Industrial Exchange…

A few months ago I visited the North Tyneside Steam Railway in Newcastle. It was at that moment thoughts turned to industrial railway modelling after quite a hiatus after Victory...

As we trundled along the semi-surburban right of way, weaving between light industrial units, council houses and overgrown former railway infrastructure you could imagine a very different atmosphere choked with smog, coal everywhere and everything - fuel for homes, energy for industry and power, money in our pay-packet... 

This scheme however is not a direct descendent of this experience - rather it takes several previous ideas and works them into an interesting operational layout - the opportunity to model not the destination, but the exchange. Loaded trains arrive, are split and then taken down the staithes branch by smaller locomotives with cut down cabs for the limited clearance underpass... loads and empties are swapped on stage - and off stage. Most of the time something is moving, and on the occasions when less is happening the balance of overgrown nature and man made through the ages (old, modified, and new over bridges) giving the character of a line set at the end of its days. Run-down and tired infrastructure, work stained locomotives, internal user (Planet Industrial!!) MDOs...

Will this ever see the light of day? I'd love to build this... perhaps the lack of exhibition invites is my lack of exhibition layouts and 'if you build it, they will come'. However, anyone whom has visited my workshop will recognise the severe space limitations I have - and an exhibition layout that cannot be used at home and will be difficult to store feels like a non-starter. Remembering from 'Small Layout Design Handbook', marry the space to the prototype - here, I don't have the space. Do you? Perhaps this idea resonates with you? Until next time, more soon...

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