C. J. Freezer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
C. J. Freezer
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| Born | Cyril John Freezer 19 February 1924 |
| Died | 19 May 2009 (aged 85) |
| Occupation | Author and editor |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | Model Railways |
| Spouse | Doris (1959-2009) |
| Children | Nick (1962-present)
Alison (1965-present) Andrew (1968-present) |
Cyril John Freezer (born February 19, 1924 – died May 19, 2009) was a famous British expert in model railways. He was a talented writer and magazine editor. He led the magazine Railway Modeller from 1950 to 1978. Later, he edited Model Railways from 1978 to 1983. He also wrote many articles for Model Railroader.
C. J. Freezer helped make popular a type of model railway called the 'terminus to fiddle yard layout'. He is also known for inventing the "rabbit warren layout". He wrote many books about model railways. Many of these books are still considered very important today.
Early Life and First Steps
Cyril John Freezer was born in the east London area. He went to school at Barking Abbey School. He trained to be an engineer at a large dockyard. A dockyard is a place where ships are built and repaired. This dockyard was on the Isle of Dogs. He also worked for a news company called Associated Press.
His journey into the world of model railways began when he became the editor of the Railway Modeller magazine. His very first issue as editor came out in August-September 1950.
Designing Awesome Model Railways
C. J. Freezer was amazing at designing model railway layouts. He published many books filled with different track plans. These plans showed people how to build their own miniature railway worlds.
Perhaps his most famous design was called "Minories". This was a clever plan for a small, busy train station. It was built on a special baseboard that could fold up. This made it easy to store! The "Minories" layout was loosely based on a real train station in London. It was designed so that even new modellers could build it easily. It offered lots of ways to operate trains in a small space. This design was first shared in 1957. Since then, countless model railways have been built using his simple but brilliant idea.
In 2007, a group called Diesel and Electric Modellers United (DEMU) held a competition. It celebrated the 50th anniversary of the "Minories" plan. People had to build and show off a layout based on the "Minories" track plan. Cyril's son, Nick, was one of the judges. Many excellent layouts were entered, like "Ripper Street" and "Westonmouth Central". The winner was a layout called "Birmingham Moor Street".
