Eastern Branch Line track plan help needed

[Earl Bathurst]

Evening all

I am looking to build a small end to end layout. Total space is 12ftx 2ft max, scenic side about 8ft long with the fiddle yard about 4ft. I model BR Eastern Region, so will be looking to use D16,J15,J50,B12. Possible North Eastern Region. Looking for a station with about 3 coach length facilities with some sidings for shunting.

 

Any help would be great.

 

Scott

[woodenhead]

Evening all

I am looking to build a small end to end layout. Total space is 12ftx 2ft max, scenic side about 8ft long with the fiddle yard about 4ft. I model BR Eastern Region, so will be looking to use D16,J15,J50,B12. Possible North Eastern Region. Looking for a station with about 3 coach length facilities with some sidings for shunting.

 

Any help would be great.

 

Scott

Your locomotive stud isn't North Eastern it is Great Eastern except for the J50 which was Great Northern.

 

An East Anglian layout would lend itself to the space available to you, i don't have any suggested stations though.

[DCB]

The Eastern Region and LNER tended to keep their pre 1923 locos virtually to the end of steam,  there were exceptions but the D16, B12 and J15 are all Great Eastern locos while the J50 is I believe a GNR designed loco built as an LNER standard design.

You could do worse than check out the CJ Freezer 60 plans for small railways etc books and make the layout region specific with architecture signal boxes etc.  The B 12 /3 was a mainline secondary passenger loco rebuilt from the GER 1500 class in the 1930s with more or less the same boiler as the B17 which is more or less the same as the B1. They succumbed around 1959.   They were not really at home on branch lines so maybe a busy cramped urban terminus is the best solution for your space.   

[Zomboid]

They were not really at home on branch lines so maybe a busy cramped urban terminus is the best solution for your space.

Lowestoft Harbour? Could be the end of the East Suffolk line, rather than Lowestoft Central. Or even the proposed but never built Lowestoft Beach.

[PaulG]

You could do the Framlingham branch. B12's were used on the school specials. See the various Dr Ian Allan books and OS sheets are available for track plans.

[Pete the Elaner]

You've not mentioned what scale you are working in? I think most people assume 4mm until they are told otherwise but this may be an incorrect assumption.

I find Google Earth quite useful. Even now, you can still see the remains of track beds of lines closed due to Beeching's reports.

I have been copying a station recently. I find it fascinating to see the irregularities of even the most simple stations. The variation of brickwork, bricked up gaps in walls, patched up roofs, etc. Some of them seem too bizarre to be real.

[Fenman]

Can I suggest County School?

 

A rural junction in the middle of nowhere, Norfolk, which regularly saw heavy-ish specials behind B12/B17s taking pilgrims to Walsingham but otherwise was locals of 2 or 3 coaches hauled especially by D16s and later, if they take your fancy, early DMUs. Freight would usually be J15 or J17.

 

Paul

[Karhedron]

Not exactly my area of expertise but my wife's family used to run the Station Hotel at Wells-next-to-the-Sea. This was an interesting station that offers a bit more than the usual BLT.

 

http://www.wellsnextthesea.info/Wellsnextthesea/History/BW/Railway/Railway.html

[Fenman]

Not exactly my area of expertise but my wife's family used to run the Station Hotel at Wells-next-to-the-Sea. This was an interesting station that offers a bit more than the usual BLT.

 

http://www.wellsnextthesea.info/Wellsnextthesea/History/BW/Railway/Railway.html

 

Wells is a delightful terminus (it had at least one royal train stable there overnight, with the King sleeping on board), but will it fit into 12' X 2'?

 

Paul

[The Nth Degree]

A suitably cut-down version of Framlingham would be very interesting to operate in your period. I'm still deciding what to build in my future loft, and this is a strong candidate.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Wells is a delightful terminus (it had at least one royal train stable there overnight, with the King sleeping on board), but will it fit into 12' X 2'?

 

Paul

There was a 4mm model of Wells-next-the-Sea featured in RM in the mid 70s, a lovely layout.

 

A bit of compression and losing a couple of sidings would probably get it into 12' x 2'.

[south_tyne]

Most of the North Eastern termini tended to be quite sprawling affairs, particularly the rural ones. Middleton-in-Teesdale, Richmond, Wearhead, Alston and Allendale are all worth a look mind. Guisborough is an interesing one too, more urban and could be compressed. So could a slimmed down version of Durham Gilesgate.

 

For something a bit different, and more managable in terms of scale, consider Seahouses or Easingwold. Both light railways but which used NER stock on loan, albeit only small tank engines. A bit left-field but fantastic prototypes!

 

Moving to East Anglia, Framlingham is an excellent about. Mildenhall is worth a look too, very interesting but again quite vast in scale.

 

David

[Earl Bathurst]

Afternoon all

Thanks for all the responses much appreciated. I will be modelling this in 4mm scale. Wells by sea is a lovely prototype and a model a friend of mine is building at the moment in 4mm.

 

I never have much luck with google earth normally.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The GERS had a pretty comprehensive set of station diagrams in a set of loose bound booklets at one time. I may even still have one kicking about somewhere (from the days before I realised that the true and only path was Great Northern) but am in the wrong location to look right now. If interested send a PM as a 'reminder' to me, and I'll take a look on Christmas day or after.

[ejstubbs]

I never have much luck with google earth normally.

 

Have you tried old-maps.co.uk?  The old 1:2,500 scale maps can often provide a useful starting point for a track plan.  For example, here's Seahouses as previously mentioned on this thread:

 

[robert17649]

wish I had 12ft to play with

 

Merry Christmas!

[DCB]

I guess the post is not from the real Earl Bathurst.  The present incumbent lives in a sprawling estate with a "Five Mile Ride" in Cirencester so space is not an issue for him.

 

Seahouses is a great plan, 3 points, very much like the last GWR branch stations, however you need a decent length of main line to use as a headshunt.     I guess something more complex would be more fun in 8X2 scenic area.     I would avoid straight platforms and have the ground at platform level one side if I used Seahouses for a basis for a layout.

[south_tyne]

I guess the post is not from the real Earl Bathurst.  The present incumbent lives in a sprawling estate with a "Five Mile Ride" in Cirencester so space is not an issue for him.

 

Seahouses is a great plan, 3 points, very much like the last GWR branch stations, however you need a decent length of main line to use as a headshunt.     I guess something more complex would be more fun in 8X2 scenic area.     I would avoid straight platforms and have the ground at platform level one side if I used Seahouses for a basis for a layout.

 

Although I originally suggested Seahouses, I appreciate it is simple. However, I still think the loop and two sidings principle offers plenty of operational interest and would avoid being too cluttered in an 8' scenic section. It also offers the scope for a 'what if' scenario... if the operational life of the branch had had extended into the 1960s etc. 

 

Transplanting the concept of an independent light railway with locos on loan from BR might work in Norfolk or Suffolk too? Just substitute the J72 for a J15 and off you go. Think the East Suffolk Light Railway as inspiration - as similar coastal settlements, schemes to Orford, Hollesley or Bawdsey could all offer potential locations to set a layout.

[cnw6847]

There was a plan to convert the Southwold railway to standard gauge so how about Southwold.

[russ p]

How about mundesley after the Cromer line closed in 1953

Or Burnham market after the Wells line closed

[Team Traction]

hello

I would personally recommend county school station or Alysham station (both in Norfolk) Alysham used to be Standard Gauge before it got converted to narrow gauge in preservation

[Team Traction]

another idea is fakenham, in north Norfolk. I know all these places as im following the preservation to connect wymondham back with sherringham

[Ken.W]

The B 12 /3 was a mainline secondary passenger loco rebuilt from the GER 1500 class in the 1930s with more or less the same boiler as the B17 which is more or less the same as the B1. They succumbed around 1959.   They were not really at home on branch lines so maybe a busy cramped urban terminus is the best solution for your space.   

 

As others have said, your proposed loco roster would be GE area of Eastern Region. The NE Region largely corresponded with the former North Eastern Railway pre-grouping, and stock as appropriate.

Regarding B12s / B17s, I've a photo, from the B17 society, of a B17 at Bury St. Edmund's shed towards the end of steam, which I believe was on a single track branch and fairly rural?, so a B12 shouldn't look that out of place on your proposed scheme, perhaps a through portion from London?

 

 

[BillH]

I think a shortened version of Walton-on-the-Naze  could work, the plan is available from the Great Eastern Society and includes 4mm plans of the goods shed, engine shed and signal box cost (1.20). https://www.gersociety.org.uk/index.php/home/sales/files-emporium-2/product/50-ds012-buildings-at-walton-on-the-naze?search=Walton&description=true

 

Trains split at Thorpe-le-soken for Walton and Clacton so a three coach train pulled by a B12, D16 (LNER era) or a B1, B17 (BR era) are perfectly suitable for Liverpool st Trains. J15 on local services and goods. An N2 could be used in lieu of a N7 as station pilot Ivatt 2mt or L1 could also be suitable depending on timeframe. Walton-on-the-Naze also includes a turntable so it is well suited to 4-6-0s.

 

Aldeburgh is considered a classic branch line terminus for the GE region and has appeared in numerous publications, a plan based on Brightlingsea could also work. The details, plans and workings of both of these branches are well covered in a couple of Peter Payes books.

[sigtech]

Wells-Next-The-Sea is a very compact station,- I assume the stock was gravity shunted back into the platforms after being pushed out by the train loco, as there is not an obvious runround loop? Maybe someone could shed some light on the operational side of this?
In many photos there are no less than three engines in the station
Both platforms seem to be only capable of holding three bogie coaches - with a loco attached it stands beyond the platform starting signal in some photos.
The correct loco types are easier to find now thanks to Hornby:(D16/3) 4-4-0, new B12 4-6-0, J15 0-6-0. Diesels Brush type2(class 31) and dmu's(Bachmannn)Derby Lightweight and class 101's.
I am sure there are others I have missed...

Map of Wells station is circa 1939.
Regards
SIGTECH (Steve).