Stop ten · The controls and the drawers
Behind the Scenes
The trains were driven from control panels built into the fascia: two facing each other across the well, and more along the loading bays. Each has an H&M Duette with its knobs taped blue and red, and an H&M Clipper with its knob taped yellow and green.
Under the loading bays, drawers and tubs hold everything that isn’t on the track, each one labelled in his hand, from GRAIN WAGGON’S to LOCO’S.
Gold markers point out small details. Select one to read about it.
The green and yellow knobGrandad was colour blind, which is why this Clipper knob on control panel 1 wears a green and yellow sticker.1 of 4 details
Caught in mid-airHe fixed an orange ball in mid-air above a child with arms flung up, freezing the game for good, while a toddler pedals a red tricycle close by.2 of 4 details
The ice-cream manAn ice-cream man in a white coat pedals his tricycle along beneath the market wall, on the lookout for customers.3 of 4 details
A bunch of balloonsBy the railings someone clutches a bunch of bright balloons, and more bob about in the yellow convertible nearby.4 of 4 details
Look closer
Grandad was colour blind, which is why the knob on control panel 1 has a yellow and green sticker.
Colours on every knobAs on control panel 1, every controller knob here wears his coloured tape: blue and red on the Duette, green and yellow on the Clipper.1 of 4 details
Labelled in embossed tapeHis embossed tape labels name the switches: POINTS, SIDINGS, STABLING PT and BRIDGE ST/N, with little ON and OFF tags beside each toggle.2 of 4 details
The taxi rankA black cab waits at the taxi rank, and travellers stand by with their suitcases, just off a train or about to catch one.3 of 4 details
Parcels on the moveA British Rail three-wheeler is piled with sacks, crates, drums and tyres, as though about to set off on the parcels round.4 of 4 details
The yellow-taped knobA square of yellow tape marks the Clipper’s knob, just as he taped the knobs on his other control panels.1 of 4 details
Labelled for the jobEvery bank of switches carries his embossed tape labels: track isolation and points for the fiddle yard, station and tunnel.2 of 4 details
At the workbenchBeneath the controls is his workbench, with a paint-flecked brush, a file and a spatula laid down on the wood.3 of 4 details
Dunlop and BovrilPosters for Dunlop and Bovril on a hoarding by the brick arches: a touch of period advertising, tucked away at the far edge of the yard.4 of 4 details
Every drawer in his handEvery drawer is labelled in his handwriting, from GRAIN WAGGON’S and FISON’S WAGGON’S down to OIL TANKER’S and LONDON + MIDLAND COACHE’S.1 of 2 details
A slot for every wagonEleven tank wagons, each in its own channel cut into pale blue foam, so none of them knocks against its neighbour.2 of 2 details
LOCO’SThree drawers, each labelled LOCO’S in his handwriting; on the shelf above, a tub in the same hand reads YEOMAN (SMALL STONE).1 of 2 details
Steam in the bottom drawerLike engines on shed, the black steam locos rest nose-out in the bottom drawer, each in its own slot of yellow foam.2 of 2 details
His drawers
Pine drawers keep the rolling stock sorted by type, each labelled in his capitals, with three drawers of LOCO’S lying nose-out in foam.
Look closer
Eleven tank wagons, each in its own channel cut into pale blue foam, so none of them knocks against its neighbour.
COAL M.G.R WAGGON’SIn his capitals, like the drawer labels: this tub holds the coal loads for the merry-go-round hopper wagons, stacked in layers between white sheets.1 of 2 details
Loads that lift outHe made each load from crushed coal on a strip of wood, so it can drop into a wagon and lift out again; bare wood peeps out beneath.2 of 2 details
How a load is builtSide-on, you can see how the load is built: a strip of brown wood with crushed coal heaped along the top.1 of 1 detail
GREY 16T WAGGON’SEach tub is labelled in his handwriting: GREY 16T WAGGON’S, then (COAL), (IRON ORE), (SAND), (SOIL) or (ZINC), so every wagon load has its place.1 of 3 details
Nose-down in the brushwoodA carriers’ lorry sits nose-down in the brushwood by the fence, and people stop to stare, one child up on a grown-up’s shoulders for a better view.2 of 3 details
A wave from the stepsOn the wooden steps at the end of the platform, a man in blue overalls pauses to wave.3 of 3 details