The first three pictures were taken at the layout's second public showing in 1973.

In this one we see A&BR no.4 emerging from the tunnel portal, heading towards Awkwood station with a parcels train. 009 afficionados will recognise the loco as a customised Eggerbahn diesel. The livery is BR rail blue, with red and white warning stripes at each end.
Photo courtesy of
Paul Garrett.

Another one of the line's diesels, no. 7, is seen leaving the tunnel at the opposite end of the layout. This entrance was cut from cork bark to represent rock. This is a modified Minitrains Plymouth diesel, with altered rear cab windows and a new exhaust port taken from an Airfix Drewry kit. Livery is signal yellow, with black stripes. The latter took some time to do and still weren't perfect!
Photo courtesy of
Paul Garrett.

No. 6, the stalwart of the A&BR, awaits departure from Ballyuseless with a passenger service as an off-duty driver rushes off shed to catch the train. The loco is the Peco/Gem vari-kit on a Minitrix chassis. The Playcraft toastrack coaches have been repainted signal red. I can't explain the N gauge wagon in the background. It must have been late in the day!
Photo courtesy of
Paul Garrett.

At the time the A&BR was built, modellers such as Paul Towers were writing about 009 in the model railway press and this provided some ideas for me. I readily acknowledge that A&BR no. 2 was based on a Paul Towers modification of an Eggerbahn contractors' loco. His idea was to use the highly visible motor in the loco to represent a vertical boiler and affix a chimney to the loco roof to reinforce the effect. Paul's version retained a seating/cargo area, but I modified mine to represent a water tank and coal bunker. The chimney on no. 2 was donated by an old Tri-ang Jinty.

With the A&BR, one of my core values was that nothing would appear "out of the box". Every single loco, coach and wagon was modified to varying degrees, ranging from simple repaints through to fairly drastic rebuilds.

The modifications to no. 3 were more subtle and its origins are quite obviously the Playcraft/Jouef Decauville loco. Apart from fitting front and rear cab sheets the only other modification was a new safety valve, also from the Jinty. The repaint into BR maroon was spoiled to some extent by my ham-fisted attempt at using Kings Cross dry transfer lining sheets. No. 3 proved far less reliable in operation than its Eggerbahn counterparts.

I will add further images to this page as time permits. In the meantime, here is a concise stocklist:

A&BR Locomotives
No. 1 Minitrains Baldwin 0-4-0ST. Unreliable.
No. 2 Eggerbahn contractors' loco, modified to represent 0-4-0VT. Reliable when serviced frequently.
No. 3 Playcraft Decauville 0-4-0T. Named "Percy". An erratic performer.
No. 4 Eggerbahn diesel. Named "Meteor". Chassis and performance identical to no. 2.
No. 5 Eggerbahn steam railcar. Named "Lightning". This proved to be more ironic than I intended. Its most useful role was as a shed poser.
No. 6 Peco/Gem/Minitrix 0-6-0T. Once named "Superb" and it lived up to its name.
No. 7 Minitrains Plymouth diesel. Named "Tornado", its performance in public was more like an occasional waft.
No. 8 A second Peco Vari-kit, still unbuilt after more than 35 years.
No. 9 Eggerbahn 0-4-0T. Bought by John Ahern contemporary Aldo Cosomati and given to me after his death.
No. 10 Roco (Minitrains) 6w diesel. Still in original condition.

A&BR Coaches
4 Playcraft toastracks.
5 Liliput Zillertalbahn 4w coaches, heavily modified.
1 Liliput bogie coach.

A&BR Wagons
I cannot recall how many there were, but the whole fleet was made up of modified propietary items from Playcraft, Liliput and Eggerbahn.