TONY DEAN’s longstanding love of London suburban services set the stage for his fascinating compact micro layout in ‘OO’ gauge.
Above: An ex-Baker Street via Harrowon-the-Hill (reversing at Rayners Lane) service of two ‘Dreadnought’ coaches hauled by a Met Bo-Bo electric approaches journey’s end while the ‘F’ 0-6-2T continues shunting its mineral wagons into the yard. PHOTOGRAPHY, TREVOR JONES
HAVING lived the first part of my childhood in Cranford, Middlesex, halfway between the then Piccadilly Line terminus of Hounslow West and Hayes & Harlington on the Western Region between 1956-1964 and then near Camden Town, Northern Line, from 1964 to 1977, my interest in London Underground and BR's London suburban services was assured.
Oddly, since discarding my childhood ‘OO’ gauge Tri-ang oval layout, given to me for Christmas 1962, I had not ventured into 4mm:1ft scale modelling for almost 60 years, until inspiration struck when the Acting Chairman of Maidenhead, Marlow and District Model Railway Club (MMDMRC), Alan Monk, showed me the first of his micro layouts built on an
IKEA shelf. I had always had difficulty in getting baseboards for my erstwhile exhibition ‘O’ and ‘HO’ gau…
