Contractor's Railway?

[009 micro modeller]

Has anyone ever done a layout representing a contractor's railway as used to build the main lines during the 19th century? I am vaguely looking at doing something along these lines but I'm wondering what form operations would take e.g. is it a case of operating like a quarry railway only with spoil going out instead of aggregate and with ballast and track materials etc coming in? Also from the point of view of having a scenic break could I get away with having a completed bridge or tunnel with trains entering the scene through it and running to the next section of railway that is still being excavated? I think for stock I would just use some RT models wooden side tippers and some industrial or small ex-main line locos with the odd main line wagon making an appearance.

[luke the train spotter]

Sounds like a good idea. I've never seen one modelled before so the state is all yours.

[009 micro modeller]

I might not get round to it for a bit but it's a definite possibility. I do need to get more of an idea of what kind of workings would take place. One idea I quite like is to model a well known location as it would have been when under construction but I expect space constraints and research will make it easier to do a generic setting.

[Ruston]

Has anyone ever done a layout representing a contractor's railway as used to build the main lines during the 19th century? I am vaguely looking at doing something along these lines but I'm wondering what form operations would take e.g. is it a case of operating like a quarry railway only with spoil going out instead of aggregate and with ballast and track materials etc coming in? Also from the point of view of having a scenic break could I get away with having a completed bridge or tunnel with trains entering the scene through it and running to the next section of railway that is still being excavated? I think for stock I would just use some RT models wooden side tippers and some industrial or small ex-main line locos with the odd main line wagon making an appearance.

I think a contractor's railway is an excellent idea for a layout!

 

I would think that the operation of a layout would all depend on what you have on the scene and also what you imagine is creating traffic off-scene and at what stage the railway's construction is at.

 

There would be spoil being moved from cutting and tunelling operations to either being dumped or for creating embankments.

Movement of bricks or stone blocks for building bridge abutments, viaducts, retaining walls etc. plus timber and iron for the same type of constructions.

Ballast, sleepers and rail for the permanent way.

Traffic for the general supplies (perhaps in normal railway company wagons) that any settlement would need if you have a temporary town for the navvies somewhere.

Also, there could be passenger movements, in old ex-main line stock, for the navvies, if they have any great distance to go to get to where the current work is. An example of this is Nidd Valley Light Railway during the construction of the reservoirs at the head of the valley.

 

You may get ex-main line locos but that's more likely in the earlier days. From the 1860s there were many companies producing locos especially for industry and contractors. Manning Wardle being a prime example. Later main line types would usually be too heavy for the light track that contractors used before the "proper" permanent way was put down.

 

Be aware that the RT Models contractors wagons are made for EM and P4 and would need some work to get them to run on OO track. I am looking into either scratchbuilding some, or buying the Smallbrook resin ones. http://www.smallbrookstudio.co.uk/kits-parts/4569521214/conractors-side-tipping-waggon/4184299

[Nearholmer]

An excellent reference would be the book about construction of the GCR London Extension, called something like “The Last Main Line”. There is a good set of photos from the collection that was trawled to form the book online somewhere too. Yep, here it is http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/storycontents.php?enum=LE118

 

I’ve got a contemporary ‘how to do it’ book for railway construction engineers. It’s American, but I doubt that the basics were different by the early C20th, so if you decide to go-ahead, shout and I will copy some of the key diagrams of how to lay track out for various construction activities.

 

And, join the IRS.

 

The Northolt to High Wycombe section was built using Terriers, of course, so an easy way to start.

 

And, if you want narrow gauge, rather than standard, I know of examples at 3ft, 2ft, and, madly enough, 18in gauge used on surface railway construction contracts.

Edited March 17, 2018 by Nearholmer

[pauliebanger]

An excellent reference would be the book about construction of the GCR London Extension, called something like “The Last Main Line”. There is a good set of photos from the collection that was trawled to form the book online somewhere too. Yep, here it is http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/storycontents.php?enum=LE118

 

I’ve got a contemporary ‘how to do it’ book for railway construction engineers. It’s American, but I doubt that the basics were different by the early C20th, so if you decide to go-ahead, shout and I will copy some of the key diagrams of how to lay track out for various construction activities.

 

And, join the IRS.

 

The Northolt to High Wycombe section was built using Terriers, of course, so an easy way to start.

 

And, if you want narrow gauge, rather than standard, I know of examples at 3ft, 2ft, and, madly enough, 18in gauge used on surface railway construction contracts.

 

Thanks for posting this link.

 

Very interesting feature in there with some great contractors' locos. Despite many of the locos looking superficially similar the 2 or 3 variations of the MW K Class took my eye.

 

Paul

[figworthy]

Has anyone ever done a layout representing a contractor's railway as used to build the main lines during the 19th century? I am vaguely looking at doing something along these lines but I'm wondering what form operations would take e.g. is it a case of operating like a quarry railway only with spoil going out instead of aggregate and with ballast and track materials etc coming in? Also from the point of view of having a scenic break could I get away with having a completed bridge or tunnel with trains entering the scene through it and running to the next section of railway that is still being excavated? I think for stock I would just use some RT models wooden side tippers and some industrial or small ex-main line locos with the odd main line wagon making an appearance.

 

Old Gringo of this parish was showing the early stages of just that at the Gnosall exhibition last year.

 

Adrian

[sir douglas]

the book is called "The making of a railway" by Tom Rolt, i have a copy and would recommend it for inspiration

Edited March 17, 2018 by sir douglas

[Nearholmer]

That’s the one!

 

Having had another look at the online archive, I think it’s still worth getting the book, because I recall images that aren’t on line.

[Dava]

The GCR photos were taken by SWA Newton, the collection is online from Leicestershire County Council archive and can be searched as below for contractors locos;

 

http://imageleicestershire.org.uk/index.php?a=QuickSearch&q=Contractors%20locomotives&WINID=1521320984070

 

Dava

[009 micro modeller]

Be aware that the RT Models contractors wagons are made for EM and P4 and would need some work to get them to run on OO track. I am looking into either scratchbuilding some, or buying the Smallbrook resin ones. http://www.smallbrookstudio.co.uk/kits-parts/4569521214/conractors-side-tipping-waggon/4184299

I had been under the impression they were suitable for either 00 or finescale but I'd also forgotten about the Smallbrook ones. One way would be to use EM gauge but I think I'll probably stick with 00. If I did add some narrow gauge it would be 009 (my usual scale) whereas most Victorian lines were 3ft, although there were a few times when standard and NG were used on the same contract.

[2mm Andy]

I had been under the impression they were suitable for either 00 or finescale but I'd also forgotten about the Smallbrook ones. One way would be to use EM gauge but I think I'll probably stick with 00. If I did add some narrow gauge it would be 009 (my usual scale) whereas most Victorian lines were 3ft, although there were a few times when standard and NG were used on the same contract.

 

Nick Tilston at N Brass Locos does an etched kit for an 009 tipper. It's based on a Glyn Valley Tramway prototype, but looks generic-enough in my eyes for a contractor's railway;

 

http://www.nbrasslocos.co.uk/zwoodtip.html

 

Andy

[Nearholmer]

Yes, that’s pretty typical of a sub-3ft pre-steel tipper, if perhaps light on ironwork compared to some, which were very heavily ‘strapped’, like a pirate’s treasure chest.

[rope runner]

I had been under the impression they were suitable for either 00 or finescale 

 

 

Yes, they will run on 00 without modification. Couplings require a bit of thinking about though.

 

 

I must get round to touching those axle ends up with black paint...

 

Paul A. 

Edited March 18, 2018 by 1whitemoor

[ianblenk]

A snap of a blockyard I built some years ago

 

 

[28XX]

Another late mainline build worth researching for photos is the Stratford to Cheltenham section of the GWR.

[Ruston]

Yes, they will run on 00 without modification. Couplings require a bit of thinking about though.

 

DSC_0002 (6).JPG

 

I must get round to touching those axle ends up with black paint...

 

Paul A. 

I was only going from what Robert himself told me when I was looking at them at Warley. I thought he said something about the frames being too wide for OO and that they would need to be filed/sanded to fit OO wheelsets.

[rope runner]

I was only going from what Robert himself told me when I was looking at them at Warley. I thought he said something about the frames being too wide for OO and that they would need to be filed/sanded to fit OO wheelsets.

Hi Dave, 

 

I know the Chaldron wagon kits from RT require modification to run on 00 - but these were fine. The wheel spacing was set with an 00 back-to-back from DCC Concepts, and they go through Peco pointwork with ease. 

 

Cheers

 

Paul A. 

[wagonbasher]

Hi Dave, 

 

I know the Chaldron wagon kits from RT require modification to run on 00 - but these were fine. The wheel spacing was set with an 00 back-to-back from DCC Concepts, and they go through Peco pointwork with ease. 

 

Cheers

 

Paul A.

Of course the manning wardle kits that RT produce are pure contractors railway although they clearly were used in all kind of industries.

 

Andy

[009 micro modeller]

I suspect given the price difference and the fact that I will need at least 6 (2 rakes of 3) the RT tippers might have an edge over the Smallbrook. However, I have found it difficult to get free running on an 009 RT wagon that I built.

[Killian keane]

A great idea for a layout, also a nice little excuse to build some locos from the Boulton's siding stable, heres a few contractors piccies I've dug out

[sir douglas]

second one looks like a Hunslet and the one below is Severn tunnel, ive come across that photo on a webpage about building the it, the fourth one looks really nice

[Nearholmer]

Spotted today that there is a new book of Newton photos on the shelves: “Railways and Rural Life”.

 

It’s a good selection, with stacks of ‘contractor’s railway’ interest, but includes some very interesting ‘country folk’ too.

 

In stock at Ian Allan, Waterloo.

[RThompson]

The RT Models contractors wagon will build without modification to run on 00 gauge as the frames have been made 1.5mm narrower.

 

This comes with a simple fold up etched chassis to go under the castings to makes life easier.

 

I've been told by one experienced magazine writer that he loved building his rake send they certainly appear in magazine articles.

 

When I finally built my rake, I put a drop of oil onto the ends where I was drilling for the chains and literally drilled through as if it was butter with out breaking a single drill bit on 5 wagons.

 

It's the Seaham Chaldron wagon that needs modifying, not the chassis but the body due to it being to scale and catching the tops of the wheels in 00 gauge.

 

009 micro modeller, which wagon did you have trouble with in 009 please?

[Tom Burnham]

I have some old photocopies (too poor to reproduce) of photos taken when contractor William Rigby was building the Bexley Heath Railway, which was opened in 1895.  The photos are in the collection of the London Borough of Bexley Libraries, Local Studies Department.  The general procedure was to roughly clear and roughly fence the required land, then lay a light standard-gauge railway along it (the "overland" line) with light FB rails spiked to rather beat-up wooden sleepers.  Then use this to move material from cuttings to embankments.  By this time they were using steam navvies for the heavy digging, but there was a good deal of manual labour too.  Some characteristic features were rickety temporary timber footbridges over cuttings (maintaining rights of way) which were often lined with quite formally dressed spectators, odd rough wooden sheds, and water tanks supported on stout timber frameworks.  I would think people could be quite a feature of a model, navvies of course, the contractor or his agent with bowler hat and watchchain, various resident engineers (contractor's and railway staff) and the aforementioned spectators.  There might also be the local vicar, perhaps a lady missioner, and some of the small children who always seemed to get into the scene in those days, bringing their fathers' dinners in basins or baskets.  You could even have a photographer recording the scene for posterity, large camera on tripod and a black cloth over his head...