Colin Parks, Scalefour member

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BarryP

Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby BarryP » Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:02 am

My brother, Colin Parks, belonged to the Scalefour Society, and posted on this forum. I've posted this here as I do not have contact details for individual members.

Some of you may know that Colin was seriously ill. He was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma bone marrow cancer in 2014. There is currently no "complete" cure for this illness. Despite having two stem-cell treatments and various chemotherapy, the progress of his cancer was only slowed.
Just after Christmas, he was admitted to Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth with breathing difficulties, which was diagnosed as chronic heart failure, a side effect of Myeloma. This was the first of five stays in this hospital.
On Saturday, after developing severe back pain, he was admitted again, and put on stronger painkillers. This time it appeared that his body had given up the fight, and unfortunately, he passed away yesterday afternoon (February 24th). He was 59.

I know he corresponded with a number of members, in particular Howard Bolton, on this forum, or perhaps directly. Colin greatly valued the advice he was given (well, most of it).

Colin was a partner with myself and my wife in the early years of Cambrian Models from 1979 to 1985. During that time, he made the moulds for the Catfish, Dogfish, Mermaid, Shark, Turbot kits, and some other kits. These were machined with fairly basic engineering equipment - the Shark moulds were milled in a vertical slide on his lathe.

For the rest of the time, he worked as a self-employed upholsterer, which was what had been his first job before being part of Cambrian Models. The location of this first job in Newhaven, is probably why he built the "Newhaven Harbour" layout (Railway of the Month, Railway Modeller, May 2011). It was OO gauge, I'm afraid.

I'm uncertain what he intended as a follow-up layout, although it seemed likely that it would be based on Newhaven Harbour again. I believe that there is only a test track at present, but I haven't been to his workshop recently.

Barry Parks.
(I can be contacted via the deangoods.co.uk website - we sold Cambrian Models in 2017)

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jim s-w
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby jim s-w » Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:25 am

Such awful news. My thoughts with you and your family Barry
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Re6/6
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Re6/6 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:59 am

Indeed, awful news. My condolences to you Barry and the family.

I never met Colin in person but we did contact by PMs as we both had an interest in Southern EMUs. It's sad that both Colin and Teddy Francis have passed away. Two superbly skilled craftsmen in the construction of EMUs and coaches in Plasticard.
John

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LesGros
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby LesGros » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:08 am

A sad loss. Colin's thoughtful, considerate, contributions will be missed.

May I add my condolences to the Family at this painful time.

Sincerely,
LesG

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never made anything useful

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John Donnelly
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby John Donnelly » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:29 am

Very sad news, Colin and I had swapped PMs in the past as well. Thoughts are with you and the family.

John

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Rod Cameron
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Rod Cameron » Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:33 am

That is very sad news. Colin's work on Newhaven and in particular his scratchbuilt plasticard 4SUB were inspirational. Many condolences to you and your family.
Rod

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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Steve Carter » Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:05 pm

Very sad news indeed.

My condolences to Colins family and friends.

Colin joined the Scalefour Society in 1979 and was a very active contributor on this Forum. I am sure we have all been enriched by his involvement in our hobby.

Rest in Peace.

Steve

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kelly
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby kelly » Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:27 pm

Just seen this posted on the DEMU forum.

A very sad loss. A very talented and knoweledgable modeller, who will be sadly missed.

Wirrel Finescale Group own Newhaven Harbour iirc, and it will be at the Railex show in May.
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pete_mcfarlane
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby pete_mcfarlane » Tue Feb 26, 2019 6:12 pm

Rod Cameron wrote:That is very sad news. Colin's work on Newhaven and in particular his scratchbuilt plasticard 4SUB were inspirational. Many condolences to you and your family.


I was marvelling over that 4-Sub on Minories yet again the other week. It's one of the most impressive models I've ever seen. Colin was an inspirational modeller.

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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Phil O » Tue Feb 26, 2019 6:46 pm

A sad loss to railway modelling, I offer my condolences to his family and friends. I will miss his contributions on here, his modelling and attention to detail was amazing. Sadly we will not be able to see a conclusion to his P4 test track, in the layouts thread.

Phil.

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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Mark Tatlow » Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:20 pm

That is a sad loss and way too young too.

Colin was a very agreeable man to chat to and a magician with plastic. As Rod said, the 4 SUB was a very high quality model. I hope it will live on on Minories as a sort of epitaph to Colin.
Mark Tatlow

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iak
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby iak » Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:04 pm

Deepest sympathies to all.
Colin was kind enough to pass on praise and encouragement to me on a number of occasions. A gifted modeller and a true gentleman.
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kelly
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby kelly » Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:53 pm

I have just gotten back from the Warley club, on the exchange table were a few old Railway Modellers. One of them was the one featuring Colin's Newhaven Harbour layout. It just so happens that last year Colin kindly gifted a Bachmann 4CEP to me, imagine my surprise to find it was the same one featured on Nehaven.

At the recent DEFine show, Howard Bolton had Colin's 4SUB in operation, a couple of photos below.
IMG_1338.JPG
IMG_1336.JPG
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Lord Colnago
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Lord Colnago » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:27 pm

As everyone has said, this is very sad news indeed and my condolences to Colin's family. We have lost a very fine and talented modeller way before his time. He was kind enough to give me some very useful advice on weathering wagon chassis that I have never forgotten and I will always be grateful to him. As others have said, he will be sadly missed.

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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby JFS » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:55 pm

I have emailed Barry privately, and here I can only echo everyone else's comments.

I am very proud to be the custodian of Colin's 4SUB - one of those models that the closer you look the better it is. Perhaps the kindest compliment came from an oberserver at the Warley show who remarked "You can almost smell the stale tobacco..." Anyone who remembers the SUBs will know exactly what he meant.

RIP Colin - we will miss you kindness and good nature as well as your modelling talent.

In sadness,

Tony Wilkins
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Tony Wilkins » Thu Feb 28, 2019 5:54 pm

I too would like to add my condolences to everyone else’s.
I did not know Colin personally, but always looked forward to his comments on my contributions, which have been noticeably lacking recently.
All is sadly now explained.
Regards
Tony.
Inspiration from the past. Dreams for the future.

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Le Corbusier
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Le Corbusier » Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:55 am

I had no idea ... very very sad :( I shall miss his postings and his thoughtful supportive comments.
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Re6/6
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Re6/6 » Sat Mar 02, 2019 12:54 pm

Colin's fine work.
Colin's 2-HAL 1.jpg


Colin's 2-HAL 2.jpg


https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index ... 263-2-hal/
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Bernie
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Bernie » Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:40 am

A bloke I never had the pleasure to meet, much like others. Obviously supremely talented. What struck me about him, was his positivity, his bounding joy. As a self confessed misery, I found his countenance a veritable wonder. An almost childlike interest in others' activities-allied with acute knowledge to proffer makes such a loss more profound.

RIP.

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Julian Roberts
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Julian Roberts » Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:22 am

So many great things have been written about Colin. I concur with them all. His contributions to this Forum will be greatly missed in so many ways. I don't recall a single reference to just how seriously ill he has been. Another of the many inspirations he has left us. Along with that superb 4 SUB. RIP Colin.

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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Steve Carter » Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:34 pm

I have been asked by Colin’s brother, Barry, to post the following message on his and Colin’s family’s behalf thanking people for their tributes to his brother.

“Thank you to all those who have added their kind words.
Colin's family knew that ultimately he would lose his battle, but we did not expect his end to be yet, or so sudden.
I spoke to him at length, about a week before he died, and he talked of coming over to see us in the summer.
We talked also of modelling - I think he had a new layout in mind, but had only built an S4 test track.
His funeral is being held tomorrow (14th March), in the west Wales village of Llanddewi Brefi, where he had lived for around 30 years.

Barry Parks.”

Rest in Peace Colin.

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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby JFS » Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:22 pm

Dear fellow members,

Barry Parks has asked me to post the following message on his behalf:-

"I am selling the 4mm scale model railway collection of my late brother, Colin Parks, on behalf of his wife.
There are photos of these on our website at: http://www.deangoods.co.uk/4mm_wagons.html
Some have been converted to S4. All the locos and EMUs are DCC fitted.
Locos: 2 x Hornby 08 shunter, Heljan Cl.33 and Hornby Cl.73.
SR/Southern Region EMUs: 6 x 2 car sets and one 4 car set.
Rolling stock:
There is a quantity (approx. 66) of wagons (mostly Grampus) and vans (mostly banana), which have S4 wheels. With one exception, they do not have compensation, but the underneath has a surprising amount of lead.
These are from Colin's Newhaven Harbour layout, so were already built for OO, and fitting compensation would have been rather hard. There are also quite a lot of wagons which still have OO wheels."

I am sure that everyone reading this will not need me to remind them that all of these items represent modelling at the highest level.

The wagons may not be compensated, but here are videos of a few of them running on my layout - you can see they do not need it!


In sadness,
Last edited by JFS on Sat Jun 26, 2021 3:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Noel
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby Noel » Fri Jun 25, 2021 3:58 pm

I expect that people interested in the period will know, but just for info, the banana vans, with one exception, appear to be modified Dapol bodies on, I presume, Red Panda chassis. The exception, in the rake of four with the 12T van, is a Ratio kit.

I've since come across a post on RMWeb which shows that the 1/246 vans are a mixture of Dapol and modified Parkside plywood vans, all on Red Panda chassis.
Last edited by Noel on Tue Jun 29, 2021 10:16 am, edited 4 times in total.
Regards
Noel

JFS
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby JFS » Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:27 pm

I have been told that the email link on Barry's page linked above, does not work properly. I will let Barry know, but in the meantime, if anyone wishes to contact him, then the email address is:-

deanmail17@deangoods.co.uk

Best Wishes,

JFS
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Re: Colin Parks, Scalefour member

Postby JFS » Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:27 pm

JFS wrote:I have been told that the email link on Barry's page linked above, does not work properly.


The issue now seems to be fixed.


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