UK Inglenook Plus layout

[stivesnick]

A look on the American pages of this site will reveal a series of Inglenook Plus type layouts. By this I mean, the original Inglenook concept has been expanded to additional and longer sidings to the original idea of a small shunting layout. Mainly in HO but could suit any scale. For followers of  American railroads, there are plenty of suitable prototype examples with videos, right up to the present day, of small yards serving multiple companies and a range of wagons. 

 

My idea for a N gauge version is shown below. There is no fiddle yard or run around loop. Operation is as follows. 4 wagons areplaced on one of the tracks that represents the "main line". These arethen switched with some of the existing wagons on the layout. The layout has locations for 7 wagons, At the end of the sequence, the outgoing wagons aremanually replaced by 4 new wagons and the process starts again.  

 

I also have many modern UK wagons, so would a UK equivalent be feasible or realistic? There is very little wagonload freight left on Network Rail tracks these days, but go back to the Speedlink era  and things might work.  There were a number of small road/rail distribution centres such as the Potter Group terminals in Ely  or Selby and Deanside Transit near Glasgow. Some China Clay sites may also be suitable. 

 

Has anybody got any further suggestions of sites or industries that handled small number of different types of wagons?

 

Nick  

 

[Rivercider]

I'm not sure there are any decent photos, but Avonmouth Town Goods was quite compact and handled Speedlink traffic, fertiliser, and imported timber among the commodities. 

Roche chemicals at Dalry handled different wagon types, but I have no idea of the layout of the sidings there.

Bridgwater yard handled a variety of traffic in the Speedlink era, M Thomas Distribution were the agents using the former UKF fertiliser depot, could a corner of the yard there be adapted?

 

cheers

[Steven B]

As you've mentioned, one of the rail-connected freight terminals such as Gilbraith in Blackburn are one option.

 

Some others to consider:

Chemical works - range of tanks, opens & vans depending on traffic types. There's also the potential of managing brake vans and barrier wagons

MoD sites could attract a large range of wagons types including internal user wagons.

 

There's always the fall back of an engineers sidings or wagon works.

 

Steven B.

[Gilbert]

I wanted to run Railfreight stock - my "best" memories of the railway - but also wanted an Inglenook so I just accept its a shunting puzzle with locos and wagons I like. My "plus" is a small platform with its own exit to the fiddle yard which means I could probably run a more prototypical sequence if I wanted. The result is Penmaenbach. I also have selection of "Dutch" departmental stock from the same era...

 

[stivesnick]

Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas.

 

I like the idea of a chemical plant - I already have some polybulk, cargowagons and tank containers that could be used. I have an N gauge Society Hunslet shunter on order that would be ideal to use, although the odd mainline locomotive turning up can ot be ruled out.

 

Thanks again 

 

Nick 

[DCB]

Its difficult to find a plausible BR situation for this kind of traffic post about 1980,  but hey people operate models of branch lines which closed in 1955 with 1957 livery locos.

Internal user networks could be a better idea, Aluminum smelter, Brewery, Steelworks, Brewery  docks. or Brewery

Might be more fun to abandon reality completely and have a Jam Butty, or treacle mine or Liquorice Allsort assembly plant.     Shades of the Madder Valley a scenario more plausible than many accurately researched layouts.

 

[stivesnick]

6 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

Its difficult to find a plausible BR situation for this kind of traffic post about 1980,  but hey people operate models of branch lines which closed in 1955 with 1957 livery locos.

Internal user networks could be a better idea, Aluminum smelter, Brewery, Steelworks, Brewery  docks. or Brewery

Might be more fun to abandon reality completely and have a Jam Butty, or treacle mine or Liquorice Allsort assembly plant.     Shades of the Madder Valley a scenario more plausible than many accurately researched layouts.

 

I agree, which is why I asked the question in the first place, just in case I had missed a real example.  I may well end up doing the American version. but ACME Chemcials (UK) set in the 1980s is still possible.

 

The decider will  be; do I treating myself to a new Farish Class 31 or some new american 50 foot box cars? 

 

Nick

[Gilbert]

I can't speak for N but in terms of small layout gratification my N American HO stock runs and uncouples etc far better than my 4mm stuff - although to be fair its a lot better than it used to be and I now use Kadees on my 4mm stuff.....but I do like a model that's close to home.....a dilemma..

Chris

Edited December 12, 2020 by Gilbert

[CKPR]

Other examples of locations that had Speedlink-served 'traditional' good yards into the 1980 might include Dumfries and Haltwhistle.

[ColinK]

Thanks for the suggestions of traditional goods yards used by Speedlink - very useful for my next OO layout.

 

I’ve got a 0-16.5 ‘Inglenook plus’ called Quality Street.  It’s a rail served chocolate factory, sometimes DRS, Frieghtliner and EWS narrow gauge locos do the shunting.

[stivesnick]

 

The PD Stirling  depot adjacent to Mossend Yard has 3 tracks in classic Inglenook style, although they can take 8-10 wagons each. There is a picture of the sidings dated 1988 in the Freight Only Vol3: Wales and Scotland by Michael Rhodes and Paul Shannon. The text in the book says the sidings handled a wide range of traffics including steel. china clay, coal, lime, liquid nitrogen, food and government stores.  

 

Plenty of scope here for a lyout. 

 

Nick  

[5050]

As the length of a layout like this is always going to be but a fraction of the length of an equivalent prototype I wouldn't worry to much about  fidelity.  Make sure that the lengths of the sidings are such that doing the shunting isn't to easy, make them just long enough to hold 'x' number of wagons so that the procedure of shunting needs a fair amount of thought before and during moves.  On my 'Enigma Engineering' layout I did this and also used a simple card system to determine which wagons went where.  An Inglenook design is, I know, totally different to EE but a card system does ensure some level of purpose to movements.