Perrygrove Railway
A typical goods train
A recreation of a typical short goods train on a minimum gauge estate railway. A wagonload of gravel for paths or hardcore, a new roller for the gardeners, some timber from the woods for fireplaces at the house, and some oil for the machinery at the estate workshop.
A typical passenger train
A typical passenger train for a minimum gauge estate railway, such as would be used to convey the Lord of the Manor's guests to the big house from the nearby standard gauge railway station, or take a shooting party down to the woods for the day.
The guests ride inside the coach while their servants must ride in the open seats at the ends of the coach and brake van, and their luggage/rifles and game are carried inside the brake van.
This train is composed entirely of replicas of stock from the railway on the Duke of Westminster's Eaton Hall estate which was built by Sir Arthur Heywood. Some original and rebuilt Heywood-built stock can also be found on this railway and elsewhere.
The guests ride inside the coach while their servants must ride in the open seats at the ends of the coach and brake van, and their luggage/rifles and game are carried inside the brake van.
This train is composed entirely of replicas of stock from the railway on the Duke of Westminster's Eaton Hall estate which was built by Sir Arthur Heywood. Some original and rebuilt Heywood-built stock can also be found on this railway and elsewhere.
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
A very different sort of minimum gauge railway
The Ravenglass and Eskdale is no estate railway. The trains are far longer and somewhat faster, the service more intensive, the surroundings far wilder, and the journey distances longer than on a country estate line like Perrygrove or Waterley Bank. I present these pictures by way of contrast to the WBER, to show that there is more to minimum gauge than the more-often-modelled estate and industrial lines.
A summer passenger train on the R&ER, such as this one, can carry as many people as a large airliner and is as long as some standard gauge trains.
This is probably the principal reason such lines are seldom modelled. An R&ER train in Gn15 would be as long as a major main-line train in 00. But those modellers who can model main lines in 00 would be able to try this.
A summer passenger train on the R&ER, such as this one, can carry as many people as a large airliner and is as long as some standard gauge trains.
This is probably the principal reason such lines are seldom modelled. An R&ER train in Gn15 would be as long as a major main-line train in 00. But those modellers who can model main lines in 00 would be able to try this.
River Irt at Dalegarth
Contrast this commercial passenger-hauling equipment with the estate railway stuff at Perrygrove. Locomotives are optimised for long, steady passenger treks rather than frequent shunting and short, quick trips. Coaches are designed for capacity and safety rather than opulent comfort. Stations and yards are made up of long, spartan loops rather than mazes of shortish sidings.