The perfect train set: Harton Staithes...

The electric industrial system serving Harton and Westoe Collieries in the north east on the banks of the River Tyne has been a long favourite of mine, we are talking a childhood inspiration here having seen a scratch built model of one of the centre cab electrics at an exhibition and not really knowing anything of the prototype but loving it never the less...

The excellent Oakwood book by William Hatcher tells the full story of the fascinating system and includes drawings of some of the locomotives and stock used throughout the life of the Harton Electric as it seems to have been known. My own favourite is Number 12, originally built by English Electric with a tall roof precluding it’s use on the Staithes branch, but after an accident it was rebuilt by Baguley in the style of the later cut down locomotives and was unique to be fitted with larger 24” diameter buffers and a distinctive welded body shell...

Of course in this day and age, sadly, the system is long gone but before closure we are lucky that some videos were produced that show it in action adding further to the inspiration and certainly stirring the emotions... the speed at which they descend to the staithes on the Tyne, able to carry the speed on the canted track, is mesmerising to watch and is a catalyst for this scheme... it’s almost like a ‘train-set’ ethic of run things as fast as you can... 

It was this photo of the Lifelike layout (below) originally shared by Chris Mears on his Facebook page, that clicked for me... Finally a layout scheme that would allow you to represent Harton in a fun and engaging manner, without worrying about how to handle the unloading shed and the gravity working of the prototype, focusing instead on the spectacle of these compact electrics running both up and down between retaining walls, on embankments, tight clearances at speed...

Harton was remodelled in a merry go round format, with loaded trains arriving from Westoe, and collecting empties for their return. This was an incredibly well thought out, designed and engineered use of a constrained site, managing to squeeze every inch out of what was available, the head-shunt teetering over a nearby road! The feeling of that trainset is carried through in my plan, with the use of Peco Setrack sectional track (other systems available)... yes the points are insulfrog but with a heavy bo-bo electric I figure you can probably get away with this and anyway, we don’t have the luxury of easing curves and replacing with ‘electrofrog’ Streamline as we’d loose something of the character of the cramped site of the prototype... the overlapped loops leads to some pretty severe gradients, as per the inspiration, but I’ve added some sidings on the level at the top to allow you to display a few more wagons, and the workshops below for a ‘spare’ engine to be admired.

The track plan using Peco Set-track, with code number shown. The same plan could be built using flexi-track in places to ease transitions and improve the flow, but the purpose of this design was to be a true 'train set' style based upon the inspiration.

In operation for the beginner I would envisage the use of Hornby 21t wagons and either one of their Sentinels or a cheap and cheerful Bagnall 0-4-0 train-set diesel. If an electric model is desired a continental, say Fleischmann centre cab electric shunter might be suitably anglicised... For the more discerning modeller, Parkside kit wagons and a Judith Edge kit might fit the bill... I’ve been dreaming of a kit for number 12 myself, so it’s probably one of those itches that needs scratching one day. Whether it would suit this style of layout or demand something more prototypical I can’t say, but the fact I’ve managed to distil a little of the system into a workable model, even better one suited to the beginner, is really quite exciting. I hope this may encourage you to look again at that prototype you’re not sure how to model with fresh eyes, and perhaps reimagine a layout style that helps get that plan off the paper in to reality. If I can help, I offer a custom layout design and or building service, please do get in touch for a personal proposal. In the meantime more soon...