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Hando

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  • Location
    Deepest darkest Kernow (was in the Midlands, but I escaped!)
  • Interests
    Anything narrow-gauge, light railway, industrial or backwater

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  1. I am also guilty of this During the sale, I purchased a 7mm model of Wapping in Improved Engine Green, despite the fact that I was planning a semi-prototypical microlayout based in East Cornwall! Perhaps I should change my plans to something more appropriate to the South Coast (I did have another layout idea in my head and was eyeing up some Stroudley carriages on eBay, so perhaps that is a potential route to solve this). Soon after copping the Terrier, I caved on purchasing a model I wanted for years, Minerva's Manning Wardle K Class in blue, which has led me to become incredibly indecisive as to what I want to do. I do eventually want to model a branch line terminus based on a proposed branch line in the Peak District, though I think on my current student salary, such endeavours may have to wait! An idea for you Terrier could be to do a rough repaint like the Colonel did with those he bought for the Edge Hill Light Railway, or even keep it in the same livery as an engine on hire. Terriers could be found to be spread all over the place if you know where to look, going as far north as the Highlands! https://www.fofnl.org.uk/newsletters/20May/20may24.php
  2. I've always pondered what the in-universe Titfield and Mallingford line would've looked like during the 19th century. Whether the railway company (who operated the Titfield Thunderbolt engine), were amalgamated into the Great Western, or remained an independent concern. One wonders what stock would've been used in either of those situations...
  3. In regards to the ore-carrying electric tramway in Cornwall, you're correct, it was the Camborne and Redruth Tramways: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camborne_and_Redruth_Tramways
  4. Maybe I have been a bit too rigid in that view, though I didn't mean to come off as standoffish by any means... The great irony of my attempts to strictly define, distinguish and compartmentalise between light railways and tramways is that I find examples where there is a great deal of crossover between the two! Still, I can always broaden my definition to include some of these lines, i.e. the MER, KLR, B&ALR, etc.
  5. Does make me wonder if I should include the Kinver Light Railway and Burton and Ashby Light Railways on my map then 🤔 Though, I've always felt that the two (as with the Manx Electric Railway) were really just tramways with their own separate trackbeds, as opposed to being bona-fide electric railways (which used separate locos along with carriage stock, as the PBSSR intended).
  6. It depends what you want to find out really. If you're wanting to model the "actual" railway in the context of the surrounding landscape, I'd suggest getting the plans first, as they can tell you a lot about the line. Sometimes the route (and the civil engineering in particular) isn't quite what you'd expect. The prospectuses are worth having a look if you'd like to get an idea of what the directors were thinking when they came up with the proposal. The LROs, meanwhile, are good for underlining the operation of the railway. For example, the LRO for the proposed Hope and Castleton Light Railway in Derbyshire gave provisions for the use of overhead electric traction, with land allocated for the construction of a generating station. I doubt the line would've been electrified had it been built, but it is interesting that such an undertaking was considered.
  7. Hi Andy, The plans are catalogued on the National Archives' "Discovery" website here: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=newport+and+four+ashes+light+railway, and are shown to be at the Shropshire Archives as well: https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/collections/search?s=newport+and+four+ashes+light+railway&qa[keyword_reference_type]=0&qa[title]=&qa[person]=&qa[place]=&qa[subject]=&qa[format]=&qa[identifier]=&qa[date_from]=&qa[date_to]=&cbav=2&cbadvsearchquery= Copies can be ordered online, and I expect the process is similar to what I've used before for the Derbyshire Record Office, and should be fairly straightforward if you want to access them that way. Hope you find this useful.
  8. A direction I was thinking of going in for my Hope and Castleton Light Railway Layout (one of the many layouts I have yet to build, having been deliberating over the track plan for far too long, plus now the added the demands of higher education), was of a small newly-established heritage line, like East Kent, Telford, Lincolnshire Wolds, Lavendar Line, East Somerset etc. For context, the Hope and Castelton Light Railway was a proposed branch line that was never built. Quite ironic really given the huge influx of tourism Castleton now receives, on top of the cement works that was built close to the intended trackbed roughly 20 years later, but I digress. In this scenario, I suppose that the South Yorkshire Railway Preservation Society and the Bahamas Locomotive Society would decide to set up shop in Castleton in the late nineties/early noughties, following the SYRPS' eviction from Meadowhall and the BLS' eviction from Dinting respectively. From the from the terminus at Castleton, a half-mile or so of track is laid to reach the overbridge at Pindale. The rest of the branch to Hope would take the place of the real-life Hope Cement Works Branch, with Class 30s running up and down to the exchange sidings on the Hope Valley Line as they do now. Perhaps a connection would be in place to allowing irregular special services to run along the whole length of the line to Hope, akin to the railtours that take place during Hope Cement Works' open days.
  9. Oh goodness. This is the ideal thread for me, I've planned so many (too many?) light railways and associated layouts that I can't count them! Ironically, all of which have come to nought so far..! Just this week alone I've come up with a plan for an extension of the obscure Hassocks sand pit siding to reach Hurstpeirpoint over the hill (with the company's plans to extend east to Henfield and Pulborough and west to Plumpton of course). The track plan is fairly minimal given the hillside location of the station, so maybe there's a chance I'll be able to cram an O gauge layout onto my dorm shelf- who knows? For me the biggest difficulty in planning light railway layouts is trying to justify their existence in the real world. I find it best to ask myself these questions whenever I come up with a new idea: Why would the railway have been built? Is the area particularly mineral-rich or agriculturally fertile? Was there a housing development planned? Are there any towns or villages that were simply overlooked by the big companies, or sought a connection between two places? Are the locals simply a bit mad but rich enough to pay for it? Could the railway have been built? Shaftesbury didn't have a railway for a very fair reason- it's right at the top of a very big hill ! (and there's also a country estate to the east of it on the most gradual slope) Light railway gradients are often known to be pretty steep, but there does come a point when you're going to have to opt for a rack railway or funicular instead of normal adhesion... Was a railway planned there anyway? Sod's law determines that there's a good chance where you propose to build your railway, one would've been planned. It's always worth checking the National Archives' Discovery Page to find old light railway proposals- you might be surprised what you come across... How would the railway survive* on its own? *Survive may not be the correct term, light railways were rarely ever solvent, let alone profitable. But some way of making sure the company could "go on on its own" in someway is good when justifying an independent line. This could even be a conflict with the nearby main line company- it was fairly commonplace. What fate would it have had? Would the line have closed in months, years or decades? Would it still run goods-only services into the present? Would it get bought out during the grouping (and would it be shut in the '30s or by Castle or Beeching?)? Or would it even survive into the present day, and in what form? I've done a fair bit of research on light railways recently and have made a map of all the lines I can find and think of, including many proposals... https://www.google.co.uk/maps/d/edit?mid=1U_WMLPVg7csf_4H_Gr6tR7owACff0WI&usp=sharing My definition of what a light railway is is very broad. A light railway is any railway that is either cheaply built, maintained and operated, and has characteristic quirks which mean they do not conform to the rest of Britain's railway network. For me, this is simply down to the fact there are too many exceptions to the "rules"! Some lines granted an LRO, some built to the Tramways Act of 1870 or the 1868 Regulation of the Railways Act (Light Railways provision), and a good number built to none of the three!
  10. There was a Class A as well, which I think was standard gauge. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a one-off...
  11. @KeithMacdonald I also forgot to send you this: https://www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk/lrm/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/12_the_lyme_railway.pdf It seems the greatest impediment to Lyme Regis gaining a railway connection for so long was down to a lack of available finance and the constant intrusion of the bitter rivalry between the GWR and LSWR. The cost of construction that was required on even the more viable routes were far too expensive for the schemes to cover themselves, and thus an overreliance on support and investment from the mostly-disinterested main line companies was inevitable. It comes as no surprise really that the Lyme Regis branch line that was built was a Light Railway. I've also recently been planning a "what-if" layout based in the Lyme Regis area, though rather than being one of the planned heavy-rail lines, I have been developing an 1860s industrial tramway (inspired by the original standard gauge Swanage Tramway, the Aberford Railway, the Brill Tramway, the Burneside Tramway and the Wenfordbridge Branch), running along the seafront from the Cobb Tramway, and then through the narrow streets from Cobb Gate before wiggling up along the Lim Valley to Uplyme, where the 'main line' would terminate in a yard at Hacker's Mead (the pocket of land next to the Talbot Arms pub), from which some branches would serve the inland limestone quarries at Yawl, Combehays and Venlake. I'm also considering a "Middlemill Colliery" micro layout as well, based on the daft but equally very real exploration for coal there at the turn of the 19th century!
  12. Pretty much as was proposed! Here are the original plans: https://www.freshford.com/railway_charmouth.htm
  13. They were K Classes, which I suspect Rapido won't be producing first (the renders appear to be L Class engines)
  14. I'm not too sure about that Keith, knowing how sensational plotlines are in vogue at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised if such an episode happened, some poor Ambridge resident would end up getting hit Huskisson-style by the opening train! 🤣
  15. The Loughborough references are alarmingly close to home for me (3 miles close to be specific! 😆). Jokes aside, I personally prefer a blend of reality and fiction for my modelling. Since starting this thread, I've found that fully imaginary locations can sometimes be a bit of a ballache for anyone trying to make sense of them, as the quality, breadth and depth of lore is entirely dependent on the skill of the writers, and in the case of places invented for television, film or radio, this can vary significantly as staff change. Today, I've been over to the Leicestershire and Rutland Records Office studying failed railway proposals in the county to find some inspiration. Some of them would make for some good layouts with a lot of potential in terms of operational interest, like the North Leicestershire Railway which in 1874 was planned to link the GN&LNWJR and the Midland's Old Dalby cutoff, with the Charnwood Forest Railway and Midland Railway's main line at Loughborough. Meanwhile, the proposed branch line from the GCR to Newtown Linford would, in particular, make for quite a nice Branch Line Terminus, so I am rather tempted to have a go at making that. Watch this space...
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