Edwardian Brick Works in 8'x5'

[Schooner]

Afternoon all, 

 

Unable to sleep recently, and kept inside by the weather today my thoughts have turned away from my normal diversion overall on to a small corner of it: a self-contained little industrial tramway. This might be based on South Hams Brick Works on the river Yealm, South Devon, c.1905: 

 

Keen to keep the rural feel - this is not heavy industry - but still justify a 009 steam loco or few, I bent the tramway plan into a rough fit with the base board and then expanded operations until I felt motive power wouldn't look ridiculously overkill. I 'discovered' another source of clay, bumping up the number of pits and sidings and increasing the through-put of the factory. Space being tight, increased productivity was sought in improved speed of operations rather than straight expansion . A tramway was laid from kilns to stacking yard. Later, perhaps partly a vanity, the owners purchased a steam loco to rattle wagons about the site more quickly. These additions necessitated a loop for clay wagons and one for brick traffic, a loco shed and workshop, and a way to more efficiently move empty wagons around the site. 

 

Over a few iterations, this is the trackplan I eventually got to:

 

 

What do you reckon? The aim was fit the entire operation into a reasonable 8'x5' space, referencing the prototype (ideally enough to be recognisable) but not held hostage by it. I think it would allow a reasonable facsimile of brickworks operation, but I know very little about what those actually are beyond the steps numbered above; nor very much about modelling or layout design. Of 009, I know nothing

 

Operations are essentially empty trucks to the pits (2 > 1); clay from pits to factory (1 > 2); formed bricks to drying shed (2 > 3) then to firing in the kilns (3 > 4) and stacking (4 > 5) before being shipped by rail (siding at the top of plan) or sail (small quay at the bottom). Then the empties to be returned, to the loop South of the factory I think.

 

I see the layout being functionally split in half - one loco dealing with clay and empties on the left, another dealing with bricks in their various stages on the right. I did start with a sector plate idea inside the factory, but feel the 'straight' run through is probably better. Does it make much difference either way? The loco shed was a bit tricky to place somewhere that felt reasonable, and up until 10 minutes ago was in the 'disused clay pit'. Now it's moved, I think the tramway could be ripped up   Talking of locos, I thought RT Models' De Winton coffee pot pit-side and perhaps a Bachmann Hunslet brick-side...? I'm also tempted to give the works it's own standard gauge loco and wagons too, although it's really not big enough, to work the siding up to the line - any excuse to imagine a Black Hawthorn or Neilson pottering about!

 

The quay would have a model of the Tamar barge Lynher alongside - she fits all the criteria of time, place etc and size! Stand guage rail traffic would be as you'd expect - a shunted open wagon or two.

 

Never one to let ignorance stand in the way of a miserable afternoon's displacement activity, below are some 3/4 pics from SCARM's non-too-beautiful interface showing a rough idea at what I had in mind for scenics:

 

I'd love to hear any improvements I can make to the fundamental layout to bring it closer into line with reality or practicality - could the location of the engine shed be improved, for example? Any pointers to sources of real-world or model information or any ideas to make the whole thing come together, I'm all ears

 

Thanks for your time, be safe on this horrid afternoon,

 

Schooner

 

ps. Track is all Peco 009, as per the library in SCARM. I found this fairly restrictive, are there other more exentisve libraries?

Edited February 16, 2020 by Schooner
Links for proposed locos added

[KeithMacdonald]

@Schooner

 

I like it. :-)

 

Just wondering if this could be a case of "less is more" Or too well landscaped? Would a few semi-derelict clay pits with big puddles be out of place?

 

A model of the Tamar barge Lynher alongside the lower quay would definitely look good. I'm trying to remember where I've seen the real thing. It might have been at Morwellham Quay, or at Cotehele.

 

Have you had a look at the Steer Point location in NLS site-by-site maps?

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=50.3359&lon=-4.0433&layers=6&right=BingHyb

 

Or taken a virtual drive down Steer Point Road in Google Street View?

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.3351246,-4.0447343,3a,75y,338.09h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s959-gUwOwdSU5J8JaGvotw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D959-gUwOwdSU5J8JaGvotw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D345.60388%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

 

The road you've modelled is a lovely clean well-made two-lane road, whereas the real thing is a roughly-tarmaced single-track road. I'm guessing that back-in-the-day, that would have been a narrow dirt track. But I'm only guessing.

 

Good luck!