Roy Jackson

[StevieB]

Some of you may know this already but Roy Jackson died recently. He was a phenomenal EM gauge modeller,  best known for layouts such as High Dyke, Dunwich and, more recently, Retford. There’s more about him on RMweb.

Stephen

[DiveController]

Always sad to lose members of the modeling community. RIP

[jhb171achill]

RIP

[Patrick Davey]

I had the pleasure of visiting his Retford on a trip to England many moons ago - he was only too pleased to welcome my colleagues and myself to the amazing building where the layout was located, no hesitation letting four dodgy-looking Irish musicians in!!  He was very funny and very welcoming and the layout was awesome - he showed me the spot on the layout where he did some serious trainspotting years before.  RIP.

Edited June 14, 2019 by Patrick Davey

[Mayner]

A Model Railways article on Roy Jackson's  High Dyke layout inspired me of the level of realism and standard of running that could be achieved using EM standards,  I later saw Dunwich and Blakeney on the UK exhibition circuit which probably lead to a not so brief flirtation in with building/assembling several large BR steam locos from kits in OO & EM. 

Retford, High Dyke and Stoke Summit really captured the atmosphere of the East Coast Main Line and the East Midlands

 

[David Holman]

Stoke Summit was a rare layout where people would stand and watch for half an hour and then go back for more later. I know I did. Even saw folk noting down loco numbers on more than one occasion! And yet all it was, was a double track mainline with a downside loop. No station, few buildings, but a very large fiddle yard. As a watching the trains go by layout, it has not been bettered.

 Roy also wrote some forthright articles about managing big layouts and the strain they placed on locos in particular. These perhaps didn't appeal to the rivet counter end of the hobby, but made absolute sense for his layouts and those like them. A significant presence in the hobby who will be sadly missed.

[Joe Keegan]

David Holman , can you point me in the direction of Roy’s articles on managing big layouts 

Roy’s email address was another story :  “ bollo*top4@*****.co.uk

If Roy’s email offends you , then I am in the correct forum & you’re not

Cheers

Joe

[David Holman]

They were in Model Railway Journal, Joe, but as to which numbers, I have no idea other than they were fairly early 

[David Holman]

Further to the above, remember Roy writing about how his locos had little if any springing, but lots of weight, pick ups on every wheel and big, beefy motor gearboxes, with robust frames and bearings too. Trains ran long distances, so lightweight chassis and mechanisms soon wore out.

 We found the same thing at my local club, where we are building a 7mm scale tailchaser. The circle bit is 4m in diameter, so one circuit is at least 13 metres or forty feet, while the 16 foot straight sections take that up to over seventy - a scale half mile.

 Hook a loco up to a reasonable train and you need to be careful. Even five minutes circling round is the equivalent of a whole day's running on a terminus - fiddle yard layout. As several people have found to their cost. For example, a big V2 with just a Mashima motor gearbox would found to be running very hot and subsequently required a much more robust set up.

 Can't speak for many RTR models, though there are well known issues with early Heljan diesels - heavy, but prone to gear damage.

 The moral is go carefully when letting trains circulate. Check them every couple of laps for signs of over overheating and likewise for wear if they get used a lot.