60163 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Amidst the literal sea* of specifically-titled topics in this forum, part of me worries about asking such a broad question! I am, however, a firm believer in the sentiment that the only stupid questions are the ones that you don't bother asking, so here we are! I was born and raised near the ocean, and though now I live a few thousand miles from one, I long for memories of it. I have done a bit of traveling, and in my primary school years toured many locations in the Pacific, but I now find myself based in the middle of America's great plains where the call of an ocean be it Atlantic or otherwise makes not a sound. The idea has stricken me to create a model railway that evokes the feeling of being at the seaside. Through the use of scenics, backscene, perhaps real sand for ballasting, warm lighting, and even the idea of candles have entertained me! To inspire this idea more so than find and recreate a dedicated, specific location, what sort of prototypes ran near the ocean? Interest would lie primarily between not long before Grouping to the sixties, and preferably lightly tracked such as branchlines or tramways rather than huge, bustling harbours, as I would prefer to model something simple and calming if at all possible. I know of course of the famous summer holiday trains such as the oft-modeled GWR BLT and the Devon sea wall, but what other sorts of railways, of any country that you know of, ran to or along the ocean, be they beachside, along the sea wall, along the pier, or even through the sand? I hope such a broad inquiry doesn't go against the guidelines of the forum. Thank you kindly for your contributions in advance! Happy holidays Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestPines Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Cleethorpes - a beachside terminus, with the (railway-built) promenade between the platforms and the beach. Maybe larger than you want, with six platforms, but the railway ran close to the shore for the last mile or so into the station. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2011 The Cambrian Coast Line has one or two very nice 'sea-side' stretches and Ferryside to Carmarthen is - I think - top notch although it's more estuary than anything else. Then there's the Cumbrian Coast Line - which is very coastal in places. Anda s for running on the sands - well the Aberdovey Harbour branch did exactly that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 The one location, to fit what you describe, that has always fascinated me was the old Ramsgate Harbour terminus. But there again Swansea Bay station more often than not had it's ballast covered by beach sand ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 What about LT%SR near Leigh OnSea promenade between sea and rail . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Canterbury to Whitstable ("The Crab and Winkle") in Kent........proper seaside rly. with harbour, beaches, and carrying fish and passenger traffic. http://www.crabandwinkle.org/past.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 12, 2011 What about a railway that terminates on a pier? Ryde: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ryde_Pier_IOW_with_Steam_train_and_electric_tramcar_geograph-2658644-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 12, 2011 Padstow (LSWR) and Penzance (GWR) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Connecticut - try taking the Acela (or any train between New York and Boston). It is almost on the beach in some places, others, New London? right on the docks. Some great views. I'm 30 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Afon Wen on the Cambrian coast was a lovely place to be on a hot summers day with LMS trains coming across land from the north Wales coast and meeting GWR trains from Pwlheli. Then there is the North Wales coast LNWR/LMS line that follows the Irish Sea from west of Chester to the port at Holyhead. I live on the line but have never had a yen to model any part of it. Dunno why. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 12, 2011 Then there is the North Wales coast LNWR/LMS line that follows the Irish Sea from west of Chester to the port at Holyhead. I live on the line but have never had a yen to model any part of it. Dunno why. Too many static caravans and fast food bars to model? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Thinking of a few Welsh ones: Mumbles Tramway - started horse-drawn, but in later years had saddle tanks and finally electric double deck trams. Ran alongside the LNWR for part of the distance. Llanelli- Bury Port & Kidwelly-Carmarthen stretches of the South Wales main line - everything up to Castles in steam days, then DMUs & hydraulics, now HSTs, Pacers, Sprinters, 175s & 60s/66s on oil trains. Penally (Pembroke Dock branch) - as above except 175s & oil trains. Fishguard (as Penally) Saundersfoot Railway (Saundersfoot-Wiseman's Bridge) - coal/iron/brickworks railway, one Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST. Porthgain tramway (clifftops) - quarry railway. Also parts of Newport-Gloucester. In England: The Goodrington Sands stretch of the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway (GWR Kingswear branch) - normally ex-GWR tanks and smaller tender types. Parts of the West Somerset Railway also run in close proximity to the sea - they have had erosion issues in recent years! The Shakespeare Cliff stretch of the Southern near Dover. Part of the West Coast main line runs close to the sea at Hest Bank. And on the Isle of Man there's the Groudle Glen railway. That's just a few to get you started, ranging from idle backwaters to busy main lines! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Portmadoc Harbour station/The Cob also springs to mind, as do the Volks Electric Railway, the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch (in parts) and of course, the Blackpool Tramway! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 If you are considering other than the UK, then the Spanish coast as modelled superbly in Dave and Shirley Rowe's Catalunya is brilliant, and also reminds me of some of the coastal lines of Sicily. AFAIK this model is still on display at Peco's Modelrama at Beer. Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Weymouth Harbour Tramway. There's been a lot of discussion about them taking up the tracks on the quay in Wheeltappers. There was also the Portland Branch Railway built to connect to inclined railways that served the stone quarries on the island. Lots of interesting stone working pictures here. I'm not sure how this fits in. Or for something completely different you could try the Oregon Coast Scenic Railway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 There was the old CLC line to Southport, which, of course, is now the coast road into Southport from Woodvale Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted December 13, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2011 The old line through Perranporth line. The branch to Looe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60163 Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Goodness gracious, what a fantastic lot of suggestions! I've a good deal of research to while away my week. I'm grateful for every last one! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invicta Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 The one location, to fit what you describe, that has always fascinated me was the old Ramsgate Harbour terminus. Yes, that's one of the first examples that came to my mind- it's always struck me as being a very modellable location (from memory it's been done a couple of times) right down to the line disappearing into a tunnel in the cliffs, providing the perfect scenic break between layout and fiddle yard... http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/history/048008b0.jpg http://www.francisfrith.com/ramsgate,kent/photos/sands-station-c1920_68460x/#utmcsr=google.co.uk&utmcmd=referral&utmccn=google.co.uk http://ramsgatehistory.com/trains.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenman Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 How about the Lynn-Hunstanton railway of the Great Eastern (featured in a short BTF film by John Betjeman), through the salt marshes of the Wash and ending at Hunstanton by the pier? Or the M&GN line that hugged the Norfolk coast north from Yarmouth (Beach) station, where constant work had to be done to reinforce the sea defences and prevent the line being overwhelmed (and it ran through the dunes through the exotically named California)? Or, of course, Portsmouth Harbour, lots of potential for EMU action ending in a station built on piers over the water? Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Having been born in Devon I am obviously biased about the sea wall stretch from Dawlish Warren to Teignmouth. But I have to say a couple of trips south out of Dublin through Bray and down to Wicklow really impressed me. At times the line runs along the back of the beach, and elsewhere hugs the cliffs. cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Whitby-Redcar-Middlesbrough Union at places like Sandsend, Tweed Dock branch, Wells harbour (Norfolk), loads in Scotland. Ian L Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestPines Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 The Cambrian Coast Line has one or two very nice 'sea-side' stretches One of my favourite locations in the country, scenically, is Llandecwyn halt and Briwet viaduct, on the Cambrian Coast between Harlech and Penrhyndeudraeth, at the seaward end of the Vale of Ffestiniog. On its own Llandecwyn wouldn't be very operationally interesting - I don't think it's ever been more than a single-platform halt - but thinking about it, there is an Iain Rice plan for an "entire room" oval layout with the operator in the middle, full station on one side and halt on the other, which could easily be reworked as "Penrhyndeudraeth and Llandecwyn". This is, however, definitely more "estuary" than "ocean". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Natalie Graham Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 How about the Spurn Head Railway? Not so much by the sea as out to sea, complete with sail-powered trolley and converted Itala racing car as motive power. The line to Mallaig has some spectaclular coastal sections, or there's the numerous railway pier stations around the Clyde, either to model a particular prototype or as inspiration for a ficticous one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Whitby to Scarborough's another good one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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