In 1973 one of the outstanding model narrow gauge railways celebrated its 21st birthday. David Mander, its creator, has been interested in railways all his life and at one stage he played around with gauge 0 and later EM. In 1952 David decided to try an experiment in modelling a two foot narrow gauge line in 4mm scale which was most unusual at that time and meant that he had to work out his own standards and break his own ground. There were others working along the same lines but, at that date, there was little contact between the few people. To start with he built a yard of track, a wagon and began work on one of the Festiniog larger England engines. The idea had been to build the lot including the motor but before the locomotive was finished K's produced a motor that was small enough to fit. This meant that the only items that David had not made himself were the motor and the gears which were of instrument manufacture. Fortunately the experiment was a success as this locomotive has been followed by some nine more, the yard of track to some 130ft of running track and the wagon to 45 wagons and 14 coaches!

The railway is housed in a room in his house together with a small workshop, the latter including a 3tin centre lathe, a

fin pillar drilling machine and a tool grinder. The room itself measures 21ft by 12ft whilst the base board is 3ft wide all round at a height of 42in.

The line starts at Stronachlachar which has still to be finished. This is an inter­change station with standard gauge giving a chance for working trans­porters. (These are narrow gauge wagons used to carry standard gauge vehicles and were qu ite common on the Continent but limited to the Leek and Manifold in these islands). The trains leave on mixed gauge over the viaduct where the standard gauge finishes. The narrow gauge then continues for two circuits of the room through mountain­ous scenery as befitting a line reputedly in the Scottish Highlands. A tunnel leads on to a very fine viaduct which is based on the Monbulk Trestle Bridge, Dane­gbng Hills, Victoria in Austral ia. It is a timber trestle bridge and was bu ilt in the main by Ed Ballard with David Mander doing about a quarter of the work. Built on a radius of 12ft it is made from over 400 pieces of balsa wood stained to give a brownish look. The line then travels through hills and woods (there are over 100 scratch built trees on the layout and many others adapted), over a water­fall and a bridge based on the Festiniog

iron bridge. It then comes to the de­lightful station called Dearglairig. Th is has a run round loop with two sidings, one leading to a goods shed, and a short length of standard gauge for the wagons carried by the transporters. Soon after this the line dives into another tunnel­the object of which is to hide the line from the two termini! Soon after going under a viaduct the line comes to Tai­ghantu lach. This is a junction with the other line disappearing into a fiddle yard; the station comprises a simple loop and

Above: Strath moine Hamlet looki ng down t he road to t he u ngated level crossing. Some of the cottages are scratch b uilt w hilst others come from Ballard Bros. The shops were T r iang comm ercial Items adapted to suit the location. O n the halt can be seen some l ocals ta lking including one w ith a bicycle. T he trees are scratch built. T he br idge in the background is based on the Festiniog cast iron bridge at T an-y -Bw l ch. In the halt is locomotive No. 3, based on t he larger Festiniog engines b uilt by George England, with two modified Zeuke coaches. On the bridge is No. 4 the Lynton and Barnstable locom otive on a passenger train.

one siding and again a short length of standard gauge. Here also is a siding belonging to the Benbuidhe Quarry Company at the end of which are some staithes with an unloading shoot down which granite chips are unloaded into barges beneath. There are over 300 pieces of bals·a wood in the staging.

The line continues through a short tunnel and over a river bridge. It then bursts into Strathmoine Hamlet. As well as a hotel it boasts some little cottages and a level crossing. Loch Moine is crossed by a cob after which the line reaches Beinfhada Yard; this is the main works for the line. Here is a small diesel shed as well as the main locomotive shed and works. The town of Portbanrich has yet to be built but the harbo.ur has all the lines laid to it. That then is the line as one would have travelled down it.

Below : Locomotive No. 9, the Darjeeling Himalaya Garratt, crosses the viaduct. T his w as based on two arc hes of Dolgoch v iaduct. T he bridg e was built by Ed Ballard on a balsa framework. It was then covered with polystyren e s heet cut into squares'before g luing. The g uard rail is soldered wire. C l iffs are made from cork bark covered with Polyfllla with flock glued on aft erw ards. N ote t he foliage grow ing out of the c racks in t he viaduct and the ex cellent modelling of the stream water.

Bottom: Taighantulach Station w it h the Darjeeling Himalaya Class B heading a passenger train. The train comprises the Talyllyn Brake Van (from Mikes Models) and scratch built bogie coach and open and cl osed toast rack coaches. In the background are cliffs made from cork bark with 'foliage' growing from them. In front of the train may be seen the passing loop and the timber-built water tower. The fir t ree is scratch built. The red bar in the foreground is the timber of a single bar gate which is hinged and will open and close; this is t h e yard gate. T he reQ oxide painted wagon standing on its own is the one built 22 years ago together w i th locomotive No. 3 and a yard of track as an experiment. T hat this experiment was successful can be seen from the pictures.

Above: A cast iron bridge based on the Festiniog bridge at Tan-y-Bwlch. The cliffs are again cork, Polyfllla and flock. The water under the bridge is flecked with white foam having just fallen down the waterfall behind the bridge. The cottage is builtfrom scaper board and, once again, more scratch built fir trees. The locomotive leading the passenger train is No. 4, the Lynton and Barnstable engine.

Left: Taighantulach yard. This view shows the working of the transporter wagons. T hese were• used only on the Leek and Manifold in these islands. The wagon was designed to carry a standard gauge wagon or v an which, at the end of its journey, is winched off the wagon and onto a short length of standard gauge track. A standard gauge wagon and a transporter wagon may be seen headed by an Andrew Barclay well tank. This is the only steam locomotive that is not scratch built but is made from a Gem kit. It is No.12 in the stud. The other wagons are scratch built from styrene sheet and are typical of the types found on various British narrow gauge lines. Part of a timber water tower can be seen and the timber trestle bridge which is reached through a tunnel.

Above Right: The trestle bridge crossing Clackan Water is based on the Mon bulk Trestle Bridge. The model, cons~ructed by Ed Ballard and David Mander, is made from Balsa wood. The water is made from many layers of varnish with paint mixed in it. "Rocks" are embedded into the water. Cliffs are made from cork and polystyrene with assistance from Polyfilla and flock. Note the crofter's cottage made from one of Ed Ballard's mouldings. The trees are scratch built. Engine No. 5 is the GWR built "Vale of Rheidol" engine hauling a passenger train of Egger and Playcraft coaches slightly modified.

Scenics defy description but the photo­graphs give a good idea of how the line looks. The scenery is made from Polyfilla and commercial grass fabric. Rocks are made from cork bark and expanded polystyrene carved to shape. The cob and some bridges are based on wood formers covered with Polyfilla; to give the effect of the stonework, they are scribed when the Polyfilla is dry. The water is made from layer after layer of varnish with varying quantities of the right colour paint underneath.

The buildings are a mixture of scratch built and modified kits. The station building and the crofters cottage at Dearglairig are both scratch built from styrene sheet. The station at Taighan­tulach is a modified kit. The hotel at Strathmoine is scratch built whilst the cottages are either scratch built or some of the excellent ones that used to be marketed by Ed Ballard.

A portion of the rolling stock is com­mercial but has been modified in some way. For instance the coaches come from such sources as Egger, Playcraft and Lilliput together with some from Zeuke narrowed down from metre gauge. There are some scratch built and the intention is to replace all the commercial items with scratch built vehicles. Many wagons are scratch built; those that are not, come from the Festiniog kits or Mikes Models.

With the exception of the brief mention of the Festiniog locomotive at the beginning of this description, no mention

has been made of the motive power. The reason for this is not that they should be hidden away, but that they are the climax of superb modelling.

The first locomotive was the larger England locomotive which has been mentioned. The second locomotive appeare~ in 1954. This ~as a model of the Lynton and Barnstaple Exe-a Manning Wardle 2-6-2T. This loco was chosen because its size would give plenty of room to add weights for extra adhesion. Once again the only commercial parts are the motor and four gears. The third locomotive, built in 1956, was once again chosen for its size and power. One must remember that at that date light weight plastic bodied rolling stock and pin point axle bearings were- unknown. This loco­motive was based on the Vale of Rheidol engines built by the GWR and has full Walschaerts gear which is faithfully reproduced in miniature. Comment could be made about the length of time between each locomotive coming off the work-bench but over one hundred hours work goes into each including detail design. All are built with metic­ulous precision, extreme accuracy being the keynote. For example David built two models of his next locomotive-one for himself and one for a friend-on the basis that it is as easy to do two as one. The two locomotives took him about six months of his leisure time to build and are replicas of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company's locomotive built by Fowler in 1880.

The ubiquitous Baldwin 4-6-0 arrived on the scene a long time before the Festiniog produced their kit. Previously all locomotives had only used commer­cial r.wtors and occasionally a com­mercial gear or two. This was the first locomotive to take advantage of the introduction of commercial N scale items and runs on an Arnold chassis with the motor in the smoke - box. Naturally the body, the Walschaerts valve gear and the pony truck are scratch built.

The next locomotive to be produced was also an innovation-a Hibbert four wheel diesel. Regrettably no drawings were available for it at the time so its dimensions were taken from photo­graphs. Once again an Arnold N scale chassis was used. Locomotive number

Overleaf: Waiting for the train to pass by. None of your fancy lifting barriers or level crossing gates, this is a crossing narrow gauge style­just a man holding up the traffic. The traffic on the road consists of a traction engine and a horse and cart waiting for the train which comprises locomotive No. 2 and a coach. The locomotive is a John Fowler built for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company Limited and the coach is based on a North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway coach both scratch built. The house, on the edge of Strathmoine Hamlet, in the centre of the picture was made from scraperboard-the little white lean-to was added at a later date by another tenant! The other building was made from styrene sheet. The stone walling is made from wood covered with Polyfllla which is scribed, when dry, and painted.

One of the Stronachlachar was the quickest to be built. Having been ill, it was considered to be a bit of physio­therapy whilst convalescing; however David did not feel 1ike the exacting task of an accurate model. It is based on an Anglicised version of the Egger tank scaled up to 4mm scale and runs on a Minitrix chassis. Oh, by the way, it took two days to bui ld I The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Class B tanks were, in the author's opinion, one of the two most beautiful narrow gauge locomotives ever built; furthermore David Mander considers this model to be his favourite. Although built onto an Arnold N scale chassis the latter had to be heavily modified. A terrific amount of detail work had to be done to this model.

The biggest locomotive of the stud is the Darjeeling Himalayan Beyer Garratt. This model is a masterpiece of miniature model engineering. The commercial items in it are a K's mark 2 motor, driving

wheels and gears from Minitrains. The motor is housed in the firebox and cab; it drives all four axles via a primary 3:1 gear reduction, two propeller shafts, universal joints and then the Minitrains worm and pinion gears. The boiler, power bogies tank and bunker are machined from solid brass whilst the chimney and dome are turned from brass. The re­mainder was built from nickel silver sheet and wi re.

The odd man out of the system was the last to be "built"- modified would prob­ably be the better word as it is an Egger diesel body. It uses a Minitrains mech­anism but both the Egger body and the mechanism had to be heavily modified to allow the adaptation. David has more locomotives in mind or already on the drawing board.

That then is 21 years work-much of it spent on the locomotives. Naturally the electrics took a fair amount of time as the central console has two controllers

giving cab control and the switching for the point motors, whilst track, wh ich is scratch built, scenery, roll ing stock and research consumed the remainder.

Model Railway Engineering in Perfection. Locomotive No. 7 is a Class B 0-4-0 tank of the Darjeeling H imalaya Railway. Shown crossing the "cob", it is difficult to appreciate that this is in 4 mm scale and runs on 9 mm track. Detail that can be seen includes the rerailer bar on its brackets above the boiler, the lamp and bracket in front of the chimney, the sand box above the front buffer beam and the handrails round the front (used when carrying men on the front buffer beam if sanding is required), coal carried in a box above the rear end of the boiler and an electri c generator on the footplate (below the SR Emblem). As if this isn't enough the details i n the cab have to be seen to be believed. Ed Ballard painted all the locomotives and, as can be seen from this one, made a first-class j ob of them. A personal note: This class of locomotive has always been one of the authors' two favourite narrow gauge locomotives and one of David Mander's favourite models. It was the planning of this model that caused the author and David Mander to meet.