On that note I do like the idea of it being 2' 6'' and using rolling stock from Sierra Leone a bit better. Especially since my own TL has an idea for a 2' gauge railway in Indiana that uses the OTL Brecon Mountain 2' equipment and then some.
Alternate Railways: V3
- Thread starter Duke Andrew of Dank
- Start date
All the more reason to go from Path to near Brecon, then.
This would also mean we can turn the line into a celebration of Indian narrow gauge lines.
Brecon Mountain Railway
Gauge: 2'/600mm
Operational: 1977 - Present
One of the twelve Great Little Trains of Wales, the BMR railway is known for taking visitors from the main station and workshop at Path, north to Groesffordd just outside of Brecon. Along this route, rebuilt on the trackbed of the standard gauge Brecon and Merthyr Railway, passenger also get to ride through Torpentau Tunnel, the highest railway tunnel in Britain. However, the biggest appeal of this line is the fact that it enables access to Brecon Beacons National Park without driving in their cars, with car parking at either Pant or Groesffordd to facilitate this appeal.
The Brecon Mountain Railway operates with a number of 2' gauge locomotives that founder Tony Hills helped acquire from locations all around the former British empire in the 1960s and 1970s. Starting off with a handful of Hunslet 0-4-0Ts, the railway quickly graduated to larger locomotives. Today, the railway is quite well known for its equipment and rolling stock, most of which came from the Gwailor Light Railway, with a few additional pieces of equipment from elsewhere in India. The main operations on this railway are provided by two Mikados built by Keer Stuart, or by a Pacific built by Bangall. In addition, recent plans have called for the addition of South African Railways NGG16 Garratt to the roster.
Gauge: 2'/600mm
Operational: 1977 - Present
One of the twelve Great Little Trains of Wales, the BMR railway is known for taking visitors from the main station and workshop at Path, north to Groesffordd just outside of Brecon. Along this route, rebuilt on the trackbed of the standard gauge Brecon and Merthyr Railway, passenger also get to ride through Torpentau Tunnel, the highest railway tunnel in Britain. However, the biggest appeal of this line is the fact that it enables access to Brecon Beacons National Park without driving in their cars, with car parking at either Pant or Groesffordd to facilitate this appeal.
The Brecon Mountain Railway operates with a number of 2' gauge locomotives that founder Tony Hills helped acquire from locations all around the former British empire in the 1960s and 1970s. Starting off with a handful of Hunslet 0-4-0Ts, the railway quickly graduated to larger locomotives. Today, the railway is quite well known for its equipment and rolling stock, most of which came from the Gwailor Light Railway, with a few additional pieces of equipment from elsewhere in India. The main operations on this railway are provided by two Mikados built by Keer Stuart, or by a Pacific built by Bangall. In addition, recent plans have called for the addition of South African Railways NGG16 Garratt to the roster.
I actually quite love that although its called Pant not Path lol. 2ft does make a lot of sense tbf particularly if you can get some stuff from the Subcontient.
Devvy
Donor
There's tons of abandoned routes in the UK, you can take your pick of any of them really. Bing maps has an ordnance survey overlay which shows operational rail routes, but also shows dismantled/abandoned rail routes too where they still "exist" (ie. not marked if built over), so you can easily track a lot of them. I think the OS overlay is on Bing Maps for outside-UK users, but I'm not 100% sure.
Assuming this is adapted from the universe that Devvy's 12:08 Redux created, what would the FCR need to do?
While this version of an older idea (taking inspiration from @QTXAdsy and @Devvy) is a bit closer to OTL.
Somerset & Dorset Heritage Railway
Gauge: 4' 8.5''
Operational: 1967 - Present
Despite a tepid reputation during its time as an revenue rail line, being called the "Slow & Dirty" by detractors, the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway had endeared itself to both locals and rail enthusiasts with the unique variety of traction on its rails, the wonderful landscapes in southwest England or its eccentricities. This meant that by the time it was listed for closure by BR even as the 1950s Oil Crisis finally died down, enthusiasts almost immediately pounced to turn the line into a heritage railway. Among those were MP Robert Adley, who had already helped save Bath Green Park Station as part of the Bristol Suburban Rail Society [1]. This would prove a big help as Adley was able to assist with saving the yards and sheds at Bath. However, the Somerset & Dorest Preservation Trust soon realized that keeping the entire line active would be impractical, and so they settled to an initial line from Bath Green Park to Masbury, with preparations being made to open as far as Templecombe in steps.
Starting excursion operations in 1967, the line started off small with LMS 4F #44123, and three of the ubiquitous Bulleid coaches. Despite these humble beginnings, the excursions from Bath Green Park to Masbury were successful enough that the railway bought another two Bulleid coaches to meet with the demand, and the line was extended from Masbury to Cole. However, five full coaches did prove to be a bit much for a 4F on the infamously steep line, and the S&D went looking for a larger engine in 1969. Their call was soon answered by famed painter and rail enthusiast David Sheppard, who himself had been looking for a place to store the two BR Standards he was able to negotiate the purchase of: 4-6-0 #75029 "The Green Knight" and 9F #92203 "The Black Prince" [2]. It was a deal that the S&D couldn't refuse, further helped by the fact that the classes they belonged to had been staples of the S&D during the 1950s and 60s. As part of accomodating for these new engines, the S&DHR carved out part of the old goods yard to build a turntable large enough to accomodate locomotives like The Black Prince. The next two years would see another few locomotives purchased straight from British Railways, among them Standard 5 #73050 and West Country Pacific #34039 "Boscastle" [3].
1972 would prove to be a milestone year for the S&DHR, as they finally reached the goal of reactivating the line to Templecombe and its connection to the West of England Main Line. However, this would not come without a fair number of changes to the yards and North Station. The most important change would be the replacement of the original turntable with one that could handle larger locomotives for the trip back to Bath Green Park, as well as the inclusion of a passing siding to let locomotives run around their trains. These upgrades were carried out over the course of the year, with work being finished in 1974. Also during 1974 the railway would acquire more locomotives and rolling stock, among them the grand prize of S&DJR #88, one of the original 7F locomotives.
1976 would see the beginning of the railway's most ambitious project yet. The restoration of the branch line from Evercreech Junction to Highbridge and its connection with the Bristol & Exter mainline, on to the coast at Burham-On-Sea. Although able to initially reach Highbridge, the leg to Burnham was found to be in a state of decline and in need of renovation that was carried out over the next year and a half. The line to Burnham would see its first excursion from Templecombe in June 1978, with #44123 at the head of the first excursion.
While the line has not extended beyond Templecombe in the years since, the S&D still has the idea on the backburner. Particular focus is on collaborating with the Spettisbury Railway, a shorter line which runs industrial tank engines from Broadstone to the namesake town. Some feasibility studies have already determined some of the steps that would be neccessary for reunification, the most notably of these being the reconstruction of the viaduct through Blandford, which was partly demolished due to neglect making the crumbling structure a borderline public hazard [4]. However, the high costs of this has meant that the chances of this happening are unlikely for at least the forseeable future, although the restoration of the Shillingstone station does show that progress takes many forms.
In the meantime, the S&DHR is praised by the public as one of England's most cerished heritage railways. Excursions from Templecombe north to Bath Green Park then Mangotsfield keep the railway plenty busy, with the line to Highbridge being popular in its own right. The locomotive collection is loved for being an immaculate celebration of the line's mixed Southern, Midland, and slight Western Region heritage. This of course is on top of mainline excursions and railtours that regularly come through the line from either the West of England Main Line or from the Bristol to Bath Green Park line.
[1] Per OTL aside from the obvious difference that the Bath line survived in full, and also inspired by @Devvy's ideas for an alternate BR that rose anew.
[2] The bad news is that this butterflies the East Somerset Railway as it exists in OTL.
[3] In TTL, the oil crisis meant BR steam lastest until 1974. One butterfly is that 73136, which was also considered for preservation by the city of Peterborough, would be the locomotive that ends up on TTL's Rugby and Nene Valley Railway (more on that another day).
[4] That said, much more of the viaduct than OTL still exists, including most of what went through Blandford itself which is now a walkway for pedestrians and cyclists.
Somerset & Dorset Heritage Railway
Gauge: 4' 8.5''
Operational: 1967 - Present
Despite a tepid reputation during its time as an revenue rail line, being called the "Slow & Dirty" by detractors, the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway had endeared itself to both locals and rail enthusiasts with the unique variety of traction on its rails, the wonderful landscapes in southwest England or its eccentricities. This meant that by the time it was listed for closure by BR even as the 1950s Oil Crisis finally died down, enthusiasts almost immediately pounced to turn the line into a heritage railway. Among those were MP Robert Adley, who had already helped save Bath Green Park Station as part of the Bristol Suburban Rail Society [1]. This would prove a big help as Adley was able to assist with saving the yards and sheds at Bath. However, the Somerset & Dorest Preservation Trust soon realized that keeping the entire line active would be impractical, and so they settled to an initial line from Bath Green Park to Masbury, with preparations being made to open as far as Templecombe in steps.
Starting excursion operations in 1967, the line started off small with LMS 4F #44123, and three of the ubiquitous Bulleid coaches. Despite these humble beginnings, the excursions from Bath Green Park to Masbury were successful enough that the railway bought another two Bulleid coaches to meet with the demand, and the line was extended from Masbury to Cole. However, five full coaches did prove to be a bit much for a 4F on the infamously steep line, and the S&D went looking for a larger engine in 1969. Their call was soon answered by famed painter and rail enthusiast David Sheppard, who himself had been looking for a place to store the two BR Standards he was able to negotiate the purchase of: 4-6-0 #75029 "The Green Knight" and 9F #92203 "The Black Prince" [2]. It was a deal that the S&D couldn't refuse, further helped by the fact that the classes they belonged to had been staples of the S&D during the 1950s and 60s. As part of accomodating for these new engines, the S&DHR carved out part of the old goods yard to build a turntable large enough to accomodate locomotives like The Black Prince. The next two years would see another few locomotives purchased straight from British Railways, among them Standard 5 #73050 and West Country Pacific #34039 "Boscastle" [3].
1972 would prove to be a milestone year for the S&DHR, as they finally reached the goal of reactivating the line to Templecombe and its connection to the West of England Main Line. However, this would not come without a fair number of changes to the yards and North Station. The most important change would be the replacement of the original turntable with one that could handle larger locomotives for the trip back to Bath Green Park, as well as the inclusion of a passing siding to let locomotives run around their trains. These upgrades were carried out over the course of the year, with work being finished in 1974. Also during 1974 the railway would acquire more locomotives and rolling stock, among them the grand prize of S&DJR #88, one of the original 7F locomotives.
1976 would see the beginning of the railway's most ambitious project yet. The restoration of the branch line from Evercreech Junction to Highbridge and its connection with the Bristol & Exter mainline, on to the coast at Burham-On-Sea. Although able to initially reach Highbridge, the leg to Burnham was found to be in a state of decline and in need of renovation that was carried out over the next year and a half. The line to Burnham would see its first excursion from Templecombe in June 1978, with #44123 at the head of the first excursion.
While the line has not extended beyond Templecombe in the years since, the S&D still has the idea on the backburner. Particular focus is on collaborating with the Spettisbury Railway, a shorter line which runs industrial tank engines from Broadstone to the namesake town. Some feasibility studies have already determined some of the steps that would be neccessary for reunification, the most notably of these being the reconstruction of the viaduct through Blandford, which was partly demolished due to neglect making the crumbling structure a borderline public hazard [4]. However, the high costs of this has meant that the chances of this happening are unlikely for at least the forseeable future, although the restoration of the Shillingstone station does show that progress takes many forms.
In the meantime, the S&DHR is praised by the public as one of England's most cerished heritage railways. Excursions from Templecombe north to Bath Green Park then Mangotsfield keep the railway plenty busy, with the line to Highbridge being popular in its own right. The locomotive collection is loved for being an immaculate celebration of the line's mixed Southern, Midland, and slight Western Region heritage. This of course is on top of mainline excursions and railtours that regularly come through the line from either the West of England Main Line or from the Bristol to Bath Green Park line.
[1] Per OTL aside from the obvious difference that the Bath line survived in full, and also inspired by @Devvy's ideas for an alternate BR that rose anew.
[2] The bad news is that this butterflies the East Somerset Railway as it exists in OTL.
[3] In TTL, the oil crisis meant BR steam lastest until 1974. One butterfly is that 73136, which was also considered for preservation by the city of Peterborough, would be the locomotive that ends up on TTL's Rugby and Nene Valley Railway (more on that another day).
[4] That said, much more of the viaduct than OTL still exists, including most of what went through Blandford itself which is now a walkway for pedestrians and cyclists.
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