Proposed real rail schemes never built - Have you modelled one?

[sn]

Just wondering having watched a DVD of The Ilfracombe - Barnstable line and it's mention of an earlier proposed route off the Taunton - Barnstable line (That would have avoided Barnstable altogether!) , if anyone here has ever built a layout based on a real life proposed but never built railway scheme?

[Oldddudders]

I think a few years back there was mention on here, possibly in connection with a club in East Sussex, of a model of the proposed Ouse Valley Railway, a line intended to divert from the Brighton Main Line immediately south of the Ouse Valley Viaduct, north of Haywards Heath, and for which some earthworks and an arch - at least - were constructed 150 years ago.

 

In the 2011 Challenge, one of the best entries was for a station on the never-built Bushey Heath extension of the Northern Line, first proposed in 1935, and a victim of both Hitler and the Green Belt.

[Allegheny1600]

Loads and loads of model railways are based upon "what ifs" - such that I can't think of an example!

I can clearly remember so many times reading a scenario in the introduction to a layout (in magazines!) "this layout is based on the "A,B&C" railways proposal to build a line to "XY&Z" location"!

Sorry I can't think of examples!

John E.

[Karhedron]

I have always had a hankering after a layout based on the incomplete "Northern Heights" line. One idea I liked was the idea that the line from Finsbury park was made part of the overground in 1977 meaning it would be served by EMUs from Moorgate. East Finchely would then be a nice junction station with 313s using the centre roads and LT stock using the outer roads.

 

Maybe not much for operation interest but a nice little layout to watch trains scuttling back and forth. Interesting the 1995 LT stock is available in N gauge from Shapeways while I believe Captain Electra has plans for a 313 also in N gauge.

 

Hmmmm

[chrisf]

Wibble has Hornsey Broadway under construction, also inspired by the Finsbury Park - Highgate line.

 

Chris

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

When the mood takes me I decide that one of the schemes proposed in C19th to build a circum-London route (roughly as the M25 now lies) was constructed, as this enables a free for all of stock from anywhere in the Southern half of the UK. I haven't really thought this through in any way, beyond the realisation that the 'Twin Ferries' services offering a link between Dover and Harwich on the Eastern side to Milford Haven and Holyhead on the Western side would be a fairly natural development.

[Kris]

Salcombe is being modelled (proposed when the Kingsbridge line was built - First few yards were built but no more than that).

[KevinWalsh]

I think a few years back there was mention on here, possibly in connection with a club in East Sussex, of a model of the proposed Ouse Valley Railway, a line intended to divert from the Brighton Main Line immediately south of the Ouse Valley Viaduct, north of Haywards Heath, and for which some earthworks and an arch - at least - were constructed 150 years ago.

 

Hi Ian,

 

Firstly, my sympathies for Deb's passing.

 

I think the layout you had in mind was "Netherhall and Fletching" http://www.uckfieldmrc.co.uk/netherhallnf.html which is our club OO layout and can next be seen at the Canterbury Club show in January 2013.

 

Kev

[clecklewyke]

The classic "what if" layout was Heckmondwike, the North London Group's model of a station on the line the Midland planned which would have bypassed Leeds and created a shorter route to Scotland via Bradford and the Settle and Carlisle.

 

It was the first large, main line, P4 layout and was the NLG's response to the challenge from Cyril Freezer to build a P4 layout which could run scale length trains as prototypically as possible. This they succeeded to do and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Of course, Manchester MRC's Dewsbury is another station on the same ill-fated line.

[RJS1977]

The 009 News (009 Society Magazine) ran an interesting series of articles on the three proposed extensions to the Vale of Rheidol some years ago. It hasn't escaped my attention that the proposed extension beyond Devil's bridge might be the obvious way for me to get a continuous run, should I ever have the space to do so!

[Butler Henderson]

The Lancashire Derbyshire & East Coast is a favourite of mine (ignoring the bit that got built between Chesterfield and (almost) Lincoln. If it had got built throughout would the GC have still acquired it or might it have fallen to, say, the LNWR, maybe it might have ended up as a LMS/LNER joint line, could it have been electrified along with Woodhead.... Gives rise to all sorts of possible layouts that could be totally authentic if it had been built.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Literally thousands of railway schemes never got off the ground. If they'd all been built the countryside would been interlaced with tracks.

 

A local example off the top of my head - Great Western to Bournemouth. An extension of the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton line through the New Forest to B'mth.

[Big James]

I remember reading in a book about the list lines of kent. About a proposed ferry terminal and Liner port at dungerness and they were to use the shingle to pay for it. It was to be a direct competitor to dover. I've always wondered if they'd gone a head with it would it have been a success or total failure.

 

Big James

[JOHNMCDRAGON]

Whilst most lines mentioned already are from the initial 'Railway Mania ' of the Victorian age, one that was planned in the Bruce Report (of the late 50's early 60's I think) was to have 2 main railway stations in Glasgow, namely Glasgow North and Glasgow South. It never came to fruition but the plans exist, including trackplans , I've downloaded the North one from somewhere, the Railscot website if I remember correctly. It involved closing Queen St. building a new tunnel and building a new larger station on the site of Buchanan St station and handling all those trains for Edinburgh , Fife and all points further north. It would be very interesting to build and very busy........maybe one day when I retire...

[Guest]

There was a proposal in 1834/5 by the London & Southampton Railway to build a line between Basing (near Basingstoke, where I used to live) to Bath (where I always wanted to live). It was intended as a route to link London to Bristol, and would have run via Newbury, Devizes, Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon, but was rejected in favour of the GWR route. Knowing much of the terrain along that route, I think it might have proved a challenging line to operate. I long had it in mind to build a layout set in the 1960s BR era, incorporating one of the minor stations along the way. Never did, though.

[peanuts]

can recall reading in a local history book some years ago of a plan to double the Delph branch and extendit up the valley through Denshaw then through a tunnel to connect with the branch to Rishworth and on to Halifax and Leeds .the who;e plan was abandoned doue to the cost and length of the tunnel

 

the delph branch was temporarily extended at one point along what is now the A62 Huddersfield Road to the construction site of the castleshaw reseviours

[Joseph_Pestell]

When the mood takes me I decide that one of the schemes proposed in C19th to build a circum-London route (roughly as the M25 now lies) was constructed, as this enables a free for all of stock from anywhere in the Southern half of the UK. I haven't really thought this through in any way, beyond the realisation that the 'Twin Ferries' services offering a link between Dover and Harwich on the Eastern side to Milford Haven and Holyhead on the Western side would be a fairly natural development.

 

This is a scheme that I have considered a lot. A joint LNW/GW through station at Uxbridge could make a very compact layout on which locos from all four companies could be justified. I imagine it as being mainly LNW (an extension of the Rickmansworth branch) with a small LMS goods yard at the joint station and GW goods being handled at the former passenger station at Vine St.

 

Passenger services would mainly be a push-pull from Watford, a push-pull from West Drayton and some direct services from Paddington to High Wycombe or Oxford. But there could also be various interregionals including troop movements.

 

Plenty of variety on the freight side but with the main flow being transfer freights (probably quite short) from Feltham to Watford.

[Joseph_Pestell]

The classic "what if" layout was Heckmondwike, the North London Group's model of a station on the line the Midland planned which would have bypassed Leeds and created a shorter route to Scotland via Bradford and the Settle and Carlisle.

 

It was the first large, main line, P4 layout and was the NLG's response to the challenge from Cyril Freezer to build a P4 layout which could run scale length trains as prototypically as possible. This they succeeded to do and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Of course, Manchester MRC's Dewsbury is another station on the same ill-fated line.

 

There have been quite a few Dewsbury-based layouts following an article by Arthur Whitehead in Railway Modeller.I built one myself as a garage layout when I was in my teens. It was never completed but I would still like to built it again, probably in N as I simply don't have the space to store a 40' long layout never mind set it up frequently enough.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Whilst most lines mentioned already are from the initial 'Railway Mania ' of the Victorian age, one that was planned in the Bruce Report (of the late 50's early 60's I think) was to have 2 main railway stations in Glasgow, namely Glasgow North and Glasgow South. It never came to fruition but the plans exist, including trackplans , I've downloaded the North one from somewhere, the Railscot website if I remember correctly. It involved closing Queen St. building a new tunnel and building a new larger station on the site of Buchanan St station and handling all those trains for Edinburgh , Fife and all points further north. It would be very interesting to build and very busy........maybe one day when I retire...

 

It is a nice site and the station approaches would be very interesting. The layout of the platform tracks themselves is a bit dull though. I would suggest taking the theme but not following the proposed trackplan too closely.

[scots region]

One of the most interesting unbuilt Scottish Projects was the "Glasgow and North Western Railway" that would have provided a through link from Inverness to Glasgow via the Great Glen. Ian Futter's book "Modelling Scotland's Railways" explains more including a nice track plan of "Drumnadrochit"

[johnd]

The Lancashire Derbyshire & East Coast is a favourite of mine (ignoring the bit that got built between Chesterfield and (almost) Lincoln. If it had got built throughout would the GC have still acquired it or might it have fallen to, say, the LNWR, maybe it might have ended up as a LMS/LNER joint line, could it have been electrified along with Woodhead.... Gives rise to all sorts of possible layouts that could be totally authentic if it had been built.

 

clearly rember the viaducts in Chesterfield, believe the A617 follows that part of the trackbed now. isn't part of it still in use in Notts near Edwinstowe?

[westerner]

Wencombe is based on a proposed line from Torquay crossing the river dart and onward to Kingsbridge.

[RichardJones]

Rhydyclafdy was modelled, it would have been on the Irish mail route between Pwllheli and Porthdinllaen had the Cambrian got it's way.

 

I'm modelling a place as extant however I also plan to run Shropshire and Montgomeryshire trains as Colonel Stephens had wanted to but was refused a junction with his line flat out by the Cambrian.

[Gwiwer]

While I don't model it directly my present layout assumes the missing link between Padstow and Newquay had been built. There were proposals for such a link at an early date and a good friend has a small layout modelled on St. Mawgan which lies (in reality) about half way along that "gap".

 

The assumption allows me to run SR steam appropriate to North Cornwall and early diesels as well alongside the mainstream WR stock.

[Judge Dread]

Way back in the 90's the 4mm section of the Hull MRS modelled a station on the Chessington branch. Construction of the prototype stopped in 1939, just south of Chessington South station at a bridge over Chalky Lane. After the war, the construction of the remainder of the branch was abandoned but we reasoned that another station could have been built to service, amongst other things, an army depot in the area. That station and that layout became Chessington (Chalk Lane) and the rest, as they say, is history.