Narrow Gauge Modelling in 009 Scale E-Book

Bob Barnard

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

The 009 scale, which is used to represent narrow gauge lines of 2ft to 2ft 6in, is experiencing a steady growth in popularity and trade support. This new book explains issues of scale and gauge for narrow gauge models, considers the origins of 009 scale, and identifies some of its pioneers. It outlines the diverse range of prototype narrow gauge railways in Britain and overseas, along with some of the different traditions and practices adopted in different parts of the world. The book covers: how to select a subject to model based on experience and models available; construction of a compact prototypical 009 layout, its locomotives and rolling stock; control and signalling of layouts; layout maintenance and improvement and the challenges of exhibiting models; how to share experience with like-minded modellers. A comprehensive and informative book, that provides a detailed insight into railway modelling techniques in the 009 scale, and is fully illustrated throughout with 256 colour, 16 black and white photographs and 43 diagrams.

Leseprobe

NARROW GAUGEMODELLING IN009 SCALE

BOB BARNARD

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2019 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2019

© Bob Barnard 2019

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 526 8

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Sue, who tolerates a house full of narrow gauge layouts with good grace.

Acknowledgements

Challenges from John de Frayssinet made me aim for higher modelling standards. In preparing this book I have been helped by Mike Bayly, David Prime, Paul Titmuss, Mick Thornton and Garry Whiting. Information about the Raleigh Weir worksite came from Tony Nicholson and Keith Vingoe of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust. Sue gave me editorial advice and made many cups of tea.

Photographs are by the author unless otherwise credited.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

1INTRODUCTION

2MAKING A START IN 009

3PLANNING A LAYOUT

4LAYOUT CONSTRUCTION

5LOCOMOTIVES

6EXAMPLE LOCOMOTIVE PROJECTS

7ROLLING STOCK

8OPERATION, CONTROL AND SIGNALLING

9MAKING THE MOST OF A 009 LAYOUT

10EXHIBITING AND PHOTOGRAPHING A 009 LAYOUT

APPENDIX: SUPPLIERS OF 009 PRODUCTS

INDEX

PREFACE

Railways, and model railways, have always been part of my life. My father began his career working for the Southern Railway (SR), so he made sure that we paused to watch trains whenever possible during family outings.

Aged seven or so, I was given a Tri-Ang 00 scale train set, and my father used this as an excuse to begin (or resume) making models himself – tinplate (and later nickel silver) 00 scale SR engines. I read the model railway magazines, where my inspiration came principally from Peter Denny’s descriptions of his magnificent Buckingham branch layout, but also from other fine modellers of the period.

As I entered my teens, I began building SR locos for the 00 scale layout that my father and I had built together. Having gained some basic engineering skills from Meccano and other construction toys, I began assembling whitemetal kits, later progressing to scratchbuilding.

My first scratchbuilt locomotive, an ex-SER O1 0-6-0 dating from the early 1960s.

Holidaying in Devon in 1962, we spent a showery day following the course of the long-closed Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. We drove along a section that had since become a road, admired the impressive Chelfham viaduct, and found the former stations, such as Lynton (pictured here).

Returning from Devon, I found my father’s first edition of L.T. Catchpole’s book The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, and began to consider, aged twelve, how I could make models of the narrow gauge engines pictured within. L.T. CATCHPOLE

Our 1963 family holiday was to North Wales, staying near the Ffestiniog Railway (FR). I was now completely ‘hooked’ on narrow gauge steam trains, and a few years later joined the Ffestiniog Railway Society.This FR train was later photographed arriving at Porthmadog Harbour station.

I have modelled other railways, including the Glyn Valley Tramway, whose short locomotives and rolling stock allowed me to squeeze a tiny layout into a cupboard in a small flat.

Alongside other hobbies, my engineering studies at university, and then work, marriage and family, my interest in narrow gauge in general, and the Lynton & Barnstaple in particular, never left me.

My liking for unusual locomotives led to other projects, including American geared logging locomotives (after visiting Cass, West Virginia, and having had a cab ride in Oregon).

I steadily developed a set of simple, reasonably time-efficient techniques for making robust 009 layouts and rolling stock. The model railway hobby has moved on a long way in fifty years, but I find that my well-tried techniques usually suit me best – supplemented by modern products and techniques.

For many years I was a solitary modeller. I sometimes bought modelling magazines, but did not belong to a model railway club or participate in modelling projects with others. However, I did join the 009 Society. I also joined one or two narrow gauge railway societies, and began to participate (from a distance) with the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust. I still modelled alone, but received great assistance with the details of my L&B models from various knowledgeable L&B Trust members, via email and also in face-to-face discussions. With the advent of on-line discussion groups, I finally became more ‘social’, enjoying the interaction with others and admiring their skills, which often surpassed or complemented my own abilities.

I modelled some War Department Light Railways (WDLR) locomotives, such as this Alco 2-6-2T seen on the Haute Somme railway in Northern France.

My interest in Beyer Garratts was awakened by the arrival of NGG16s on the Welsh Highland Railway.

In retirement, I began attending local 009 Society group meetings, enjoying the modelling discussions that took place there. As a result, I have friends around the world. I value their knowledge and opinions, and I enjoy trying to help them.

The wide range of 009 modellers’ interests: the part-complete Backwoods Lyn, described later in this book, dwarfs a small industrial diesel on Paul Titmuss’s Melton Market layout at a local 009 Society meeting.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This book gives a personal impression of the subject of narrow gauge railway modelling in 009 scale. There is room for alternative opinions and techniques, but it describes a set of tried-and-tested methods. It discusses the complex questions of scale and gauge for narrow gauge model railways, and arrives at a working definition of what is covered by 009 scale, and outlines the origins and history of 009 modelling. It highlights the work of a few influential pioneers who encouraged the adoption of the scale among modellers, and identifies the range of skills needed to create a scale model railway, along with any particular skills needed by the 009 modeller.

The range of prototype narrow gauge railways is then considered, along with some of the different traditions and practices adopted by such railways in different parts of the world. Some thoughts are presented on how a modeller may select a subject for a model in the light of available commercial products, and the different levels of challenge that particular prototypes may present. The book then covers the construction of a 009 layout, locomotives and rolling stock, the control of layouts, and their maintenance and improvement.

Throughout, the book considers the challenges involved in representing an actual historical prototype. Other options give the modeller licence to deviate from historical accuracy to a greater or lesser extent, and this may simplify their task. The example projects draw lessons from some existing models, as well as giving step-by-step descriptions of projects undertaken in the course of preparing the book.

Finally the book touches on the challenges of exhibiting models, and suggests how help can be obtained from other modellers.

SCALE AND GAUGE

It would be good if the subject of scale and gauge were simple to explain, but for historical reasons it is quite complex.

SCALE

The scale of a model is quite simple: it is the ratio of the model size to that of the original. So, for example, a scale of 1 to 4 or 1:4 would represent a quarter-scale model. If the original were 1m long, the model would be 0.25m long.

GAUGE

The gauge of railway track is the nominal distance between the inner edges of the running rails. What is commonly called ‘standard gauge’, used widely on full-size railways around the world, is 4ft 8½in (1,435mm). Certain counties have adopted slightly different gauges for their national networks, including 5ft (1,520mm), 5ft 3in (1,600mm) and 5ft 6in (1,667mm). These are referred to generically as ‘broad gauge’.

The 1ft 11½in gauge track with 40lb/yard rail, near Parracombe, Devon. W. W. DUNNING

In Britain, specialist suppliers and amateur model engineers, seeking interoperability, had long built their live-steam engines to run on one of a series of standardized track gauges, which originally included Gauge 5 (5in, 127mm), Gauge 3 (3½in, 89mm), Gauge 2 (2½in, 64mm), Gauge 1 (1¾in, 45mm) and Gauge 0 (1¼in, 32mm).

There was a practice amongst model engineers of providing their live-steam engines with somewhat oversized boilers, to ensure reliable steaming. So from the earliest days the scale of a locomotive model might not be strictly correct for the gauge of track it runs on.

Between World Wars I and II, the tradition of model railways spread from the well-off to a wider section of the population. These new modellers had more modest homes than their wealthier pre-decessors, so Gauge 0 models became more popular than the larger sizes, as they required less space and were inherently less expensive. Gauge 0, with its 1¼in (32mm) gauge track, is understood in Britain to be built to 1:43.5 scale.

Between the wars, some skilled modellers without sufficient space for a Gauge 0 railway in their homes began to adopt a smaller, H0 (presumably Half-0) scale of 1:87 on 16.5mm gauge track. With this scale, the larger continental and British main-line locomotives could be built quite feasibly, but the smaller dimensions of older British prototypes (with small boilers) presented challenges because of the size of the electric motors available at the time.

00 scale was the less-than-ideal solution, retaining the 16.5mm track gauge of H0, but increasing the size of the rolling stock to permit electric motors to be accommodated. This process was somewhat analogous to the provision of oversized boilers on live-steam models.

Once a scale/gauge combination is widely adopted, familiarity leads to the terms ‘scale’ and ‘gauge’ being used interchangeably – so 00 scale becomes 00 gauge.

00 gauge, because it originated as the next logical scale in a series including Gauges 3, 2, 1 and 0, is correctly written as 00 (that is, zero zero). In speech it is usually called ‘O-O’ or ‘Double-O’ (that is, with the letter ‘O’).

IMPERIAL VERSUS METRIC

Steam locomotives in Britain were generally built to imperial measurements (feet, inches and fractions of an inch). However, few modellers nowadays would find it easy to work in fractions of an inch – who can easily say what 17⁄32in + 3⁄16in is? – so metric dimensions (metres and decimal sub-divisions of a metre) are universal for modelling.

Thus the scale adopted for 00 gauge models became 1:76.2 (often approximated to 1:76).

MODELLING STANDARD GAUGE

A so-called ‘standard gauge’ railway, with a nominal 4ft 8½in (1,435mm) track gauge, should theoretically convert to 4ft 8½in in the model scale. In 4mm/1ft scale, the track gauge should be 18.83mm gauge, and different groups of finescale modellers have adopted various closer approximations to this value than the 16.5mm gauge of 00, the commonest historically being EM (18mm). Now, there is a significant following for ‘Protofour’ or ‘P4’ standards, using the correct 18.83mm track.

NARROW GAUGE

‘Narrow gauge’ railways have a track gauge that is less than standard gauge, and many different gauges have been used on such lines, in Britain and around the world.

Data for public narrow gauge railways in the British Isles around 1920 shows the following mileage for different gauges.

This photograph clearly illustrates the difference in size between standard gauge and narrow gauge wagons. R. SHEPHERD

A loco and train similar in size to British mainline stock on the metre gauge Brünig railway in Switzerland.

These gauges cannot really be categorized, but there are arguably two groups (highlighted blue and yellow in the table below) that have seen widespread use in slightly different applications:

• Gauges adopted for large-scale national or regional networks, operating trains of similar size and weight to standard gauge, but making use of the narrower track gauge to permit tighter curves, thereby reducing civil engineering costs in difficult terrain. These gauges include the 3ft (914mm), used in Ireland, the Isle of Man and some colonial networks, as well as metre gauge (1,000mm) and its imperial near-equivalent 3ft 6in (1,067mm) used on many large-scale networks with considerable mileages

• Gauges adopted for industrial systems and shorter feeders into the main lines. Originating with the 1ft 11½in (597mm) gauge of the Ffestiniog Railway, serving slate quarries in North Wales and replacing a horse-drawn tramway, this gauge (or often 60cm, a fraction more, or 2ft (610mm)) was also used by the Welsh Highland, Vale of Rheidol and Lynton & Barnstaple railways, and on secondary lines overseas. It was widely used in particular industries – for example, sugar – as well as supporting trench warfare in World War I. Other similar types of line used various gauges between 2ft and 2ft 6in

Gauge (mm)

381

508

597–610

686

710

724

762

800

914

1,000

1,067

1,200

Mileage

7.25

0.25

75.8

25.5

3.25

8.25

21.8

5

572

0

31

6.5

Per cent mileage

0.96

0.03

10

3.37

0.43

1.09

2.88

0.66

75.6

0

4.1

0.86

Per cent groups

17.77

79.7

In 00 scale, the yellow group of lines would correctly run on track of various gauges between 8mm and 10mm, and the blue group on track between 12mm and 14mm gauge.

A tourist train on the 2ft 6in gauge Puffing Billy railway near Melbourne, Australia.

A slate train travelling downhill behind a double Fairlie locomotive on the pioneering Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales.

MODEL SCALE/GAUGE COMBINATIONS

The track gauges for commercial standard gauge models, which form the vast majority of the model world, are 45mm (Gauge 1), 32mm (Gauge 0), 16.5mm (00 and H0), 12mm (TT) and 9mm (N). Obviously it is convenient for a narrow gauge modeller to use a track gauge with good commercial support, as components such as wheelsets, motors, gears, complete locomotive chassis, rail and so on from a smaller scale can be used to create a narrow gauge model with fewer special skills than are needed to scratchbuild everything.

In 00 scale, the two categories of narrow gauge lines identified earlier are catered for by two of these model gauges:

• The 12mm gauge locomotive chassis, rolling stock and track that came with the arrival of commercial TT models in the 1950s greatly simplified the creation of 4mm/1ft scale narrow gauge models to run alongside 00 scale main lines, commonly referred to as ‘00n3’ or ‘0012’. This track gauge suited Irish and Isle of Man prototypes perfectly, as well as allowing modellers of the time to exercise their creativity with freelance models

• When commercial working N gauge models began to appear (with Lone Star Treble-OLectric in 1960, but perhaps more significantly with Arnold of Germany in 1962), 4mm/1ft scale modellers had a similar short-cut to narrow gauge lines of 2ft to 2ft 6in gauge, which could all reasonably be represented with N gauge’s 9mm gauge track. This became known as ‘009’

All 4mm/1ft scale: standard gauge Hornby SR N Class 2-6-0 poses with two narrow gauge engines from etched brass kits – Paul Titmuss’s 12mm gauge Londonderry & Lough Swilly 4-8-0 and the author’s 9mm gauge L&B 2-6-2T.

Overseas, a similar path was being followed. The standard gauge H0 scale (1:87) models were supplemented by the following:

• 1:120 scale standard gauge on 12mm gauge track of TT scale, the track being adopted by H0 scale modellers for metre gauge lines (known as H0m scale – ‘m’ for [voie] métrique, or metre gauge track)

• 1:160 scale standard gauge on 9mm track of N gauge, the track being adopted by H0 modellers for 60cm–76cm lines (H0e scale – ‘e’ for [voie] étroite, or narrow gauge track)

More recently, the 6.5mm gauge track of Z gauge has been adopted by H0 modellers for lines below 60cm (H0f scale – ‘f’ for Feldbahn).

A Tralee & Dingle 3ft gauge 2-6-0T leaves Annascaul, on Paul Titmuss’s 00n3 Irish layout.

00 and 009 models, showing how they can be used side by side on a standard/narrow gauge layout.

This book covers 009 scale, which is generally understood to be 4mm/1ft scale trains running on 9mm gauge track (for UK prototypes). 009 is referred to in speech either as ‘Double-O-9’ or as ‘O-O-9’ (i.e. with the letter ‘O’) and written as ‘009’ (that is, a number with leading zeros). This convention is followed throughout this book.

Much of the information in the book is also applicable to H0e scale, with 3.5mm/1ft scale (1:87 scale) trains running on 9mm gauge track (for overseas prototypes). Some H0e models of 60cm gauge prototypes in fact adopt a scale somewhat larger than 1:87, to maintain proportions relative to the (overscale) 9mm gauge track.

Although not described directly in the text, many chapters are equally relevant for narrow gauge modellers who adopt other scales around 3–4mm/1ft and gauges between 6.5 and 12mm.

The 009 Society is the principal society for 3.5 and 4mm/1ft scale narrow gauge, and they certainly welcome as members all modellers using gauges up to and including 12mm, which they refer to as the ‘009 family’.

SCALES THAT USE 9MM GAUGE TRACK

(The scales highlighted in bold type are covered in this book.)

N – 1:150*: used to model standard gauge lines at 2mm/1ft

TTn3 – 1:100*: used to model 3ft–3ft 6in gauge lines at 3mm/1ft

H0e – 1:87: used to model 60cm–80cm gauge lines at 3.5mm/1ft

009 – 1:76: used to model 2ft–2ft 6in gauge lines at 4mm/1ft

09 or 0n15 – 1:43.5*: used to model 12in–18in gauge lines at 7mm/1ft

* The commonly-used scale varies according to country.

Peter Leadley’s Clee Valley Miniature Railway is in 09 scale. This means that 7mm/1ft scale figures, road vehicles and scenic items are used with a 9mm gauge railway. The models of 15in gauge locomotives can conveniently be based on N gauge models. MICK THORNTON

OTHER POPULAR NARROW GAUGES FOR 00/H0 SCALES

H0f – 1:87 on 6.5mm gauge track: used to model 50cm–60cm gauge at 3.5mm/1ft H0n30 – 1:87 on 9mm gauge track: used to model 2ft 6in gauge at 3.5mm/1ft H0m – 1:87 on 12mm gauge track: used to model 1m–3ft 6in gauge at 3.5mm/1ft H0n3 – 1:87 on 12mm gauge track: used to model US/colonial 3ft gauge at 3.5mm/1ft 00n3 or 0012 – 1:76.2 on 12mm gauge track: used to model 3ft gauge at 4mm/1ft

009 AND H0e

These two scales sound quite similar, and it is true that models can be mixed successfully (especially if the H0e models are of larger prototypes), but care should be taken when purchasing rolling stock to discover which scale a particular model is built to. For example, two different ranges of ready-torun War Department Light Railways Baldwin locos and rolling stock are currently available; one (aimed at continental modellers) is to 3.5mm/1ft scale, and the other (aimed at the British market) is to 4mm/1ft scale. Running these side by side would look rather odd.

009 and H0e scales compared. Care is obviously needed if models in these two scales are mixed on a layout.

ALTERNATIVE NAMES FOR 009

There are (or have been) various different naming conventions for narrow gauge scales, the European and US ones being defined in (different) formal standards, with other practices emerging, particularly in Britain. As a result, there are inconsistencies between the common names for narrow gauge in 4mm/1ft scale and narrow gauge in other scales.

009 is by far the most common name for 4mm/1ft scale models on 9mm gauge track, and is used throughout this book. However, occasional references may be found to 00-9, or 4n2.25 (4mm/1ft scale, with scale 2ft 3in (=2.25ft) track), or 4n9 (4mm/1ft scale, with 9mm gauge track).

THE ORIGINS OF 009 SCALE

It is not clear exactly when 009 modelling began. There were a few pioneers, probably professional precision engineers and toolmakers, who produced smaller and more detailed working models than their friends would ever contemplate. One such group was active in the Wimbledon Model Railway Club in the 1920s and 1930s, producing fine-scale 2mm/1ft scale models. Another member of that club was Jim Hoyland, a talented model maker, artist and illustrator, whose grandparents and aunt lived in Barnstaple. Jim spent his summer holidays staying with the family there, his aunt’s house backing on to the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway’s Pilton Yard.

The Model Railway News report of the 1932 Wimbledon Club Exhibition states: ‘Scenic models were a prominent feature of the exhibition. Mr Hoyland’s 3.5mm scale model of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway was an excellent example of effective railway scenery.’ This is perhaps the earliest example of a 00/H0 scale narrow gauge layout. We do not know the track gauge of this model, or whether it was genuinely 3.5mm/1ft scale (which the writer of the report may have assumed, as H0 was probably more popular than 00 for standard gauge models at that time). Maybe the locos’ mechanisms were built for him by one of the 2mm/1ft scale modellers at the club, and maybe they ran on the 9mm or 9.5mm gauge track that these pioneers used.

Mr Hoyland’s layout is best described as ‘L&B-inspired’ as it is not a scale model of a particular L&B location, but his artistic skills have created an evocation of the Devon scenery that was advanced for its time.

The 1950 4.5mm/1ft scale Alistair (right), pictured in 2013 on a surviving portion of P.D. Hancock’s Craigshire layout alongside the 1952 4mm/1ft scale Exe by David Mander (left). The difference in scale between the two models is apparent. MICK THORNTON

Some time after building the chassis for P.D. Hancock’s Alistair, Cherry’s made further L&B locomotives – the first 009 ready-to-run models?MIKE BAYLY COLLECTION

The Model Railway News of February 1950 carried a report that Messrs Cherry’s of Richmond, a well-known model engineering company of the day, had built the chassis for an L&B locomotive for a customer, to run on 8mm gauge track. In fact the article was in error, as the model was actually 9mm gauge, and the customer was the noted modeller and writer of magazine articles Philip Hancock (PDH). Mr H.B. Whall, one of the 2mm/1ft scale pioneers from Wimbledon, subsequently built the body for Hancock’s locomotive, which he called Alistair.

During the 1950s, 8mm and 9mm gauge track were both used by different 4mm/1ft scale narrow gauge modellers, but the advent of commercial N gauge from around 1960 led to the general adoption of its 9mm gauge.

STYLES OF 009 MODELLING

STANDARD VERSUS NARROW GAUGE

Around 1920, less than 4 per cent of the public railway mileage in the whole of the British Isles was narrow gauge. In mainland Britain, the proportion of narrow gauge was only about 1.3 per cent. In addition to the public network, there was an unknown mileage of standard and narrow gauge industrial lines. Curiously, recent data suggests that around 40 per cent of currently operational UK heritage railways and 30 per cent of preserved rolling stock are narrow gauge, the remainder being standard gauge. This apparent imbalance illustrates perfectly why narrow gauge lines were originally built – they are easier and cheaper to build, equip and maintain than standard gauge lines, and therefore more feasible for today’s volunteer organizations.

The majority of railway modellers base their layouts on the standard gauge railways that cover much of the country, and the number of modelling magazine articles on narrow gauge topics is small compared to standard gauge. Around 70 per cent of magazine articles are about standard gauge, 20 per cent about techniques applicable to both standard and narrow gauge, leaving no more than 10 per cent about narrow gauge models.

The eclectic mix of locomotives and rolling stock used on British narrow gauge lines makes it difficult for a manufacturer to select one obviously popular prototype for commercial production. This, together with the inherently smaller market, has resulted in trade support for modellers being primarily directed towards standard gauge.

REALISTIC VERSUS FREELANCE

In earlier times, when railway modellers had to scratchbuild everything, each individual could decide whether to make a realistic model or a fanciful one, but limited availability of materials and products might prevent the achievement of complete accuracy. Even early ready-to-run (r-t-r) locomotives were often of a generic design, rather than a specific prototype. But r-t-r stock and kits are now almost invariably of actual prototypes, and successive generations of r-t-r models have attained ever greater accuracy. Therefore in standard gauge modelling, realism became possible without exceptional skills, and as a consequence fanciful designs of rolling stock are rarely seen today.

To the ordinary modeller, creating an accurate model of a real location can seem daunting, even if the correct rolling stock can be bought ready-torun. So many modellers give themselves licence to deviate from strict realism by choosing to model an imaginary but plausible line, perhaps set in a specific real location, or generically in an area of the country – ‘somewhere in East Anglia’ for example.

British 2ft to 2ft 6in gauge lines were mostly relatively short and self-contained feeders to the main-line network. So there is no reason why a fictitious narrow gauge line ‘somewhere in East Anglia’ should not have had engines or coaches like those of an actual line elsewhere. Most of the trade support for 009 has been for locomotive and rolling stock kits that follow prototype designs, although some involve compromising the accuracy of the model in the interests of using an N gauge chassis. These kits require assembly and painting, and so there are always opportunities to ‘personalize’ each model, such as (for example) painting an engine blue and naming it after the family pet.

So freelance modelling has remained common among 009 modellers. But in parallel with that perfectly valid style of modelling, others have striven to create accurate models of actual narrow gauge lines, or imaginary lines inspired by actual railways.

This view is confirmed by a small survey of articles and individual photographs published in twelve issues of 009 News (the members’ magazine of the 009 Society) during 2016, which suggests the following:

Per cent

Prototypical layouts

13

Prototype-inspired layouts

24

Freelance layouts

63

Prototypical stock and structures

61

Freelance stock and structures

39

It appears that a higher percentage of 009 locomotives and rolling stock are freelance than is the case for standard gauge models, whilst the percentage of narrow gauge layouts that attempt to represent an actual line, or the style of an actual line, is similar to that for standard gauge.

THE FUTURE OF 009

Recently there has been an increase in trade support for 009, with prototypical r-t-r rolling stock and locomotives being introduced by suppliers. There is no doubt that these new products will raise the profile of 009, will improve the average standard of 009 modelling, and will increase the number of layouts built in this scale. By bringing greater realism within reach of more modellers, it will also reduce the proportion of freelance 009 models.

But for most people, 009 modelling is unlikely ever to be achievable using only off-the-shelf models. Therefore, this book aims to help modellers achieve whatever level of realism they desire in this scale.

Glyn Valley Tramway locomotive Dennis shunts some loaded granite wagons at Glyn Ceiriog – a compact prototypical layout using kit-built stock.

CHAPTER TWO

MAKING A START IN 009

Some people will already know precisely which narrow gauge railway they wish to model. This chapter is for those who are attracted by the idea of a narrow gauge line, but have not decided on the subject to which they wish to devote their time and energy.

TYPES OF NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY

We can easily identify a number of different types of narrow gauge line, by categorizing them according to their location and their purpose. This section describes the different types of narrow gauge line.

UK, CONTINENTAL AND COLONIAL RAILWAYS

In the UK, the standard gauge network served even quite small towns by means of branch lines.

In continental Europe, some governments regulated railway-building earlier than in Britain, decreeing that secondary lines should be 1m gauge (see overleaf for the example of France). 1:87 scale modellers represent these 1m and 60cm lines with H0m and H0e scale layouts respectively.

Even a small village such as Carrog in North Wales had a standard gauge passenger and wagon-load freight service.

In France, separate secondary lines linked small towns and rural areas that were uneconomic for the main lines to serve, such as here at Cayeux-sur-Mer. These metre gauge lines often ran along the roadside.

There were narrower gauge lines in France, usually 60cm gauge. Early ones were often financed, built and operated by companies such as Decauville, whilst later lines – to support agriculture – used ex-World War 1 equipment.

Australian modellers usually adopt H0 scale (1:87) standards for both broad and standard gauge railways, and H0e scale for the 2ft 6in gauge lines.

The 3ft 6in gauge of South African main lines was supplemented by substantial 2ft gauge feeder lines in remote areas. Their use on British heritage lines means there are 009 kits available for some South African Railways 2ft gauge stock.