Early Railways: A Guide for the Modeller

By Peter Chatham and Stephen Weston

History, references, and resources for modeling the earliest decades of British rail travel.
 
This is a guide to the earliest period of railway history, from the very beginnings of steam traction at the start of the nineteenth century, up to about 1880. Over these few decades the railways evolved from something that at the start was markedly different, into a scene that any present-day railwayman would recognize. It is a time with much to commend it from a modeler’s point of view. The trains were much shorter and therefore easier to fit into the limited space most of us have available as, correspondingly, were the station layouts, especially at the beginning of the period. Covering infrastructure, locomotives, carriages, and wagons, this is an invaluable resource for those who want to explore the modeling possibilities of nineteenth-century railways.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Sep 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781526700186

Book preview

Introduction

The aim of this book is to promote and assist the modelling of that formative period of railway history from the very earliest steam railways back in the reign of King George III, up to about 1880 or so, a period which for modellers in Britain at least has been covered scarcely, if at all, in book form. Models are of educational importance, being the only practicable way for people to visualise a kind of railway which ceased to exist long before it could have been recorded in still photographs, let alone ciné film or video recording. It might be thought that it would be difficult to find enough information for the period to be accurately modelled, but during the preparation of the book we have found far more material to be available than we could possibly include, and many descriptions have had to be much shorter than we would have preferred.

Interest in early railways is on the increase. A growing band of researchers, including some modellers and a number of academics, are unearthing an ever-increasing amount of information about this period. The Institute of Civil Engineers, the NRM, The Newcomen Society, The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish and the Railway and Canal Historical Society organised the Second International Early Main Line Railways Conference for June 2018 at the National Railway Museum in York, and there have been several such conferences on Early Railways. This is a growing field of academic research and among the main beneficiaries are railway modellers.

Before steam, there was gravity. The unknown artist has a somewhat tenuous grasp of perspective and does not seem to have noticed that tram plates need lips to guide the wheels, but he gives us a good impression of the way many of the early lines such as this plateway were worked. It was normally downhill from the mine to the river where the coal would be discharged into a waiting boat, so the rider controlled the speed by putting his weight on the brake lever. The horse would pull the empty wagon back up to the mine but had only to follow on the way down. (Author’s collection)

A compilation of drawings of Stockton and Darlington locos, all with return-flue boilers, showing (top) Hackworth’s Royal George of 1827, and below, clockwise from top left, the Wilberforce type of 1832-36, Hackworth’s wheel design with assembled cast-iron centre, the Middlesboro of 1830, with inclined cylinders and fire door in a flat smokebox front, and the smokebox with inset firebox door as used on this type. (Colburn, Locomotive Engineering)

Wilberforce class Stockton and Darlington loco, with vertical cylinders at the driver’s end, and the fire door recessed into the smokebox. Large barrel for water, and coal tender at the smokebox end. Is that brazier a headlight or tail light? (Anthony Dawson collection)

This S&D loco built by Kitching in 1839 combines the inclined-cylinder layout driving the front axle with a fire door recessed into the smokebox. It was rather late to be building return-flue boilers, but they worked for the S&D, fuel was cheap and speed was not important. Both this and Wilberforce were photographed during the 1925 S&D centenary celebrations. (Anthony Dawson collection)

The modelling potential of some of the earliest railways is described fairly briefly; we then concentrate on the period from the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway to the 1880 Railway Act. The L&M was the first ‘proper’ railway with locomotive haulage and dispensing with the common user system as operated by the turnpike roads, the canals and such early railways as the Stockton & Darlington. This book describes a time of rapid evolution when the railways were experimenting and working out how to run successfully, safely and efficiently. There was no ‘right way’ to do it, because it had never been done before. By 1880, the railways had developed signalling, block working and effective brakes, and anyone time travelling back to 1880 would see very much that is still familiar today. Indeed, many locomotives and rolling stock built around 1880 lasted well into the twentieth century, some of them surviving on preserved railways up to the present day.

It is an era with much to commend it from a modeller’s point of view. Although Rev Edward Beal in Modelling the Old-time Railways was promoting a slightly later period (he found the very early period too embryonic and unlovely for his taste), he made one of the most telling arguments in favour of the old days: that the trains were so much shorter and therefore easier to fit into the limited space most of us have available. In fact, the earlier the period chosen, the more forcefully this applies. At the latter part of the steam era, a main line express train would hardly be convincing with less than a 4-6-0 locomotive and about eight bogie carriages, occupying in 0 gauge a length of twelve or thirteen feet, and needing a curve radius of at least six feet, whereas an 1840 express of a locomotive and a dozen carriages might be no more than about six feet long and, behind the scenes at least, can take curves with a radius of two or three feet.

What other advantages does the earlier period have for the modeller? To begin with, if this is not a contradiction in terms, it has novelty value. Another 1930s branch line layout? Who will notice? Go back to the 1830s or 1860s, however, and we find something totally new to the average exhibition visitor. Locomotive and carriage designs, and their liveries, will all be unfamiliar. Track, pointwork and signalling are all likely to have an unexpected appearance and make the modeller realise that such things have not always looked as they do today, or even fifty or a hundred years ago. For the modeller of the more recent period it is difficult to find a subject that cannot be represented by ready to run models, or at least readily available kits. Our aim here is to open up a wide new landscape of modelling opportunities by making available drawings and prototype information for locomotives, passenger and goods vehicles and infrastructure, with descriptions of appropriate modelling techniques and examples of models and layouts, as well as sources of supply of kits and materials.

It is only recently that much information has become readily available for those modelling the ‘early’ days of railways. When Peter began railway modelling in the late 1950s, finding and sharing information was much more difficult than it is today. With no internet, it was hard to find just what drawings or photos were available,

Reviews for Early Railways

[nandadevi_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of the last British Governor of Hong Kong and the extraordinary efforts he made to introduce elements of democracy into this long standing British Colony prior to the Chinese take-over in 1997. The name Dimbleby might ring some bells, both his brother and father were/are much more famous British television commentators that Jonathan, who has been known to do the odd documentary or two himself. Jonathan is however primarily a political commentator, and his treatment of Chris Patten's Governorship is masterful. Patten was the quintessential politician, once touted to be the next conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Dimbleby is very close to Patten throughout Patten's five years in the job, taking notes and interviewing the key players as events unfolded. Although it might be more accurate to say 'unraveled'. At almost every step Patten's plans to introduce democratic reform in Hong Kong were opposed by the British Foreign Office and most of the largest commercial enterprises in Hong Kong who all saw China's antagonism towards democracy as a threat to Hong Kong's and Britain's future commercial relationship with China. China was - of course - the most vehement in their opposition towards any steps towards democratisation of Hong Kong, preferring to see it revert to a bare rock populated by sea birds rather than become a trojan horse of popular dissent within the 'new China'.That Patten managed to achieve anything is remarkable, and Dimbleby does a fine job of documenting both the successes and failures of Patten's stewardship. You get the sense that Patten (and Dimbleby in telling the tale) had some real sympathy with the lot of the ordinary Hong Kong citizen, driven by necessity to make compromises in order to achieve financial stability, but always hoping for something even better for their children. Dimbleby doesn't pull any punches in describing the extremists on all sides of the debate, the libertarian capitalists, the ideologically pure but hopelessly impractical democrats and the ideologically obsessed communists. It may be that he spares Patten some criticism, but it is human nature to have greater sympathy for the subjects closest to you, and at least it can be said that Dimbleby manages to convey a fairly even handed tone throughout. His section of further reading includes some excellent books, including some which take a much harsher view of the British handling of affairs, which Dimbleby acknowledges contains more than a few grains of truth.The strange thing about this otherwise excellent book though is the almost complete encapsulation of the story within the time frame of the career of Chris Patten as Governor. Events leading up to his appointment are covered adequately enough, but the reader might do well to have a look at Cottrell's 'The End of Hong Kong' for the full story. And of course every chronicle of events must choose a time to rule off the last entry and go to press, but Dimbleby's book ends (or fades out really...) a few weeks before the actual Chinese take over of Hong Kong. Hundreds of loose ends and contentious issues are left hanging in mid sentence, to be continued. The story of Hong Kong after the Chinese take over will make another fascinating book for anyone who has followed this one with interest. But as it stands, and because of his unparalleled access to the story and the main players, Dimbleby's book will always be an essential part of the telling of the story of Hong Kong. Highly recommended.