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PannierTanker14

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  1. PannierTanker14
    During the Second World War, several Great Western Dean Goods locomotives were stored at the military base in Castle Rock as backup motive power just in case an air raid scored a hit on the loco sheds of the base. When BR came to claim Britain’s railway companies, all of the Deans went into service with the BR and most returned home to the west. A few of the Deans actually remained in Castle Rock until the railway was dismantled.
    It was thought that all of these locomotives were sent away from Castle Rock to be scrapped but it turns out, as the builders cleared the way for new housing, that a Dean Goods was still stuck in the old railway shed along with a few wagons. The building company immediately told the Castle Rock Heritage Railway and the locomotive was recovered and sent to the Riverside Works.
    To date, the locomotive has still not been restored and instead now sits in the visitor hall at the front of the Works as a First World War loco exhibit. The locomotive is due to be restored fully in a few years.
  2. PannierTanker14
    The time has come where I have realised that trying to model my first layout in O gauge without any modelling experience is probably a really bad idea, so I’ve decided to change plans and build an OO gauge layout which could also double as a filming set for the first pilot episode of ‘Bucket’ (a work in progress, as is the title)
    I have some previous experience in non-permanent Hornby train sets but none more than that, which is still more than my experience with O gauge.
    The O gauge layout the track will have to be wired to the board which would have to be done elsewhere, whereas the OO gauge is easier and is just a simple DC route therefore I was thinking about doing the OO gauge plan instead.
     
    The problem is, my OO gauge stock is knackered and I’ll have to buy a lot of new stuff if I make the OO gauge plan, whereas the O gauge stock I have at hand is in much better condition but is bigger and needs more space to be kept.
     
    After about three days of thinking about it, I thought of an idea where I could have BOTH the layouts at one time. 
    If I start to build the OO gauge one first I would gain enough experience to begin the O gauge one alongside the building of the OO gauge one.
    After three more days of thinking about it I realised that this probably won’t work, which brings us up to today (2nd Feb).
     
    Both layout’s scenic sections are 4ft, with the O gauge layout having a further 4ft sector plate and the OO gauge 2 1/2ft cassette, which makes them both fit where they’re wanted so space isn’t a problem.
     
    A coin toss will decide what happens, but it’s looking like the OO gauge plan will prevail.
     
     
     
     
    The O gauge one will be just a shunting puzzle with some rather awesome pieces of rolling stock, like a whole Dean Goods. It would be a simple 4 road track plan with space for very few interesting scenics other than a grounded van and a pillbox in the corners.
     
    The OO gauge one will be a dynamic colliery setting with a live coal dispenser and many more sidings. This plan can also be used in the pilot of my upcoming twist on the classic Railway Series set around an ex-WD 0-6-0st called Bucket who works in the NCB all the way through the dark days of the End of Steam and into preservation (there’s another blog entry with all the information on that elsewhere)
     
  3. PannierTanker14
    Once, during my many story making times, I imagined what it would be like if we started to use steam power again. A best designs would be both the Riddles WD 2-10-0 and the 9F.
    For this part of the story it involved freight movements of the 2025s where the WD 2-10-0 design was built to super-modern standards and runs on recycled coffee instead of coal (I don’t actually know if this would work, but it’s a nice idea)
    Since not being built for the WD, the re-designed WDs had to find a new name. Currently it’s Coffee Pot, since the locos burn recycled coffee, but for the anti-steamers it’s also called ‘what the heck is that mess!?’. 
    10 were built, numbered 1000 to 1009. (A basic number scheme until reworked)
    EWS owns them all and keeps them running at Toton (this is where it’s obviously an alternate history story, since EWS isn’t around anymore(?) and neither will Toton sidings for much longer)

    The locomotives’ livery is black with yellow trimmings, and with a cast iron plate of the EWS symbol on their tenders. The locos have permanently fixed LED lamps and have built-in safety equipment. These locos are only able to run on the smaller lines since automation has mostly taken over the mainlines and no signals can be found on some of those lines. 
    That isn’t to say that these locos couldn’t appear on other lines, but they would need an escort with the technology to read the digital signals so it’s easier to keep them around their own signal-full railways.

     
     
    (A work-in-progress alternate history)
  4. PannierTanker14
    (just another project rambling)
     
    I remember my grandfather owning a whole Bachmann ‘Big Hauler’ 4-6-0. However, being the rather destructive child I once was, it got damaged. It wasn’t too badly damaged could’ve been repaired, but I didn’t get to it in time before it got thrown out.
     
    After finding the little 2-6-0 christmas train that I was hoping to repair and convert into a narrow gauge ROD loco, I remembered the huge ‘Big Hauler’ and set about to find it on the Interweb. Soon enough I found several results and am now planning to see if I can acquire one again. Of course G scale is huge and I’d have no space for it right now but if I could get one earlier than later I reckon it’ll be better. 
    Being battery powered, the locomotive doesn’t need electrified track and therefore is ideal for temporary track plans.
    I remember how big the initial locomotive was and the wagons were huge too. I just about have room for O gauge, so going into this new plan is more of a loose sketch for now. 
     
    But I have my eye on those ‘Big Haulers’ and one day I will have one again!
  5. PannierTanker14
    Castle Rock has a very wide selection of locomotives and rolling stock from across the British isles, ranging from a Southern E4 to an LMS Black 5. There’s even a BR 52 taken from Germany in WW2.
    Riverside Works is home to most of these locomotives, keeping them safe and in running order. 
    Recently two American locomotives arrived at the works as a gift from a heritage railway in America, in which the Riverside Works does a lot of boiler work and parts creation for. 
    These two locomotives are an operating 0-6-0 switcher steam locomotive (I always see them as being a tender version of the USA class dock tank, since I can never remember the real name) and an F-unit diesel, which was recently overhauled.
    A second F-unit was gifted too, this time from an enthusiast who saved it from scrap and had it sent over to Britain. However, this diesel is very run down and would require a lot of work done to it before it could move under it’s own power, therefore the Works has decided that it either will be restored cosmetically as a static exhibit in the main hall of the attached museum ,which would take a week or so, or fully restored with new parts and will top-and-tail with the other unit, which would take longer to do.
     
     
    Along with these locomotives, 4029 was moved over to the Riverside Works. The Works had purchased it from being cut up from an anonymous seller who sold it for a lot less than it was worth, given that this is the ninth Big Boy 4-8-8-4 locomotive in the world. By its condition, it had been left in the open for decades and has many plants growing from inside of it. As not to spoil Big Boy 4014’s spotlight, the Works will not be restoring this loco to operation. It will be stored in Workshop ‘C’ until an agreement on what to do with it is made. The locomotive isn’t too heavy for the Works’ tracks but it’s best not to risk it.
     
     
    (this is alternate history. 4029 was scrapped years ago)
  6. PannierTanker14
    The castle in Castle Rock has always caused debate on how it came to be. Dracana.Castle had been repaired several times in the past due to damage, but it’s original walls and parts of it’s underground areas still prevail and date back to before the Roman era which is thousands of years before the Normans built the castles across Britain. The Normans did tinker with the castle, adding their own bits, but we’re also baffled by its creation, therefore seeing it as a sign from god that they would take over Britain successfully.
    However, the town of Castle Rock spent a lot of it’s time out of the way of the rest of Britain since it’s in a natural bowl shaped valley. It was only when, in the 1800s, coal was discovered at Castle Rock and the Industrial Revolution sparked in the old town, now called ‘Castle Rock’ by the growing colliery that sat in it’s hillside. 
    The historians today argue about who made the castle. They still think it was one of the Norman’s first attempts at a stone castle but Castle Rock is in the Midlands, and the first Norman castles were on the south east. The original parts of the castle date back to around the gap between the Iron Age and the Roman era.
    The castle’s name is ‘Dracana’ by what was written in several places around the castle. The word is in the shape quite like Latin, but is not a Latin word.
    It, as of yet, is part a language not recognised by history.
    Archeology still continues around the castle, trying to figure answer the age old questions from over the years.
    The railway that runs along the bottom of the hill was repaired recently and the Archeologists took the chance to check what was under the track bed. Several settlements dating back to the Stone Age were found along and around the track bed, and around the castle itself. Most of the remains have been destroyed by the industrial past of Castle Rock.
     
    (more to come. I just had to write this down somewhere)
  7. PannierTanker14
    A few WD locomotives were built at the Riverside Works, along with Tanks and Aircraft.
    The biggest locos that we’re built there were four of the Riddles WD 2-10-0 locomotives. They were sent over to Greece during the end of the war. They were named 101 ‘Broadsword’, 102 ‘Valiant’, 103 ‘Courageous’ and 104 ‘Dracana’ by the Works. As you can see, their names are based on Castle Rock’s medieval past. ‘Dracana’ is the name of the Castle itself. 
    During their time overseas, the four WDs found themselves hauling weapons and munitions for their Greek owners. ‘Valiant’ was the first to be destroyed, blown up in an air raid whilst it was carrying tanks to the battle lines. 
    ‘Courageous’ was second to be destroyed, this time derailed when the tracks in front of it were demolished. In the end it was cut up and presumably made into munitions and armour by the Axis. 
    ‘Broadsword’ and ‘Dracana’ were all that was left by the end of the war and found themselves in freight work right up until the 80s as Λβ967 and Λβ968. Once they became obsolete, they were dumped with other WD locos and left to rot with no second thoughts. 
    The Riverside Works wanted it’s WDs back if they were just going to be left lying around for the rest of time, so they applied to have them removed from the loco dump. 
    The request was granted and both locomotives removed from the dump along with a few other WD 2-8-0s by other preservation societies, one of the other 2-10-0s now resides at the North Norfolk Railway as 90775.
     
    ‘Broadsword’ now runs in BR colours as 90776 (which will be changed into WD livery by next summer) and can be found pulling heavier trains from the exchange sidings near the Mainline. As for 104 ‘Dracana’, she now resides inside the Riverside Works. Out of steam since withdrawal in Greece, ‘Dracana’ now is a static exhibit that only moves into the main workshops during Wartime events. One day she will be returned to steam, repainted in WD green, but for now that is a distant dream. 
     
    There are five WD 2-10-0 locomotives in total about the whole railway. Three are ex-BR and the fourth is 101 ‘Broadsword’. All except ‘Dracana’ are in steam.
     
     
     
     
     
    (This is alternate history. I’ve added a little bit of actual history to the story but do remember that the Castle Rock railway is entirely fictional)
  8. PannierTanker14
    One of the most out of place locomotives in the whole railway is probably the BR 52 2-10-0 German Heavy Freight Locomotive that turns up sometimes for wartime events. Owned by the the town’s local regiment since they stole it in the Second World War and somehow managed to smuggle it back to Britain, the BR 52 is a sight to behold when being put alongside the British countryside. Often looked after by the Riverside Works, the locomotive is very much in steam. It doesn’t get steamed up often but when it does, the whole countryside shakes as it passes. Still painted in the colours the local regiment ‘found’ it in, and with the braces for the Anti-Aircraft gun still on it’s tender, it is a stark reminder of the war. 
    (And also: Turkey was given a whole lot of these big beasties whilst we were giving them 8F. Our strongest loco of the time, the good ol’ 8F, was vastly outmatched by this BR 52 and were often used as shunters since they couldn’t pull trains up hills there. However I do love the TCDD colour scheme for the 8F, it’s lovely and bright. The Riverside works has one of them too!)
     
     
     
    I’ve never seen a BR 52 in o gauge, so I’ll have to settle for the kit in OO gauge until one turns up.
  9. PannierTanker14
    As in a lot of my blogs, this project is one of many that might not get done until later but I thought I’d share it with others:
     
    I’ve already seen some models of locos in BR corporate blue and, since being a writer of alternate histories, I thought it would be fun to join in. 
    The Riddles 9F is the main loco I’ve seen in this version of blue and it looks good on it. Considering how young they were when they got scrapped, I often wonder what it would’ve been like if BR kept them for the 70s instead of wasting perfectly good and basically brand new locos.
     
    This little project will probably not happen any time soon but I just wanted to write it down before i forget
     
    I’ve already began photoshopping a 9F and a 3F Jinty into the BR blue livery. (Both photos are works in progress. I used an 08 as a colour pallet)


  10. PannierTanker14
    I am quite happy the outcome of this latest progression. The wooden frame stands very well and now it is ready to add the second part in the building’s structure; the wooden back boards. The back boards are what covers the back of the wooden frame, where the plasticard building walls will cover the front.
     
    The angle of photography is perfect too, enabling me to take pictures of larger locomotives and stock (not like I have any ).
    here are some photos of my 16 ton mineral wagon. I’ve put up some card to simulate the building’s walls as I ready the plasticard. (I’ll get my E4 out of its box soon and take some picture of that too )
     



  11. PannierTanker14

    The LEGO Fowler

    By PannierTanker14,

    One of my side projects is to rebuild the Fowler diesel mechanical I had made out of LEGO. I stupidly scrapped the first one to get parts for a ship and I since regretted it. I got to building the new model not too long ago.
    LEGO Fowler 2.0 has revised body work and gearbox which should improve repairs (because the gears can break and the motor used is out of date). I haven’t completed it yet since I am expecting new parts which is different sizes to the parts used now. For now the battery box is to be pulled behind the loco, however I have my eyes on the parts to convert it to a remote control loco. The wire sticking out of the cab is the main wires to connect to the battery box. The gearbox is situated under the sloping bonnet on the front running plate and in the engine compartment is the motor. The cab isn’t finished and the running plate along the left side isn’t even there but it’s a work in progress and I hope to bring it with me to model events (hopefully one that is all about LEGO  )
     
     

  12. PannierTanker14
    I found this photo of some tanks which take the idea of camouflage to a whole new level. They’re disguised as coal wagons!
    I reckon this could be a fun thing to model and if your layout is for exhibitions then it would be funny to see if people at an event know why the wagon looks a bit weird. The tanks are hidden under tarpaulin coloured as local coal and freight companies.
     
    Once I get a flat wagon I am going to model this for a laugh but with a rough shape underneath to be the tank rather than getting a tank kit and hiding it away forever.

  13. PannierTanker14
    Does anyone know where this loco went?
    it used to sit outside a museum in Izmit in Turkey until recently, where a tramline has taken it’s place. It’s one of 2 TCDD 8F preserved in Turkey but I fear the worst for this one. Any information on it would be nice. There isn’t anything I can do about it being cut up but i would just like to know, so I don’t go there and try to buy the thing in the future  (because I would if I had such money!)
     

    (to any TCDD people: 8F look so bloody good in red lining . If I ever get an O gauge 8F I am almost certainly colouring it in like this!)
     

  14. PannierTanker14
    Castle Rock Sidings is a puzzle as well as a simple sidings.
    So far the easy version of the game is that the player has to pull out three or four cards from the pile which represents the wagons that must be shunted into position, however, the player must first shunt any brake van into the train first, as brake vans are a necessity on trains. Once the train is completed, the player wins. 

    The harder version of the game is the player must pull out wagon-cards from the pile and put them in order of the four sidings, this time not making a train but instead rearranging the sidings. This is harder because the player now must shunt all the wagons on the four tracks, which so far is an estimation of just under 20 wagons.
    To make both the games even more difficult, there could be a time limit.
     
    Talking of time limits; one of the WW2 events at Castle Rock is a re-enactment of a gunpowder van in a shunters yard which is based on actual events (see Castle Rock events blog entry) 
    In this game, an ‘air raid’ can randomly occur and a wagon next to the gunpowder van catches fire (with LEDs)  The player must shunt the wagons to get to the gunpowder van, which by then would have had a small fire start on it and take it to the water tower to be extinguished in under 3 mins. If the time runs out, the gunpowder van ‘explodes’ (with a speaker inside that goes ‘BANG!!’).
     
    If Castle Rock Sidings ever reaches a mode event, you can come and see these games in action. Maybe you could try your skills at it too.
  15. PannierTanker14
    The main colours of Castle Rock Colliery are mainly red with yellow lining. Locomotives often wore Wasp Stripes too.
    The colliery was never absorbed by the NCB and ran until the 1940s. A W4 Peckett loco was abandoned in the engine sheds since nobody bought it when the colliery closed down. The little 0-4-0 was eventually barricaded inside the shed by a fallen tree until volunteers came to restore the colliery. The loco wasn’t in too bad shape despite where it was left and was returned to steam only four years later. The loco has never left the colliery’s boundaries since it was brought there fresh from the works in 1890.
     
    Heres a coloured in outline I found of a W4 as a basis when I model the loco. I hope the creator of this outline is ok with me using it.

  16. PannierTanker14
    Once, this Lima engine had wheels and even a tender but now it is just a plastic shell...
     
    So I decided that, given it will never work as a locomotive again, I could use it as scenery for my layout project. I also used it as a good base to practice weathering. I’ve added rust and moss to the locomotive, but it needs a little bit more rust.
    At some point I’ll make new frames for it and prop it up on some sleepers to make it look like it had been stripped for parts in the past, before being forgotten in the corner of the sidings. Since Castle Rock has so many running locomotives this sad fate is more common than you’d think, with several tank engines and diesels left lying around the whole railway. 
     
     




  17. PannierTanker14
    I once dreamed of a steam locomotive coming to rescue a downed electric train, thus proving the importance of steam. 
    Well, our good friend 60163 ‘Tornado’ has done just that. Taking time from her own schedule to push the Class 90 to Doncaster:
     
    https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2019/09/steam-locomotive-60163-tornado-comes-to-the-rescue-in-doncaster.html
     
    What would we do without our modern-built steam?
     
    (If there are any photos of this, could you please show them? I’d like to model this rare event!  )
  18. PannierTanker14
    (The military base is to be given a name but for now it is just ‘the military base’)
     
    The whole town was used as a military storage area because of how relatively remote it was. During the First World War, the first military base to be built was positioned near the river and within earshot of the railway. Many locomotives, and eventually tanks, were stored at this base. The locomotives most commonly stored there were the GCR 8K 2-8-0s built for the Railway Operating Division (ROD). Despite being hidden away in the British countryside, the base was the primary target of a bombing that destroyed Castle Rock’s terminus station and the immediate surroundings but only caused the damage of a few military buildings and missed the base altogether!
     
    The military base was still in use by the Second World War, expanded to contain more vehicles and weapons. At one point there was even a Lancaster bomber stored there. The base became home to the War Department’s 8F and WD 2-8-0/2-10-0 locomotives plus many Austerity saddle tank locomotives. It became a target for yet another bombing run and three quarters of it was destroyed. Miraculously the rail yard was left rather untouched, with only one locomotive being destroyed.
    After this the war ended and it’s contents moves away and many of the locomotives sold on.
     
    What was left of the base was demolished in 1970 and the area is now part of a housing development. Castle Rock is covered in pillboxes and it is not uncommon to find one in a field or woodland. One of the most famous pillboxes sits right in the middle of town and can only be accessed through a tunnel linked to the council house. (The council house was where the military officers and officials stayed)
    A small part of the base is preserved in the corner of the housing development. It is now home to a Cromwell tank, what’s left of an Austerity saddle tank loco and other bits of military history.
  19. PannierTanker14
    This is probably unnecessary but I thought I’d bring it up:
     
    Don’t click on the ads that appear on Rail Advent because they look v e r y wrong. They look like scam ads that will steal stuff from your computers. Common tell-tale signs on a scam ad is the really bad spelling and have the tendency to shout CLICK HERE FOR FREE PHONE which would actually lead to a virus or theft from a bank. They also lack any genuine look of an official ad from a company.
     
    I don’t know if the ads vary depending on the computer but I still warn users anyway. Some of the ones on RMweb look a bit iffy too.
  20. PannierTanker14
    The Riverside Works is about half the size of Swindon Works before its end. 
    I’ve been gathering drawings of Swindon Works to create how Riverside Works would look, given that it was the Great Western Railway who built both the works.
    Even though it is smaller than Swindon Works, it still has the capacity of around 50-70 locomotives at one time with 8 engine sheds and three repair shops.
     
    If I were to model the innards of the Riverside Works, it would have to be Repair Shop ‘C’ because it is much smaller. It is a two road shed connected to the boiler works, It has the capacity for only 4 larger locomotives and It’s the area where the locomotives are taken apart and put back together over a longer period of time. The locomotives that have more specialist and rare parts come here instead of Repair Shop ‘A’ or ‘B’ because it would take longer to make the parts for these locos.
     
    Repair Shop ‘A’ and ‘B’ are Traversing Shops (which I think is the right name) this is where a loco enters the shop at one end and moves along to the other, undergoing whatever repair it needs, like overhaul or just a boiler replacement. ‘A’ is faster than ‘B’, with locos being completed in just under a week minus re-painting. ‘B’ is for more extensive work like overhauls and usually completes a locomotive in a month or so. ‘C’ is the slowest and only specialises on rarer locomotives, usual time finishing them in two to three months depending on how fast the parts are made. 
     
    The funny thing is that, despite the addition of computer assistance, there are still a couple of thousand people who work here on various jobs. Just over a quarter of Castle Rock’s population work at the works, providing admin or metalworking or paint-working skills.
  21. PannierTanker14
    (This will probably be revised later. I’ve just written down what was on my mind at the time)
     
    Modelling a preserved railway is probably best for a first layout because it can be whatever you want it to be and it’s a good way to learn modelling skills.
     
    I’m modelling a fictional heritage railway set in the fictional area of Castle Rock for a few reasons:
    One is that it is easier to acquire O gauge models without an era or region restriction so I can get whatever models are available.
    Two is that I like to write stories. A fictional place is the best thing to write about because you can put     A N Y T H I N G you want into it because it isn't real in the first place. 
    And Three is that heritage railways have rolling stock that the past doesn’t have; like wagons carrying bits and pieces or miserable looking skeletal coaches in cramped sidings or tanker wagons that look like they’ll deflate or the sadness of a lump of iron that used to be a wonderful steam-beastie of the railways just being left in the corner siding to rust away like it was never there. These examples provide something interesting to model, especially if you ever get your hands on already broken models. 
    Or you could model something a bit nicer like a heritage railway with locomotives and rolling stock that is very well looked after. There’s many examples of that. 
     
    Modelling preserved railways doesn’t need to be accurate either, since it would be different from how the railway would have been in the past.
     
     
     
    Thats just my take on the subject. Opinions will vary.

  22. PannierTanker14

    Castle Rock station

    By PannierTanker14,

    (Storyline of the main station)
    The Castle Rock line was built in the late 1800s by a private company, eventually being absorbed into the GWR by 1908. In 1928 the LMS joined in with the line, making it a GW and LMS joint line. The terminus was blown up in the First World War and left as a basic station until the GW and LMS decided it should be rebuilt again as a grand creation. 
    However, the whole station building probably has the strangest architecture of all British railway architecture: The West side is built as the GW and the East side is built as the LMS, joining in the middle roof with half of the GW crest on the LMS side and half of the LMS crest on the GW side. 
    This was done to represent the two companies using the line together as one. The station was blown up again in the Second World War by a Luftwaffe bomber crashing through it. The special station roof was not rebuilt until 2004, when the Castle Rock Railway Society gained enough money to rebuild the station to its 1931-1940 condition. 
     
     
     
    Its not a massive station, but if I were to model it, it would need to be in OO gauge because of the complexity of it.
  23. PannierTanker14
    It begins!
    (as soon as the wood board gets cut to size I will put up the build process on a ‘topic’ for easy updates)
     
    This is the rough shape of the buildings surrounding the photo diorama ‘Riverside Works’. They are in the shape of a building I found at Calke Abbey, which is a National Trust owned area. In this area is a stable building that reminded me of a locomotive shed, which then sparked the idea of the diorama. (See second attached photo)
     
    The buildings will be scratch built and based on the stable building’s industrial style shape. The track will be inset. Where the pencil is, there will be an openable door so if I ever gain a Two coach DMU I can display only one coach and hide it in the door so it gives the illusion that it is coming out of the shed as a full train.
    : It will also be used to photograph other models of the same scale like tanks, cars and planes :
     
    (((My wagon models, be it in O or OO, carry stuff often because that’s what wagons do. In this photo the 16ton mineral wagon is carrying wires, screws, head lamps and a shunter’s pole made out of a cocktail stick)))


  24. PannierTanker14
    I have created a cardboard cutout of the track plan to scale (hopefully). The scenic section isn’t too big as it only measures 4ft long and 1ft 6in wide. The representation of the track in the image below actually measures the edges of the sleepers and not the rails. 
    The layout is made of two parts, the scenic area and the sector plate. The sector plate is supposed to be removable for easy transport and also because the layout will spend much of it’s days at the end of my bed, therefore the sector plate would take up the rest of the room if attached. 
    I haven’t figured out how the sector plate will work but work on the layout won’t begin until later this year or the beginning of next year, so I have some time to think.
     
    (Edit 24th August 2019: a photo of my current stock on the cardboard track plan to hopefully show the scale a little better)
     
    I have outlined the plan digitally as the pencil lines are about a year and a bit old now and have worn away after having been stuffed down the side of a cupboard for ages.
    (I will develop a coloured and more accurate version later)
     
    1: Bridge used as a scenic break
    2: Grounded van
    3: Water tower
    4: Pillbox (not yet decided)

     

  25. PannierTanker14
    The Riverside Loco Works was an idea I came up with for a video game where locomotives from preservation are serviced  as fast as they would have in the steam era. (I watched a 30s film where an LMS loco was under general repair and was out in under two weeks!) This idea has now been incorporated into the Castle Rock project as the sheds that the railway heritage society and the colliery society share for repairs to their stock.
     
    I’ve created a plan to build a small part of this loco works in O gauge as a photographic diorama so I can photograph individual rolling stock with a suitable background. This diorama will probably accompany the main layout during exhibitions as a place to store locomotives when not in use (since the layout will at first be D.C. therefore only one locomotive can be on the track at one time)
     
    This diorama will probably be the first to be finished since it’s small and easy to make. The Castle Rock railway has a wide range of locomotives from across Britain (and even the world if you count the BR-52 and the S160s) and require a place to service them that has a wide selection of parts. The loco works are capable of creating parts from scratch therefore there has been many a plan to start building locomotives from scratch too. Locos like the Bulleid diesels or even a replica of the Zaamurets armoured train. 
     
    The works also assist other railways in the upkeep of their locomotives and provide uncommon parts and boiler servicing too.
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