The Vicarage Lawn Railway

For many years had the enormous privilage of being a regular operator of one of this country's most famous model railways - Peter Denny's Buckingham Great Central. It's a model that has been well documented over the years, and one day I may well add my own recollections on this blog.. but not just yet.

On warm summer evenings we would sometimes forego the pleasure of operating Buckingham and retire to the vicarage garden to run Peter's other railway – the TVLR. At different times in its history the letters stood for The Tamar Valley Light Railway and The Trepolpen Valley Light Railway, but to us it was always The Vicarage Lawn Railway!

The TVLR made its first appearance in the Railway Modeller in 1956, when Peter's wife Sylvia graced the front cover.  I tell myself that it must have been a 'staged' photo, as Sylvia always seemed much happier sustaining us with tea and Kit-Kats than operating either railway. 

When I first saw the TVLR, it was in its second incarnation, in the back garden of Peter's Cornish vicarage.

Here are a couple of photos of that railway, taken by dear old Ron Doyle.

Shrubbriness Station

Peter eventually retired and moved to a new home in Truro, where it didn't take him long to recreate the TVLR.  A couple of days ago, whilst thumbing through an old photo album, I came upon these photos of "TVLR Mark 3", taken on a gloriously sunny afternoon in about 1986. 

 

My dad is nearest the camera, in his wheelchair, with Peter to his right. 

Peter at work, probably coupling No.4 to its train. The disc signals rotated; danger when the disc faced the train, edge-on when it was clear to proceed.

Clockword-powered No.4 waits at Lawnton Station platform.  Notice the levers behind the buffer stop - black for turnouts and red for signals. They all worked faultlessly.

Loco No.7 leaves Lawnton with a goods train.  This loco, the largest on the line, was powered by a rechargable battery, hidden in the tender. 

The great man himself, surveying his handiwork. Happy memories!