(really) Early Track plans?

[Thunderforge]

It would be fair to say that 92% of my railway modelling comes down to drawing track layouts on scraps of paper. They litter my house, trouser pockets, desk at work, even the empty loo rolls on the shelf in the bathroom end up embroidered with a pattern for 'Kings Landing Terminus' or 'Minories inside an oval'...

 

But anyway, I've seen track plans for different eras, obviously DMUs only need a single line whereas steam often needed a return loop, turntables etc., but I can't recall ever seeing a REALLY early track plan. I'm thinking Stockton & Darlington era, when they were learning it all for the first time. Does anybody have any links to truly ancient track plans? 

 

I can't say I'm going to build anything, but at least my doodles might be a little more well informed!

 

All the best,

Thunderforge

[Argos]

Hi Thunderforge, it might be worth asking in the Pregrouping topic in the Special Interest Secton.

 

There are a couple of topics on early railways in there and some obviously knowledgeable people posting.

I suspect you might get a better response.

[peterfgf]

It would be fair to say that 92% of my railway modelling comes down to drawing track layouts on scraps of paper. They litter my house, trouser pockets, desk at work, even the empty loo rolls on the shelf in the bathroom end up embroidered with a pattern for 'Kings Landing Terminus' or 'Minories inside an oval'...

 

But anyway, I've seen track plans for different eras, obviously DMUs only need a single line whereas steam often needed a return loop, turntables etc., but I can't recall ever seeing a REALLY early track plan. I'm thinking Stockton & Darlington era, when they were learning it all for the first time. Does anybody have any links to truly ancient track plans? 

 

I can't say I'm going to build anything, but at least my doodles might be a little more well informed!

 

All the best,

Thunderforge

The Railway and Canal Historical Society and the Newcomen Society have held five conferences on Early Railways.  The proceedings contain a few track plans. I don't think they are available on-line.

Peterfgf

[Harlequin]

If you look at the historical mapping websites, maps.nls.uk or old-maps.co.uk, you can find some old station track plans. They aren't always accurate in their details and the maps don't often seem to go back much further than the 1880s but there are a few earlier.

[DCB]

A few early track plans crop up in historic books such as the original Euston and Bristol Temple Meads stations as well as the real oddities such as the Brunel single sided stations such as Reading.   I guess the 1850s saw the transition from early to normal "Steam Era" track plans

The big difference from 1830s to later seems to be the wide use of turntables to move stock between tracks.  The use of longer stock made this impractical for passenger stock but wagon turntables remained in use to the end of the steam era.

Gravity and fly shunting helped avoid expensive pointwork, lots of horses and men avoided the need for shunting engines.  One feature needed for older locos was a loco spur with a buffer stop where the locos could run up and down or be slipped to refill the boiler in the days before injectors.

Much later the health and safety spoil sports brought in signals and all sorts of unnecessary expenses like catch points, fish plates and even made the railway companies use the same gauge of track. 

Edited April 27, 2018 by DavidCBroad

[Skinnylinny]

There's a rather nice carriage print (of which I have a copy!) of the old station at Derby in 1840, showing a four-wheel coach being hand-shunted between two adjacent lines by means of small turntables. I don't know how accurate it is, but is also appears to show open wagons being stored (possibly loaded and unloaded?) in the same train-shed. The original painting is by the renowned C Hamilton Ellis.

[tractionman]

If you look at the historical mapping websites, maps.nls.uk or old-maps.co.uk, you can find some old station track plans. They aren't always accurate in their details and the maps don't often seem to go back much further than the 1880s but there are a few earlier.

The larger scale OS plans, of 1:2500 scale, generally date to the end of the 1800s, but there are earlier OS 'town plans' too, of much larger scale (such as 1:528), and NLS have a good selection of these for Scotland, such as one for Edinburgh of 1849:

 

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=55.9519&lon=-3.1921&layers=71&b=1

 

These show not only track layouts (as individual lines) but also the interiors of buildings, such as stations etc, so really amazing details.

 

There are similar mid-19th century OS town-plans available for towns and cities in England and Wales, eg for Southampton for 1846 at a scale of 60 inches to a mile (1:1056):

 

http://www.southampton.gov.uk/arts-heritage/history-southampton/historic-maps/1846-map.aspx

 

but not all are online.

 

I've seen similar large-scale early OS plans for Manchester and Coventry, for example--the local studies sections of libraries or record offices are the best places to consult them.

 

all the best,

 

Keith

Edited April 27, 2018 by tractionman

[DCB]

Just been reading about Euston in the early days.  Far more environmentally friendly than today in that trains were pushed out of the station by porters and policemen for about 200 yards and then attached to a rope and towed up to Camden. No steam, no diesel, no sparks,no horse droppings just honest sweat.

Bit difficult to motorise until Bachmann/Hornby/Hattons produce their fully functional DCC compatible 00 scale walking railwaymen sometime in 2118.

[Tim V]

Really early plans would be shown on tithe maps,I must get round to going to look at some. The one I need to see dates from 1838.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Just been reading about Euston in the early days.  Far more environmentally friendly than today in that trains were pushed out of the station by porters and policemen for about 200 yards and then attached to a rope and towed up to Camden. No steam, no diesel, no sparks,no horse droppings just honest sweat.

Bit difficult to motorise until Bachmann/Hornby/Hattons produce their fully functional DCC compatible 00 scale walking railwaymen sometime in 2118.

 

And what do you think was attached to the other end of the rope?

[Northroader]

Depends on what they were using for bait.

[DCB]

And what do you think was attached to the other end of the rope?

The steam engine/ donkey turning a capstan /gang of blokes / Dinosaur was out in the country in the village of Camden some way from Euston and well away from the metropolis of London.

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

How many bobbies would it take to push a Penolino up the hill to Camden?

 

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