Hando

It would make an interesting model wouldn't it? Oddly I can see the resemblance between the Catenary Pole photo you posted and the Pole in the background of the photo of the other loco. Maybe someone who wanted to model the Whittonstall line could simply adjust the Standard LGB Catenary Mast and scratchbuild a new finial to put on top. The stabilising arch could simply be replaced for another scratchbuilt one that connects lower on the pole.

Beautiful little railway, fits perfectly into the landscape, a wise man once said (I can't actually remember who) that 7/8th scale railways always suit the surrounding overgrowth well as the plant life is better in scale to 7/8ths rolling stock than those of smaller scales. Good job, keep up the good work! Alex

I've found some photos on AditNow of the locos that ran on the Whittonstall Electric Railway: They were built by Hanomag/Siemens. In the upper photo is Loco No.3, built in 1910. Note the unusual catenary system.

Very interesting! I hope to read more...

Are you going for any specific build of loco? Peckett, Hunslet, Bagnall, Manning Wardle, Hudswell Clarke etc.?

Is this what you were thinking?

How long would he manage to pull that one off for? And less importantly... What would the Government think? Somehow I don't think any Government (after Modernisation, of course) would be happy with this arrangement, especially when they were (and still are) trying to really sell the idea of a modern railway network.

The LMS experimented with this sort of thing quite a while earlier in 1935- The LMS Ro-Railer Bus was intended to connect rural villages and towns without railway stations with railway connections, with larger junction towns; where the railway started, the bus could adjust itself to travel along the rails on the railway line to the final destination; to serve the stations along the line as well. It was tested on the SMJ (link here) --> https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lms_ro-railer.htm and also on the Nickey line (Hemel Hempstead Branch). It didn't quite catch on however...

It's a very confused idea, I'm afraid sir!

In terms of both- probably, even if the pacer is an absolute shambles of a DMU, but for both of them: the appeal is there; being cheap and cheerful. I reckon he would definitely have saved some from scrap. I think the Chasewater Railway is thinking of preserving one or two, presumably as a cautionary lesson in public transportation . We will remember the lessons of the past and say; Never again... ...shall we try to turn a bus into a train.

For starters, I would nominate the BR Class 139 Parry People Mover, which currently runs on the Stourbridge Town Branch Line. It is ideal for small-scale passenger services and would have worked well on a Colonel's light railway, owing to it's low price, lightweight nature, limited maintainence and relative cost-effectiveness .

I've decided to start a discussion based upon a letter I read from a back issue from Railway Modeller (vol. 66 to be specific), the writer, Ross Shimon of the Colonel Stephens Society explained that in the late 80s, AC cars railbuses ran a short-lived service between Bodiam and the now closed Dixter Halt on the KESR. He speculated that had Colonel Stephens still been alive, he would probably have used such railbuses on his 'empire'. My question extends from his death in 1931 right up to the present day meaning that a wide variety of rolling stock is up for debate... even pacers! I look forward to seeing your submissions, Thanks, Alex

I came up with the concept of a reservoir on St. Mary's, in the Holy Vale valley. Meanwhile, the Great Pool on Tresco would also power the electric railway there. For context I've been creating a map on Google MyMaps the link is below: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ovhowi7ZQHisMxa_Mel1tPweJPVTbVlD&usp=sharing I've also been writing a fictional history of the system as well, but that is still currently under development, like the map. Thanks for looking for the Articles anyway, Nearholmer - even if it hasn't yielded any results quite yet.

The reason I was asking about this was is that I have been devising a project for sometime in the distant, hazy future... ~~~ *mist uncovers* ~~~ The basis of this project is a fictional railway system on the Isles of Scilly, which has taken from a number of railways that had a gauge around 2 foot and 6 inches: including, but not limited to; the Pentewan Railway (2' 6"), the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (2' 6"), the Glyn Valley Tramway (2' 4 1/2"), the Alford and Sutton Tramway (2' 6"), and even the very obscure (in this country at least) Woosung Tramway (2'6"); which so happened to be the first railway in China (it was built by Ipswich engineers Ransome and Rapier, the same design of carriage on the railway would be used on the Southwold Railway at a later date; this time slightly enlarged to 3 ft gauge). The Pentewan Railway was considering electrifying as early as 1886 (John Barraclough Fell was the line's engineer, he had re-gauged the line from it's original 4ft 6 inches and planned to extend the railway using his Mountain Railway System (note- this was later used on the Snaefell Mountain Railway on the Isle of Man) so as to reach the china clay pits above St. Austell, which were up a very steep descent), so I thought why not that in an alternate universe, this would happen (albeit without the Fell System) with the same rolling stock (locos etc.) but in a different place entirely! By the way Nearholmer- do you have the photos yourself or do I need to do some rummaging in old NGRS articles? Thanks, Alex

Hello, I became interested in the tramway when came across the Wikipedia page, which can be found here --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carstairs_House_Tramway The Wikipedia article gives a rough overview to the history of the line, with some information on the dates of operation and the machinery. From more reading around, it appears that the line might have been the 2nd oldest electric railway on Great Britain, after Volk's Electric Railway in Brighton (which had a gauge of 2ft, then 2ft 8 1/2 inch) and the 4th oldest electric railway in the British Isles, as well as the second to adopt hydro-electric power (after the Giant's Causeway Tramway). The route is shown here --> https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/294253/644369/12/100664 simply switch to the OS Counties Series 1897 1:2500 layer; and scroll northwards. If you have anymore information about the line or it's rolling stock, please comment below. Thanks, Alex

How did you make that very distinctive light track? Is it Hornby Dublo stuff with other sleepers cut off?

I might fancy having a go myself. Good -if not dead- thread!

Woah fellas, steady on! Let's not get too political. I think we move away from the Brexit issue and concentrate more on the model railways, or at least criticizing TV programmes.

I'm 15 (nearly 16) years old and I have been volunteering on a heritage centre--heritage railway for around 1~2 years now. I'm still getting to grips with a lot of aspects of the line, but I think I'm helping more than hindering any progress on our line. I am the only person under the age of 18 to be regularly volunteering there at the moment. I agree on the fact that not enough of my generation want to go out early in the mornings and do dirty work in all weathers. However I disagree with the fact that they aren't interested in physical work, as I know plenty of people who would willingly go to the gym at 8:00 in the morning. I think the issue is a not the lack of interest in railways or history, but a lack of pride. I don't know many people who would want to build a railway or paint a wagon or even re-decorate an interior of a building and then say "I did that". That requires time and dedication - and dedication is true hard work. Of course we must not forget, we all grow up; we get older, we gain jobs, we move away and our interests and priorities change. Thus the real problem for heritage railways is the people they need not being there. ---and also the price of it all (the be-all or end-all of all heritage lines): do you have the money? Will it annoy the neighbours? etc. etc..

in terms of the historical context for the layout, I suggest that you make the layout a railway museum, which despite having a working loco, only does some demonstration shunting due to the simplistic layout of the sidings.

I have the answer: 1. One falls over 2. Another takes a picture and puts it on social media 3. The Tabloids then completely awash the MSN news page with articles which have even fewer words and even more adverts.

This is surreal... I like it!

Is his obituary already organised in the said section of the forum?

There was a Metre gauge 2-6-0 Krauss loco in Heraklion, Crete The loco, (Z class) Z7538 was built by Krauss in 1902 for the Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways. It somehow managed to get its way onto Crete, for use in the construction of Heraklion Harbour. The loco was plinthed in a grassy verge beside the harbour. However, the loco was moved and unfortunately, I do not know where it was moved to, so here are some questions: 1. Has the loco survived? 2. If so, does anyone know if its whereabouts is on Crete? 3. If not on Crete, where is it anyway? I am visiting Crete in a few weeks time, where I will stay near Heraklion, so it would be nice to know if it was in Crete, so that I could visit it. Any information on this loco is gladly recieved