Any 1940s urban/Industrial Layouts?

[M.I.B]

Looking for inspiration. Have done search by word and opened up a lot of posts to little avail, so here goes wuith a request.

 

Looking for inspiration/other ideas for 1940s (pref GWR) urban/industrial scenes. (I'm not going to feature a station or OO guage felds of flock and cows).

 

Please can devotees let me know of any links to photos of 1940s urban or industrial layouts.

 

TY in advance.

[Ruston]

Try broadening your search. A 1930s, 1950s or 60s INDUSTRIAL railway layout is going to be broadly similar to one in the 1940s. And if it's heavy industry or an urban environment then other regions can be inspiration as there won't be mainline railway company architecture to shout WESTERN or whatever. The main differences will be in the wagons and possibly materials handling.

 

Obviously some industries don't appear in certain regions but use your own judgement on that. Rather than looking for other layouts for inspiration (always a bad thing IMO), look at real industrial railway systems.

[M.I.B]

Thanks - I have just looked through your two - highly impressive and inspirational, despite being dieselized. Lots to think about after reading those two.

[James]

look at real industrial railway systems.

Excellent suggestion!

 

Depending on where you live, you ought to visit Scunthorpe and take a tour round the works there - the Appleby Frodingham Railway Preservation Society run tour around the site and they are highly recommended! If you like industrial railways there is a huge amount there to inspire you!

[M.I.B]

Thanks for that link. Scunny is a long way from here in darkest Nth Essex.

 

I think my use of the word "industrial" should have been replaced with something like "mainline through industrial areas".

 

I'm just not a fan of layouts with lots of stations and rolling flocky hills. I'd rather have grimy factories, breweries, warehouses and lots of arches and bricks.

 

I will be running an old Triang 0-4-0 "Polly" tho - probably in my brewery sidings moving the GRANOs and ALEs around. Polly was my first 2 rail engine, and has had a recent re-chassis onto a modern Hornby saddle tank chassis. Bit of a brutal conversion, but it "works".

[Mr Nik]

I too am intrigued by industrial railways or railways in industrialised areas. When researching layouts I seem to recall that the most universal industrial subjects are gasworks or waterworks.

 

Your comment about disliking rolling flocky hills leads me to suggest looking at either Iain Rice’s Designs for Urban Layouts or the last chapter in ‘An Approach to Model Railway Layout Design in Small Spaces by the same author.

 

Any number of American books might help too. The strength of the American kit market has made modellers over the pond more inclined to take on railways in the urban environment.

 

Hope these signposts help.

[shortliner]

Thanks for that link. Scunny is a long way from here in darkest Nth Essex.

 

I think my use of the word "industrial" should have been replaced with something like "mainline through industrial areas".

 

I'm just not a fan of layouts with lots of stations and rolling flocky hills. I'd rather have grimy factories, breweries, warehouses and lots of arches and bricks.

 

I will be running an old Triang 0-4-0 "Polly" tho - probably in my brewery sidings moving the GRANOs and ALEs around. Polly was my first 2 rail engine, and has had a recent re-chassis onto a modern Hornby saddle tank chassis. Bit of a brutal conversion, but it "works".

 

MIB - just a suggestion but have a look at Mr Nevards blog here - http://www.rmweb.co....ewery-progress/ - You may have fun building the trackplan with RTR points, and it doesn't HAVE to be a brewery, but it will make an excellent little grimy industrialised area for moving a few wagons about. Just as a point of interest, if you are doing it in OO/HO code 100, Atlas do a variety of different angle diamonds, which might make your life easier - try speaking nicely to one of our US members or looking on Ebay

[M.I.B]

Thank you for those two tips. I like the brew-house LAYOUT . Will be following that with interest. That is "do-able" with RTR - some short PECO Ys and a double slip in the centre.

[James]

Scunny is a long way from here in darkest Nth Essex.

It always feels like it's a long way from everywhere!

 

But if you're anywhere near it's worth a trip - do it on the Saturday then head north to the NYMR or the NRM on the Sunday!

 

I think my use of the word "industrial" should have been replaced with something like "mainline through industrial areas".

A trip between Leeds and Manchester would probably provide a nice bit of inspiration!

 

Similarly, travelling along the mainline through Scunthorpe and Frodingham shows a line suirrounded by industry;

 

[Lord-Claud-Hamilton]

Your comment about disliking rolling flocky hills leads me to suggest looking at either Iain Rice’s Designs for Urban Layouts or the last chapter in ‘An Approach to Model Railway Layout Design in Small Spaces by the same author.

 

I can also recommend these two books, as well as 'Model Railway Planning and Design Handbook' from Santona Publications.

 

This book features layouts that are crammed with inspiration for the Urban modeller.....Walker Marine and Carlton Metals are my favourites, to name just two.

 

I have built both in Trainz and could easily be adapted for any location, industry and or time period IMHO. I'm certain they have been in RM (or another Mag) as well mentioned on this forum somewhere.

[coachmann]

Urban in Lancashire usually means heavy engineering, cotton mills and canals. Raw material in plus coal, finished product out. Plus lots of dank moss covered stone retaining walls holding back hilsides!

[steve1]

Slough Estates Railway might be worth a thought. There is a book by John Isherwood but now only available s/hand.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Slough-Estates-Railway-John-Isherwood/dp/0906867835

 

steve

[Oldfield_Park]

I know these layouts don't really fall specifically into your remit, but they really are well worth a look.

 

http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/modelpageindex.html

 

I think 'Wibdenshaw', 'The Brewery', 'Morfa Bank Sidings' and, specifically, 'Shenston Road' (although 1970s era, does have the industrial WR feel you're after, and there isn't a sheep in sight) would hold some interest for you.

[davknigh]

If you want compact industrial this should fill the bill; http://www.scalefour.org/shows/S4um2010/horsley.html

 

HTH

 

David

[Clifford Road]

Looking for inspiration. Have done search by word and opened up a lot of posts to little avail, so here goes wuith a request.

 

Looking for inspiration/other ideas for 1940s (pref GWR) urban/industrial scenes. (I'm not going to feature a station or OO guage felds of flock and cows).

 

Please can devotees let me know of any links to photos of 1940s urban or industrial layouts.

 

TY in advance.

 

Hi there,

You've mentioned what you'd like to do, but not said anything about scale or size ... I'm presuming OO gauge? What kind of size space have you got available and is it more shunting/actvitity or round-and-round that your after?

 

Cheers

Rich

[br2975]

GWR in the 1940s ?

 

Try the 'Glamorganshire Canal Railway' which connected with the GWR Riverside Branch (twixt Cardiff General & Clarence Road stations).

http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/large/item/GTJ69236/

http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/large/item/GTJ69202/

http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/large/item/GTJ69234/

http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/large/item/GTJ69237/

http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/large/item/GTJ69239/

 

THe line served wharves, warehouses, builders merchants, timber yards, scrap merchants, oil store, sand wharves and an anchor and chain 'proving house'. This would mean a variety of wagon types, predominantly opens, but vans for cement, plaster etc. the odd tank wagon, bogie bolsters for timber and opens and 'special wagons' for the proving house traffic.

 

Most of the traffic was of a "wagonload" type and the line abounded with sharp curves, a few wagon turntables and level crossings.

.

Cardiff Corporation bought the Glamorganshire Canal in 1944 which by that time only saw maritime traffic for the last mile to the Sea Lock. They intended to lay a water main along the course of the canal from Merthyr Tydfil.

.

When Cardiff Corporation bought the canal, the railway came with it, and was operated by an Avonside 0-4-0ST 'Delwyn'.

 

The Avonside was sold, and replaced by a Greenwood & Batley 4wBE loco which worked the line until closure in early 1963.

 

My father worked for Cardiff Corporation and the engine driver was a neighbour of ours which earned me a footplate ride on "GreenBat" as it was known.

 

Such was my infatuation with the loco, my dad bought me the maroon Tri-ang steeple cab loco the following Christmas as it bore a strong similarity to "GreenBat".

 

Brian R.

[M.I.B]

Thanks for the fiurther posts - all have something for me to "take away".

 

I am in OO and have no set room for this - I don't even have a set house yet as I am in stop-gap temporary accomodation until I find something that ticks all the boxes.

 

I have just seen Empire Basin posted on the "London Layouts" page, and that hit's the spot - upper level for some roundy roundy parcels and passenger express work, and a lower level with a brewery, warehousing, perhaps a canal quay, and a shed with a turntable. All ficticious, but West of London" in the late GWR days, but not so time specific that I can't run a Dean Goods, or some of the early GWR tanks my father made in the 60s.

[shortliner]

Malcolm Carlssen (sp?) had a series in SMT called MicrO Layout (it also appears in the Gauge O small layout book #1) it was 4' x 1' (I Think!) with a 3' fiddle extension. It was a SCATS warehouse with a small attached yard and a platform with a shelter, for the works train. It used a home built interlaced point to reduce the length - Let me know if I need to dig! You could also look on http://www.carendt.u...e56a/index.html for St Johns Yard 38" x 14" in OO - designed by me for a friend, who had specific pointwork available for a specific sized board