Seaside & Holiday Island Narrow Gauge

[Oldddudders]

20 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Good to see that people were having soggy summer sojourns in north wales back then too.

Said a Welsh Tourist Board spokesman. 

[papagolfjuliet]

Here's the single during its Fairbourne sojourn. Now there's a job for a Bachmann 'Emily.'

Edited October 24, 2023 by papagolfjuliet

[papagolfjuliet]

1 minute ago, Oldddudders said:

Said a Welsh Tourist Board spokesman. 

 

[Nearholmer]

We struck lucky with our week in NW this year:

 

I’ve had weeks there at both extremes, and sometimes both extremes within a few hours.

[whart57]

Not narrow gauge, but a quartet of lines that were, and still is in one case, closely associated with beach holidays.

 

The Dutch North Sea coast is typified by miles of sand dunes running from Calantsoog in the North all the way down to the Belgian border. Sand dunes lead to sandy beaches and ever since beach holidays started to become popular that coast attracted visitors. Thousands of them. Away from the beach though the sand dunes are infertile and unstable, farming is impossible and aside from the occasional sand quarry there is no industry. So for a couple of months of the year, passenger traffic is high, but for the rest traffic is minimal. That led to the Dutch building some lines out to the coast but only operating the outermost parts during the summer holiday season.

 

Three of the lines were standard gauge light railways - lokaalspoor in Dutch parlance - running out from Alkmaar. From south to north they were the lines to Egmond, Bergen and Schoorl though in the latter case the line turns back in land and continues further. The villages all lie on the landward side of the dunes and for most of the year the stations of Egmond and Bergen are the end of the line. The Holland Railway company however provided an extension through the dunes to the beach at both seaside resorts, and these extensions carried heavy traffic in summer months. Summer trains were long, five or six carriages, so platforms were long and the stations had to be provided with places for travellers to queue for the next train. This postcard showing Bergen aan Zee station gives the idea

 

 

The NS 7700 class 0-6-0T was closely associated with these lines in North Holland, and one of them, No 7742, is still preserved on the Hoorn-Medemblik heritage railway. In the early years however the typical locomotive would have been a Holland Railway "Animal" class 0-4-0T like this one photographed at Egmond aan Zee in the years before WW1

 

 

The situation at Schoorl was slightly different. The line from Alkmaar reached the village but then it turned inland to head towards Warmenhuizen and, originally, Schagen. There was no line to the beach. And no road either. Even today the beach at Schoorl aan Zee can only be reached after a 4km cycle through the dunes. Summer trains to Schoorl were typified by the long string of goods wagons attached which were filled with visitors' bicycles

 

 

These days all three lines are no more. The Bergen line lasted longest for passenger traffic, but closed in 1955. The line to Schoorl lasted until about 1970 but as a goods only branch serving the vegetable growing area around Warmenhuizen.

 

The fourth example is different. It was a mainline, and was the extension from Hoek van Holland harbour, where the ferries to England depart from, to Hoek van Holland Strand. The line was electrified in the 1930s. However these days the North Sea ferry traffic is cars and lorries so there is no longer demand for mainline trains to Hoek van Holland. Thus a few years ago the line was handed over to Rotterdam and it is now part of the Rotterdam metro system. However this picture shows what it was like in later NS days.

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

When we travelled on the Hoorn-Medemblik, the guard informed us that there would be an unscheduled stop to pick up a party of Women's Institute members. I was expecting a group of rather elderly ladies with a frail look about them, but not a bit of it. The train was stormed by about thirty late-middle-aged Amazons, each wielding a huge upright bicycle, which is no mean feat up steps from a ground-level platform, who proceeded to make the most tremendous racket (by the laughter, I’m sure they were telling one another risqué stories/jokes). I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of the WI in the Netherlands.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Nearholmer

[steve1]

The Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway has started its Santa Specials for this year. They are using a Ratty loco, Bonnie Dundee, plus a small diesel 0-6-0 to top’n’tail. In addition, ‘Rudolph’ is providing sleigh rides.

 

steve

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by steve1

[whart57]

While looking for something else I found this image taken from the 1964 Ken Russell film French Dressing. It's Herne Bay pier showing the remaining tracks of the pier tramway, and also the reason why it didn't reopen in 1945

 

[whart57]

And this Youtube clip of the opening credits of French Dressing simulates what a driver's view - or conductors's view might have been on the working tramway

 

 

[whart57]

On 22/05/2022 at 15:11, Nearholmer said:

Either metre or 3’ 6” seems likely, but it is just possible that it ended-up with a weird gauge due to the underlying structure of the pier. Rails were probably clipped direct to structural members running the length of the pier, and if they were at 3’ 6” centres across the pier, and the track was centred on the beam, which would be logical for load-bearing purposes, bingo, a strange gauge results.

 

I found these two photographs that give some idea of the pier structure as they are taken from underneath. These clearly show that the main load bearing structure is two hefty girders close to the outer edges which rest on the supports and regular smaller cross girders. The pier decking goes across the pier though so there must be something between them and the cross girders, presumably wood to allow the decking planks to be screwed down. The screw or nail heads are visible on the 1960s picture above and that suggest the spacing is not that for the rails.

 

[papagolfjuliet]

Am madly in love with this Porsche locomotive on a German miniature railway. 

 

https://badeninfo.de/retro-zauber-im-schlossgarten-highlight-start-mit-restaurierter-porsche-lok-der-karlsruher-schlossgartenbahn/?fbclid=IwAR37HD_nkbxkmORSaH_hqF92GJgc4VIJDPO-6Bf4pEASmUgqvstFnq3Fark#fb

[Nearholmer]

What you might call an acquired taste!

[papagolfjuliet]

Reminds me very strongly of those 'retro' tinplate clockwork cars they sell in the more old-fashioned toy shops.