Victorian/Edwardian railways

[Agrippa]

Being a big fan of Sherlock Holmes and M R James stories I wondered
if anyone modelled the 1880-1900 periods when the characters went
to remote stations, usually in the West country and got a horse and
trap to the big house. Probably many of these lines didn't survive
much into the 1920's , but I stll enjoy the idea of tiny trains going
into the countryside where things hadn't changed for many years.
Remember your Bradshaw.

[port perran]

It's not directly related to this post but have you read any of the railway novels by Edward Marston. You may enjoy them if you are interested in this period or slightly earlier.

[Claude Dreyfus]

We have a layout being build set right in the middle of this period...

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=7246.0

It is a really interesting period, although I am not sure if Mr Holmes ventured this way!

[Agrippa]

Looks like an interesting project, perhaps Holmes and Watson
could travel there to investigate The Sussex Murder!

[EtchedPixels]

Being a big fan of Sherlock Holmes and M R James stories I wondered
if anyone modelled the 1880-1900 periods when the characters went
to remote stations, usually in the West country and got a horse and
trap to the big house. Probably many of these lines didn't survive
much into the 1920's , but I stll enjoy the idea of tiny trains going
into the countryside where things hadn't changed for many years.
Remember your Bradshaw.

An awful lot of these lines survived into the 1950s before the mass rise of the motor car and Beeching.  Some of them still do for political reasons (eg the Heart of Wales which exists today essentially because it passes through a long string of marginal political seats and even the most raving pro Beeching ministers didn't dare touch it) plus some of the surviving Highland bits.

The main business of most of these lines however as with almost all railways would have been freight. Animals (alive and dead - eg rabbits), coal, wood, potatoes, fruit etc. Freight made them pay, passengers were a bonus for the most part.

I've seen a few good layouts of the era, but not many. One of the big challenges is the scenery - if you look at the period pictures it's so *empty* not just of buildings or people but of stuff in general.

In some ways 1880-1900 is a little easier than earlier dates (GWR excepted perhaps as its still dual gauge then) because by then things had begun to settle down a bit more. Block working was becoming normal, signals were becoming a bit more conventional,. green had become go for the most part and so on (in earlier days green was often caution and white flags were go)

I'd note that not all the trains were exactly short in the 1880s there were 12 or more vehicle long four/six wheel coach trains running in and out of London with close coupled vehicles to get as many onto the platforms as they could.

The other unexpected benefit of modelling little trains in that period is that you need much less layout space to do it justice. A terrier and 3 or 4 coaches isn't very big at all.

Be warned of one thing - most of the pre grouping liveries are not simple to paint. The SECR in particular appears to have operated as a home for unemployed painter with even the solebars intricately lined !

Alan

[moogle]

I've seen a few good layouts of the era, but not many. One of the big challenges is the scenery - if you look at the period pictures it's so *empty* not just of buildings or people but of stuff in general.

Exactly. When I had a go at modelling the Edwardian era a few years back I chose an urban environment for just that reason!

Here's some  of my old layout.















Its been dismantled a few years now, waiting to be resurrected!
Yes the loco's aren't right for the era but I was going for the right look for the layout more than anything to see if it was possible.
Useful figures for the Victorian/Edwardian era are Preiser wedding sets for the bride and groom, Langley wedding and funeral sets and the Model Power steam era set of figures.
You'll need to swap veils for hats on the brides of course.

If you are an NGS member and interested in this era I recommend joining the Era 1&2 area group.

http://www.ngaugesociety.com/index.php?page=area-groups#era1+2

Its FREE  and its members cover quite a range of companies/areas modelled.

Be warned of one thing - most of the pre grouping liveries are not simple to paint. The SECR in particular appears to have operated as a home for unemployed painter with even the solebars intricately lined !

Very true and one of the reasons that even now you're only just starting to get properly done SECR stuff in OO!
Well, one loco at least anyway...

[Agrippa]

Thanks for info, not a member of the NGS but  interesting facts.
As EP says the countryside would appear empty, perhaps
scope for a shelf type layout with mimimal infrastructure.

[Claude Dreyfus]

You also have some interesting challenges if the line you are building is meant to be recently built. For example you won't the useful lineside vegetation to hide suspect joins, or to help disguise fiddle yard entrances. Another challenge we will have is that the railway buildings will have very little weathering, as they will only be a year of so old.