Today’s model trains are works of art...

Press, 2 April 1980, Page 25

Today’s model trains are works of art...

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ROY SINCLAIR

Model-train enthusiasts will put their hobby on show on Easter Sunday. Visitors to the Arts Centre, during the New Zealand Model Railway Guild’s convention in Christchurch, will discover modellers creating a real railway in miniature. And they will see, too, that modellers are not simply playing with toys. Model railways have fascinated people from almost every country for more than a century'; today they follow closely behind football and fishing as popular pastimes. No-one knows exactly

when model railways began, or who actually made the first miniature locomotive, but it is known that a very early model was sent to the renowned German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in 1829. Appropriately, the model was of Stephenson’s famous Rocket which was to start work on the new Liverpool to Manchester railway the next year. With the miniature locomotive there was a set of coaches and rails. The poet, it seems, was not exactly enthralled by the idea of playing with little trains, so he gave the

set to his two grandsons, Walter and W’olfgang. Thus, these two boys who had never seen a real railway, were probably the first delighted children to get a model railway. By the mid 1830 s little trains existed in two forms. Many crude toys were being produced, with a vague likeness to the objects they were supposed to represent. Some ran on rails, but most were floor models which were either pushed along, or pulled on a length of string. At the other extreme, skilled craftsmen were making fine models which closely

resembled the prototypes in every detail. The commercial development of model railways started in the late 1880 s when those skilled craftsmen, the Marklin Brothers, manufactured their first tinplate. railway, complete with trackwork which featured points and crossings. Following the Marklin lead, the Bing Brothers, also from Germany, started making trains, and for a time they were the largest toy makers in the world. Some of the early models were powered by steam, which was being developed along with the prototype,

but later, clockwork and electric motors became a more convenient means of propulsion. A miniature railway of this era required a large space in which to operate because of its wide track, usually 45mm (gauge 1) or 32mm (gauge 0). The Bing Brothers realised that space could be. a problem for potential customers, so they designed a table-top railway running on . a 16.5 mm track. In doing this, they developed the fore-runners to the 00/HO scale models which today dominate the model railway scene.

England followed closely behind the European lead, and by the end of the nineteenth century Wenman Bassett-Lowke had made a considerable impact on the model railway world. In 1900, he visited the Paris Exhibition where he saw miniature locomotives made by the best German craftsmen. These engines were built to such a fine precision that Bassett-Lowke became dissatisfied with his own crude designs. When he returned home he started making models which were true-to-type and properly scaled. In 1908, Bassett-Lowke opened his famous London showroom, it was to become a major attraction for visitors to the city. A regular visitor was Walt Disney. Other commercial model makers came into being. America had its famous manufacturers, such as Ives and Lionel. But the name which was to have the greatest impact on young New Zealanders was the creator of Meccano, Frank Hornby. Hornby started making O gauge tinplate railways in 1914. Production ceased during the First World War, . but immediately afterwards he started again. Most of his locomotives were classed as toys until the late 1930 s when he made two fine true-to-type models of contemporary British locomotives. After the Second World War, Frank Hornby produced his famous range of Homby-Doublo electric railways. These ran on the popular OO (16.5 mm gauge track. It had a third rail to carry power, and the locomotives were scale models of real British locomotives. Homby-Doublo became very popular in New Zealand and there are still numerous layouts which use this equipment. Hornby had an excellent public relations exercise in

his well-read, monthly Meccano magazine.

From their outset, model railways were intended as toys for children, but as time advanced and the models improved, adults began buying miniature railways for their own use.

Model railway clubs were formed in many countries, and their members became renowned for their hospitality which, according to Guy R. Williams in his excellent book, “The World of Model Railways,’’ would make, f ‘. . . the accredited members of some of the world’s well known religious bodies seem selfcentred and prim.” One model railway club which was surely unique during the early 19605, was the Blind School Rail-

way Club for boys at the Royal Institute ’ for the Blind in Melbourne. The club was started, by Mr Jack McLean, who had been an Australian modeller and railway enthusiast for more than 30 years. To run a model railway successfully it is . necessary to have some experience , with real railways. This was something the blind children did not have, but by making impressions in aluminium sheets, and by sticking matchsticks on insulation board, Mr McLean was able to manufacture a sort of Braille railway library. Further knowledge was gained during excursions to railway stations where the boys were able to climb over engines and run their hands over the moving parts. The New Zealand Model Railway Guild was established in 1946 to promote the modelling of New Zealand prototypes and to provide a link between individual modellers.’" There

were no commercial models made of New Zealand locomotives, so modellers had to start from scratch. This meant that all the individual components had to be made and assembled by hand.

One of the earliest successful New Zealand modellers was Frank Roberts, an engine driver who made about 20 livesteam and electrically driven models of New Zealand locomotives between 1903 and 1950. These locomotives and the rolling stock, which he made for them, ran on his gauge 1 garden railway at his home in Auckland.

In recent years an increasing number of New Zealand modellers have become dissatisfied with imported models of foreign locomotives, and as a re-

sult sections of our railway landscape complete with locomotives and rolling stock are being recreated in miniature throughout the country. Although a few very keen modellers who have plenty of space available, use the 9mm scale which works in conjunction with standard 0 gauge track, most New Zealand modellers work to a scale of 1:64 and use the popular 00/H0 track. Some have founded small sparetime industries to manufacture various components such as wheels, which are available through specialist model suppliers. They also make numerous kits of New Zealand rolling stock, including locomotives, but these require the skilfull hand of an advanced modeller if they are to be assembled successfully. At the-" Great Southern Convention,” which is being held at the Arts Centre, modellers will be able to compare notes and learn new skills from the clinics where various facets of the craft will be demonstrated.