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About the layout, or the Brochure copy

18.2 mm gauge, E.M. 4mm scale by John Wass, Hull, Brockley Green, is a fictitious station on the Nunhead to Lewisham line in the London postal district of South.East.4.

It is anytime in the 1960’s and because the new continental depot at Hither Green is not yet ready, it’s traffic is coming here. Trains of ferry vans usually arrive in the very early morning, weaving a path through the passage of commuter’s electric multiple unit trains as they ply between the north Kent lines, Dartford or Bromley North to Holborn Viaduct, Blackfriars or Victoria. Goods trains passing by, enter (or leave) the network, down from “Up North”, around the London central area via the “West London” line through Clapham Junction or underneath it by way of the “Widened lines” from King’s Cross, surfacing near Blackfriars. From the other direction, traffic comes mostly from Dover and thereby from across Europe. Look out for ferry vans from Spain, Germany, Italy and also France.
One of the new “Kent Coast” electric locomotives works in and out of Brockley’s ex parcels depot, now that has been equipped with the very rarely modelled “light tramway” overhead wire system. The wiring was used to negate the need for the installation of the deemed dangerous third rail. The locomotive does make physical contact with that wire but not electrically.
However, electricity, either in a third rail or overhead format, has not taken over here abouts completely yet and steam may still be seen. From a relatively new standard class 4 tank loco to the equivalent ex Southern Railway type in the form of a class W, 2-6-4T. The latter was a descendant of the 2-6-0 Mogul Class N which can also be seen. Also there is an example of Bulleid’s 1942 austerity design, the Q1 class, which is in direct contrast with the now ailing ex S.E.C.R. 0-6-0 Class C. At the opposite end of the scale, is a beautiful, also ex S.E.C.R., Class L 4-4-0, one of a batch built by Bostig’s of Berlin. It was delivered in June 1914 but because of other events in the August of that summer, it was not paid for until 1920. However the accrued interest was paid as well ! As we explained to our audience in Bremen in Nov 2005, “Business is business”. That locomotive runs today as a flight of fancy preservation attempt which never was. You may also glimpse a stranger in the form of an ex L.N.E.R. class N2 0-6-2T which has crept onto the system via the  “Widened lines”. Diesels are not forgotten with, what will become, classes 08, 25 and 33/2 "Slim Jim".
So as to demonstrate that, although we try to take our modelling seriously, we do not ourselves. Anyone who is height disadvantaged enough to spot the “badly drawn” sunflower in the engineer’s garden patch should tell the operators and then look out as the bloom should shoot up to around a scale 14 feet or 4 metres high in an instant. Any one not wishing to stoop so low is advised not to watch too closely any electric trains as they pass under the road bridges at either end of the central section, as they should go with a flash.
Questions and comments are always welcome and if you have any first hand (or any hand) knowledge, in particular, of the overhead wire system then do please speak up. A lot of guess work has gone into the building of that system and we are always seeking the truth.

We don’t bite (well, not anymore)   Thank you.