The Ravenglass Railway Museum will unveil one of its recent acquisitions when it attends this year's Gosforth Show next Saturday, 19th August and depicts part of Owd Ratty- the forerunner to what is today known affectionately in Cumbria as La'al Ratty.
The model was created by renowned model railway maker Peter Kazer, and depicts a key period in the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway's history. The railway was built in 1875, and was originally built to a 3ft. gauge rather than today's 15in. gauge. It was built to transport iron ore from the remote Eskdale Valley to the Cumbrian coast where it was transferred to the mainline railway.
Peter has based his model on Owd Ratty's most active period of around 1880, but photographs of that time in the railway's history were quite scarce as it ceased to exist as 3ft. gauge in 1913. To create the extremely detailed model Peter used what images he could find along with visiting the station at Boot to search out remnants of the old buildings and the station platform.
Peter's first contact with the railway was in the 1960s on a visit to Clarksons in York, which built the locomotive River Mite for the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society, since when he has visited the railway many times. He has been a model maker all his life and for several decades has been exhibiting his models at different events.
The model is built to a scale of ¼” to 1', is scratch-built, and as well as wagons and coaches of the period it has a working model of Nabb Gill, one of the locomotives that worked on the 3ft railway in 1880. Much of the model is created from natural materials including thin plywood, aluminium, and recycled beer cans. To replicate the Eskdale Valley's drystone walls, Peter used broken pieces of plaster, tile adhesive, and PVA glue, a used a rust weathering powder to give them their distinctive pink colouring.
Peter has decided that his model layout of Owd Ratty and Boot Station will be his last, as he has decided to retire from travelling with his models around the country. He is now searching for suitable homes for his model masterpieces.
He finished the model in 2011, and shortly afterwards an article about it was published in the Model Railway Journal. At that time Peter said, “The inspiration for this model comes from three factors. Firstly, the true Victorian nature of the rolling stock with the simple elegance of the locomotives and the naivety of the rolling stock; secondly, the location in the beautiful but remote scenery of west Cumberland and lastly; the fact that, as with many narrow-gauge railways, its life was short”.
“This model has been exhibited all over the country including major shows at the NEC and York.”
“I feel that as I have used the prototype and information from it in building the models it is only right that the railway should have the opportunity to benefit from them in the model's retirement.”
Museum Archivist and Volunteer, Dave Simpson, will take part of the layout to the Gosforth Show next Saturday and said “This will be the model layout's first outing since Peter kindly donated it to us and we are already looking at other ways that we can share it at future events and in the museum itself”
“We will be taking just one section to the Show as space will be limited in the History Tent. However, it will give visitors the opportunity to appreciate just how this model really brings the Owd Ratty to life”.
