Common features of Colonel Stephens light railways

[RateTheFreight]

Evening all,

 

Apologies if this isn’t the correct part of the forum to post in.

 

I’m looking to build a small O gauge layout based on a fictitious Colonel Stephens style standard gauge light railway. In theory it will be a hybrid of some of his Railways.

 

My question is, did his light Railways share common themes, I.e type of traffic/stock, signalling/operation, general condition, purpose of the line, etc? Did they all have mainline interchanges or links with other transport modes such as canals/rivers?

 

My hope is to create something that would be recognisable as an extension of Colonel Stephens empire without it being a direct copy of one of his Railways.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Greg

[Nick Holliday]

The answers to all your questions are yes and no. The Colonel became involved with a wide range of projects, more than the couple of self-contained lines normally associated with him, and the only feature common to most of them was the lack of finances. I suggest you find a copy of "Railways of Arcadia" by J Scott-Morgan which gives photographic coverage and commentary on all his projects, and then draw your own conclusions as to what a typical Colonel Stephens' railway looks like. Lines like the Festiniog Railway and the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway came under his aegis for some of their life, rather a contrast to the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway!

[The Johnster]

Colonel Stephen's railways; features in common:-

 

Run down look, general decrepitude, everything filthy and in a state of disrepair, staff terrified of losing their jobs which they'd probably be better off without, bullying managers equally terrified of the Colonel.

 

Features differing:-

 

Everything else.

[Nick Holliday]

A little bit unfair. Many of his lines started out with brand new locos and coaches, with neat trackwork and smart buildings. However, it is also true that many subsequently declined as running costs outdid takings, resulting in a shoestring budget and bringing in second hand rolling stock and skimping on maintenance. Some of his lines survived to be nationalised and I believe some are still in use, so not all bad.

Can't really comment on his personnel management skills, but I thought he was quite charismatic, and that there was good loyalty amongst his staff. The way they managed to keep services going, despite the wheels falling of the wagon, was often impressive, and his sidekick, Austen, stuck by him through to the end.

[Dava]

The Colonel has his own Society and museum at Tenterden, either is a good starting point. Museum has a s/h bookshop, there are quite a lot of books & booklets, not too expensive.

 

http://www.colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/

 

The Society will have a stand at the excellent Narrow Gauge South event at Eastleigh on 7 April with some SG layouts as well. All recommended.

 

Dava

[Dava]

Colonel Stephen's railways; features in common:-

 

Run down look, general decrepitude, everything filthy and in a state of disrepair, staff terrified of losing their jobs which they'd probably be better off without, bullying managers equally terrified of the Colonel.

 

Features differing:-

 

Everything else.

You could be describing Arriva Trains Wales up the valleys which I'd guess you'd be familiar with?

 

Dava

[Andy Kirkham]

The Colonel was fond of railcars such as these

 

 

[Rivercider]

Looking at the list of lines he was involved in it was a very diverse group, of varying gauges.

On some he was involved in the construction, on others in the rebuilding.

Some lines had locos from new, but later most had second hand stock.

It depends what era you intend to model, early photos do show clean locos and stock,

but later shortage of money would often mean a more run-down look.

 

If I was to model a fictitious railway it would be standard gauge, with a connection to a mainline railway for exchange freight traffic.

Locos, would be small tank locos, no two the same, but including one Terrier, with 4-wheel coaches. 

 

cheers  

[Andy Kirkham]

 

Locos, would be small tank locos, no two the same, but including one Terrier, 

 

 

And there is a fair chance that one of them would be named Hesperus.

 

 

I think this is the go-to resource for your query http://www.colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/

Edited March 27, 2018 by Andy Kirkham

[nick_bastable]

And there is a fair chance that one of them would be named Hesperus.

 

 

I think this is the go-to resource for your query http://www.colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/

and well worth £10 a year to join

 

Nick

[davy crockett]

The S & M was one of the Colonels lines, full of used stock he could get from anywhere. A must would be Gazelle sitting somewhere, his icon loco.

[EddieB]

The Colonel was fond of railcars such as these

 

One has been recreated and is on display at Tenterden.

[Dava]

The Colonel was fond of railcars such as these

 

 

 

The Col Stephens Ford and Shefflex bus-on-rails concept reached its eventual/awful conclusion [we hope] with the Leyland National bus-on-rails, still running 35 years later as classes 142-3 on Northern Rail and....Arriva Trains Wales....Mr Johnster...?

 

Dava

[Steamport Southport]

The S & M was one of the Colonels lines,

 

Ooh er Missus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Nearholmer]

The common features of light railways tend to be more around what they don’t have, than what they do.

 

This is because most were built or operated under the provisions of the LR Act 1896, which permitted some relaxation from the requirements for ordinary railways, in order to reduce the costs of serving areas that would be uneconomic to serve ordinarily.

 

Here is the Act (you might need to toggle to get the original version) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/59-60/48/contents/enacted

 

It says next to nothing about the physical or operating features of a LR, being mainly about how they shall be authorised, but it does say: “2)The Board of Trade may make such rules as they think necessary for regulating the procedure under this Act, whether before the Board of Trade or before the Light Railway Commissioners, and any other matters which they may think expedient to regulate by rule for the purpose of carrying this Act into effect.”

 

The BoT did this by specific relaxations of their requirements, and if you look here, in Appendix II, you can see what relaxations were permitted http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_Requirements1950.pdf

 

It is often said that speed had to be limited to 25mph, but that is a confusion with an earlier provision, in an earlier act, which attempted to define LR too prescriptively, and failed, largely because it didn’t strip away the huge legal costs of promoting a railway, which the 1896 Act did.

 

The defining feature was usually cheapness, which emerged in all sorts of ways: twisty and steep alignments to cut the cost of earthworks; light FB rail, which in turn limited axle-weight; low speed, because on twisty, light, track, fast was fatal (the speeds were either set in the enabling order for the individual line or by agreement with the BoT inspector); minimal signalling, and block control by ‘phone; absence of signal boxes; ground frames, often using ‘economical’ facing point locks; absence ofcrossing gates at level crossings, except at very busy roads; very basic station buildings, usually timber or corrugated iron buildings at ‘large’ places and a bare bench elsewhere; very simple, often narrow and low, platforms; barely any lighting; very cheap fencing, usually post and wire.

 

The Colonel was the mater of designing cheap railways as above, but others were pretty good at it too. Two things that The Colonel seemed to favour heavily were wind pumps (think cowboy films) to raise water to tanks, which was a lot cheaper than using a steam or oil engine for the job, and circular corrugated iron goods stores, both of which look straight out of a contemporary agricultural catalogue.Oh, and rainwater to flush gents toilets!

 

Don’t forget that 1896 was in the ‘concrete’ age, so quite a few small things like culverts and bridge piers might be made from that, and that the brief light railway building boom coincided with the corrugated iron boom.

 

A newly built LR was a neat affair, much more like a colonial railway than a typically over-specified British Branch line, and the rolling stock was usually new, or very good secondhand, not a load of broken-down old crocks. One common feature was the use of coaches with ‘balconies’, which are a lot better suited to the task than compartment coaches. The Colonel bought Terriers early in the game because they were ideal, and had been very well maintained.

 

The onset of crockery generally came after about 1925 (steam LRs were still being built, just, then), when buses and lorries sliced into the earning capability, so that ‘sensibly cheap’ quickly became ‘utterly impoverished’, despite things like the railbuses.

 

But, that is only a ‘back of a fag packet’ sketch of a lot of variety, with a view to highlighting ‘signature features’.

 

Kevin

 

PS: and, yes, classical names for locos, always at least one ‘Hesperus’, often several!

Edited March 27, 2018 by Nearholmer

[robert17649]

well you could argue that Stephens was the only man known who could run basically passenger railways at something near a profit. this without subsidy or government support.

Which almost no-one in the world can or has done.

 

There are also examples of quite serious engineering such as the Calstock viaduct, still in use and only on a small branch line because of Government stupidity and lack of foresight.

Also a number of his railways still live on in the heritage preserved sector, and of course regular services still run on the Devonport and Calstock line.

 

What I believe to be remarkable about Colonel Stephens line is the innovation  eg petrol railcars etc and ability to do quit well with tatty stock and second hand stuff, something that modern English railways cannot do with new stock and slick systems which more often than not result in an expensive and inefficient service.

 I recently traveled from La Rochelle to Rochefort . roughly as a far as from Plymouth to Exeter, no railcards merely evidence of advancing years it cost 12 quid for wife and self and two bikes. return the train was on time the buffet worked and so on.

 

I like the idea of colonel Stephens he put his money where his mouth was and made stuff work, sadly there are very few here now who can do the same.

 

end of rant. For a modeller the ralways rrally do offer the basics of rule no 1 its mine and i'll run what I like!

[TonyA]

 

The Colonel was the mater of designing cheap railways as above, but others were pretty good at it too. Two things that The Colonel seemed to favour heavily were wind pumps (think cowboy films) to raise water to tanks, which was a lot cheaper than using a steam or oil engine for the job, and circular corrugated iron goods stores, both of which look straight out of a contemporary agricultural catalogue.Oh, and rainwater to flush gents toilets!

 

 

 

One feature that I do remember reading about was the total absence of Ladies toilets, which was attributed to the fact that the Colonel was a bachelor. The other thing was the prevalence of flies around the Gents toilet during dry weather, though that might be harder to model except in very large scale.

 

Tony

[robert17649]

One feature that I do remember reading about was the total absence of Ladies toilets, which was attributed to the fact that the Colonel was a bachelor. The other thing was the prevalence of flies around the Gents toilet during dry weather, though that might be harder to model except in very large scale.

 

Tony

might be difficult if they are open!

[nick_bastable]

 very simple, often narrow and low, platforms; barely any lighting; very cheap fencing, usually post and wire.

The Colonel was the mater of designing cheap railways as above, but others were pretty good at it too. Two things that The Colonel seemed to favour heavily were wind pumps (think cowboy films) to raise water to tanks, which was a lot cheaper than using a steam or oil engine for the job, and circular corrugated iron goods stores, both of which look straight out of a contemporary agricultural catalogue.Oh, and rainwater to flush gents toilets!


Kevin

the round huts where WW1 army surplus

 

 

 

Nick

[jjb1970]

The colonel was a wind power visionary, he was 100 years ahead of his time! If only he'd connected some wires to those windmills......

[Tom Burnham]

well you could argue that Stephens was the only man known who could run basically passenger railways at something near a profit. this without subsidy or government support.

Which almost no-one in the world can or has done.

 

 

On the larger standard gauge lines such as the K&ESR and the S&M, passenger traffic was distinctly secondary to goods.  Mixed trains were often found - loco, one bogie coach or a couple of 4-wheelers, a few wagons with an "LV" (last vehicle) board hung on the last one.  The "old" K&ESR did own a goods brake van or two at various times but they were practically never used.  Brake vans on the end of mixed trains only came in after nationalisation, when the Southern Region tried to apply their rule book...

[Nick Holliday]

On the larger standard gauge lines such as the K&ESR and the S&M, passenger traffic was distinctly secondary to goods.  Mixed trains were often found - loco, one bogie coach or a couple of 4-wheelers, a few wagons with an "LV" (last vehicle) board hung on the last one.  The "old" K&ESR did own a goods brake van or two at various times but they were practically never used.  Brake vans on the end of mixed trains only came in after nationalisation, when the Southern Region tried to apply their rule book...

I would tend to say that a mixed train was more an indication that the goods traffic was so low it didn't warrant its own train, although the passengers were getting a rather poor deal for their fare.

At least three of his larger standard gauge lines were heavily goods orientated, the BP&GV and East Kent served collieries, and the S&M carried stone, and would have had dedicated goods trains, although these would have been less photographed than the passenger trains, but goods traffic on the Selsey Tramway, WC&P and the K&ESR was largely domestic, although the last may have had flurries of agricultural produce.

[Nearholmer]

If we follow the 'signature feature' logic, though, I think it is fair to say that mixed trains were a signature feature of light railways.

 

One might widen it, to say that mixed trains and railcars were, together a signature of many 'mature' light railways, in that, once railcars were available, they would be used for the passenger service, with a loco only being used if there were goods wagons to be shifted, which dictated a mixed train, or for 'specials' in the form of the odd heavy passenger, goods, or cattle (on some railways) train.

 

It's perhaps worth mentioning Forbes, the GM of the County Donegal Railway, who 'nailed' this economical way of working within these isles, and referring to the very many light railways all over Europe that followed the same logic. Petrol railcars were in use in Germany, Hungary, France etc in this way I think before either Forbes or the Colonel adopted them.

[Dava]

I mentioned it before, but Narrow Gauge South in Eastleigh is Saturday 7 April in Eastleigh and looks to have excellent coverage of Col. Stephens, with the Society stand, 2 authentic SG light railways as well as the narrow gauge. Aiming to be there for a long day trip.

 

http://www.narrowgaugesouth.org.uk/wp/?page_id=255

[Fenman]

If we follow the 'signature feature' logic, though, I think it is fair to say that mixed trains were a signature feature of light railways.

 

One might widen it, to say that mixed trains and railcars were, together a signature of many 'mature' light railways, in that, once railcars were available, they would be used for the passenger service, with a loco only being used if there were goods wagons to be shifted, which dictated a mixed train, or for 'specials' in the form of the odd heavy passenger, goods, or cattle (on some railways) train.

 

It's perhaps worth mentioning Forbes, the GM of the County Donegal Railway, who 'nailed' this economical way of working within these isles, and referring to the very many light railways all over Europe that followed the same logic. Petrol railcars were in use in Germany, Hungary, France etc in this way I think before either Forbes or the Colonel adopted them.

 

Wildly OT, but I'm intrigued by this use of "signature". It seems to have come from the American commercial world - McDonalds is heavily promoting their "signature burgers", airlines promote their "signature cocktails".

 

I'm curious as to why it is considered a better word than, say, "typical"?

 

Paul