Wren or Tattoo or Péchot

We were sorry to learn of the death of Mr Dowd, another great character of the 16mm scale world. Among many people who remember him with affection – Peter was a generous host and prolific writer - we pass on our condolences to his family. His Ruby Mine garden railway layout was known to many and I mention it below.

Thank you to all friends of Wrightscale – those who have liked our products and who share our interest in historic 2’ and 60cm gauge railways. I’d like to wonder aloud, ‘Why do we share this passion?’ and then wonder where this shared passion has taken us all over the years.

So, firstly, here is a little about our interest. As you perhaps know, the story of 2’ gauge goes back to the early Festiniog, then crosses the Channel to France. From 1874, Paul Decauville was experimenting with narrow gauge portable railways – and took an interest in developments in Wales.

The Welsh slate quarries were where many of the ideas behind military narrow gauge were first conceived. This layout features a Wrightscale Hunslet 0-4-0. Photo MD Wright

An officer in the French Artillery, Prosper Péchot, combined the Decauville and Welsh ideas and added a sprinkling of genius. He came up with portable railways which combined the impossible. As they say ‘If it’s difficult we do it. The impossible takes a little longer’ The Péchot system which he devised could be laid in a matter of days yet convey serious tonnages at surprising speed. A laden locomotive could travel at 12 k.p.h. at a time when horse and cart could only manage walking pace. Even better, it did not need feeding and resting.

The Péchot wagon could carry 10 tonnes of freight on track that would have been at home on a Welsh quarry. Thanks to its bogies and innovatiove suspension,, it could manage tight bends. Wrightscale model

A measure of the merit of an idea is how long it takes to copy. The Germans rapidly took up his ideas and developed their own Feldbahn system, a splendid amalgam of industrial espionage and original thinking. Furthermore, they invested heavily, which, until 1914, the French were reluctant to do. Other countries were obliged to follow suit. By 1916, the British had ordered 1000 miles of 60cm gauge track, a truly British mixture of metric and Imperial measurements.

After 1918, these vast networks, totalling six to seven thousand kilometres, were gradually dismantled and stock sold off. Many examples survived through the 20^th century, but gradually, the vast network of 60cm gauge that existed in 1918 was forgotten by all but a few enthusiasts.

Gradually the part that 60 cm railways played has become recognised and relics have become treasures. Amazingly, the French Army hung on to some of the Péchot system until the late 1990s. These survivors have recently found a place in preserved railways and excited much interest. After years in the wilderness, the prototype is gathering enthusiasts.

Examples such as this Péchot wagon are begionning to be seen on preserved railways. Although well over 100 years old, it is in comparatively good condition. Taken at Apedale by MD Wright

Models reflecting bygone days are also beginning to attract interest. While of course there will always be a place for freelance models, there is a joy and challenge to creating a creating a prototype, or partly prototypical, railway.

The layouts that give the most pleasure, ie attract people back again and again, are the probable impossible. So perhaps not a dead-scale model of York Station, but one which could have existed even though it didn't.

We come back to Peter Dowd, mentioned above. He wanted more than just a freelance layout round which he and friends could run their locomotives. He created for it a story, a 2’ gauge Burmese ruby mine that never was, but should have been. Ancient Burma (now Myanmar) was the source of this ‘Lord of the Stones.’ The ruby is a form of corundum, as is the sapphire. Because of the way that ruby crystals form, corundum with a trace of chromium, large deep-crimson specimens are rare, consequently very valuable. The finest of all rubies, certainly up to the mid-twentieth century, came from northern Burma, hence the story created by Peter Dowd.

Tattoo emerging from the jungle? Wrightscale model photographed by David Provan

The working of this fictitious ruby mine generated a volume of spoil which had to be removed from the workings. A Kerr Stuart Tattoo, developed in the early 20^th century could do the job. This was a locomotive which combined a neat wheelbase with considerable power and endurance, unlikely to fail on a slope with a train of spoil-wagons behind it … The management of the 1/19^th scale mine therefore ordered a Wrightscale Tattoo.

In a similar way, Malcolm’s own layout has a story. It is a quarry railway set on a forested hillside in the Britain of the late Twenties. Much of the stock, such as the WD wagons, is War Surplus. Other wagons are home-made. Even the bridge has a history, built from a dismantled military viaduct. Somewhere off-scene, the system has a link to standard gauge; locomotives from elsewhere, some to a freelance design, appear on visits.

The greatest pleasure of railway modelling is an educated imagination - combined with art and ingenuity.

How do Wrightscale products add to this pleasure?

The Wren is a dainty locomotive. Wrightscale16mm  model.

These days, it is possible to buy locomotives which aspire to be Wrightscale.  If you want a rapid-prototyped Quarry Hunslet, it can be had, in all its resin and plastic glory. If you want a Wren in 7/8 “ scale, there is one available. If you want an unashamed rip-off, there is the WD Baldwin 4-6-0 reverse-engineered from one of our models. The castings are exquisite – so they should be – but they have a tiresome habit of not holding together properly. The rip-off artists forgot (or couldn’t be bothered anyway) that when a casting is taken from a casting, it shrinks a little.

As there are imitations and similar models out here, is there any joy for our customers who have paid a little more for the genuine article?

The first advantage in buying Wrightscale is that the imitators have bestowed on your original the sincerest form of flattery. They recognised that its design is a powerful blend of art and practical ability. Making a working steam model is far more than shrinking an original, any more than a healthy baby is a miniature adult.  With a ive steam engine, some working parts cannot be shrunk as much as others. Some colours have to be modified. Yet the overall impression, whether model or prototype, has to remain the same. Only an artist can supply the mix of art and science needed to create a model which is also a working steam locomotive. Interestingly, electric locos are more amenable to being shrunken versions of the prototype – all steam parts are just dummies. Yet a certain charm can be lost.

You could run an overscale Wren on your track. You could have a resin and electric loco. Or you could have the genuine article. Wrightscale 16mm scale Wren and Tattoo

Secondly, you won’t lose money – far from it. You can pay quite a lot for a ‘me-too’ locomotive, as much as the Wrightscale you bought. The over scale Kerr Stuart Wren is advertised in the latest Sixteen Millimetre Today at £1650 or so, and these prices rise every year. Genuine Wrightscale products don’t lose value. You are in fact buying from a Studio – as recognised by Federal U.S. Law. As with any work of art, second hand prices steadily increase. You are getting a signature as well as a product. Thank you all for your confidence.

The third advantage you enjoy is very subtle. You have joined us on our journey, from the first excitement of viewing a prototype to having it run on your layout. Like us, you have experienced a piece of history. Every prototype has character and there are reasons: history, geography, economics and personalities which explain why it ended up the way it did.

So, for example, the unique Péchot wagon owes its existence, not just to the French will to win the next war in Germany, but also to the remarkable personality of Prosper Péchot.

The Kerr Stuart Tattoo 0-4-2 has its own story. It offered more power and endurance than its little sister the Wren. At the same time, the Tattoo and Wren share many family characteristics. The Wrightscale Tattoo has about 50% more running time than the Wren yet because of its 0-4-2 wheel-base, it could still be used on lightly engineered track. The prototype could tackle tight bends; the model will tackle curves down to 3’ radius. Whereas the typical Wren was used to pull skips, the Corris Railway Tattoo (no 4) was designed to assure a public service. As a contractor’s cab, it reached places that the Wren couldn’t. Customers consider all the characteristics carefully before making their choice – just as the management of the prototype railways would have done!

Is this a Works Photo or a 16mm Wrightscale Tattoo? You decide

Obviously, there is a place for freelance, semi-prototypical and museum quality models. The Garden Gauge community welcome them all.