SteveyDee68 Posted May 12, 2022 Author Share Posted May 12, 2022 (edited) On 27/04/2022 at 08:59, Iskra said: As all the pictures have disappeared, I can't see what progress has been made on this project. It sounds a fascinating one. To be honest, I have been hoping that RMWeb will restore the photos - I can, of course, hunt through my hard drive and probably locate everything I have posted, but it is the pictures from other contributors - such as of the Yokohama Fenders at Newhaven for enabling the ferry to dock - that bring real “added value” to this thread! As an aside, I have finished reading my recently acquired “Train Ferries of Western Europe” and having done so I can only admire all the more the vessel the Rev Alan Shone designed and constructed for his (N gauge) Wardleworth Lines Committee layout back in the early 1970s - he really did catch the “look and feel” of the more modern train ferries as pictured in the book. However, I am determined to disprove his tagline “There are some things you can only do in N” by constructing a OO sized vessel - and having seen in this month’s magazine that it is one of Chris Leigh’s ambitions to model one, I have to come through with the goods! Incidentally, the turntable idea with two ships bow to bow separated by a double sided back scene is an interesting concept if a train ferry could be stern loaded without being in/alongside a dock - the link span might even lift to allow the free movement of the turntable to bring the second vessel into position. Unfortunately, Mr Ransome’s book makes it quite clear that a necessity of any train ferry service is a dock that fits the ferry like a finger in a glove, so therefore there needs to be a dockside alongside/around the ship. Providing that feature on a turntable would mean replicating the dockside exactly for both vessels plus necessitating curved joins between scenic items (matching the turntable circumference) to allow it to revolve. Lastly, the radius of the turntable would need to be the length of the ship - around four feet long in OO - which would make the diameter of the turntable around 8 feet! That is a big turntable necessitating four feet of turning room in front of and behind the layout! If I were planning on using that much space for the ferry, I might as well attempt the various suggestions for having it “leave” more prototypically rather than swinging sideways! HOURS OF FUN! Edited May 28, 2022 by SteveyDee68 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted June 4, 2022 Author Share Posted June 4, 2022 The more I study Dover and the train ferry, the more I appreciate the planning that went into the facilities… The double track link span, to (a) speed up loading/unloading and (b) avoid the ship heeling whilst unloading makes so much sense, but also complicates creating and operating a model (two consists shunting simultaneously in parallel onto/off the ship?!) Four tracks each capable of holding ten wagons each makes for a forty wagon payload, which is a long goods train in OO scale … The good Rev may have had a point when he said some things are only possible in N gauge!! HOURS OF FUN! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted June 4, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 4, 2022 Hi there, Apologies if metioned earlier in the thread but there might be some useful inspiration to be found in the train ferries that operate between Messina (Sicily) and Villa San Giovanni (Italy) that are still in operation. This video from 2000 shows the operation, and at 9'50" there is an aerial view that shows at least one of the berths has a relatively short dock alongside the ferry. Depicted in model form: cheers Ben A. 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted June 5, 2022 Author Share Posted June 5, 2022 Nicely done, that model ship (in 3.5mm/foot, one presumes) Interesting footage of the station and ferry berth … and useful to refer to for planning. Just located the wood I’d squirrelled away for this project - all much heavier than I remembered! Maybe foam board might be the way forward? Much to ponder over … HOURS OF FUN! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhall Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 https://www.regionsetcompagnies.fr/produit/ferry-boat-a-quai noticed elsewhere for those with deep pockets jon 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fulton Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 10 hours ago, jonhall said: https://www.regionsetcompagnies.fr/produit/ferry-boat-a-quai noticed elsewhere for those with deep pockets jon Just visited that link, interesting range, apart from the price, the ferry kit looks interesting, but I think it will be impossible for the side joins not to show, they stand out even in their own photos. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nightstar.train Posted June 24, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 24, 2022 I have a suggestion for running your ferries. You could have the ferry on small wheels to allow it to be pushed along. Then have a trolley just outside the quay that the ferry can drive onto and be wheeled away. Then you can change the stock off scene and bring it back. You could have a fiddle yard in another part of the room that the ferry can dock to, to facilitate this. If you have enough modelling time and energy you could even have a second ferry! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold sjp23480 Posted April 19, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2023 I note the challenges of finding 1:76 ship models. These are not ferries, but the saleroom has a couple of 1:87 resin ship models that might be useful: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/special-auction-services/catalogue-id-srspe10544/lot-046c19ed-7614-45f8-8206-afdc00d209d7 https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/special-auction-services/catalogue-id-srspe10544/lot-cd0e8ae6-3b7a-470b-861f-afdc00d20851 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted June 1, 2023 Author Share Posted June 1, 2023 On 19/04/2023 at 21:12, sjp23480 said: I note the challenges of finding 1:76 ship models. These are not ferries, but the saleroom has a couple of 1:87 resin ship models that might be useful: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/special-auction-services/catalogue-id-srspe10544/lot-046c19ed-7614-45f8-8206-afdc00d209d7 https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/special-auction-services/catalogue-id-srspe10544/lot-cd0e8ae6-3b7a-470b-861f-afdc00d20851 Thanks for the heads up on these - unfortunately I wasn’t notified that you had posted, so missed the auction by a month plus! The first item is interesting, the second far less so (very distinctive and only found on the Great Lakes system in the USA) Cheers Steve S 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted September 30, 2023 Author Share Posted September 30, 2023 One step further on, thanks to vintagemodelplans.com in Canada, who have resized their semi-scale plans for Vortigern to 1:76. Opening the plans out, they are literally as long as my bed! Definitely going to be a massive project and a huge presence when completed. HOURS OF FUN! 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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