Berkhamsted Gasworks NG horse worked tramway

[Dunalastair]

Playing with an idea for a diorama based on a well-known narrow gauge gasworks NG horse worked tramway, one which has been mentioned on here before. The render assumes 4mm scale, with the Thingiverse horse as a placemaker for a white-metal casting borrowed from another diorama.

 

 

Any suggestions as to where I am thinking of? And the name of the horse?

[decauville1126]

Berkhamsted?

[decauville1126]

Ruby?

[Dunalastair]

Yes, Ruby at Berkhamsted.

 

 

I have now printed the 18" gauge skips and butchered some Airfix figures to (hopefully) suit. Paint is drying quickly in today's heat!

 

Also https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/24/Berkhamstead.htm

 

[Dunalastair]

I wanted a little LMS context for the Berkhamstead location, so I put in a starting bid on ebay for an Airfix Stanier coach. Rather to my surprise nobody else bid for what might be a slightly tatty model but which will hopefully serve my purposes for a diorama and be a little different from a generic Mk1. I tend to feel a little guilty when the seller has gone to some trouble with the listings photographs and the model then goes for a small price, but the postage inevitably bumps up the final cost. I have been on the other side of such transactions in the past. Short of chopping the coach down, which would smack of vandalism, this now sets the size of the diorama - I had been considering using a couple of wagons if my bid had not succeeded.

 

Might I have ridden in one of these? If I had, it would have been in short trousers, but most rail trips when I was a wee boy were on ex-LNER lines, and by the time we moved to Perthshire in the mid sixties, the Callander - Crianlarich line had just closed and most would probably have been replaced on the Stirling-Perth line.

 

 

I used to travel regularly (but not commute, thank goodness) from Northampton Castle past the castle at Berkhamstead to Euston. Early trips in the eighties were in the final days of electrically-hauled Mk1 corridor stock, non-stop to the Smoke (or did we stop at MK?). I would probably not recognise Northampton station today. I do remember once getting off a slower train at Berkhamstead to explore the castle and walk up into the pleasant countryside of the Chilterns, but I was unaware of the history of the NG tramway, even though I probably walked down the canal towpath past the route and the tramway underbridge. An underbridge which is now printing in miniature form upstairs.

Edited May 13 by Dunalastair

[Dunalastair]

The major parts for the tramway diorama have now printed, so more painting is next on the agenda. Today's wet weather will be less helpful in the drying stakes.

 

@009 micro modeller posted an image last year of the surviving track, linked again here, apparently 18.5", which sounds like a nominal 18" either with wear or possibly centre-centre. But I fear that Ruby will have long gone to the glue factory.

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/163553-abandoned-rails-in-the-roador-elsewhere/page/32/#comment-5042005

 

[009 micro modeller]

2 hours ago, Dunalastair said:

The major parts for the tramway diorama have now printed, so more painting is next on the agenda. Today's wet weather will be less helpful in the drying stakes.

 

@009 micro modeller posted an image last year of the surviving track, linked again here, apparently 18.5", which sounds like a nominal 18" either with wear or possibly centre-centre. But I fear that Ruby will have long gone to the glue factory.

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/163553-abandoned-rails-in-the-roador-elsewhere/page/32/#comment-5042005

 

Have you seen the pictures in the Bradford Barton industrial narrow gauge book? They show the tramway when it was working, and how close it was to the WCML (which it ran parallel to on the way to the gasworks). That book does give the gauge as 16 1/2” though, which I think is wrong (and 18 1/2” is correct) from my own measurements and the other sources. No idea what happened to the wagons after closure. The coal loading yard on the other side would also make an interesting model. A bit difficult to do a working model of the whole thing because of the width needed for the standard gauge line so a static diorama is a good idea. I wonder if the extra half inch relates to the wagon wheels having wide treads/tyres and track being laid to suit, or possibly to the way it was laid (the sides are properly paved/concreted but the middle is just infilled with loose material over what passes for the sleepers).

[009 micro modeller]

On 13/05/2024 at 09:28, Dunalastair said:

I do remember once getting off a slower train at Berkhamstead to explore the castle and walk up into the pleasant countryside of the Chilterns, but I was unaware of the history of the NG tramway, even though I probably walked down the canal towpath past the route and the tramway underbridge.

The surviving section (as in my photos) starts from the tunnel/bridge under the WCML (disused, and some way west of the current pedestrian underpass leading to the footbridge over the canal) and goes west alongside the WCML all the way to the industrial estate car park (built on the site of the gasworks). It was just about possible to walk this section (about 150 yards long, according to the Google Maps measuring tool - I’m not sure my GPS would give a more accurate measurement given the trees and structures and railway embankment in the area that would knock the signal off), but it may be too overgrown in summer. You can get to the tramway from Canal Fields, it’s right in the corner though.

[AndrueC]

On 13/05/2024 at 09:28, Dunalastair said:

I wanted a little LMS context for the Berkhamstead location, so I put in a starting bid on ebay for an Airfix Stanier coach.

It sounds like it'll be a lovely layout but as an ex-resident of the town (lived and worked there back in the early '90s) I feel bound to correct the spelling because non-residents often get it wrong. It's Berkhamsted. Only one 'a' and to avoid another common mistake, no 'p' :)

 

Pronounced 'berk-um-sted' as well for our foreign readers 😉

.. or 'Berko' to it's friends 😁

 

Not a bad place to live as it's surrounded by nice countryside with lovely walks to the north and just before I left they opened a bypass which improved the high street immeasurably. It was as a close as I ever got (thankfully) to living in London and was the start of my bizarre working/living along the A41 as a I gradually retreated from the horrors of London. Also the start of me working/living in places that begin with the letter 'B'.

 

Anyway whereabouts was the Gas Works? I worked in an office block next to the canal (behind the Waitrose car park) for a couple of years so walked around that area during my lunch breaks.

Edited May 14 by AndrueC

[009 micro modeller]

1 minute ago, AndrueC said:

It sounds like it'll be a lovely layout but as an ex-resident of the town (lived and worked there back in the early '90s) I feel bound to correct the spelling because non-residents often get it wrong. It's Berkhamsted. Only one 'a' and to avoid another common mistake, no 'p' :)

 

Pronounced 'berk-um-sted' as well for our foreign readers

Exactly. Though not helped in this case by the IRS page also misspelling the name.

[Dunalastair]

4 minutes ago, AndrueC said:

It sounds like it'll be a lovely layout but as an ex-resident of the town (lived and worked there back in the early '90s) I feel bound to correct the spelling because non-residents often get it wrong. It's Berkhamsted. Only one 'a' and to avoid another common mistake, no 'p' :)

 

Pronounced 'berk-um-sted' as well for our foreign readers 😉

 

Oops! Duly corrected, thankyou. I should have known better ...

[Dunalastair]

So here are the printed parts, with initial paint, roughly assembled, with the Langley horse and the Airfix figures.

 

 

Further progress awaits delivery of the Airfix LMS coach model, so as to scope how the viewlines will look, given that I will only have one coach, prior to construction of the embankment contours. I remember from my recent Banavie Pier diorama that getting the contours right can be one of the more challenging stages for a diorama like this - frustratingly so as they tend to look trivial once complete. I will probably use hanging basket liner as a grass mat once again.  

[009 micro modeller]

1 hour ago, Dunalastair said:

So here are the printed parts, with initial paint, roughly assembled, with the Langley horse and the Airfix figures.

 

 

Further progress awaits delivery of the Airfix LMS coach model, so as to scope how the viewlines will look, given that I will only have one coach, prior to construction of the embankment contours. I remember from my recent Banavie Pier diorama that getting the contours right can be one of the more challenging stages for a diorama like this - frustratingly so as they tend to look trivial once complete. I will probably use hanging basket liner as a grass mat once again.  

Looking good! Will you be representing the canal at all?

[Dunalastair]

1 hour ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Looking good! Will you be representing the canal at all?

 

Thankyou. Good question. I had not thought beyond the tramway and the bridge, but not only is the canal very close, but there is that modelling cliche, the lock gate, right by the underpass. 

 

The IRS page (with the mis-spelled URL) shows the next lock up. A little bit of selective compression might be required.

 

https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/24/Berkhamstead.htm

 

I remember walking the cut from Northampton (up the 'Arm') to Watford in stages back in the 1980s, before narrowboats became a forced lifestyle for so many, with the increase in property prices and rents. Not much room for model railways on a narrowboat .. 

[009 micro modeller]

23 minutes ago, Dunalastair said:

 

Thankyou. Good question. I had not thought beyond the tramway and the bridge, but not only is the canal very close, but there is that modelling cliche, the lock gate, right by the underpass. 

 

The IRS page (with the mis-spelled URL) shows the next lock up. A little bit of selective compression might be required.

 

https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/24/Berkhamstead.htm

 

I remember walking the cut from Northampton (up the 'Arm') to Watford in stages back in the 1980s, before narrowboats became a forced lifestyle for so many, with the increase in property prices and rents. Not much room for model railways on a narrowboat .. 

 

As I recall, there is a ditch/cess in between the tramway and the canal. This might also be the one the railway drains into as there doesn’t seem to be anything like that in between the tramway and railway. So I’m not sure how close the canal is at the point where the tramway exits the underpass, or how it would look on a model. It would definitely increase the space taken up by the  diorama by quite a bit.

 

Despite its proximity (and it may have been used a little bit) as far as I know the canal was not a major route for incoming coal, as this, the second gasworks in Berkhamsted, built after the railway and replacing an earlier one, was set up to receive coal by rail via the tramway. Not sure on waste (or by-products if there were any) - did the tramway handle any outgoing loads?

[Dunalastair]

Another useful resource is provided by an article on the gasworks reproduced by the Tring Local History group, which includes this map showing the canal / tramway relation. The NLS site has a range of other relevant maps, but this is more easily linkable. 

 

https://tringlocalhistory.org.uk/Tring/Appendix.htm

 

I wonder how clean / hygenic / fluke-free the watercress would have been from those beds by modern standards?

 

 

[009 micro modeller]

37 minutes ago, Dunalastair said:

Another useful resource is provided by an article on the gasworks reproduced by the Tring Local History group, which includes this map showing the canal / tramway relation. The NLS site has a range of other relevant maps, but this is more easily linkable. 

 

https://tringlocalhistory.org.uk/Tring/Appendix.htm

 

I wonder how clean / hygenic / fluke-free the watercress would have been from those beds by modern standards?

 

 

It opens up another interesting potential layout idea, which is to imagine the watercress bed had its own railway (like at Whitwell and Cassiobury Farm) and model that as well.

[Dunalastair]

I had forgotten about the Cassiobury operation - I tend to associate the watercress tramways with the better known businesses in Hampshire. And, once again, alongside the Cut. 

 

https://www.croxleygreenhistory.co.uk/watercress-growers.html

 

I can see what is supposed to be a smallish diorama getting out of hand ...

 

 

 

[Dunalastair]

I have also been a few times to the excellent pub at St Paul's Warden without realising that there was (still?) an extant tramway at Whitwell.  Live and learn! Must now try to get back there this summer.

 

 

[009 micro modeller]

12 minutes ago, Dunalastair said:

I had forgotten about the Cassiobury operation - I tend to associate the watercress tramways with the better known businesses in Hampshire. And, once again, alongside the Cut. 

 

https://www.croxleygreenhistory.co.uk/watercress-growers.html

 

I can see what is supposed to be a smallish diorama getting out of hand ...

 

 

 

The one that I’ve modelled, as a working layout in 009, is at Whitwell and is still working. Ignore the inappropriate loco, it’s just an old Egger one having its traditional run at the end of an exhibition and I can’t find the other photos:

 

 

[figworthy]

7 hours ago, Dunalastair said:

I remember walking the cut from Northampton (up the 'Arm') to Watford in stages back in the 1980s, before narrowboats became a forced lifestyle for so many, with the increase in property prices and rents. Not much room for model railways on a narrowboat .. 

 

Many years ago, I saw a wide boat (basically a narrow boat, but wider) with a loop of what looked like 00 track running around the cabin roof.

 

Adrian

[009 micro modeller]

2 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

Many years ago, I saw a wide boat (basically a narrow boat, but wider) with a loop of what looked like 00 track running around the cabin roof.

 

Adrian

I’m not sure I’d want to risk it falling off and ending up in the drink…

[Dunalastair]

15 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

I’m not sure I’d want to risk it falling off and ending up in the drink…

 

At least the carriages might float, but even if the loco did not sink, immersion in canal water would not do the motor much good. Perhaps clockwork might have fared better?

 

The ebay Airfix Stanier carriage arrived today. Very much a model of its time. It was a wet day for the courier, but the packaging kept the vehicle dry. The model was well packaged, but one of the bogie frames was broken, so it is a good thing I only want it for the diorama. Some superglue might hopefully hold the frame together for that. Now I need to decide what to use for track - old tri-ang or printed?

 

 

[Dunalastair]

20 hours ago, Dunalastair said:

 

Now I need to decide what to use for track - old tri-ang or printed?

 

 

The Tri-ang looked just too coarse, so I printed some track segments. They probably won't be visible from the intended viewpoint anyway. Now how am I going to tackle the embankment ...?

[Dunalastair]

I have been spending time 'researching' possible future projects (Blackwall, Haymarket, Leith ...) but there has been some cutting and glue curing going on upstairs in the background. The embankment has been built up from timber offcuts, with hanging basket liner for vegetation. The underframe of the Airfix Stanier carriage has suffered some very crude weathering and now sits on the printed track - which as expected is not very visible. The gaps need to be filled in when the UHU has gone off properly, and some tidying up completed, but the scene is starting to approach what I was aiming at.

 

 

Ruby is held to the side as the wagons gravitate down through the underpass. The other worker stands well clear.