bigboyboris

Is there any consensus on what kind of alternate couplings people generally prefer, in 2mm? The standard N rapidos being ugly and long and not very well suited to automatic uncoupling on a shunting layout, to my perception.

Thanks for the help all, seems like a case of the LNWR diagram just being wrong in this case. Slightly related follow-up question: when I wrote the original question, I thought I had seen two locations where there were joint LNWR/B&M lines, but now I look at the 1904 RCH diagrams again I can only see the line around Merthyr. Is there another line (maybe built / joint-ified later) that was also shared between the two companies, or did I imagine it?

Hi all, I'm considering various layout ideas for a planned pre-grouping layout in EM gauge, and in particular looking at areas where a larger and smaller company shared facilities or lines. One idea that's caught my attention is that of a fictitious terminus branching off of one the LNWR and B&M shared lines, perhaps to serve an invented racecourse and gasworks. I've come across some conflicting information online about a specific section of line, however - this page suggests the curving line close to Merthyr was also shared with the Rhymney Railway, while this one suggests that it was only LNWR and B&M. Does anyone know where I might be able to find more information about which of these is the case, or if they were both true at different times? Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

That's very generous of you to offer, thank you. I feel I should mention that Carnforth and the Furness Railway are one of a few different potential layout ideas I'm considering, and I'm unlikely to be able to start for about a year in the best case - I wouldn't wish for you to do a load of work on my account and then not end up using it. I'd likely also have to consider how suitable the intended chassis are for EM conversion, as I think that's likely to be the gauge I end up working in. I will absolutely get in touch nearer the time if I ultimately choose to model the FR though, thank you! Thanks also to all those who have provided more prototype information about Carnforth - I have been going off an ordnance survey map, RCH diagram and Wikipedia page, mostly, so there's a lot I'm not yet aware of about the area! I think rule 1 stretches far enough for me that I'd be happy to run them, but it's a good factor to consider.

Thank you for the recommendations. Seems like these two Shapeways products may also have potential as scratch aids: https://www.shapeways.com/product/37WP8484G/0-4-0-inside-cylinder-tender-engine?optionId=162406719&li=marketplace https://www.shapeways.com/product/6GZDQGDSF/0-4-0-tender-engine?optionId=140578939&li=related-items

Does anyone know if there are or have been kits for any of the 0-4-0 tender locos utilised by the FR? Ideally in 4mm scale. I'm toying around with the idea of a layout loosely based on the joint Furness, Furness and Midland and LNWR goods yard at Carnforth, set some time in the 1890-1910 period. My understanding is one of the quirks of the FR is that it was one of the few companies still using 0-4-0 tender locos around that time, and that's something I'd definitely like to represent if I were to build this layout. But I've had no luck at all finding any existing kits for any of the five such loco classes I see listed on Wikipedia, so I'm hoping this forum might be able to help.

I'm interested in learning more about the specifics of British Railways' involvement in the building out of Britain's electrical grid for the BEA/CEA/CEGB. I am aware from photos I've seen around the web that BR carried transformers on special rolling stock, and also big rolls of cable and other construction supplies. What I'd really like to understand is more of the context around these photos - what kinds of traction were likely to be used, how did the trip from factory to final site break down, were there staging yards used en route, were materials delivered direct to site or moved off of the rails at the start and end of the journey, that kind of thing. Hoping the knowledgeable folk of RMWeb might be able to recommend books or sites or documentaries or the like where I'm able to learn more. Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I've read that these wagons continued to be used into the 1950s in some collieries, but I'm curious what for? I imagine they don't really have the right geometry for unloading with a tippler, so it seems like combined with the small capacity it would have been awkward to transport much coal with them. Did anyone know if there were particular duties they were assigned to? Would they work mixed in with other opens or on their own rake? Or were they the sort of thing kept around just in case but very rarely used?

There is a mention of LNG by rail on this page, but it is very light on details. I believe I've seen a brief mention of the traffic in another source, too, but I don't recall where and again it did not go into detail.

I've read a few separate references to a short-lived traffic in liquified natural gas by cryogenic tanker under BR, at some point before there were pipelines in place to carry the output of the North Sea oil field. However, I'm not able to find any substantial information about it - such as when this traffic ran, the specifics of the wagons used and routes taken, what the terminals might have looked like and such. Does anyone know any books or webpages that might have more information?

Great information, thanks Nick. Is it apparent from the books you have whether there is a specific allocation of each feeder service to a single customer or whether each service covers a specific area or branch line with potentially multiple customers serviced on one trip?

Specifically the 11mm wheelbase steam chassis from this page. I've seen a couple of different kits that I'm interested in that use it, but I can't tell from the photos whether it would be realistically possible to fit a decoder or not.

I have read Paul's excellent Railfreight since 1968: Wagonload, and abc Railway Freight Operations. I don't recall either of them getting into the specifics of how an individual feeder service would operate, though. As far as I recall they were a bit more high level. Please do suggest a chapter or page number if I've missed something.

Thanks all for your input thus far. I am aware of at least one example of a timber merchant served by rail from a private siding (from Paul Shannon's excellent abc Railway Freight Operations), but does anyone know if there were any larger builder's merchants still being served by Enterprise services in the mid-late nineties? Perhaps receiving coal, cinder blocks, timber of various kinds... Otherwise a Paper Mill or maybe Pipeworks (if there were any still rail served in '96) seems like my best bet. I am aware that much more varied railfreight existed earlier in the century, but I'm specifically interested in 1996 because of the variety of sectorisation and shadow franchise liveries that could be seen, so I'm hoping to find inspiration for a 6x1 N shunting plank layout that could justify a good variety of freight rolling stock.

A bit of a subjective question, but I'm really interested in examples of places that kept a rail connection relatively late, but aren't the kind of industry that immediately comes to mind. Especially interested in anywhere that could justify a variety of rolling stock, but that's not a requirement.

I'm looking for more information on Transrail/EWS Enterprise feeder services, circa 1996. Would these generally run straight to a from a yard, stopping at a single customer, or might multiple factories on a branch be served by a single service operating like a kind of pick-up goods? Would these always be timetabled or might they be more dynamic according to customer demand? Was there consistent traction allocated or might it vary? Were things substantially different for speedlink or connectrail? Thanks.

I've been reading a bit about these final flows of livestock under BR (in particular this excellent Rail Express article), but it seems that information on what exactly the receiving facilities would look like is very thin on the ground. According to the aforementioned article the only regular flow was to York, but there were special trains to other locations also. Looking at some maps I can see the fairly substantial loading facilities at Holyhead, but if there's something similar in York for receiving them I could not find it on a cursory glance at a map. Does anyone know for sure what might have existed at that time? I would also be interested in information about other locations that received intensive cattle flows prior to the 1970 date.

I'm interested in the transition between more 'traditional' wagonload freight services and speedlink (and its precursors). This page would seem to suggest that scrap metal and coal were the last two cargoes not folded into speedlink, up until some time in 1984. It does not give any precise indication of when other types of traffic ended, however. I'm particular interested in figuring out the approximate point where there was the greatest variety of both Speedlink/air-braked and vacuum/unfitted services at the same time, but any information, book or website recommendations and the like regarding the changing landscape of wagonload freight in this period would be of great interest. Thanks.

Very impressive progress in such a short space of time. Do you have plans to expand things to the left hand side with a fiddle yard of some kind? Seems as though you'd have a hard time using one of your points otherwise.

Before it would inevitably be upgraded to double-track? I'm interested in frequency of services but also the number/variety of different destinations/customers served. Is it plausible that a set of exchange sidings could be sited half a mile or so from where an industrial railway met the main track if there was no suitable location closer? Would multiple companies ever share one set of exchange sidings? The setting I have in mind is in circa 1968, but if the answers would be different for '54 or '84 I've also considered those.

The main appeal of narrow gauge for me is in the design of the rolling stock, but I feel like if modelling close to prototypical it's hard to find justification for more than three or four different locomotive types and a handful of wagon designs. The best option for loco variety is probably a preserved railway, but that's quite restrictive to the services you can run and the type and quantity of weathering you can reasonably apply. I have thought about a contractor's yard set in a period where every major construction project had a railway to go with it, but I don't know to what extent they actually existed as a place where locomotives moved under their own power. Does anyone have suggestions for a prototype I've overlooked or an alternative approach to my dilemma?

I have been working on plans for a layout over the past month or so that I expect to start work on toward the beginning of next year. My interest is primarily in freight traffic, and mixed goods trains in particular so a small marshalling yard seems like an appealing prototype. I would also like to have a through line to enable services that wouldn't be marshalled, and as this plan is intended to be positioned along a wall will limited access to the rear I have had to make some compromises with the fiddleyard design. Below is an outline of the scenic section and non-scenic reversing loop; the fiddleyard will follow in a separate image. The yard itself is composed of two arrival loops parallel to the main line, four sorting tracks and one track in the upper right for brake van stabling that also serves as a headshunt for small loco shed and fuelling point for visiting locos and the yard pilot. There is a headshunt for the sorting tracks but it is relatively short and doesn't serve the arrival loops so some shunting will have to use the main line; I can't see any reasonable way to get around this without reducing the size of the trains I'm able to handle significantly. In case it wasn't obvious from the improvised backscene, the main body of the reversing loop is non-scenic and mainly exists to allow through running in combination with the single fiddleyard connection depicted below; it does, however, also stand-in for an off-scene turntable to allow me to turn steam locos where necessary. The main storage sidings are to be located five inches below the scenic board, which results in a gradient along the decline (from the leftmost point in the previous image to the rightmost point in this one) of 2.3% - hopefully easily manageable with some form of magnetic adhesion. I have elected to only include three storage sidings because given the restricted clearance between boards (probably around 4" after factoring in supports for the upper board) I'm not sure how much farther back I would be able to comfortably reach. Trains would be assembled and disassembled by hand with storage for rolling stock positioned within reaching distance. I'd very much appreciate suggestions as I'm still a novice when it comes to practical layout design. I feel as though what I have has too many tracks parallel with the edge of the board, but I'm not sure how best to change that if at all. Also, using the main line as a headshunt might be horribly unprototypical, I'm not sure.

Very ambitious plans. I look forward to seeing how this develops.

I'm not necessarily attached to one specific region, but if I had to pick I'd put the Great Eastern and Great Northern Joint Railway at the top of my list. Any line with a healthy variety of freight traffic is a possibility if the support is good, though.

I'm looking into O gauge as a possibility for modelling in, but the cost of ready-to-plant trackwork is pretty brutal at £40-50 per point. I'm wondering what kind of cost savings might be possible with handbuilt track?