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railways in fiction and fantasy


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Just played uncharted 3 and there’s a sequence from a Victorian underground yard. There’s even a metro tank in the middle of it all.

 

Big james

 

More trains in 2 though

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Have always thought an updated Middle Earth after the war had ended and normal life resumed could be a fun project. The dwarves inventing the trains. Bree would make an ideal junction setting for a largish layout.

 

  • North South trains running between Fornost and Minis Tirith. 
  • East West dwarvish and elvish services from Lothorien/Rivendell and also through Moria to the Shire and on to the Grey Havens.
  • Locals to/from the Shire.

Given the differences in body size between men and dwarves, elves and hobbits then adding gauge differences not unlikely (Standard - metre perhaps) to add to a fascinatingly eclectic mix.

 

Alternatively something rural and whimsical for railways in the Shire.

Edited by john new
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Some more of today's idle musing (procrastinating) - J K Rowling’s Harry Potter wizarding world.

 

If we assume the magical people need locomotives then what appropriate designs could Magic Railways (MR) have bought in? Electrical stuff doesn’t work properly so steam or diesel mechanical only. A logical southern outlet for the line through Kings Cross Platform 9 3/4 for ECS and wherever the loco servicing depot is hidden would be onto the West London line. (Somewhere in the Brentford area perhaps for the hidden depot?)

 

The following could all be done based on renamed/repainted r-t-r models.

 

Shunting locos –

  • 08s (The nickname Gronk somehow seems appropriate)

 

Passenger locomotives

  • Hogwarts Castle (Hall or Castle - type to be chosen to suit modeller’s taste)
  • Godric’s Hollow (West Country – rebuilt - Obviously they had at least one rebuilt WC as per the Taw Valley based cover)
  • Hogwarts (Schools class)
  • Beaubatons (Schools class)
  • Durmstrang (Schools class)
  • Wimborne Wasps (Quidditch class based on the Footballer B17s)
  • Puddlemere United (Quidditch class based on the Footballer B17s)
  • Pride of Portree (Quidditch class based on the Footballer B17s)
  • Hollyhead Harpies (Quidditch class based on the Footballer B17s)
  • Malfoy Manor ??

 

Mixed traffic

  • Merlin (Wizard class) Aka 30740 - The one that the Muggle’s often see!!
  • Godric Gryffendor
  • Salazar Slytherin
  • Helga Hufflepuff
  • Rowena Ravenclaw
  • Plus as many additional names from the books as necessary to suit the number wanted – all based on the King Arthurs).

 

Freight –any  ideas???

Edited by john new
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One of my favourite short stories is A Subway Named Mobius written by A.J. Deutsch in 1950. When the MBTA adds just one more interchange, the Boston transit system becomes so complex that a train can disappears into it, still drawing power and ocasionally being heard but not re-appearing.

You can find it here and it's only twelve pages long so well worth reading.

http://www.rioranchomathcamp.com/lessons/Topology/SubwayNamedMobius.pdf

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What about the wonderful Railway Ribaldry by W Heath Robinson?

 

Its something I've never seen modelled, but would offer so much potential for fun. Move over Rowland Emmett!!

 

THE-FIRST-WAITING-ROOM-1-BB0193.jpg

 

It would be easy enough to model, just make everything out of white DAS modelling clay!

Edited by Thunderforge
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Dombey & Sons by Dickens features a character falling under a train at Paddock Wood (not too far from Staplehurst where Dickens was involved in real life derailment). This is per Wikipedia; I don't claim to have read the book.

 

China Mieville's Perdido Street Station and Iron Council both feature railways heavily, the first as an integral part of his steampunk world, the second is set partly on a train that lays track in front of it, reminiscent of Christopher Priest's Inverted World. And I agree with Pacific123's recommendation posted earlier in the thread. I read that as a teenager and again when he (or someone else) posted a link to it in another thread

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Total Recall was mentioned earlier.

In fitting with the theme, the trains really should've been fitted with three buffers.

I couldn't possibly elaborate on the number of shackles.

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In Thomas Hardy's Desperate Remedies a railway journey, and its timetable in Bradshaw, to the fictional Carriford Road Station is pivotal to the plot. 

 

Apologies if that was a spoiler, but the book is 147 years old! 

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Having finally got a chance to watch the BBC's adaptation of China Miéville's 'The City And The City', I have an idea for a 'side by side' layout.
For those that don't know, this story takes place in a place where two cities are intertwined. A denizen of one city must dutifully "unsee" (that is, consciously erase from their mind or fade into the background) the denizens, buildings, and events taking place in the other city – even if they are an inch away. This separation is emphasised by the style of clothing, architecture, gait, and the way denizens of each city generally carry themselves. Residents of the cities are taught from childhood to recognise things belonging to the other city without actually seeing them.
In the adaptation, one city, Beszel, was built of brick and stone, and styled to look '70s East European (Ladas, Skodas, etc) with muted yellows and greens predominating. The other, Ul Qoma, is very modern, with glass and steel, bright reds and blues, with Audis and BMWs.
There are areas of crosshatch; streets, parks or squares where denizens of both cities walk alongside one another, albeit "unseen".
This gave me the idea of two stations next to each other, with different rolling stock, different designs of buildings but entirely separate.
The operation would be very simple, just two ovals with trains pausing at the platforms, it would be the detailing that would make it, two completely and disparate separate scenes cheek-by-jowl.

Beszel could be something like Pacers or EPBs (or even 1st gen DMUs/EMUs), with Ul Qoma having Javelins or IEPs, you could go Japanese with 103-series and then Shinkansen or Nankai 5000, or maybe stick with the Europe idea with some down-at-heel DMUs and ICEs or Thalys. Of course, there's no reason why you couldn't mix and match any or all of the above!

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Having finally got a chance to watch the BBC's adaptation of China Miéville's 'The City And The City', I have an idea for a 'side by side' layout.

For those that don't know, this story takes place in a place where two cities are intertwined. A denizen of one city must dutifully "unsee" (that is, consciously erase from their mind or fade into the background) the denizens, buildings, and events taking place in the other city – even if they are an inch away. This separation is emphasised by the style of clothing, architecture, gait, and the way denizens of each city generally carry themselves. Residents of the cities are taught from childhood to recognise things belonging to the other city without actually seeing them.

In the adaptation, one city, Beszel, was built of brick and stone, and styled to look '70s East European (Ladas, Skodas, etc) with muted yellows and greens predominating. The other, Ul Qoma, is very modern, with glass and steel, bright reds and blues, with Audis and BMWs.

There are areas of crosshatch; streets, parks or squares where denizens of both cities walk alongside one another, albeit "unseen".

This gave me the idea of two stations next to each other, with different rolling stock, different designs of buildings but entirely separate.

The operation would be very simple, just two ovals with trains pausing at the platforms, it would be the detailing that would make it, two completely and disparate separate scenes cheek-by-jowl.

Beszel could be something like Pacers or EPBs (or even 1st gen DMUs/EMUs), with Ul Qoma having Javelins or IEPs, you could go Japanese with 103-series and then Shinkansen or Nankai 5000, or maybe stick with the Europe idea with some down-at-heel DMUs and ICEs or Thalys. Of course, there's no reason why you couldn't mix and match any or all of the above!

 

That would be pretty cool, although I envisioned Beszel as being more Eastern European in feel (I've not seen the TV series, only read the book, so I don't know how the Beeb did it). I'm thinking along the lines of Russian or East German prototypes from the 60s and 70s still at work, while the more economically advanced Ul Qoma has state-of-the-art modern trains. You could include something like a customs point, or platforms at different levels, or even track of different gauges. Maybe you could have a cross-hatched bit with mixed gauge track, say Beszel using metre gauge while Ul Qoma is standard. Or perhaps even an entire cross-hatched station, with figures dressed in two different styles studiously ignoring each other, only reading one of the two train indicators, only looking at some of the adverts. Two lots of ticket inspectors with two queues of exiting commuters.

 

It's funny, I never even thought about the rail aspect of that setting, but now you've got me thinking...

 

Some more of today's idle musing (procrastinating) - J K Rowling’s Harry Potter wizarding world.

 

If we assume the magical people need locomotives then what appropriate designs could Magic Railways (MR) have bought in? Electrical stuff doesn’t work properly so steam or diesel mechanical only. A logical southern outlet for the line through Kings Cross Platform 9 3/4 for ECS and wherever the loco servicing depot is hidden would be onto the West London line. (Somewhere in the Brentford area perhaps for the hidden depot?)

 

The following could all be done based on renamed/repainted r-t-r models.

 

Shunting locos –

  • 08s (The nickname Gronk somehow seems appropriate)

 

Passenger locomotives

  • Hogwarts Castle (Hall or Castle - type to be chosen to suit modeller’s taste)
  • Godric’s Hollow (West Country – rebuilt - Obviously they had at least one rebuilt WC as per the Taw Valley based cover)
  • Hogwarts (Schools class)
  • Beaubatons (Schools class)
  • Durmstrang (Schools class)
  • Wimborne Wasps (Quidditch class based on the Footballer B17s)
  • Puddlemere United (Quidditch class based on the Footballer B17s)
  • Pride of Portree (Quidditch class based on the Footballer B17s)
  • Hollyhead Harpies (Quidditch class based on the Footballer B17s)
  • Malfoy Manor ??

 

Mixed traffic

  • Merlin (Wizard class) Aka 30740 - The one that the Muggle’s often see!!
  • Godric Gryffendor
  • Salazar Slytherin
  • Helga Hufflepuff
  • Rowena Ravenclaw
  • Plus as many additional names from the books as necessary to suit the number wanted – all based on the King Arthurs).

 

Freight –any  ideas???

 

I recently read up on the canonical information on the Hogwarts Express and all I can say is that while J K Rowling certainly knows her mythology and folklore, her knowledge of railways is not quite up there. The official explanation for the Hogwarts Express is that in 1825, wizards saw the potential for the new railways as a means of getting children to Hogwarts and in 1830, they stole the Hogwarts Express from Crewe Works. Apparently the muggle workers were very surprised, which I suppose they would be, having arrived at work ten years early.

 

Personally, my "headcanon" (to use the Internet fandom terminology) is that the Hogwarts Express came along later in the 19th century or early 20th century, when there was a decent railway network for the wizards to take advantage of. It doesn't make much sense to use a train to get to Hogwarts before there's a railway for it to run on. If the locomotive is a Hall, then it's been magically enhanced in some way so as to be able to make the whole journey non-stop and also not to foul the platforms in Scotland. While we only see the train at the beginning and end of term, it runs at other times throughout the year to bring supplies to Hogsmeade and perform any other transportation duties for which the Floo network, broomsticks or airborne motor vehicles are unsuitable. There's a shunter at either end of the line and at least two main line locomotives.

 

In the first book, Hermione mentions going to the front of the train and talking to the driver, which suggests to me that the locomotive has a corridor tender - if this is taken to be the case, then it would make a lot of sense for the Hogwarts Express to be hauled by an A3 or A4, which presumably the Minister for Magic was impressed by while waiting for the Express at King's Cross.

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..

 

 

I recently read up on the canonical information on the Hogwarts Express and all I can say is that while J K Rowling certainly knows her mythology and folklore, her knowledge of railways is not quite up there. The official explanation for the Hogwarts Express is that in 1825, wizards saw the potential for the new railways as a means of getting children to Hogwarts and in 1830, they stole the Hogwarts Express from Crewe Works. Apparently the muggle workers were very surprised, which I suppose they would be, having arrived at work ten years early.

 

Personally, my "headcanon" (to use the Internet fandom terminology) is that the Hogwarts Express came along later in the 19th century or early 20th century, when there was a decent railway network for the wizards to take advantage of. It doesn't make much sense to use a train to get to Hogwarts before there's a railway for it to run on. If the locomotive is a Hall, then it's been magically enhanced in some way so as to be able to make the whole journey non-stop and also not to foul the platforms in Scotland. While we only see the train at the beginning and end of term, it runs at other times throughout the year to bring supplies to Hogsmeade and perform any other transportation duties for which the Floo network, broomsticks or airborne motor vehicles are unsuitable. There's a shunter at either end of the line and at least two main line locomotives.

 

In the first book, Hermione mentions going to the front of the train and talking to the driver, which suggests to me that the locomotive has a corridor tender - if this is taken to be the case, then it would make a lot of sense for the Hogwarts Express to be hauled by an A3 or A4, which presumably the Minister for Magic was impressed by while waiting for the Express at King's Cross.

 

Hogsmeade, we know, is on the NER - it has standard NER footbridge and fittings

 

This makes sense if the the train departs from KX

 

Clearly Hogsmeade is in hilly terrain . This points pretty firmly to the eastern side of the Pennines . My guess is that it is actually in West Durham - it's suspicious that the line up to Eastgate was retained as frieght only for so long . Surely a cement works couldn't justify such a long length of railway into the hills on its own.....

 

That ought to be  within the range of a Hall on coal capacity - Royal Scots ran Euston-Carlisle non-stop (300 miles). If there is a second corridor tender behind the loco, which is essentially a water-gin with the coal capacity removed for extra watersupply (4472 ran witrh 2 tenders in the early 70s) things begin to fall into place....

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Hogsmeade, we know, is on the NER - it has standard NER footbridge and fittings

 

This makes sense if the the train departs from KX

 

Clearly Hogsmeade is in hilly terrain . This points pretty firmly to the eastern side of the Pennines . My guess is that it is actually in West Durham - it's suspicious that the line up to Eastgate was retained as frieght only for so long . Surely a cement works couldn't justify such a long length of railway into the hills on its own.....

 

That ought to be  within the range of a Hall on coal capacity - Royal Scots ran Euston-Carlisle non-stop (300 miles). If there is a second corridor tender behind the loco, which is essentially a water-gin with the coal capacity removed for extra watersupply (4472 ran witrh 2 tenders in the early 70s) things begin to fall into place....

It’s got to be much further North than that. The train leaves KX at 11:00, there’s no record of it stopping anywhere, and it doesn’t get to Hogsmead until it’s dark. On September 1st, sunset is about 20:00 (19:52 in Didcot, 20:07 in Edinburgh), so if we assume it’s proper dark 30 mins later, that’s a journey time of 9 hours and 30 mins.

 

Let’s now assume an average speed of 40 mph, and that’s a distance of 380 miles. Which would be somewhere between Edinburgh and Inverness.

 

As far as water and coal is concerned, they are obviously replenished en route by magic.

 

While leaves as the only remaining issue the fact it’s not real...

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It’s got to be much further North than that. The train leaves KX at 11:00, there’s no record of it stopping anywhere, and it doesn’t get to Hogsmead until it’s dark. On September 1st, sunset is about 20:00 (19:52 in Didcot, 20:07 in Edinburgh), so if we assume it’s proper dark 30 mins later, that’s a journey time of 9 hours and 30 mins.

 

Let’s now assume an average speed of 40 mph, and that’s a distance of 380 miles. Which would be somewhere between Edinburgh and Inverness.

 

As far as water and coal is concerned, they are obviously replenished en route by magic.

 

While leaves as the only remaining issue the fact it’s not real...

 

Not forgetting it goes over the Glenfinnan Viaduct so north of Fort William?

 

Dave

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Hogsmeade, we know, is on the NER - it has standard NER footbridge and fittings

 

This makes sense if the the train departs from KX

 

Clearly Hogsmeade is in hilly terrain . This points pretty firmly to the eastern side of the Pennines . My guess is that it is actually in West Durham - it's suspicious that the line up to Eastgate was retained as frieght only for so long . Surely a cement works couldn't justify such a long length of railway into the hills on its own.....

 

That ought to be  within the range of a Hall on coal capacity - Royal Scots ran Euston-Carlisle non-stop (300 miles). If there is a second corridor tender behind the loco, which is essentially a water-gin with the coal capacity removed for extra watersupply (4472 ran witrh 2 tenders in the early 70s) things begin to fall into place....

 

According to Pottermore, it's in Scotland. Exactly where is unknown - the films imply Morayshire (Dufftown is said to be near) and one of the books mentions a map of Ayrshire hanging on the wall.

 

One fantasy railway I've applied a lot of thought to is the Ankh Morpork and Sto Plains Hygienic Railway, which I think would be great fun to model. Pratchett really does his research into railway history in Raising Steam, but of course it remains quirky and fantastical. I think the pre-grouping GWR would be a good place to start, as we know the AM&SPHR's works are at Swine Town. The cover of the paperback version clearly depicts a Metropolitan A class, but I would guess these are only used on the suburban services through New Ankh (or possibly the dwarf tunnels that Lord Vetinari learned about in Thud!, which are signposted with a dwarfish rune consisting of a circle with a line across it).

Edited by HonestTom
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This is a fully worked Borsetshire Fantasy interfaced to reality.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/440/entry-2096-premise-for-a-fantasy/

Thanks for linking to that - fascinating stuff and a great idea! I am sure many of us Archers fans have had tentative thoughts along the same lines over the years but is nice to see a well developed idea rather than just vague notion of utilising Borsetshire as a setting :)

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Hogsmeade, we know, is on the NER - it has standard NER footbridge and fittings

 

This makes sense if the the train departs from KX

 

Clearly Hogsmeade is in hilly terrain . This points pretty firmly to the eastern side of the Pennines . My guess is that it is actually in West Durham - it's suspicious that the line up to Eastgate was retained as frieght only for so long . Surely a cement works couldn't justify such a long length of railway into the hills on its own.....

 

That ought to be  within the range of a Hall on coal capacity - Royal Scots ran Euston-Carlisle non-stop (300 miles). If there is a second corridor tender behind the loco, which is essentially a water-gin with the coal capacity removed for extra watersupply (4472 ran witrh 2 tenders in the early 70s) things begin to fall into place....

 

A pity then, that a platform 9 3/4 would only take students in the direction of Cambridge. An ancient seat of learning, but not exactly hilly terrain. 

 

Terry Pratchett was aghast when he had a film version of one of his books turned down due to the apparent similarity between Hogwarts and the Unseen University, despite the fact that Pratchett had created the UU many years before Rowling put finger to keyboard.  

Edited by Edwardian
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The darkest take on the Hogwarts Express is undoubtedly the version in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 2009, which got caught in the crossfire of a magical rampage by Harry, and I will only describe as "messy." However, it appears to be based on a Black 5 or possibly a Jubilee, despite one of the characters asserting that "it's like a child's idea of how a train should work." It's later implied that Thomas the Tank Engine and Ivor the Engine also fell victim. If anyone wanted to model this version, it would be a challenge, but I doubt you'd get many exhibition invites...

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Just played uncharted 3 and there’s a sequence from a Victorian underground yard. There’s even a metro tank in the middle of it all.

 

Big james

I loved that level - 'London Underground' - where you go back through time as you walk through the different tunnels, and the abandoned Metropolitan A Class still with its train, then breaking through the wall into Francis Drake's study!

 

Have always thought an updated Middle Earth after the war had ended and normal life resumed could be a fun project. The dwarves inventing the trains. Bree would make an ideal junction setting for a largish layout.

 

  • North South trains running between Fornost and Minis Tirith. 
  • East West dwarvish and elvish services from Lothorien/Rivendell and also through Moria to the Shire and on to the Grey Havens.
  • Locals to/from the Shire.

Given the differences in body size between men and dwarves, elves and hobbits then adding gauge differences not unlikely (Standard - metre perhaps) to add to a fascinatingly eclectic mix.

 

Alternatively something rural and whimsical for railways in the Shire.

Have you ever seen 'Hobbiton End' right here on RMWeb?

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/35993-hobbiton-end/page-21

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