Insch

[barney121e]

How accurately do you model a real location? I only ask as looking at a place called Insch in the north east of Scotland. The line is a double track before the station and a single line after it. Ian Futers has done a track plan in one of his books but has made it single line both sides of the station. It is a very simple plan, probably too simple for most but fits what I am looking for. 

[sulzer27jd]

How accurately do you model a real location? I only ask as looking at a place called Insch in the north east of Scotland. The line is a double track before the station and a single line after it. Ian Futers has done a track plan in one of his books but has made it single line both sides of the station. It is a very simple plan, probably too simple for most but fits what I am looking for. 

 

I guess it depends on what you are looking for and in what era. Insch was double track throughout, with single ended lay-by sidings to either side of the station, four road yard, with full goods facilities. It also has a very distinctive skewed level crossing. I rather suspect that Insch is not what you are seeking, however, the GNoS does offer a wider range of modelling options than most people give it credit for.

 

John

[mjkerr]

How accurately do you model a real location?

It really depends on the layout

 

If it is personal use then you can go from basic right up to exactly perfect

 

If it is for exhibition use then it needs to be fairly accurate and usually referring to diagrams and reference photos

 

My own layout is Glasgow Queen Street

Sadly one of the set of points is not available "off the shelf" in N gauge

The next issue is the canopy over the main portion of the station

If I recreate this then noone will see trains underneath!

Most people remember the Operations Depot, shops on the concourse, the hut at the end of Platforms 4/5, and the wall along Platform 7

There is therefore no need for me to model above wall height

Edited June 16, 2017 by mjkerr

[barney121e]

I guess it depends on what you are looking for and in what era. Insch was double track throughout, with single ended lay-by sidings to either side of the station, four road yard, with full goods facilities. It also has a very distinctive skewed level crossing. I rather suspect that Insch is not what you are seeking, however, the GNoS does offer a wider range of modelling options than most people give it credit for.

 

John

Hi John

 

Where did you find the details for the older track plan as one I am looking at is present day?

 

Dave

[clachnaharry]

The Aberdeen to Inverness line between Aberdeen and Keith was singled in the late 60's early 70's leaving intermediate bi directional passing loops at Dyce, Inverurie and Huntly. A 5 mile stretch of double track was retained between Insch and Kennethmont, presumably to retain a bit of operational flexibility.

 

A layby siding was retained at each end of the double track formation, by leaving a stub of the down and up lines at each end. These were very seldom used because the were essentially at the "wrong end". At Insch for instance, this was only accessible from the down line, but as the down line was double for the next 5 miles, and a following train would be at least 6 or 7 miles behind at Inverurie.

 

The only time I ever saw the siding at Insch in use was for a rake of 12 ton vans in the late 70's. These were presumably being stored, as there is no road access for unloading anything.

 

The sidings are still there, and as far as I am aware are still operational. It will be interesting to see if they survive the extensive remodelling and re-signalling that is currently taking place on the Aberdeen to Inverness line.

Edited June 16, 2017 by clachnaharry

[sulzer27jd]

Hi John

 

Where did you find the details for the older track plan as one I am looking at is present day?

 

Dave

 

Dave the best source for track plans (with certain caveats regarding absolute accuracy) is the National Library of Scotland. They have online OS mapping for Scotland, Wales and England, with Scotland and England having highly detailed 25 inch OS maps from various eras. 

 

Are you looking for something in the north east area? Or looking for a particular type of track plan? If it's the latter, I'm sure the collective knowledge on this site can point you to suitable prototype locations. If it is something in the north east, give me a PM as I may be able to help.

 

John

[barney121e]

Dave the best source for track plans (with certain caveats regarding absolute accuracy) is the National Library of Scotland. They have online OS mapping for Scotland, Wales and England, with Scotland and England having highly detailed 25 inch OS maps from various eras. 

 

Are you looking for something in the north east area? Or looking for a particular type of track plan? If it's the latter, I'm sure the collective knowledge on this site can point you to suitable prototype locations. If it is something in the north east, give me a PM as I may be able to help.

 

John

 

PM sent

[scottystitch]

The Aberdeen to Inverness line between Aberdeen and Keith was singled in the late 60's early 70's leaving intermediate bi directional passing loops at Dyce, Inverurie and Huntly. A 5 mile stretch of double track was retained between Insch and Kennethmont, presumably to retain a bit of operational flexibility.

 

A layby siding was retained at each end of the double track formation, by leaving a stub of the down and up lines at each end. These were very seldom used because the were essentially at the "wrong end". At Insch for instance, this was only accessible from the down line, but as the down line was double for the next 5 miles, and a following train would be at least 6 or 7 miles behind at Inverurie.

 

The only time I ever saw the siding at Insch in use was for a rake of 12 ton vans in the late 70's. These were presumably being stored, as there is no road access for unloading anything.

 

The sidings are still there, and as far as I am aware are still operational. It will be interesting to see if they survive the extensive remodelling and re-signalling that is currently taking place on the Aberdeen to Inverness line.

Can you advise where the sidings are? I'm not aware of any sidings at Insch at all now.......The site of the old goods yard and associated sidings are now, I think, the station car park.

Edited July 9, 2017 by scottystitch

[benachie]

Totally irrelevant but Insch is famous for kilted signaller, John McFarlane

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bennachie/279220330/in/photostream

 

Alan

[Graham R]

Can you advise where the sidings are? I'm not aware of any sidings at Insch at all now.......The site of the old goods yard and associated sidings are now, I think, the station car park.

 

It's on the Aberdeen side of the station, trailing in just after the single line expands to double before the platforms. Visible fairly clearly on Bing maps satellite image here. (Google maps is not so clear).

There are one or two photos in the Great North of Scotland Railway Association gallery, here (search for "Insch"). The GNSRA also publishes a CD of pdf drawings of every signalling diagram on the network, including Insch in 1936 (although that does not give you the full track plan of the yard etc.; as John suggested the NLS web site is the best place for that: the 1900 survey here shows the layout as he describes it. Zoom in to see the detail).

 

regards

Graham

[Mim]

In the station building at Insch there is the Insch Museum. This includes a model of the station in OO, built by a former signalman. Wonder if there is an even smaller model inside the model station building?