Aire Head

Further to the Bradford Exchange comments I like the way these two images compare.

Tidmouth is pretty reminiscent of Bradford Exchange as well

The NWR was built using locos from the Furness railway and the Midland Railway. Topham Hatt has a fondness for fowler tenders bordering on the obsessive make of that what you will!

Looks like period 3 style stock

Plenty of scope for a lot of van and parcels traffic then. A lot of quarrying also take place so a lot of potential for that to be depicted. Any other industries that could be covered?

Reading the image you have attached The Suderian could terminate at Barrow as it mentions through Coaches to Euston etc so it's possible that these are attached to a different train at Barrow?

I'm of the thought that the Limited or the Suderian would be easily able to service Manchester. The Little North Western provides easy access into Yorkshire and it's major population and industrial centres which I would imagine the North Western would be keen to tap into. Coalwise the NWR has quite a range of choice in either the Cumbrian and Lancashire coal fields or even the Yorkshire ones at a push. Imports I'd expect that a lot of the engineering equipment would need to be brought from the mainland. Textiles would most likely need importing too (Manchester, Bradford etc) Memory escapes me as to fruit traffic being mention but also a possibility.

Freight wise we know that other railway locomotives are used relatively frequently on these turns. We know that in 1968 there was an Oil train travelling the mainline. From earlier conversations this was suggested that it could come from Heysham to Tidmouth loaded and return empty. Such trains in the period depicted would tend to attract some large attracted powerful locomotives. I certainly know that the Tees-Heysham which travelled my area of modelling interest frequently tended to be 9F/8F hauled although J39s also made an appearance. Once Diesel power got a grip of these workings Class 25s/37s with a brake tender also became common. All coal to Sodor is imported so the characteristic rake of 16t minerals would certainly make an appearance. Depending on where they were coming from 4Fs/Crabs/8Fs would be a likely candidate. Just a couple of ideas for starters

So had some thoughts on this and likely appearances. So passenger wise I am aware of two named services. The Wild Nor'Wester and The Limited. We know the Wild Nor'Wester terminates at St Pancreas. So my imagination is the route once it reaches the mainland is from Barrow to Carnforth, over the aptly named "Little North Western" to Hellifield and then onto Leeds and eventually St Pancreas. This could mean Holbeck allocated locomotives making an appearance such as a Jubilee or even an A3! The Limited we don't know very much about and we have only seen it hauled by D7101/D3/Bear. I'm tempted to read between the lines on this and say perhaps this is the same express hauled by the Patriot. As such I'd portray this as likely heading towards Manchester and then down the WCML to Euston which allows for Patriots/Scots and perhaps even Coronations etc. Also depicted are passenger trains from the other railway that appear to be more local services, perhaps allowing some ex LMS 2-6-4 Tanks to make an appearance? Which should stand out a bit in comparison to the NWR locomotives.

So based off the available images of Tidmouth it appears as though the shed is on the opposite side of the station to the docks and the Arlesburgh branch. The yard appears to have no particular fixed location. The station itself seems to have anywhere between 1 and 3 roof sections. I do love the railways series but as expressed earlier I really wish the artists had been consistent! Apologies to Tom if I'm taking this off topic!

I do like your plan, I was actually meaning the full station as the illustrations don't really show anything you would require for a station the size of Tidmouth. Should have been clearer!

Do we have an overall idea of where everything is in Tidmouth, where the station is, how many platforms it is, where the branch line is in relation to the mainline. What do we know regarding the docks, also I presume there is a good yard is it ever depicted?

I suspect for the shed following the illustrations is best avoided as all the roads seem to feed directly into the station. I might have a play around on xtrkcad tonight to see if I can come up with something more plausible.

That makes a lot of sense and is the kind of consideration I should give to projects! Out of interest what is the purpose of the siding to the front that seems to be completely disconnected from anything else?

This topic has fascinated me far more than it should! I would personally stick with the docks rather than the MPD but that might just be my preference for running good trains. I've often considered that Vicarstown would make a good layout as you have the meeting of BR and the NWR.

Whoops how rude of me! I do apologise!

Afternoon gentleman. I am a returning member of no previous significance returning after a gap of around 10 years. Unfortunately not in a position to do much more than muse on modelling projects at present, although I aim to start something sooner rather than later either Settle Carlisle based or something on the Aire Valley Line which I have grown up adjacent to. Until then I'm just going to continue trying to soak up as much enthusiasm and experience as I can from these pages. See you in the threads. Regards Ben Manicom