To mark the launch of Gn15.info in 2002, we held an e-interview (a series of emailled questions and answers) with Steve Bennett and Stephen Warrington of Sidelines.

Emrys sits down to take notes

Gn15.info> Hi, Steve and Stephen. Welcome to Gn15.info. Can you start by telling us a little about yourself and your modelling?
SB> Well, my entry into railway modelling all started with an innocent day out to Pecorama - which is an exhibition hall and minature railway attached to the Peco (the track people)’s factory - back in 1991. I was really taken by the idea of a layout at home and came away clutching a Hornby trainset. A very brief dabble in 00 scale came to a very abrupt end about six months later when a holiday in North Wales introduced me to narrow gauge railways.
SW> I have been an avid-G scaler for many years and basically started my business ”Back 2 Bay 6” as I was fed up of seeing the same boxes on different dealer’s stands making a show visit just a bargain hunt. I decided to produce and buy-in G scale scenic items and have something different to sell. I had toyed with the idea of Gn15 sometime ago, but didn’t pursue it until I saw Steve Bennett’s castings in 0-9. Until I met Steve Bennett I didn’t realise that 15″ gauge railways had such a following. My Rio Grande Southern library has been greatly augmented by miniature railway books!

Gn15.info> Steve, I can tell from the Pepper7 site that you”re behind the Black Dog Mining Company (1:43 scale, On30) and are involved in the Avalon Line (1:43 scale, On30) range, so is the “Sidelines” range a relatively new departure for you?
SB> Yes it is. The Sidelines range has been going now for about 18 months. I’m predominently an 0 scale modeller. The Black Dog Mining Company is my own business for which I do all the design and manufacturing. In addition to this I also do design work and manufacture cast resin parts for several other ranges, of which the Avalon Line and Sidelines are probably the best known. Anyone looking at the kits from these ranges will be able to see a close family resemblence.

Gn15.info> What led you to produce your first Gn15 kits?
SB> Well here I have to come clean and state publicly that Gn15 was not my idea. Credit for this must go to Steve Warrington, my partner in Sidelines. Steve is a retailer in garden railway equipment and trades under the name “Back2Bay6″. It just so happens that we were both at the same exhibition one weekend and he was really taken with the charm of the small 0 scale layouts and stock that I had on display. After numerous visits to my stand during the day, he went back to his hotel that night and put his thinking cap on. The following day he approached me with a big grin on his face and asked if I would be prepared to scale up some of my O scale products to G scale and to run on 16.5mm gauge track thus depicting the same 15 inch gauge equipment I was producing in 0 scale. From that chance encounter the Sidelines range was born.
SW> As Steve says I went back to my hotel, pulled out a piece of paper and began calculating and doodling in ernest. The next day I put the idea to him and he was very keen to give it a go. Within a month a parcel arrived at my door containing a loco (Gnat) and some wagon kits so - thanks to SB - Gn15 became a reality.

Gn15.info> What sort of reaction do you get at shows or from modellers?
SB> The best example comes from a recent email from Gn15.info’’s Carl Arendt - Carl wrote to say “increasingly I”m getting e-mail that says, ”My wife really thinks Gn15 is cute, so I’m gonna get some more of it” or words to that effect”. Well, I get exactly the same reaction at shows, the wives/girlfriends/daughters love the Gn15. I have had several wives ask their partners for a Gn15 garden line for their dolls’ houses and had many instances of them trying to talk the husbands out of buying a live steam loco and to buy Gn15 instead, (though whether this is due to the monetary difference as well I don’t know <grin>. Now you have got me thinking, that’s what fired Steve (Warrington)’s imagination - seeing a crowd of the fairer sex around a model railway. Of course, why didn’t I figure that one out before …
SW> If Gn15 brings in the ladies that can’t be a bad thing. Think of it as a positive and unexpected side effect!!!!!!! We may have created a monster, but it is a friendly one, which is still growing >grin> A special mention of Carl’s ”Square Foot Estate Railway” (see the layouts page - EH) is due as the first known Gn15 layout.

Gn15.info> At the time of writing the Sidelines range has a couple of locos and nine different wagons. Are you working on any new items that you can tell us about?
SB> Now that one I can answer as we have just introduced two new items on the rolling stock side. First off is a very small two seat open coach based on Sir Arthur Heywood’s very first passenger vehicle. This is tiny, the overall dimensions were 4′ long by 2′ wide. We have cheated a little here and made it slightly wider in order to accomodate two G scale figures. The other is a freelance timber bolster very loosely based on a Heywood design. Looking to the future the list is endless and is continually being added to. At the moment it looks like the next item will be a small railbus/inspection car followed by a small Boxvan. We are always open to suggestions, though, and if we get inspired and time permits for development, this could all change.
SW> Now, there are many items we would like to produce, it is just finding the time. Steve has done a stirling job and got me well and truly hooked. Our new loco kit, a model of Heywood’s ”Effie”, will be available soon (Watch this space! - EH). This a move away from resin and will be in brass and whitemetal. It also gives Steve time to earn a living. A Heywood 6′ x 3′ Tops wagon is also well under way, again with a whitemetal chassis. This range of prototype models is being christened ”Sidelines Classics”. Research on another loco has already started for release next year. All I will say at present that it will be another steam engine (I’m hoping it’ll be Ella - EH).

Gn15.info> Finally, do you have a Gn15 layout at home?
SB> So far since the introduction of Sidelines I have not had the time to start on a home layout in Gn15, but I do have a small demonstration layout which I take around to shows and exhibitions. This is a mighty 36 by 18 inches in size and consists of a simple loop with a siding off it. This was built very much in a hurry over a ten day period in order to get it ready in time for an exhibition. (You can see photos of this layout on our Layouts page)

Gn15.info> Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions - and don”t forget to let us know about further additions to the range!

Questions posed by Emrys Hopkins, 10-12 June 2002