Ramsgate Tunnel Railway diorama

[Dunalastair]

Coming to the end of a break in marking, so a quick moment to post another diorama - this time of the upper terminus of the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway. As I remember, gauge was 9mm to represent this narrow gauge electric railway in Kent.

 

 

[wainwright1]

This end served the Dumpton Park Greyhound Race Track. 

Never saw this end, although when I was a lad I did see the bottom end down at what had been Ramsgate Harbour Station, with the little train sitting there waiting for passengers. Regrettably, never had a ride on it.

[Dunalastair]

3 hours ago, wainwright1 said:

This end served the Dumpton Park Greyhound Race Track. 

Never saw this end, although when I was a lad I did see the bottom end down at what had been Ramsgate Harbour Station, with the little train sitting there waiting for passengers. Regrettably, never had a ride on it.

 

And also for the mainline station. Before the lines thereabouts were reorganised, there was a SG terminal almost on the beach, with a nice overall roof and a TT at the end - which a loco once famously overshot ...

 

 

There is apparently a model in the museum.

[Pacific231G]

The old Ramsgate Harbour (aka Ramsgate Sands) station is a gift to modellers, doubtless because it was crammed into a very cramped site just like most of our layouts!  It's a gift that RScore accepted for his N gauge layout based on the eminently sensible idea that the beachside terminus had survived 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/153585-ramsgate-sands

I believe this was exhibited at the Basingstoke show in March and it's a very nice looking layout.

The line dived into the tunnel later occupied by the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway at the end of a very short throat with carriage sidings (only directly accessible to the arrivals platforms)  in front of the cliff behind which the fiddle yard would naturally fit.

From this 1905 plan. It had a separate arrivals and departure side with a main platform and bay on each side. From the signalling diagram there was a facing crossover inside the tunnel just beyond the trailing crossover that's half in the tunnel mouth.

Ramsgate Sands was a very compact but, on summer days, very busy station- a sort of seaside "Minories" but with express and local trains rather than just suburban trains. It was unusual for a main line station in using a turntable as a loco release. It even had an incredibly cramped goods yard, with a usefully narrow goods shed, whose main siding doubled up as a loco layover road at its junction end and a second siding which was also used to store trains at busy times.

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Pacific231G

[wainwright1]

I think that the train crashed through the end on two occasions and on one of them it killed the seafood seller who had their stall just the other side of the wall.

 

I recall that Ashford MRC had a model of this station in 00. Saw it several times, including in the building adjacent to the former station site on one bank holiday weekend.

Edited June 17, 2023 by wainwright1

[009 micro modeller]

On 16/06/2023 at 12:41, Dunalastair said:

Coming to the end of a break in marking, so a quick moment to post another diorama - this time of the upper terminus of the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway. As I remember, gauge was 9mm to represent this narrow gauge electric railway in Kent.

 

 

This is very interesting and I’d be interested to know how you made the trains themselves. I looked into the possibility of doing this (the top station) as a working 009 layout a few years ago but the main difficulty I had was finding something suitable to motorise the power unit part (and finding time to get to Hollycombe to measure the carriages, which they use there now as loco-hauled stock).

 

I’ll have to look through my books again but wasn’t it originally 3 platforms with 2 tracks (i.e. one island and two sides, allowing the separation of boarding passengers from those alighting, almost like this)? And then reduced in later years to just one track. The lower station layout was even more substantially altered following a cliff fall.

[wainwright1]

I think that the Crampton Tower Museum in Broadstairs have a model of one of the stations and the rolling stock.

Just opposite Broadstairs Station.

[Dunalastair]

6 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

... and I’d be interested to know how you made the trains themselves. 

 

... wasn’t it originally 3 platforms with 2 tracks (i.e. one island and two sides, allowing the separation of boarding passengers from those alighting, almost like this)? And then reduced in later years to just one track. The lower station layout was even more substantially altered following a cliff fall.

 

Thankyou for the kind words - it was an interesting project to research and build. The trains are static, 3D printed. I did wonder about motorisation, but it would have needed a small mech. I'm always happy to share 3D designs if any are of interest to other modellers.

 

And yes, the arrangement was simplified in the later years. I remember reading up about the history (including the big accident) but I cannot remember it all now. 

[009 micro modeller]

2 hours ago, Dunalastair said:

 

Thankyou for the kind words - it was an interesting project to research and build. The trains are static, 3D printed. I did wonder about motorisation, but it would have needed a small mech. I'm always happy to share 3D designs if any are of interest to other modellers.

 

And yes, the arrangement was simplified in the later years. I remember reading up about the history (including the big accident) but I cannot remember it all now. 

I think the photos show (at the top station) all platforms still in place but one track removed in later years, and at some stage the original wooden platforms were replaced with concrete ones but in the same layout. On the other hand, the beach station was, if I remember correctly, totally reconstructed with one track flanked by two platforms following a cliff fall which made the available safe space for the station narrower than it originally was. I understand there is some sort of local museum or heritage operation now doing tours of the tunnels, including the old standard gauge tunnels but isn’t the top station now filled in and underneath a car dealership?

 

I looked into motorisation but it was a bit difficult to know what to do as I didn’t have proper dimensions. Did you, or did you estimate from photos? In theory one of the chassis featured in the ‘Electric Mice’ series of articles in 009 News might be suitable. I assume the power units were scrapped but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ramsgate stock has some mechanical similarities to the 1930s Post Office Railway stock (both are bogie electric stock built by English Electric and of similar vintage), although helpfully I don’t think the Ramsgate stock has the unequally sized wheels on the power bogie that the latter has (which is one of the difficulties with modelling and motorising that, but was also derived from that line’s own experimentation rather than being part of a standard English Electric design, so I don’t think it appears on the Ramsgate stock).

[Dunalastair]

15 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

I think the photos show (at the top station) all platforms still in place but one track removed in later years ...

 

 

... as I didn’t have proper dimensions. Did you, or did you estimate from photos?

 

...I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ramsgate stock has some mechanical similarities to the 1930s Post Office Railway stock (both are bogie electric stock built by English Electric and of similar vintage),

 

 

There is a certain amount on the web, but most of what I learned came from Peter Harding's book(let), which has some useful photographs, but (looking again just now) no drawings. I am indeed guilty much of the time when modelling obscure prototypes of scaling from photographs. 

 

Yes, the Post Office Railway rolling stock was similar - and indeed I have modelled that line in static form. I will perhaps post my (very simple) diorama of that sometime soon. 

[009 micro modeller]

2 hours ago, Dunalastair said:

Yes, the Post Office Railway rolling stock was similar - and indeed I have modelled that line in static form. I will perhaps post my (very simple) diorama of that sometime soon. 

I would be very interested to see that as well as I currently drive on the operating museum bit of the line. I can’t remember when exactly Ramsgate opened but I think its stock would have been a few years older.

[wainwright1]

Hi. Just remembered this.

 

Have you seen these 3D printed items ?

 

Westgate Models by derekesmith - Shapeways Shops

 

Derek Smith has also done a book on the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway. I have a copy, but cannot locate it at the moment.

 

If you contact him, I am sure that he can be of assistance.

 

All the best

 

Ray

Edited June 21, 2023 by wainwright1

[Dunalastair]

10 hours ago, wainwright1 said:

Have you seen these 3D printed items ?

 

Westgate Models by derekesmith - Shapeways Shops

 

Derek Smith has also done a book on the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway. I have a copy, but cannot locate it at the moment.

 

 

Yes, I seem to remember seeing those on Shapeways, thankyou. I am trying to minimise the number of new railway books I buy - my shelves are already overloaded! For an obscure railway, it is good to see the modelling interest.

[Dunalastair]

15 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

I would be very interested to see that as well as I currently drive on the operating museum bit of the line. I can’t remember when exactly Ramsgate opened but I think its stock would have been a few years older.

 

I have now posted my simple models and diorama. 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/179956-post-office-railway-diorama/

Must be an interesting challenge, cramming yourself into the POR loading gauge to drive.

 

Here is an earlier WIP image of the Ramsgate model, before the 'grass' mat was applied. showing the art deco station building entrance and clock tower. And no, I did not put a watch mechanism behind the clockface, though it did cross my mind. The model was a little scaled down.

 

 

For comparison, here is the original.

 

https://ramsgate-pleasurama.weebly.com/the-tunnel-railway.html