As owner of the GUV parcels coach which arrived at Quainton last year, I think it is time I introduced myself and colleagues to the wider membership and especially any Railway modellers out there.

The coach was acquired to house a 40 foot long model layout 'Ashby-Magna' built 10 years ago for exhibition use during my involvement with the Risborough Model Railway Club and the Great Central Enthusiasts Association at Woodford Halse.

Having discovered a permanent home to be more practical I am pleased to be able to site the layout at Quainton, and give the Centre one more attraction for the public.

Based on the Great Central London Extension, the layout has local significance in that the prototype station modelled was situated just 50 miles north, between Rugby and Leicester. Thus much of the busy traffic witnessed at Ashby Magna will have traversed the equivalent metals at Quainton; though the centre island concept of the station building itself creates a contrast with Quainton Road's own structures. Trackwork on the model is hand built and to scale, as is most of the stock. Pride of place goes to the coaching stock of Tony Geary, whose unique skills have been featured in several Model Railway magazines. Tony's forte is the soldered construction of the Thompson and Gresley vehicles which were a familiar sight on the GC during the chosen model period circa 1958-1963. The rolling stock is complemented by a large representation of hand built locomotives from the collection of local enthusiasts Roy Palmer and Peter Lund, and include the well known A3 Pacifies and 9F 2-10-0's, through the more austere WD's, K3' s and 01 's to L1 and Fairburn tanks. Thus the accurate reproduction of prototype GC line trains will once again be established at Quainton: this time housed in an ex-parcels coach which may itself have once found itself diagrammed to work through Ashby Magna.

Before the first miniature wheel turns, the project needs electricity and the construction of steps for visitors. We also need manpower to crew the display when the site is open and on 'non-prototype days' the layout can be used for the running of other models in 00 scale.

In short, we seek to establish a model club at Quainton based on our own achievements and with the ambitions of being an asset to the Society.

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 1995 and so does not reflect events in the 20+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added if deemed necessary. The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.

Reference:
The Ashby-Magna Model Railway Layout - David Wellington - Quainton News No. 76 - June 1995