Jump to content
 

Great Southern Railway (Fictitious) - Signalling the changes...


Recommended Posts

One of the delights of the pre-grouping era has to be, for me, the huge variety of brightly-coloured rolling stock. As many southern-area pre-grouping modellers will surely be aware, Guildford in Surrey has a nice colourful mix, being the meeting point of the LB&SCR (the terminus of the Guildford-Horsham line), the SER (later amalgamated into the SE&CR) (Dorking to the East, Reading to the West), and the LSWR (who actually owned most of the track through Guildford station) (London to the North, Portsmouth to the South).

I propose another, fictional pre-grouping company, the Great Southern Railway (an amalgamation of the Linton and Bagshot Railway and the Guildford and Surrey Railway) - the name change meaning that none of the Guildford and Surrey Railway loco or stock needed repainting or re-lettering. How handy!

After drawing out a plausible route on an old Ordnance Survey map of the area (lots of pencilling in around contours, swearing, erasing and starting again), I've come up with roughly this route:

post-793-0-24749100-1517050121_thumb.png

Linton fills a gap with not much in it (as in real life, it's currently full of military ranges, though these had not been built in the 1850s-70s, the sort of time period I'm expecting these lines to have been built. Linton is a medium-sized town, which has been expanding due to a large growth in the sales of high-quality bricks (due to the excellent clay in the area) and a popular brewery just outside the town, which is served by a short branch line. The nearby "Bisley Farm School and Shaftesbury School", run by "The National Refuges for Homeless and Destitute Children" had a small branch off the line between Linton and Bagshot, allowing them to export their produce for sale at local markets, as well as the other products made by the boys learning skills in woodworking, tailoring and breadmaking (though this latter was mostly kept to Bisley, Linton and Lightwater).

With the amalgamation of the L&BR and the G&SR, a chord was built in the late 1880s to allow through traffic between Bagshot and Guildford. The Great Southern Railway supplemented its income by allowing all of the other three railway companies to operate over their lines (for a fee, naturally), provided that these other companies agreed to permit the GSR to operate over selected routes. As such, the GSR's distinctive blue locomotives and coaching stock could be seen as far as Brighton, Portsmouth and, twice daily, at Reading, where they contrasted strongly with the green GWR trains speeding through. Holiday specials from Reading to Brighton were popular in the summer months, while trains to Guildford allowed the good people of Reading to visit the continent by changing onto an SE&CR service to Dover, this being considered too far to run a single GSR service. A connection to the LSWR at Woking opened up another link to London.

So much for the theoretical prototype, what about the model?

Linton will be a 4mm scale layout, using Peco 00 gauge bullhead track, measuring 4m x 60cm (approximately 13' x 2'). The setting will be a station in a cutting, surrounded by retaining walls, in a fairly central location, in the period 1900-1910 (with a bit of leeway for when I want to run more modern stock). The station will mostly be served by the GSR, although occasional visits will be made by locos and stock from each of the LB&SCR, SE&CR and LSWR. A bay platform allows for railmotor services and a milk van or two, while the goods yard features a coal merchant to one side with a covered goods shed alongside the platforms (accessed through a bridge under a road which crosses the station).

The track plan is shown here (and yes, there are trap points to the sidings, albeit very difficult to see on this plan):

post-793-0-42051300-1517051365_thumb.jpg

And a 3D model gives a vague idea of the layout of buildings, scenery etc:

post-793-0-77456900-1517051562_thumb.png

More information on rolling stock etc will follow in a later post. I'd be interested to hear anyone's thoughts and advice.

Edited by Skinnylinny
  • Like 14
Link to post
Share on other sites

Brilliant.

 

What is you platform/fiddleyard capacity?

 

Is it tank engine only, or is there a notional place to service locos and turn them off-stage?

 

If so, small tender types could reverse back to the fiddleyard, then re-emerge to back onto a train.

 

Look forward to seeing the GSR house style, architecture, stock, livery etc.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you.  :) 

The platform capacity has been designed to (just!) fit three BR Mk1 corridor coaches, though it's a very tight fit. The longest passenger train I intend to handle is a rake of the Bachmann SE&CR 60' Birdcages, which might be a little late for my period, but I choose to invoke Rule 1 on this one, as they're just so beautifully done. The LSWR train will be three 42' coaches, the LB&SCR will be Stroudley 4-wheelers, and the GSR has coaches that look suspiciously like the Tri-ang clerestory coaches (albeit with a full third and a four-wheeled full brake added to the mix).

 

The run-around headshunt is long enough to comfortably hold an 0-6-0 tender loco (I measured mine at 20cm, and the plan allows up to 30cm, so I could possibly even get a 2-6-0 tender loco in, although that will be a squeeze. With the cramped location, a turntable on-scene wasn't considered plausible, so I'm assuming a turntable just off-scene in the next cutting area. Water will be provided at the departure end of each platform, probably from a tank mounted on the retaining wall. I've assumed that trains arrive "straight in" to the middle platform, and then shunt to the bottom platform as a departure platform.

The GSR livery is a royal blue, with panels edged in black, lined red. So far I have two locomotives, a somewhat bashed-about Wainwright C class (Great British Locomotives static model fitted with a Hornby Jinty chassis), and a freelance 0-6-0 tank engine (Anglicised from an Electrotren 0-6-0t which claims to be a Kerr, Stuart design in H0 scale). 

 

post-793-0-11362100-1517062730_thumb.jpg  post-793-0-39067300-1517063033_thumb.jpg
 

Passenger stock is royal blue, with white panels above the waist:

post-793-0-23113800-1517062836_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

A "medium sized town" like Linton would need a much bigger goods yard – not that I'm biased or anything...

I'm working on the assumption that this is Linton (central) station, with a bigger yard a little further out where conditions are a little less cramped! :P

  • Like 15
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

So glad you've started a topic about this, Linny! I look forward to seeing more... I know the area quite well and it's interesting to see another line added to the web that surrounds Aldershot & Guildford!

 

Only one question for now (There will be more, I fear!): what did you do to the GBL C and Hornby chassis to get the two to work together?

Link to post
Share on other sites

So glad you've started a topic about this, Linny! I look forward to seeing more... I know the area quite well and it's interesting to see another line added to the web that surrounds Aldershot & Guildford!

 

Only one question for now (There will be more, I fear!): what did you do to the GBL C and Hornby chassis to get the two to work together?

 

Quite simply? I took a hacksaw to the rear end of the chassis, and cut it off a few mm from the back of the rear wheel. I'd love to give dimensions, but I lined everything up with the front splasher and marked the cut position with tape The wheels don't quite line up with the centre splasher, but keeping the sandbox on the middle splasher hides this well. I cut a slot in the running plate with a Dremel, and found the motor fits snugly inside the firebox moulding. Unfortunately the chassis block is still visible under the boiler. The coupling rods were a tricky one - originally I kept the rather chunky Hornby ones, but had to turn them upside-down as the oil pots caught on the running plate. They've since been replaced with the Mainly Trains rods (sadly no longer available, although alternatives do exist), using Romford crankpins which handily have the exact same thread as the screws Hornby used to keep their rods on.

 

Sounds very interesting, I recommend you read the fictitious history of the South British Railway by mr R.R.J. Plummer as published in the Autumn and Winter 1968 editions of trains illustrated

Thank you, I don't think I have access to old issues of Trains Illustrated, but I'll see if I can get hold of those issues on eBay or similar.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Brilliant. Some good painting and lining there. How did you do it?

 

You realise you''ll have to paint a Terrier blue and call it Gaspode

Thank you :) The locos are all hand-painted with Games Workshop paint (Regal Blue before they changed all the names, now Kantor Blue), with the lining mostly being Modelmaster transfers for the straight lining (7mm scale BR Mixed Traffic boiler band lining, sliced down the middle to give single red lines), while curves are very carefully hand-painted in bright red, then touched back in with blue or black as appropriate, a time-consuming but rewarding job.

 

As for the coaches, they are either brush-painted Kantor blue or (in one or two cases sprayed with Humbrol Midnight Blue acrylic), then the white panels are filled in with thinned-down white acrylic, pushing it into the corners of the moulded panels with the tip of a fine paintbrush. A couple of coats usually builds up the required opacity.

mmmm, I don't have a Terrier coming up for the GSR, but I am working on a chunky little shunter based on an idea from Nile of this parish...

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you :) The locos are all hand-painted with Games Workshop paint (Regal Blue before they changed all the names, now Kantor Blue), with the lining mostly being Modelmaster transfers for the straight lining (7mm scale BR Mixed Traffic boiler band lining, sliced down the middle to give single red lines), while curves are very carefully hand-painted in bright red, then touched back in with blue or black as appropriate, a time-consuming but rewarding job.

 

As for the coaches, they are either brush-painted Kantor blue or (in one or two cases sprayed with Humbrol Midnight Blue acrylic), then the white panels are filled in with thinned-down white acrylic, pushing it into the corners of the moulded panels with the tip of a fine paintbrush. A couple of coats usually builds up the required opacity.

mmmm, I don't have a Terrier coming up for the GSR, but I am working on a chunky little shunter based on an idea from Nile of this parish...

 

Very impressed with that brush painting and lining.

 

Of course, a number of Terriers were sold off and scrapped 1898-1905, and 2 mainline companies acquired 3 between them, so it would be quite in order for the GSR to acquire one.

 

The WNR will!

 

EDIT: Picking up on Wagonman's point about goods facilities, yes yours are currently somewhat meagre for a town of any size.

 

The minimum I reckoned on for Castle Aching was 3:

 

(1) Shorter siding with end loading dock (maybe also livestock pens along part of the length)

 

(2) Long siding with goods shed adjacent for general merchandise, including goods to be kept under cover.  Needs to be serviced by a crane (yours will have one in the goods Sged, but query whether you need a larger one outside adjacent to the siding).

 

(3) Long siding for coal, lime, feed etc, where the merchants unload from the wagon to carts and/or stores.

 

I can't claim that as particularly correct practice, but it makes sense on the ground!

Edited by Edwardian
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Definitely one to watch. I know the area fairly well, and once hand-dug a very large hole in Bagshot station yard (this is the sort of thing old lags get trainee engineers to do, while watching, supping tea, and offering helpful guidance regarding technique).

 

There was a proposal for a light railway across Chobham Common, at about your period, and I think some earthworks were started, but i’ll Have to delve into my book/ephemera cavern to confirm details.

 

Kevin

 

Visit to cavern unnecessary, the google knows everything http://wokinghistory.org/onewebmedia/151023.pdf

 

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27799/page/3874/data.pdf

Edited by Nearholmer
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Of course, a number of Terriers were sold off and scrapped 1898-1905, and 2 mainline companies acquired 3 between them, so it would be quite in order for the GSR to acquire one.

 

The WNR will!

 

EDIT: Picking up on Wagonman's point about goods facilities, yes yours are currently somewhat meagre for a town of any size.

 

The minimum I reckoned on for Castle Aching was 3:

 

(1) Shorter siding with end loading dock (maybe also livestock pens along part of the length)

 

(2) Long siding with goods shed adjacent for general merchandise, including goods to be kept under cover.  Needs to be serviced by a crane (yours will have one in the goods Sged, but query whether you need a larger one outside adjacent to the siding).

 

(3) Long siding for coal, lime, feed etc, where the merchants unload from the wagon to carts and/or stores.

 

I can't claim that as particularly correct practice, but it makes sense on the ground!

 

But then I might need to end up with an LB&SCR Terrier, an LSWR Terrier, a SE&CR Terrier *and* a GSR Terrier! With that many, they might start having puppies...

 

The layout of the yard is intended to be as follows:

post-793-0-89061700-1517141280_thumb.jpg

The goods shed can only be accessed by first moving any wagons ahead of it in the long siding out of the way first, making for some interesting shunting moves. I'm thinking that this yard would work along with a larger yard a little further out of town, in a less-cramped environment. Perhaps the GSR would charge a small "convenience" premium for using the central goods facilities? I'm not sure about an end-loading dock - anything being unloaded off the end of the wagon would be likely to be farm machinery (not necessary in town) or something on wheels which could be unloaded at the larger yard? Exceptions and corrections welcomed here, of course!

 

Definitely one to watch. I know the area fairly well, and once hand-dug a very large hole in Bagshot station yard (this is the sort of thing old lags get trainee engineers to do, while watching, supping tea, and offering helpful guidance regarding technique).

 

There was a proposal for a light railway across Chobham Common, at about your period, and I think some earthworks were started, but i’ll Have to delve into my book/ephemera cavern to confirm details.

 

Kevin

 

Visit to cavern unnecessary, the google knows everything http://wokinghistory.org/onewebmedia/151023.pdf

 

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27799/page/3874/data.pdf

Well, that certainly makes me feel that I've picked a plausible location!

 

Today's work has mostly been on the lining of my back-dated Bachmann E4. This model has had the smokebox shortened (as the loco in question would not have been superheated at the time of the model), the safety valves changed (to Salter valves on the dome) and is having a repaint into Stroudley Goods Green, with black lining (edged in red as the loco was Westinghouse fitted). I wasn't able to find any red-black-red lining, so have cheated and been using BR orange-black-orange lining transfers from Fox, coloured in with a red Sharpie permanent marker. This pen sticks to the printed orange lining, but rubs off the clear backing, giving lovely neat lining!

 

post-793-0-14305400-1517141790_thumb.jpg

 

(Apologies for the lighting, I'll try to take a better photo when I have access to my photo-posing plank and lighting!)

  • Like 7
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

But then I might need to end up with an LB&SCR Terrier, an LSWR Terrier, a SE&CR Terrier *and* a GSR Terrier! With that many, they might start having puppies...

 

And that's a problem?? :jester: :jester: :jester:

 

 

Today's work has mostly been on the lining of my back-dated Bachmann E4. This model has had the smokebox shortened (as the loco in question would not have been superheated at the time of the model), the safety valves changed (to Salter valves on the dome) and is having a repaint into Stroudley Goods Green, with black lining (edged in red as the loco was Westinghouse fitted). I wasn't able to find any red-black-red lining, so have cheated and been using BR orange-black-orange lining transfers from Fox, coloured in with a red Sharpie permanent marker. This pen sticks to the printed orange lining, but rubs off the clear backing, giving lovely neat lining!

 

attachicon.gifIMG_20180128_114810482.jpg

 

Not only did you go for the wonderful livery I mentioned, and got it done before me!! You even got it on RMWeb first!!!!!! :jester:

 

That's not to mention the fact you have done a better job at the livery than I will manage!

 

Gary

Edited by BlueLightning
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

But then I might need to end up with an LB&SCR Terrier, an LSWR Terrier, a SE&CR Terrier *and* a GSR Terrier! With that many, they might start having puppies...

 

The layout of the yard is intended to be as follows:

attachicon.gifTerminus with kickback sidings - lengths.jpg

The goods shed can only be accessed by first moving any wagons ahead of it in the long siding out of the way first, making for some interesting shunting moves. I'm thinking that this yard would work along with a larger yard a little further out of town, in a less-cramped environment. Perhaps the GSR would charge a small "convenience" premium for using the central goods facilities? I'm not sure about an end-loading dock - anything being unloaded off the end of the wagon would be likely to be farm machinery (not necessary in town) or something on wheels which could be unloaded at the larger yard? Exceptions and corrections welcomed here, of course!

 

Well, that certainly makes me feel that I've picked a plausible location!

 

Today's work has mostly been on the lining of my back-dated Bachmann E4. This model has had the smokebox shortened (as the loco in question would not have been superheated at the time of the model), the safety valves changed (to Salter valves on the dome) and is having a repaint into Stroudley Goods Green, with black lining (edged in red as the loco was Westinghouse fitted). I wasn't able to find any red-black-red lining, so have cheated and been using BR orange-black-orange lining transfers from Fox, coloured in with a red Sharpie permanent marker. This pen sticks to the printed orange lining, but rubs off the clear backing, giving lovely neat lining!

 

attachicon.gifIMG_20180128_114810482.jpg

 

(Apologies for the lighting, I'll try to take a better photo when I have access to my photo-posing plank and lighting!)

 

Nicely done, and what a great dodge for the lining.

 

Just about every station plan I've seen (braces for multiple examples of this not being so) had an end loading dock facility.  Necessary for unloading carriage trucks, for one thing (but if you want to make Sir Grumpy Soandsoe walk to an out of town goods yard to pick up his coach and horses ... 

 

Also, ideally you'd have space between sidings in a goods yard, necessary for unloading and for a horse to turn.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Nicely done, and what a great dodge for the lining.

 

Just about every station plan I've seen (braces for multiple examples of this not being so) had an end loading dock facility.  Necessary for unloading carriage trucks, for one thing (but if you want to make Sir Grumpy Soandsoe walk to an out of town goods yard to pick up his coach and horses ... 

 

Also, ideally you'd have space between sidings in a goods yard, necessary for unloading and for a horse to turn.

I wonder if a similar trick could be used for Stroudley IEG lining (white-black-red) using BR Express Blue lining transfers (white-black-white) and a steady hand with the Sharpie? Might have to try that.

 

Good point on the space between sidings. I'm really rather tight for width on this layout - I'll have to tweak a little and see what I can get away with - I'm already right at the minimum widths I'd be happy with for the platforms, and that front siding's getting pretty close to the front of the layout... I could squeeze a bit of space out of the road at the top, perhaps?

 

I propose that Sir Grumpy Soandsoe has a private siding rather closer to his stately home than this station, that being a proviso of allowing the railway to build across his land (also not unknown, I think!). Alternatively, I might be able to squeeze a small end-loading ramp at the end of the goods-shed siding, or extend the front siding through the road bridge to a short ramp, although that would possibly be pushing things. Maybe a ramp up through the road bridge?

 

I'm constantly having to fight what I imagine a station ought to look like, having been brought up on country branch-line terminus-style layouts with plenty of space!

Edited by Skinnylinny
Link to post
Share on other sites

Good point on the space between sidings. I'm really rather tight for width on this layout - I'll have to tweak a little and see what I can get away with - I'm already right at the minimum widths I'd be happy with for the platforms, and that front siding's getting pretty close to the front of the layout... I could squeeze a bit of space out of the road at the top, perhaps?

 

I propose that Sir Grumpy Soandsoe has a private siding rather closer to his stately home than this station, that being a proviso of allowing the railway to build across his land (also not unknown, I think!). Alternatively, I might be able to squeeze a small end-loading ramp at the end of the goods-shed siding, or extend the front siding through the road bridge to a short ramp, although that would possibly be pushing things. Maybe a ramp up through the road bridge?

 

I'm constantly having to fight what I imagine a station ought to look like, having been brought up on country branch-line terminus-style layouts with plenty of space!

 

Well, this presupposes that every railway customer who's traffic might require end-loading facilities was instead provided with a private siding!  I suggest an end-loading dock was pretty close to a standard facility at most stations.   Again, ready to be shot down in flames, but I suspect that bay platforms were less common than modellers often suppose.

 

All passenger trains needed to be run round.  This did not change until motor trains (push-pull) or railmotors got going from c1905.  Assuming your station was built before then, it would not have incorporated a bay with passenger traffic in mind.

 

I can see no logical reason why, in your situation, a railmotor or motor train would not have simply used the existing 2 main platform faces, and I suggest that this would be a more usual, hence prototypical, arrangement.

 

Rather, I would see a siding in the position of your bay as a means of dealing with parcels, milk and perishables and I would leave enough room at the end of it for end loading of carriage trucks.  You will note that all of this traffic tended to use passenger-rated vehicles, so it would be quite usual to have such a siding in such a position rather than in the goods yard.

 

This leaves you with two sidings, which, as per my previous suggestion, would be one for general merchandise/goods shed, and one for coal etc.  I realise that you are pushed for space, but if you can squeeze a little more space between these two sidings so that you could sensible claim to be able to unload from them, I think that you can fairly claim to have adequate goods facilities.  

 

EDIT: Referring to your graphic, I note that there is no way that you can provide road access to parcels etc traffic at the rear siding, at least if you retain the road on top of the retaining wall, as opposed to having one in front of it.  That is a great pity.  The use of this siding for fitted vans, livestock vehicles, CCTs and all manner of vans would have added an interesting and very prototypical dimension to the working of your station, with such vans being taken off and added to successive passenger trains. 

 

Frankly, I think you would be better off axing the goods facilities altogether in favour of a separate goods station, very common is towns, including market towns, e.g. GER at Wisbech, NER at Barnard Castle, to be located off scene.

 

Axe the rear bay/siding and save some width, and have one or two properly served sidings at the front for parcels etc.  Include an end loading dock and, perhaps, livestock facilities.  

 

Though, if it were me, I'd stick to the track plan, find a means of low-level access to the rear parcels etc siding and have a 2-siding goods yard with a bit of extra width. Might not be possible for you, but save for a little extra width, your within an ace of an ideal arrangement., IMHO. 

Edited by Edwardian
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

A good point well made there - I thought railmotors had started to exist a little earlier. I suppose there's no reason that one couldn't use the end-loading platform/siding at a later date to avoid blocking the run-around loop as long as I provide a facing-point lock in the correct direction. I was thinking of extending the platform canopy to cover that "bay platform" anyway, so I could definitely convert it to coaching-stock goods. All I'd need is a ramp up to street level, and presumably some fencing to separate passenger and goods traffic on the platform?

Link to post
Share on other sites

A good point well made there - I thought railmotors had started to exist a little earlier. I suppose there's no reason that one couldn't use the end-loading platform/siding at a later date to avoid blocking the run-around loop as long as I provide a facing-point lock in the correct direction. I was thinking of extending the platform canopy to cover that "bay platform" anyway, so I could definitely convert it to coaching-stock goods. All I'd need is a ramp up to street level, and presumably some fencing to separate passenger and goods traffic on the platform?

 

Yes, I think that's exactly what you'd need.

 

I remain unconvinced that passengers would embark and disembark from the bay/siding, but, when loading and unloading of fitted stock is not being undertaken there, I am sure that it would have been used to store vehicles in order to keep the platform roads clear.  So, a railmotor or a strengthening Third for your branch set, could hang out there.  Especially handy if under cover.   

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

But then I might need to end up with an LB&SCR Terrier, an LSWR Terrier, a SE&CR Terrier *and* a GSR Terrier! With that many, they might start having puppies...

 

The layout of the yard is intended to be as follows:

Terminus with kickback sidings - lengths.jpg

The goods shed can only be accessed by first moving any wagons ahead of it in the long siding out of the way first, making for some interesting shunting moves. I'm thinking that this yard would work along with a larger yard a little further out of town, in a less-cramped environment. Perhaps the GSR would charge a small "convenience" premium for using the central goods facilities? I'm not sure about an end-loading dock - anything being unloaded off the end of the wagon would be likely to be farm machinery (not necessary in town) or something on wheels which could be unloaded at the larger yard? Exceptions and corrections welcomed here, of course!

 

Well, that certainly makes me feel that I've picked a plausible location!

 

Today's work has mostly been on the lining of my back-dated Bachmann E4. This model has had the smokebox shortened (as the loco in question would not have been superheated at the time of the model), the safety valves changed (to Salter valves on the dome) and is having a repaint into Stroudley Goods Green, with black lining (edged in red as the loco was Westinghouse fitted). I wasn't able to find any red-black-red lining, so have cheated and been using BR orange-black-orange lining transfers from Fox, coloured in with a red Sharpie permanent marker. This pen sticks to the printed orange lining, but rubs off the clear backing, giving lovely neat lining!

 

IMG_20180128_114810482.jpg

 

(Apologies for the lighting, I'll try to take a better photo when I have access to my photo-posing plank and lighting!)

Very nice

 

Gary

Link to post
Share on other sites

Your re-finishing of stock is excellent.

 

One thing I should have mentioned about the Woking and bagshot LR was that it was to be electrified, so more Manx Electic than KESR.

 

Can I encourage you to include a bit of it on scene? If only because I can’t find time to build an Edwardian ‘interurban’ layout, much as I’d like to. Vicarious railway modelling, as opposed to a vicar’s model railway?

 

Kevin

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Oooh, an interesting thought. 

Electric tramways were, I believe, starting to become a thing in this period, including the Southampton Corporation Tramways, which started operating electric trams on January 22nd, 1900. There are a few more electric tramways dotted about the country, although they seem to be a lot more popular by about 1905. Electrical overhead on the main part of the layout would be a bit of a pain for re-railing and track-cleaning, so I'd prefer to avoid that making an appearance. Thoughts of moving trams would definitely provide some sort of movement to the roads, though would mean that the tram line would need to be kept clear of horses and pedestrians (for the model, at least). Perhaps if I had a little more space, but I suspect that in order to keep this layout from getting much more crowded, I might have to pass on that for now. Nothing stopping me getting an Oxford Diecast Manx Electric Railway car and repainting and reliverying it though!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, I think that's exactly what you'd need.

 

I remain unconvinced that passengers would embark and disembark from the bay/siding, but, when loading and unloading of fitted stock is not being undertaken there, I am sure that it would have been used to store vehicles in order to keep the platform roads clear.  So, a railmotor or a strengthening Third for your branch set, could hang out there.  Especially handy if under cover.   

I've managed to fit a ramp in, although I've had to shorten the rear siding substantially in order to get the ramp to anything below 1 in 5.5, which I think would be trying on a horse with a heavy load on a good day! I might consider having a human-powered winch near the top to give assistance in getting heavy loads up the ramp. I've not been able to figure out a nice-looking way of getting cover that far along the platform, but I'll keep thinking. I suppose I could have the retaining wall for the ramp extend to the height of the platform canopy and use that to support the canopy (with an access gate), then extend the roof a little further along, but my experiments have shown that this leaves the platform canopy looking very long and spindly, especially on an arrivals platform where one wouldn't expect people to be standing around for very long.

 

post-793-0-64495400-1517160459_thumb.png

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Is there any particular reason why the bridge and station building have to be in the middle of the platforms?  Would it not look better visually if it was at the far end where it would form a visual 'stop' against the backscene?  That would ease all the issues around access to the goods facilities and also allow the possibility of it becoming a through station in the future.

 

Jim

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...