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Figure 1.-- One of my great Christmad memories was the Fergy train set. There could have been a photograph of it. Alas, my camera - A Kodak Brownie 127 - did not have flash and the pictures did not work out. A disapointment at the time.

One of my great Christmad memories was the Fergy train set. There could have been a photograph of it. Alas,my camera - A Kodak Brownie 127 - did not have flash and the pictures did not work out. A disapointment at the time. A train set was my dream toy. I spent many happy hours feasting my eyes on train sets in toy shop windows. There were two large stores in Blackburn in the 1950's which had a large toy section. One was in a Department store called Nevell's. It was had a mock Tudor front and was exciting to entre and visit their toy wonderland. The other toy store had an equally large wonderland of toys. It had two shops in the town centre. A large one and a smaller shop near to Nevill's. There were lots of smaller shops which sold train sets all over town. One shop I enjoyed going to had a display in which a model train ran around the shop window display. The shop itself was a model toy making shop. It sold wood and parts for model making. There were lots of construction kits for making signal boxes, stations and trees. There were model tunnels that fitted together. The houses. signal boxes and buildings were paper craft models. I could see the layout in my mind long before it was built and which craft kits I would buy.

Christmas Values

One of my great Christmad memories was the Fergy train set. There could have been a photograph of it. Alas,my camera - A Kodak Brownie 127 - did not have flash and the pictures did not work out. A disapointment at the time.

Dream Toy

A train set was my dream toy. I spent many happy hours feasting my eyes on train sets in toy shop windows. There were two large stores in Blackburn in the 1950's which had a large toy section. One was in a Department store called Nevell's. It was had a mock Tudor front and was exciting to entre and visit their toy wonderland. The other toy store had an equally large wonderland of toys. It had two shops in the town centre. A large one and a smaller shop near to Nevill's. There were lots of smaller shops which sold train sets all over town. One shop I enjoyed going to had a display in which a model train ran around the shop window display. The shop itself was a model toy making shop. It sold wood and parts for model making. There were lots of construction kits for making signal boxes, stations and trees. There were model tunnels that fitted together. The houses. signal boxes and buildings were paper craft models. I could see the layout in my mind long before it was built and which craft kits I would buy.

Father's Accident

During the summer of 1960 my father was involved in a terrible work related accident. The house he was helping to repair collapsed and he was burried under tons of masonary. He was in hospital the whole summer but eventually recovered and was able to return to work. Compensation was paid out shortly before Christmas 1960.

Our Best Christmas

I think that was my best ever Christmas. The family were able to celebrate this event. Mum , dad and my brother and me plus the twins which had been born that summer. In my Christmas stocking was a message from dad to say I had a train set for Christmas but I would be able to have it early in January.

Deciding on the Set

Dad and I talked about the train set. He favoured a Hornby train set but he did tekll me about a new company called Tri-ang. This was the Lines brother's trade mark. At the time the Hornby sets were made out of metal. The engines looked fine with their diecast bodies. The rolling stock was made out of pressed tin and did not look realistic. The tri-ang trainsets were molded plastic and looked more realistic. Dad left the selecting to me and I was undecided about which to go for. My friend had an Hornby. I talked to my teacher about the merits of the train makers and it came down to personal choice in the end.

My Choice

I could buy it from any shop I liked. I visited the toy shops time and time again. One night dad came home from work. He said we would go into town on Saturday to buy it. Later that week I was with friends and we were walking into town. We came across a toy shop I had not seen before and there in the window was the train set I wanted. It was a tri-ang and now that I'd decided i was not concerned who had made it. That Saturday dad and I went to the shop and it was bought.The engine was a model of a Stanner Black 5. It was black with the British Railways insignia on it. The first thing I did was to unscrew the engine body from the chasse and stick small model people in the locomotive cab. There was a driver and fireman. Now it soon became hard to tell who was the owner of the train set. Dad or me. He seemed to have alot of pleasure from it. I played with it the most.

Our Layout

It was soon fixed to a permanent layout. Mum was secretly horrified that it was kept in the best room and was always in a state of untidiness as new buildings were built and landscaping projects took shape. There were regular services to far distant cities and towns all over the world. How the 11; 15 got to Paris, France I will never know. The chunnel had not been built then but maybe in my imagination it had. My train set was a mixture of friet and passenger rolling stock. There was a platform near to Fergyville. The village the train served. The houses were a mixture of papercraft kits and the newer plastic kits made by airfix. I had alot of fun making the layout. I learnt how to use tools. I learnt alot about glues and which were the best to use. My tunnel was built to my own design. It was based on Pendal Hill. the tunnekl was a long one and took a couple of minutes for the train to travel through. The board was on the floor. My friend had his in the spare room and it was on a large table. Tri-ang brought out an innovation. You dropped some liquid down the funnel and the heat from the engine made it smoke. I also had a passenger carriage that lit up and in winter time this was a special moment.

Ferrgville

I made electric light go from the transformer to the houses in the village. Ths project taught me about electric circuits. I was having trouble and in a discussion with my teacher he suggested an electrical circuit plan. He drew it for me. I followed the instructions and had the village lit up. Fergyville was not a peaceful English country scene of the ealy 1960's. It was a time warp place which was at war. There were many nations the band of 8th army soldiers battled against. Nazi Germany soldiers were a difficult lot to remove. They were always sabotaging the line. The tunnel was a spot that was vunerable to attack. It would be as I had a piece of track that when you switched points sent the train to its doom. Engineering disasters took their toll too. I made on purpose a flissy bridge. It looked really strong but there was a piece which fell out of place and after 20 times around the track the support would come adrift and the bridge would collapse. Sending the 5: 10 to Blackpool to its doom.

My Engines

I eventually owned three engines. They were steam engines. One was a shunting engine called Nellie. I thought this was the funniest thing when I saw this litle blue engine in a shop. It sort of looked mischievous. One day the Stanner Black 5 broke. I put it in the sidings. It did not take dad long to realise that of the three engine this was the one not in service. He asked why. I told him it had broken down. Permission was given to take it to the shop for repair. They returned it to Tri-ang who sent it back as good as new.

Pocket Money

I spent all my pocket money on my train set. Saturday was pocket money day. I could buy an Airfix construction kit and visit the cinema. The little bit of money left could buy an ice cream and pay for a bus ride home.

My Nephew

These days its my nephew who gives me model railway pleasure. He developed an interested in trains and model railways. He built layouts based on real railway lines. He developed the interest far beyond mine. He joined,at 9 year old,a railway preservation society. He helped run the real thing. He was often in the newspapers.

Disposition

I have fond memories of my train set. It brought me alot of pleasure. It was eventually given away to a neighbour's small son.

William Eric Ferguson