Ashwood 4mm/OO
ASHWOOD Steve/Angela/Chris Saxby
What you now see as ‘Ashwood’, originally started life as ‘Mortomley,’ and as a relatively old layout, my wife Angela, had the idea of transforming the setting (and the season).
Having been completely stripped back, with only the track and the platform remaining, Angela was given free rein to create her own design, within the constraints of the existing baseboard size and track plan.
Ashwood is based on a rural village in the 1960’s when the country pub and station were central to village life. With a Wintry backscene, snow covered buildings and an illuminated Christmas tree, it has been designed with a festive theme in mind. A visit by Father Christmas creates the opportunity for villagers, and their children, to gather around the tree bringing colour to what could otherwise be a quite monochrome setting.
Angela has weathered all the buildings and added the remains of the last snow fall; they fit the rural location quite nicely. A number of Preiser figures surround the focal Christmas tree and are also dotted around to provide activity outside the ‘railway fence’. Many had to be re-painted to change their attire from Summer clothing to Winter woollies! To create a more realistic setting, and to merge the backscene with the foreground, Angela also foraged natural materials from our garden and incorporated them in the form of rocks, trees and shrubs.
The platform remains a simple affair of old sleepers and earth, with an old van body serving as a waiting room. Goods facilities are provided by a single siding, served by the occasional pick-up freight. The track is C&L with wooden sleepers and the point-work is operated by a Tortoise slow action motor. The train service is DCC with sound, operated by laptop under the layout running JMRI.
