ROB ELLIOTT
If he isn’t tinkering away on a model, Rob partakes in historical battle re enactments, specialising in the mid-18th Century period, but expanding the English Civil War and the Napoleonic wars.