Not, strictly speaking a narrow gauge railway, and thus not appropriate for 009 (it was built to 4 foot 8 and a half inches), but this line, a mixture of tramway and light railway, seems a good prototype for a layout. Does anyone know whether it has been modelled already?
Limited rolling stock, hardly any goods traffic, locos with tramway skirting, and track layouts at its end stations (7 miles 4 chains apart) that make the Lynton and Barnstaple look complex.
Russell Jackson
Thanks Russell. That looks fascinating. Seeing the locos in skirts makes me wonder about an 009 Kato tram chassis version. There are some good 3D CAD designers out there that have the knack of massaging standard gauge tram locomotives into 009 versions that retain the character but are (I assume) not just a shrunken version of the original. I wonder if there are suitable models? David Hurst's Aberdeen Gas Corporation Bon Accord which is now on the Deeside Railway is a good example.
Well, since posting my query, I've received (and read!) a copy of the Oakwood Press book on the line by Stanley C. Jenkins (1993). The three locos were Hunslet 2-4-2s, and the front running plate, and the skirting make them look very wide indeed, given that they were comparable in boiler and smokebox size to much smaller gauge locos but built to run on standard gauge track. Fourdees tram locos would fit the bill, if we took modeller's license and worked in 009 standards. The same goes for their tram coaches, which resemble the very large 'American' style stock, with two banks of reversible seats on either side of a centre gangway and balconies at each end with steps down to street level. Platforms at Westward Ho! and Appledore were no higher than a foot, and the only fully equipped stations were at those two places. Stabling was at Bidefore, away from the line as it passed towards Northam. The loco and carriage sheds still exist in Bideford, opposite a Morrisons store.) Three locos (identical), six of the bogie passenger vehicles, eight goods vehicles and a brake van that was used for some passenger trains when only one coach was running: so as few items of rolling stock as one could wish for a layout. It's very tempting!
Russell
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A more recent, larger format, well illustrated, hardback, and I would suggest more detailed work on the line than the Stanley Jenkins tome is this.
Rod Garner: The Bideford, Westward Ho! And Appledore Railway, Kestral Railway Books, Southampton, 2008, ISBN 978-1-905505-09-8.
CP
Thanks, Christopher. I've located a copy on Abebooks, but will wait until my next pocket money day!
The line's operational activities were so limited (passing loops, one siding at Bideford and one at Appledore, plus the yard at Bideford) that I think a little development, as well as a change of gauge, would be called for in any layout, but it is an interesting proposition. As there were no facilities for turning them, when delivery was taken of their three locos, two were placed on the track with the cab towards Appledore, and the other facing towards Bideford, which isn't surprising in this NG context. I think one extra siding and a headhunt at one of the end stations would be all I need.
Best wishes,
Russell