Real locations without railways?

[eastworld]

I was just wondering if this section can include real locations which didn't have a railway, but could have done? E.g. Ullapool, which was planned but never built etc

 

Stu

[KeithMacdonald]

In the same area, how about an extension of the Callander and Oban Railway southwards to Tarbert and Campbelltown?

 

Perhaps from Dalmally, along the south side of Loch Awe, via Ford, Kimartin, Lochgilphead.

 

[caradoc]

It has always slightly surprised me that the delightful town of Burford, Oxon, never had a railway, nor even AFAIK any plans for one, especially as it's not that far from the Witney-Fairford line.

 

[figworthy]

2 hours ago, caradoc said:

It has always slightly surprised me that the delightful town of Burford, Oxon, never had a railway, nor even AFAIK any plans for one, especially as it's not that far from the Witney-Fairford line.

 

 

I'm sure that a long time ago, I came across plans for a route that basically followed the A40, but running down the Windrush valley.  The bit from Cheltenham to the Northleach area would have had some interesting engineering or gradients.  I think it was instead of (or predating) the GWR route to Kingham.

 

Adrian

[Bearwood West Yard]

Personally I see nothing wrong in modelling a real location despite the prototype not having a railway. My layout is set as if it is a five minute walk away from the house simply for the ease of research. In the end, nobody can tell you how to design or run your layout

My area is quite a niche little place, being no less than 5 miles from the railway - be it live or extinct, with the main Waterloo to Weymouth main line and the extinct Castleman Corkscrew which fed the Somerset and Dorset as well as the West Moors to Laverstock/Salisbury line. I model the present day as if the Beeching report never occurred and that the Castleman received electrification at the same time as the third rail was extended past Poole. I find this opens a significant number of doors with operational capability, rather than having the modelled railway yard as a pre-Eastleigh hub or storage yard for engineers workings and the odd Class 158 doing Bournemouth West - Brockenhurst trains as the old M7 tanks used to do. It enables tapping into of the GWR from the Salisbury and Bath directions, potential tapping into Southern by extending the Southampton routes, as well as the Hamworthy aggregate trains which ceased in 2017, long gone Newport to Hamworthy Quay steel traffic and Furzebrook BP to Eastleigh Oil tanks which were 1990's workings... Just a few of the doors that can be opened.

At the end of the day, its your layout and what you say, goes  

[RailWest]

You could model the station at Dartmouth and quite legitimately not have a railway :-)

[KeithMacdonald]

Dartmouth Station (in classic GWR colours) is on Google Street View

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.3512021,-3.5774524,3a,75y,47.29h,84.52t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIQG2lGP8DZbo2RzBHZ2NhA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DIQG2lGP8DZbo2RzBHZ2NhA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D187.90831%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

[KeithMacdonald]

Just found another place that nearly had a railway (but not quite).

 

The 1864 proposed Penryn - Helston Railway

 

Quote

The Line was to leave Penryn Station Southwards, along a cutting to the North of the Penryn Viaduct and then follow the following route...

Penryn ... Kernick ... Mabe Church (some of the route would appear to now be under the College and Argal Reservoirs) ... Treverva .... Constantine ..... Bridge .... North of Gweek .... Tregarrick .... then approaching Helston from the East with a Station off Meneage Street in the area to the north of the present Furry Way roundabout.

 

Here's my best-guess at the route, drawn on a screen grab from RailMap Online.

 

 

http://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php#

 

[Crichel Down]

On 30/12/2019 at 20:01, figworthy said:

 

I'm sure that a long time ago, I came across plans for a route that basically followed the A40, but running down the Windrush valley.  The bit from Cheltenham to the Northleach area would have had some interesting engineering or gradients.  I think it was instead of (or predating) the GWR route to Kingham.

 

Adrian

 

[Crichel Down]

 

On 30/12/2019 at 17:27, caradoc said:

It has always slightly surprised me that the delightful town of Burford, Oxon, never had a railway, nor even AFAIK any plans for one, especially as it's not that far from the Witney-Fairford line.

 

I missed this post when it appeared, so this is a rather belated reply.

 

I have done quite a bit of research into railway schemes that would have reached Burford, and there were repeated schemes throughout the 19th century (from 1836 to 1904, to be precise), most of which were for routes that would have connected Oxford with Cheltenham, via Witney, Burford, Northleach and Andoversford.  The GWR itself obtained an Act to build a broad gauge line over this route in 1847, but they had no intention of exercising these powers - it was just a spoiling tactic to keep the LNWR out of GWR 'territory'.

 

This was not the only line that was authorised.  The last was a proposal by the Witney, Burford and Andoversford Light Railway Syndicate, which was set up around 1896 and finally got its LRO in 1904, but like all the others was never built.  There was at least one other Act passed in the 19th century (sorry I can't remember the date).

 

It was an obvious route for a railway, following the valley of the River Windrush, and then the Dikler Brook, but a long climb (or a tunnel) would have been required beyond Northleach, but it was quite feasible from an engineering and operating point of view (about 2 miles at 1 in 80 - hard work for the fireman, but no worse from the eastbound climb from  Leckhmampton on the Banbury & Cheltenham line).

 

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Crichel Down
Corrected typos

[jonnygangsta]

On 30/12/2019 at 20:01, figworthy said:

 

I'm sure that a long time ago, I came across plans for a route that basically followed the A40, but running down the Windrush valley.  The bit from Cheltenham to the Northleach area would have had some interesting engineering or gradients.  I think it was instead of (or predating) the GWR route to Kingham.

 

Adrian

I am in the process of planning a layout on this very theme. I think it offers huge scope and has potential for an interesting layout.

[TheQ]

I'm rebuilding one now, a fictional line on the Island of Tiree, it did have a railway of 600ft up the pier with one live horse power but that was it,

 

A railway they actually started minor works for, but never built was from Mundesley on the North Norfolk Coast to Happisburgh to Sea- Palling to join up with the MGN line going to Yarmouth Beach Station.

 

Another would be from Inverness down the Loch Ness valley, several times proposed but not of use to the highland railway, who therefore opposed it.

Most of the highland valleys had railways proposed  from the Kyle or Far north line  to the west coast.. Problem… not a lot of population..

Edited March 17, 2020 by TheQ