What would you do?

[Andy Lowman]

On a layout that's undergoing some finishing modelling and is being 'absorbed' into a larger existing layout there is a spur line leading to an area (seen in the photos). This, under the previous owner, was going to be a sort of quarry. However on the existing layout there is already a quarry along with a quayside and a canal wharf. So the question is what to do with this spur line area? It can be remodelled, scenery-wise, within it's perimeter and measures about 30cm by 20cm. All ideas gratefully received, thanks very much.

[B.Meldon]

That could be a location for a coal mine. Or pearhaps a factory of some type?

There was also this Welsh slate mill that was located some distance away from the quarry:

http://www.penmorfa.com/Slate/pontypandy.html

[Andy Lowman]

Thanks B., a processing mill hadn't come into the thinking, that would tie up nicely with the quarry that's elsewhere. Nice one, it's on the list!

[Tom Haythornthwaite]

Sawmill, surrounded by some forest?

[Andy Lowman]

Hi Tom, nice suggestion, one for the list and I'll take a look at some examples over the weekend. Have a good day.

[Pirlouit]

Hello Andy, if you are changing the surrounding area to a forest, why not a tree felling site?

[Greg Millis]

An interesting conundrum,

How about a scrap yard? Plenty of opportunity for scenic modelling of rusting parts, some road traffic to the site and cutting torches etc?

[JulienW]

It's a bit difficult to make suggestions without seeing the whole layout, but thinking geologically it's rare to find minerals in very small bodies, so a quarry for some unspecified stone is likely to have other quarries working the same unspecified stone nearby - think of all the collieries in the South Wales valleys, Ironstone workings in the East Midlands, ball clay workings on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset (worked initially by 2 different companies that merged) or concentration of slate working in North West Wales.

On that basis having both quarries on the layout I don't think would be a problem (for me at least). You could think of one as the 'new' pit and the other as the 'old' one, or one could be an abandoned working (worked out or otherwise untenable) with a new mine as its replacement (better quality stone or better access to the mineral body that both quarries are mining).

If the 'old' quarry has been abandoned then it could just be left as a hole in the ground, or the tracks could be being used to dump spoil from the 'new' workings to fill them in, or as often happened with old quarries it's being used as a dump for rubbish.

[Andy Lowman]

Thanks Julien, Greg and Pirlouit. All worthy suggestions and much appreciated. Latest thought at this end is to just use the spur as an old siding and add a ruined building with a rusting loco/rolling stock. So many choices!

[Ian MacFarlaine]

Hello Andy. Not sure what your era and ethos is, and what depots you have on the rest of the layout but one option which has a very well known protoype is to "disuse" the quarry and put a railway shed or other non-quarry use there. The prototype is Mannez quarry in Alderney which houses the railway sheds for the tourist railway. Some images here and there is also a Geoff Marshall video with some drone shots. Part of Mannez is also now the garden waste and compost facility for the island these days.

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=4b313fb8a1a61408&sxsrf=ACQVn0-r7eAa_q-ZyVkslVOdi4EciGXEKg:1710718907375&q=mannez+quarry&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiihKPGvPyEAxXzS0EAHVZmDHAQ0pQJegQIDRAB&biw=1163&bih=539&dpr=1.65#imgrc=I3w6Hl0iJjdjdM

[Andy Lowman]

Hello Ian, thanks very much for the suggestion, it's certainly up there as a possibility as I have a few 'old' buildings that could be used there. I've taken a look at Mannez and I'll get them out and have a go.

[Andy Lowman]

And the winner is; the Wood Yard!