The Merchants Railway, The Isle of Portland in 009

[Jwnewall]

Hi! I'm James Newall aged 16. I'm not new to the hobby, having 11 years of collecting, but have almost complete my first layout Kingbarrow Railway Centre (Also here on RMweb).

 

Last Christmas I was given an average amount of N gauge items from another persons collection for free. However, I didn't want to model standard gauge again but in a smaller scale. So i've decided to sell most of the stuff to start my new 009 layout, The Merchants Railway.

 

Brief History:

 

The Merchants railway opened in 1826 on the Isle of Portland, the earliest in Dorset. This railway carried stone from the quarries on Tophill down to Castletown where they were sent off from ships to create major buildings. The railway later expanded in 1866 and by then this railway had covered the island. I'm not kidding, but there were hundreds of railways on Portland for each quarry. In 1865 the standard gauge railway reached Portland, closing in 1965. The Merchants railway however ceased during WW1 and started afterwards untill 1939 where all operations ceased. To this day, hundreds of stone sleepers remain on the popular walkways of the island and hundreds of rails scattered everywhere, in stones, used as fence posts, and some still remaining intact, surfacing during wet weather.

 

Locomotives:

 

The railway only ever had one narrow gauge steam locomotive, Excelsior, an converted 0-4-2 wing tank built by Bagnall in 1888 and came from Wales to the Island in 1898. All other haulage was from horses, which became less and less prominent in the 20th century due to it being considered cruel. 

 

 

 

Traction Engines carried the larger stones that the wagons couldn't cope with. 

 

 

Wagons:

 

The only wagons used were 4 wheeled flatbeds that had the wheels on the outside of the chassis. Buffers were wooden stubs, and often broke due to poor maintenance. A lot of the wheels broken can be seen in a few photographs below.

 

 

My Model Project:

 

I will be modelling Priory Corner. This is a spot where the stone was transferred from the wagons onto traction engines. This is also great as the long Chesil Beach can be seen in the backscene, along with Fourtuneswell and Wyke Regis. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2017 by Jwnewall

[Jwnewall]

Right, the information about what i'm going to model:

 

Priory corner is a spot where the stone was transferred from the wagons onto traction engines. This is also great as the long Chesil Beach can be seen in the backscene, along with Fourtuneswell and Wyke Regis. I will be modelling the site with all the features from 1892 to 1902, to include the most track and the train, traction engines etc.

 

 

On the map, you can see two run around loops where the stone transfers from wagons to traction engines. There is a double mine leading into the quarry and two drop off points when redundant stone is thrown over the cliff edge. The road curves from the top right hand corner to the middle of the right section to the front right end of the board.

 

Here is my test track so far. I have been using my N gauge track however im changing the points over to Peco 009 track so there are no dead spots. Another board will be added to give it a raised profile due to cliffs being at the back of the board, this is only the base layer.

 

 

 

 

 

Key features of the layout will include:

 

Priory Corner cottage - This was owned by the Pearce family, and stood on the edge of the corner of Priory Corner. The cottage is made out of Portland Stone, so will have to be scratchbuilt. The extension to the house seems to be brick built but also derelict, perfect!

 

 

A crane was situated in the transfer yards from 1902. This changed from a small mechanical crane to a larger model which a replica now stands near to where the original was today. I will be modelling the newer version.

 

 

 

There was only ever one narrow gauge steam locomotive, Excelsior, a 0-4-2 wing tank locomotive. Minitrains sell an 0-4-0 version of this, so I will make-do with it until im confident to modify it for an 0-4-2 version.

 

 

 

I will also have to modify the wagons due to the wheels being on the outside of the chassis, a possible item I can modify from is seen below. I think OO gauge whels could be good but would have to make them fit the 009 gauge

 

 

 

I would love to motorise a traction engine due to only one train working on the railway. Ive seen many people use coke-can car motors for trains and cars however it will be quite compact in a traction engine. From that a weak magnet on the front and a wire in the road would work like the faller system, but so much cheaper. The wheels will have to be made grimey however due to the amount of wet chalk will be dried on them.

 

 

 

I will update this page when I remember too, but I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for more! Thoughts and feedback will be great as i'm not the proper expert!

Edited July 15, 2017 by Jwnewall

[john new]

I wish you well with this project and the above is an excellent set of photos including some I've not seen before. However, as I live on Portland, it is worth noting the steam loco was not used on the Merchants Railway (as that was only ever horse traction), was at different quarry site and also ran on a different gauge. The Merchants Railway used rails on stone block sleepers.

 

Go for it and I look forward to seeing more.

[cctransuk]

There was only ever one narrow gauge steam locomotive, Excelsior, a 0-4-2 wing tank locomotive. Minitrains sell an 0-4-0 version of this, so I will make-do with it until im confident to modify it for an 0-4-2 version.

 

Excelsior had a varied career, being used in the construction of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway and on the Kerry Tramway.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Edited July 15, 2017 by cctransuk

[MinZaPint]

This looks like an exciting and interesting project, I look forward to following your progress.

[Jwnewall]

@John New

 

Thanks for the info. I'm new to think that Excelsior didn't haul the stone trains, but to think of it, it could only carry the rubble. Well, although it might not be exact, I will still have Excelsior on the layout. The part of the layout which double tracks and goes into the quarry could give it the excuse, but I can't really model moving horses.

 

In the book 'Rail and Road Transport on The Isle of Portland' it mentions that Excelsior tipped wagons of waste over the cliff near west cliff, this is the opposite end of tout quarry from Priory Corner. So even though its not on the right track, I can possibly get away with it!

 

The stone sleepers were often submerged into the ground, with chips of stone covering the floor and chalk molded into the ground. However, I will make sure to show some signs of the stone sleepers with the 009 track as the sleepers are the same width as the narrow gauge track.

[john new]

@John New

 

Thanks for the info. I'm new to think that Excelsior didn't haul the stone trains, but to think of it, it could only carry the rubble. Well, although it might not be exact, I will still have Excelsior on the layout. The part of the layout which double tracks and goes into the quarry could give it the excuse, but I can't really model moving horses.

 

In the book 'Rail and Road Transport on The Isle of Portland' it mentions that Excelsior tipped wagons of waste over the cliff near west cliff, this is the opposite end of tout quarry from Priory Corner. So even though its not on the right track, I can possibly get away with it!

 

The stone sleepers were often submerged into the ground, with chips of stone covering the floor and chalk molded into the ground. However, I will make sure to show some signs of the stone sleepers with the 009 track as the sleepers are the same width as the narrow gauge track.

Modellers Licence can cover many things so go for it..

For a small island Portland has a fascinating railway history over time. Broad Gauge, Standard Gauge and several narrower than standard gauge routes. The narrow than standard were Merchants Railway (4ft 6"), several over the years at 2ft (including those with Excelsior) and at least one military line for moving ammunition at the High Angle Battery (18"). In addition there were two other short horse drawn lines at the south end of the Island which I'm not sure of as to their gauge.

Edited July 15, 2017 by john new

[Jwnewall]

Yep! I've been studying the railways for 5 years now, and starting to acquire items, such as a timetable for Easton, Portland and Rodwell from 1938! (if i'm correct).

 

It will bug me that the stone wagons wont be correct however it would just help as I don't want to completely scratch build everything (new gauge etc)

 

It seems like this time I made an error though, but I hope when it goes to exhibitions it will be appreciated for what it is

 

Where on the Island do you live? Weston is really not a hotspot but I ain't far from the railways!

[john new]

Yep! I've been studying the railways for 5 years now, and starting to acquire items, such as a timetable for Easton, Portland and Rodwell from 1938! (if i'm correct).

 

It will bug me that the stone wagons wont be correct however it would just help as I don't want to completely scratch build everything (new gauge etc)

 

It seems like this time I made an error though, but I hope when it goes to exhibitions it will be appreciated for what it is

 

Where on the Island do you live? Weston is really not a hotspot but I ain't far from the railways!

 

Fortuneswell. Priory Corner and the line of the Merchants Railway and the West Cliff overburden tip cones visible from the garden.

[Jwnewall]

I've went to Pecorama on Sunday to find out that they don't make short radius electrofrog points (new to 009!) so I picked up a pair of dead frog points. I feel it's needed to have extra pickups on a truck. Also found the engine i'm buying too! but only £3 cheaper. I've tested what someone else did and space out the n gauge sleepers which looks good but wont do again as the sleepers are obviously smaller than the 009 ones. I've also found a box at dad's full of workers! They had no use to me before but now they are perfect and include a wide range of common characters.

 

I've forgot to cut the wood that the track will be laid on but I'm on holiday for a week so that won't be coming for a long time!

 

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by Jwnewall