# Emmet´s NELLIE



## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

Hi,

Smallbrook Studio, Isle of Wight , introduced NELLIE
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b120/stephenbennett/nellie03.jpg

Found at : http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=3780

A Gn15 model loco running on HO Gauge track. And yes, there was a prototype in 1951 on 15 inch rails.

Have Fun

Fritz / Juergen Zirner


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Fritz on 02/27/2008 8:51 AM
Hi,

Smallbrook Studio, Isle of Wight , introduced NELLIE
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b120/stephenbennett/nellie03.jpg

Found at : http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=3780

A Gn15 model loco running on HO Gauge track. And yes, there was a prototype in 1951 on 15 inch rails.

Have Fun

Fritz / Juergen Zirner  


I remember the real thing running as a ride-behind at the Battersea Pleasure Gardens fairground.....The 'Far Tottering and Oysterthing Railway'.

What a far-sighted genius Roland Emmett was, to invent the whimsiest of NG trains so long ago!

tac
www.ovgrs.org


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Emmet´s NELLIE*

That loco looks like something that would be running in a Dr Seuss book


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

Hi,

Here is a link to the real thing. http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=125474&uid=78462
If you look closely, you can see Tac standing at the station.

Have Fun 

Juergen


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## MarkLewis (Jan 2, 2008)

Was a collection of his cartoons ever published? There were many more RR ones in _A Century of Punch Cartoons_, but I'm not aware of another source.

Mark


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Fritz on 02/27/2008 10:41 AM
Hi,

Here is a link to the real thing. http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=125474&uid=78462
If you look closely, you can see Tac standing at the station.

Have Fun 

Juergen


Tee hee.  You spotted me then? 

tac
www.ovgrs.org


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## cjwalas (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Emmet´s NELLIE*

Mark, there were a number of books published of Mr. Emmett's work's. "The Forgotten Tramcar and Other Drawings", "Sidings and Such", "Saturday Slow" and "The Early Morning Milk Train" are a few of the titles. They show up occasionally on Ebay and are worth the price. Wonderful, fun and unique. 
Chris


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Emmet´s NELLIE*

Oh my! Worthy of Mr. Walas himself


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## MarkLewis (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Chris. I saved a search on eBay for his books.

Mark


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

As a youngster I had one of Emmett's books.  I read it regularly: I used to like the pictures of them making toast by the firebox, the stations which were in old hollow tree trunks and the general improbability of it all.

My family also had two marionettes which he made and gave them.

What would these things realize on that well known auction site today?

Like Tac I also remember the display at Battersea during the Festival of Britian in London during 1951.  That year I saw the Royal Train pass my home which was adjacent to a railway line.  I had made a Festival of Britain flag for myself and together with this I had our National Flag mounted on a tall pole.  I have always hoped that their Majesties King George VI and his wife also known as Queen Elizabeth (later to become The Queen Mother when our present Monarch ascended the throne the following year) saw my efforts  -  but I doubt it.   /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Dear Mr Great Western - the amusement park was there for many years afterwards, too.  It was a place that my mom and dad used to take me every now and then....As well as going to the F of B, taken by my grandma, later we went to the Pleasure Gardens and enjoyed the amazing fake stern-wheeler riverboat full of wonders, including the ceolacanth and others!

I remember seeing a Britannia class lco on rollers at the F of B - meant to be 'Britannia', I bleeve it was actually 'Ollie Cromwell', as 70000 was not yet finished.

Many years later, in the early '60's, I used to row a little boat on the small lake there - the lake is still there, but everything else except the Chinese temple are long gone, after some kind of an accident I think.

Incidentally, my gran made me a little red, white and blue golly out of wool.  It has gone everywhere with me since then.

Best 

tac
www.ovgrs.org


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Emmet´s NELLIE*

Now there's something for our Mr. Brades to model.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Torby on 02/29/2008 7:20 AM
Now there's something for our Mr. Brades to model.


Our Noel  "The Colonel" Livesteam5629 has already built something quite close to 'Nellie'.  Not sure if he intended to do so!  I'll see if I can find a pic.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Emmet´s NELLIE*

I love the sign in one of the illustrations on that link 

"Please Dont Tease The Engines" 

I'll need to add that somewhere descrete in my station on my layout


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By tacfoley on 02/29/2008 7:04 AM


Incidentally, my gran made me a little red, white and blue golly out of wool.  It has gone everywhere with me since then.

 

Oh dear! Oh Dear! Tac.  
  
I hope you realize that this action is politically incorrect and you are likely to recieve the wrath of the self -appointed guardians trying to dominate our Country.


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

Hi,

Does anybody of the eye witnesses happen to remember the trackplan of the Battersesea Exibition?
Seems it was  500 feet long and had three trains running:
http://www.mech.mcmaster.ca/~nyet/emett/Far_Tottering_and_Oyster_Creek_Railway.html

Have Fun

Fritz / Juergen


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Juergen,

You ask for eye witness memories - well. it was almost 57 years ago so it is all a little vague to me now./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif

However these two urls might help you.

   http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=landmark

You may see the entrance 10 to points at 24 and 25 are where the railway ran it seems.  You may have to type in the search boxes to get the 1951 map to show.   

   http://www.parkexplorer.org.uk/wnd04_act1.htm#map


   The owners were, it seems, the London Borough of Wandsworth.  Maybe they have archives that they could share with you.

      www.wandsworth.gov.uk


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## Emettman (Jan 7, 2008)

Possibly the best place to find Emett's books second hand the the Advanced Book Exchange... 
http://www.abebooks.com 

N.B. "Rowland Emett" 

Everything except the very rarest are available pretty cheaply. 
There are about 14 volumes in all, but several are condensed versions of earlier editions, so you can end up with a lot of duplication. 
The best "one volume Emett" is "Trains, Trams and Englishmen" 
"The Early Morning Milk Train" is the best single compilation purely of train cartoons, and it came with a companion: "Alarms and Ecursions" which was a similar collection of non-railway cartoons. 
The other I'd recommend is "New World for Nellie" which was a genuine story-book, a rather different format. 
Don't get "Nellie Come Home" which is the UK edition of the same book but features vastly inferior colour printing and paper (austerity was still showing in 1951) 
If you see an "Anthony and Antimacassar" at any reasonable price and condition, grab it. 
Also any "Make your own Emett" book going for significantly under £100. 
That was a cut-out-and-make book from 1951 too, so the casualty rate was pretty high. 
Chris the Emett fan... 

http://www.picturetrail.com/emettplus


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## Emettman (Jan 7, 2008)

The track plan was a single end to end line with no intermediate passing loop, with a single double-faced platform at each end. Each platform line had its own run round loop but no turntables, although the engines were Pacifics with six wheel tenders. There were two sidings to a carriage shed at the Oyster Creek end. 

One train at the end with two would run to the empty platform at the other end, releasing its space for the next train to move. So two would be loading/unloading while one occupied the line. 

No, I wasn't there, being five years short of being born, but it's become rather an interest of mine.


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## Emettman (Jan 7, 2008)

I've just found this discussion having only today been informed about Smallbrook's Emett kit and gone looking for it on the internet. I'll probably have to get one for mey collection, though it may not run on my layout. 
It's come out a little taller than my model Emetts on 16.5mm, (which don't really have a scale, only a loading gauge: they have to fit the tunnels!) 

The real Emett railway only lasted three years, though it was hightly profitable. There was, unfortunately, some copyright or related dispute between Emett and Mr Barlow the builder, and the locos reverted to a more conventional A4-ish outline for the rest of their lives (One survives in that form, it is thought.) 

You've already referred to my picturetrail site which has more Emett information... 
http://www.picturetrail.com/emettplus 

Best wishes 

Chris Brown


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

Hi Everybody, 


Thank You very much for the additional informations. I like the aerial pictures. 

Chris Brown´s Emett Trains are very famous. I think, some of them were in AW Nuts Magazine years ago. 

Last month somebody sent me scans of the puffin Cut out book and I assembled my first Emett train, using a Fleischmann Magic train chassis. 












The original instructions suggested to us a 00 wind up chassis, and since it is more or less in 1 : 22,5 scale, it probably is the first Gn15 kit, 50 years before the term Gn15 was invented. 

Have Fun 

Fritz / Juergen


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

Hi, 

Meanwhile a Smallbrook Station Gn15 NELLIE Kit reached the Kraehwinkel Wokshops in Germany. 
The Hornby "made in China" drive sends it along the very narrow rails like a Swiss watch. 













The wagon, an enlarged printie from a 1951 papercraft kit, still seems to be a bit too large. No problem, simply print again, 10% smaller. No reason to disturb a dealer. 

Have Fun 

Fritz / Juergen


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