…. No, not this blog, although I’d more than understand you jumping to that conclusion given it’s been almost 18 months since we last posted, but it is time to say goodbye to another OTCM layout.
While I can’t replicate the drama associated with the demise of Six Quarters something very un-OTCM has happened to BWS – see our respective lofts provide a convalescence for retired OTCM exhibition layouts with Stoating Bank sitting gathering dust in mine while Six Quarters does the same in Oly’s. However for BWS, fate took a slightly different shape….
The layout made its scheduled last appearance at the Abingdon ‘Abrail’ exhibition at the start of March – which was an incredible show by the way – and rapidly moved into a component recovery phase that would have made EWS proud at Springs Branch…..
To mark the end of the show, a brake van special was run hauled by a class 24, which departed the layout at closing time with a compliment of horns:
Things then immediately started feeling final as Mark and Pete managed to rip the bus wire out removing a fiddle yard!!
Once stripped of parts, the scene took on a very 1980’s look, the impact of Thatcherite Policies clearly hitting the former sidings as hard as most of the surrounding area around the prototype:
So why has BWS met such a sudden end? Well there are a couple of reasons, the most significant one being that I wanted to pinch a few bits off the layout to build into the new project, given the two are based on the same prototype. I now have a box of scenic items waiting for their second life on A Dreary Tuesday…
Secondly, the layout wasn’t without its issues! I always intended it to be a testbed for skills and ideas ahead of something larger being built, but as I’d had various ‘good ideas’ since it was conceived, certain parts of the layout were becoming disjointed. For instance:
-the mk2 cassette system didn’t fit on the fiddle yard board properly, so always felt a bit dicey. It also resulted in a couple of very short bits of track either side of the baseboard joint which wasn’t ideal for strength or alignment.
-the layout was originally designed to operate from the front, but the mk2 fiddle yards worked from the back meaning you needed people at both. Lifting a train in a cassette over the cantilever wire occasionally felt a bit sketchy!!
-the extra fiddle yard I added at the back never worked properly and just became an extra bit of wood to lump round.
Above all else though, the death knell was signed by how bloody intense to operate the layout was. I’d be fairly sure it’s more relaxing to operate some of the most complex layouts out there, you never had more than 30 seconds to take your eye off the ball! The combinations of tight curves and points also meant you never quite trusted a train to make it across the layout without derailing!
While I’m sure some of my regular operators would agree with the above (and moan about the couplings because and the switches…. But they do that about every layout they operate!) don’t get the idea the layout was a total disaster! There were some good bits too:
-the suspended fiddle yards worked brilliantly until I ruined them, but saving 2 sets of legs was a winner for a quick departure at the end of a show.
-it looked pretty decent, and the winter scene definitely drew people in even if they didn’t get the prototype.
-it showed me electric locos are ridiculously popular amongst exhibition visitors! The wires were only added as something a bit different for the occasional move but we ended up running far more electric trains than was ever envisioned.
-using EZ line for the OHLE was a winner for track cleaning etc, and will definitely be used again.
So there we have it, the layout probably had it’s exhibition career cut short by missing out on the shows planned for 2020 and 2021 but it did it’s job, taught me a lot both in terms of what to do and what not to do. The last couple of shows also gave me plenty of ideas for things to include in the new layout (more interactivity with the public for a start) and reminded me that hacking across the country in a van to spend the weekend playing trains, drinking beer and eating curry with your mates (while also receiving endless abuse) is good fun and worth all the stress leading up to it!
So it’s onward with the next project after a year of it being paused while I’ve been busy with a huge wave of DIY projects on the house. We are all excited by the prospect of running trains round in circles and not having to stop them every 3 feet…!!
Chris
