Isle Ornsay - Hebridean Light Railway

[invercloy]

I've had a blog about this project on here for some time, but have decided to revert to a topic as I prefer the nature of posting this way.

 

Whilst thinking of modelling a freelance narrow gauge line set in the West Highlands of Scotland, loosely located 'somewhere in the Lochaber region', I came across a few references to a proposed line on the Isle of Skye.  A little more digging revealed that there was a survey conducted and that the plans were held in the National Archives at Kew, so I took a trip to have a look at them and see what could be uncovered.  The intention was to identify sections of the plans that could make potential layouts.

All images below are reproduced with permission of the National Archives.

I wasn't anticipating finding much, but when collecting the first lot of records this is what we were presented with:



When unfurled this revealed a wealth of plans and long sections of the line including details of bridges, viaducts, and tunnels.



You'll have to excuse the weights on the end of the sheets in some shots, it was a constant battle to stop the sheets curling back up again! It all looked like it had'nt seen the light of day for some considerable time.

Here's an overview map of the whole system drawn onto an OS map sheet.  Railway 1 runs from Isle Ornsay to Uig (52 miles in total), whilst Railway 2 branches off Railway 1 approximately 3 miles North of Portree and runs a further 24 miles to Dunvegan.



I've chosen to model Isle Ornsay station as it closely fits the plan for the freelance layout I drew up a while ago, conveniently ChrisM also found a perfect site for a layout for him to build too, but I'll let him tell that side of things when he's ready.

The sheet that shows the section of line I'm going to model is shown below:



More specifically the area immediately around Isle Ornsay station and pier:





As can be seen from the long section, the line was planned to pass through a headland in an 80 yard long tunnel - an ideal break for a fiddle yard!  

Below is a general description of Railway 1 for it's entire length.



Notice to build the line under an order from the 1896 Light Railways Act in the form of an advert placed in the Northern Weekly on Thursday the 21st April 1898.



The line was proposed by a group of people from the London area.  The directors are listed as being a Mr. Andrew M. Barr of Eltham, Harold E. Lewin also of Eltham, Charles Kemble (unreadable location), A. Hambury Tracey of Queensgate, W.M. Godward of Enfield, J.W. Hume Williams of Gloster Place, and T. Beaumont Hesseltine of Bond Street.

Some of the above were part of a well known railway manufacturer who's head office address matches that of the Hebridean Light Railway Co.



Dick Kerr feature on a lot of the paperwork and are listed as the promoter and official contractor for the line.

I've found several references to this proposal in different books, some mentioned the involvement of the North British Railway, the records don't show this.  In one document it is stated that the line wasn't built due to lack of funds and the plan was abandoned.  The company correspondence does make reference to them not wanting to immediately dissolve the company as they were keen to try and restart it in the future.

To make the model I have made one assumption:

When the costs for the line came in at more than expected (£598,977 9s 9d) the HLR approached the NBR to see if they would be interested in a joint project.  The NBR agreed and part funded the line as well as agreeing to provide stock, and operate it.  The provision of a government grant which the NBR aided the line in obtaining, was a great help towards some of the construction fees.

This would have meant that the line was more likely to get built, and to a reasonable standard with some interesting potential for stock.

The Highland Railway were approached to build a line on Skye and refused to do so on two occasions, so the NBR was the logical choice for this, especially as they were working on the Mallaig extension to the West Highland Line at the time this scheme was being proposed.  Ferries could then have been run from Isle Ornsay to Mallaig to provide a connecting service.

The layout is a 4.3x4.7m curved L shape, and I have used some of the details from the National Archives (plus a little imagination) to write a history to accompany the layout.

The plans also showed lines proposed across the island of Lewis, namely Railways 3 and 4.

Here are some shots of the baseboards under construction, my woodworking skills are awful, but I've learnt a lot building these, so don't look too closely

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5377892021_dba58856e3_z.jpg

And with the track templates to show how much (or how little, if you want to look at it that way) of the layout will be taken up by track.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5378492378_6f4e4e2a80_z.jpg

 

 

 

Building shells have been made of foamboard, some will be coated in a thin skim of filler and carved as required.

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5052/5459335924_1f098a8bf6_z.jpg

 

It uses the new(ish) Peco 'mainline' 009 track.

 

 

An overview after all the track was laid...

 

 

Point control is by RC servos using ESU SwitchPilots, these are controlled via DCC at present, but might get a panel made at some point.

 

 

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6003/5990914274_3f407b6cbb_z.jpg

 

Then it was time to test it:

 

Rock and wall castings were then added using moulds imported specially from America.

 

 

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7185/6989693369_4cda43d980_z.jpg

Yes that is an A4 sheet of paper next to the moulds!

 

 

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6037/6998057267_ecd0c41eea_z.jpg

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7215/6998055939_964701714b_z.jpg

 

 

It was ballasted using chinchilla dust...

 

Zvezda medieval lifeboat kits were built to represent small fishing boats

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8178/7983641678_a5606edcc7_z.jpg

 

I've recently been laying the stonework on the quay using Das:

 

 

 

 

And that roughly brings us up to date.  There's a much more detailed story on my blog: http://hlrco.wordpress.com and on my NGRM thread: http://ngrm-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/2092-isle-ornsay-hebridean-light-railway-009

 

So, it's gone from a story in a book about a proposed line that never was, to some papers over 100 years old in the National Archives, to an operable layout with work in progress scenery.

 

In May I'm going on holiday to the Isle of Skye, so I'll be going to the actual location to take photos for a backscene.

 

It's been exhibited a couple of times as a work in progress, and is due to appear again at Narrow Gauge South West in Shepton Mallet next weekend, come and say hello

 

[Russ (mines a pint)]

Nice to see it back as a thread, do try to follow this in its various locations on the web, but will now simply subscribe to this topic!!

[Southernboy]

What a great post invercloy - I already feel like I've been on a wonderful journey:

 

From the unrolling of those 115 year old documents at Kew, through the curved baseboards and sinuous track-plan, to the emerging picture of a dramatically landscaped layout with some nicely detailed stonework on the quayside - you've already convinced me this line was for real! And I'm looking forward to being deluded further

 

I have a question too regarding your research / access to the archives at Kew: In the past I've looked broadly into researching some old railway proposals that interest me through the national archives - but it always seemed quite a complicated process (one that required more prior knowledge than I had) - so I kept putting it aside for another day ... so I wonder how was your experience? Was it actually quite straightforward? Or did you need to undertake a degree of preliminary work?

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

[invercloy]

Thanks Russ, by going back to a thread approach it will make it much easier for me to update both here and NGRM.

[Arpster]

What a fascinating project. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post on the history of the line and look forward to seeing this model develop into the future. It's a wonderful story, and one which I almost believe to be true...

 

Arp

 

p.s. I had some of the best mussels I've ever eaten in the little restaurant by the pier in Isle Ornsay. Lord Leverhulme obviously knew his stuff!

[invercloy]

What a great post invercloy - I already feel like I've been on a wonderful journey:

 

From the unrolling of those 115 year old documents at Kew, through the curved baseboards and sinuous track-plan, to the emerging picture of a dramatically landscaped layout with some nicely detailed stonework on the quayside - you've already convinced me this line was for real! And I'm looking forward to being deluded further

 

I have a question too regarding your research / access to the archives at Kew: In the past I've looked broadly into researching some old railway proposals that interest me through the national archives - but it always seemed quite a complicated process (one that required more prior knowledge than I had) - so I kept putting it aside for another day ... so I wonder how was your experience? Was it actually quite straightforward? Or did you need to undertake a degree of preliminary work?

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

 

Thanks Mark, I'm glad you enjoyed it, I hope further instalments continue to be of interest

 

To be honest there wasn't much guidance of what to do when you go to the National Archives, and I just found out what to do next as I went along, which meant I didn't end up with as much time as I'd have liked with the documents in the end.

 

The way I found it works when visiting the NA is as follows:

Search their website for the documents you want: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/default.htm

When you've found them you need to register for a Reader's Ticket.  You can then pre-order up to 6 documents prior to your visit to make sure they're available on the day

When you turn up go to the area you need (large documents like the plans are kept separately to things like the light railways act and BoT documents

From memory you have to look up the documents you want on a computer when you're there (if you haven't pre-ordered them) and scan your reader card.  They are then brought to collection areas or lockers for you to take to tables and read.

It's possible to take photos, but I seem to recall flash photography being forbidden. In some areas there are specific photographic tables with brackets to mount the camera above the documents.

When done you return your documents to the collection area or locker you picked them up from.

It's not as complicated as it sounds, and it's well worth reading through this page of the NA website if you're thinking of going: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/visit/default.htm

 

I really enjoyed my visit there, and holiding 115 year old documents in my hands knowing that very few people would have looked at them since they were sent there was quite exciting.  There's a lot of detail in the Light Railways Act documents, here are a few examples that helped me plan the layout:

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was far more information that I'll reproduce here, but I could look up how much each landowner was going to be paid for the disruption to their land etc. if I wanted to.

 

And finally, having used all of the plans for this bit of the line, I was able to work out where it would have been on Google Maps and overlay (badly) the trackplan.

 

 

What a fascinating project. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post on the history of the line and look forward to seeing this model develop into the future. It's a wonderful story, and one which I almost believe to be true...

 

Arp

 

p.s. I had some of the best mussels I've ever eaten in the little restaurant by the pier in Isle Ornsay. Lord Leverhulme obviously knew his stuff!

 

 

Thanks, researching it has been a lot of fun, there are plenty more proposed railways in the National Archives that people could make use of for their own layouts.

 

I'll be going to Isle Ornsay in May to take the photos for the backscene, I'll remember to try the mussels

[TimC]

What an interesting project.  We often anchor in Isle Ornsay, its offers good shelter and a suitable waiting point for timing the tide through Kyle Rhea.  There is often excellent venison form the estate office there but there is also one of the most expensive galleries on the west coast too!  

[invercloy]

I forgot to mention the help I've received from local library services.  I got in touch with several libraries and historical societies in the area and they kindly looked through some newspaper clippings for me from the time of the proposal.  I found reference to some dates of public meetings in the documents I had from some solicitors letters.  These dates were then checked in parish council records, and lo and behold, so meeting minutes reporting the feelings of the local community towards the project!
 
An example below from the Scottish Highlander, 6th May 1897.
 

 
From reading the letters to the papers and the minutes I've come across so far it seems that the plan was popular with the more wealthy residents, but not with others.  It was to be partly funded by a levy placed on the parishes which it ran through, but some of these weren't to get a station, Kyleakin for example.  Some of the points of view seem to suggest those proposing the scheme didn't know what was wanted most by the local residents:
 

What an interesting project.  We often anchor in Isle Ornsay, its offers good shelter and a suitable waiting point for timing the tide through Kyle Rhea.  There is often excellent venison form the estate office there but there is also one of the most expensive galleries on the west coast too!  

Thanks Tim, I've certainly found it interesting so far.  The proposed station would have been around 1/4 mile north of the quay, but still in that nice sheltered bay.

 

Hmm... venison and mussels

[Warspite]

Tom

 

What a wonderful project and some really fascinating research.

 

My wife and I stayed at the Hotel Eilean Iarmain (also called the Isle of Ornsay Hotel) a few years ago and found it an absolutely beautiful area. Waking up in the mornings to that stunning view was quite unforgettable! I often thought it would make a great location for a railway and had no idea there were plans for one all those years ago.

 

I couldn’t resist attaching a couple of photos – one showing the quay near the hotel – and the other a more general view. Although I know your station is a little further to the north, that quayside with its crane is just begging to be modelled!

 

Stephen

 

[invercloy]

Hi Stephen,  thank you, it's been really interesting and fun so far.

 

I'm going to Isle Ornsay in May for a week, so I'll make sure to take plenty of reference photos of the quay  It's a lovely area, imagine what it would have been like to ride on a narrow gauge train through it... 

 

The crane in your photo screams "WILLS CRANE KIT" at me.

[invercloy]

The layout had a successful appearance at Narrow Gauge South West over the weekend just gone, I had a lot of positive feedback on it which was lovely, and people seemed really interested in the research (examples in the first post).  I also have a few more invites for once the layout has progressed some more

 

Prior to going to the exhibition I'd set myself a target of finshing all the work on the Das stone setts on the quay.  Here are a couple of photos showing the end result, along with some of the new Peco Lynton & Barnstaple Railway RTR 009 wagons that I bought before the show opened (L&B ones are mine, SR ones belong to my friend Steve).

 

 

 

 

 

They generated a lot of interest during the day, but not as much as this...

 

 

The prototype Peco RTR L&B coach! It is a lovely model, well detailed and goes round some tight curves very smoothly.  It's seen above with one of my ratiobashes for comparison.

 

 

A very enjoyable show, nice to meet some of you there.

[PaulRhB]

Looking forward to the colour starting to go on all those cobbles, rocks and stones, that in itself will make half the layout look close to finished.

Think you ought to name one of the small sailing boats Langley and one Artitec just to be ready for the questions

"Is that Langley?" - "no that's Langley and that ones Artitec"

[invercloy]

Good idea, Paul

[TheQ]

IIRC you're going need lots of grey to colour in those rocks, that railway would have made a lot of difference to me travelling to school through UIG to Inverness. Are you going to paint the houses white or do a little Balamory... opps,  Tobermory on them? I remember Portree having some coloured Buildings but the majority of Skye and the Outer Hebrides being White (and grey). 

 

The Q

[mjcampbell]

Doing a "Balamory" would amuse the kids ... 

[invercloy]

Sorry to disappoint gents, but it's going to avoid the colourful nature of Tobermory, most will either be whitewashed render or bare stone. A few of the more industrial structures will be timber with the odd building having a corrugated roof.

[ChrisM]

That puffer looks nice, is it from the Langley kit?

 

Those L&B wagons should look quite the part in North British livery Tom! Do they run well?

[invercloy]

That puffer looks nice, is it from the Langley kit?

 

I know where you live, Chris! 

 

Those L&B wagons should look quite the part in North British livery Tom! Do they run well?

 

Yes, they run really well.  I think I'm going to leave these as they are, they're going to be releasing unlettered ones sometime.  I might buy the open wagons unlettered and repaint them for the marble company as PO wagons...

[mudmagnet]

Had chance to study IO at Shepton Mallet last Saturday and thought that this will be a great layout - developing well now. I find that 'in-constuction' layouts at exhibitions can often be disappointing, BUT IO was not! There was sufficient scenic development to see where the layout is going and the modelling standard is high.

Somehow missed this one on NGRM Online, but will be following now!

[PaulRhB]

SR for ScotRail?

[invercloy]

Had chance to study IO at Shepton Mallet last Saturday and thought that this will be a great layout - developing well now. I find that 'in-constuction' layouts at exhibitions can often be disappointing, BUT IO was not! There was sufficient scenic development to see where the layout is going and the modelling standard is high.

Somehow missed this one on NGRM Online, but will be following now!

 

Thanks Mudmagnet.  I had a lot of people say it was nice to see something that's a work in progress.  Two main things seemed to interest people, the rocks and what moulds I'd used to cast them, and the use of foamboard for the buildings.

 

SR for ScotRail?

 

Nah, I've got the BR arrows and some stags for when I do ScotRail livery...

[invercloy]

Here's a video, shot by one of the operators, of the layout operating at Shepton for those interested:

 

 

[TheQ]

Sorry to disappoint gents, but it's going to avoid the colourful nature of Tobermory, most will either be whitewashed render or bare stone. A few of the more industrial structures will be timber with the odd building having a corrugated roof.

Sadly I can just remember the odd old croft with heather thatching and netting to stop it being blown away!, That was before they used all their EEC grants for fencing and land improvement to build mini Southfork ranch houses.

The Q

[invercloy]

Time to revive this thread! Things have moved on recently, I've now added some colour to the rocks and stone wall of the pier using a mix of acrylic paints and Derwent pastel pencils.

 

 

 

Bye bye white rocks...

 

 

 

As you can see in the first photo, I've been using Geograph to research photos of the rocks in the exact area I'm modelling. This is a really useful website for finding photos of a specific area for reference.

 

Here's a photo of the first stage...

 

 

 

Stage 2 was to add the dark brown and yellow banding for the tidal zone.

 

 

This was applied neat, not as a wash, and was applied sparingly until the required coverage was achieved, almost dry brushing, but not quite. As before, paint very wet, so it will dull down when dried.

 

 

Once completely dry I realised that I wasn't 100% happy with the results of the rock painting, so I dusted off my Derwent pastel pencils and set to on the rocks to try and correct matters, they now have much less of a blue tinge. These pencils are great as they can be used very accurately, or smudged on the surface of the rocks, a bit like a weathering powder. After this I decided to add some static grass to the headland using my Flockit! applicator. 

 

 

Yes, the grass is a bit uniform at the moment, but I've got plenty of different types to use as subsequent layers to introduce some variety, so this is only a base layer. I'm quite impressed with the Polak grass thus far.

 

One day last week I got home from work and the sun was shining (!), so I took the station baseboard out into the garden to look at it in natural light, and to apply the base coats of colour to the stonework on the quay.

 

First I applied a wash of approximately ¾ ram umber and ¼ payne's grey. This was used to fill in all the recessed cracks and emphasise the gaps between the stones.

Secondly a light drybrushed coat of pale umber was added to give more of a grey tint to the surface of the stones.

Then I randomly dry brushed raw umber to give a bit of variety to the colouring.

At this stage I still need to add more colour changes to individual stones using some more Derwent pastel pencils that I ordered.

 

 

I think it's a pretty good colour and tone match for the rocks, and it will improve once the pastel pencils are here.

The unsightly gap in a couple of places along  the bottom of the wall will be hidden by strategically placed seaweed (still to experiment with the feathers properly).

 

 

Here are a few shots of the rocks in natural light, I'm rather pleased with the effect now that i've used the Derwent pastels on them. I'll definitely be using them a lot on the rest of the layout! Excuse the neighbours rather unprototypical and out of scale extension in the second photo...

 

 

Another day of sunshine (!!), and the delivery of the latest order of Derwent pastel pencils meant more time in the garden.

Here are all the colours I'm using:

 

 

Which give this result:

 

 

I've applied a 'topcoat' over the acrylic paints using the pencils. I've tried not to make any repeating patterns by accident, and I think I've succeeded. I didn't use the two yellowy colours in the tinting of the stones, but as you'll see I used them to represent the tide line. Below the tide, the dark area has been done by another coat of neat acrylic paint (to help get the shiny surface) from a mix of about 60% payne's grey and 30% raw umber.

 

Now some cruel closeups, it looks better at normal viewing distance, honest!

 

 

 

 

 

And a bit more variation applied to the static grass, nearly there...

 

 

 

 

More bumpf on the blog: http://hlrco.wordpress.com/blog/

 

 

 

 

 

[DLT]

Thats looking absolutely marvelous Tom, spot on.  And the red colour of the coaches contrasts perfectly with the rock & moorland grass.

I'm pleased you've put in a conventional Forum Thread, I find the blogs awkward to follow and frustrating when you want to go back and look for a previous posting.

All the best,

Dave.