RichardS
Member
I've already learnt that pictures are welcome.
Wiveton was my exhibition layout from the 1990s. It took me about 6 years to build although the last year was when most modelling took place. I first exhibited it at the Bressingham Gardens Model Railway show in the autumn of 1996. Operators; my 10 year old daughter and me. I had only one loco and bought two more off a stand. Both Bachmann - the Ivatt 2MT Tank and a J39 - both ran immediately and gave long trouble free service. We also went to Norwich (twice), Great Yarmouth when it was a 2 day show and some other smaller events. Daughter was replaced by a friend after the first outing. Exhibiting was not as exciting as she expected!
Essentially fictitious, Wiveton is a small village near Blakeney and could easily have been served by a railway had the proposed extension from Holt to Blakeney itself been built by the M&GN. DC cab control and it was probably one of the first layout built with Peco Code 75 and shown in Norfolk. Tension Lock couplers - well, they worked. Many folk asked what the track was - some with particularly bad myopia even thought it was EM or wider!! Most of the buildings were kits some modified, scenery was my attempt at the Barry Norman style. North Norfolk has a bit of heathland on a glacial moraine - The Cromer Holt Ridge - and I tried to emulate this with gorse and hawthorn, silver birch and scots pine. I used very few people - 'cos they're so static.
It's biggest drawback was that it was so boring to operate. All you could do was shunt. We got so bored, we'd wait till a 'punter' arrived then we'd run a train in, run round it and depart. That's all most wanted to see. So we drank tea until the next punter arrived. There was no where to set it up at home except in the garage which had a leaky roof. I actually set up a plastic tent in the garage to test it before exhibitions. It had to go.
The pictures are not great quality being scanned matt prints but they were taken on a brilliantly sunny day so all shadows are genuine - even those on the back scene!
One of the pictures is a funny shape because for some reason - and I have no idea why - I took it on the 'sosh'
(that's Norfolk for slightly awry) and it had to be straightened and cropped.
Please remember these pics were 19 years ago.
Wiveton was my exhibition layout from the 1990s. It took me about 6 years to build although the last year was when most modelling took place. I first exhibited it at the Bressingham Gardens Model Railway show in the autumn of 1996. Operators; my 10 year old daughter and me. I had only one loco and bought two more off a stand. Both Bachmann - the Ivatt 2MT Tank and a J39 - both ran immediately and gave long trouble free service. We also went to Norwich (twice), Great Yarmouth when it was a 2 day show and some other smaller events. Daughter was replaced by a friend after the first outing. Exhibiting was not as exciting as she expected!
Essentially fictitious, Wiveton is a small village near Blakeney and could easily have been served by a railway had the proposed extension from Holt to Blakeney itself been built by the M&GN. DC cab control and it was probably one of the first layout built with Peco Code 75 and shown in Norfolk. Tension Lock couplers - well, they worked. Many folk asked what the track was - some with particularly bad myopia even thought it was EM or wider!! Most of the buildings were kits some modified, scenery was my attempt at the Barry Norman style. North Norfolk has a bit of heathland on a glacial moraine - The Cromer Holt Ridge - and I tried to emulate this with gorse and hawthorn, silver birch and scots pine. I used very few people - 'cos they're so static.
It's biggest drawback was that it was so boring to operate. All you could do was shunt. We got so bored, we'd wait till a 'punter' arrived then we'd run a train in, run round it and depart. That's all most wanted to see. So we drank tea until the next punter arrived. There was no where to set it up at home except in the garage which had a leaky roof. I actually set up a plastic tent in the garage to test it before exhibitions. It had to go.
The pictures are not great quality being scanned matt prints but they were taken on a brilliantly sunny day so all shadows are genuine - even those on the back scene!
One of the pictures is a funny shape because for some reason - and I have no idea why - I took it on the 'sosh'
(that's Norfolk for slightly awry) and it had to be straightened and cropped.
Please remember these pics were 19 years ago.