Rye & Camber

fadedGlory · Post by **fadedGlory** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 11:19 pm

Well, I have been a bit quiet lately, here's why.

Pitleyfalley and myself have taken a bit of time out from the Southwold (but we will be back, promise!). To keep myself out of mischief I have started building the Rye and Camber Tramway, a rather bizarre and ever so cute little 3ft railway in Sussex.

Here are some progress shots.

Rye station:

On its way to the Camber Sands:

At Golf Links Station:

Steaming into the vast lonely expanse of the Camber Sands:

And finally arriving at the grand terminus of Camber Sands, an impressive 2 miles from Rye:

'Camber' running round her train:

... and ready again for the long haul back:

There is obviously still a lot to do, but the bare bones are there!

fG

sillyevan27 · Post by **sillyevan27** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 12:18 am

HOLY GOD!

I thought that engine was Dolgoch for a moment there

Did you make the coach as well Jur? I looks great.

And I wonder if you named that first station right...what font size did the roof use? (LOL) 1276 font? (

)
But the coach seems a bit big for that little engine O_O

southcoasttrains · Post by **southcoasttrains** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 12:29 am

Wow, someone has done alot of research, I did have a book somewhere about the Camber tramway.
Amazing to know the tramway was 2 miles in lenght but by route its something like 7 miles.

Don't forget the sand dunes will you

Keep it up.

BruceB · Post by **BruceB** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:01 am

Bloody Brillient!

Top Dollar Jur!

Don't much about the line but made me laugh as this has a crossover to my other interest....Music!

Playing Fatboy Slim - Camber Sands in Celebration!

Wish I could find the Camber Sands EP though....

Rambing Again!

Bruce

smudge5609 · Post by **smudge5609** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:08 am

That's what I want a nice little route which isn't too long and isn't going to talk years to complete! I like how the loco is dwarfed by the coach!

Slightly off topic, Bruce, Camber Sands EP (Second Hand)
http://www8.gemm.com/ddc/search.pl?sid= ... R+SANDS+EP

Cheers, Chris

decapod · Post by **decapod** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:06 am

Nice one Jur,

The models look just like the pics in the books I have.
You can still find bits of the line today (at least the path and a bridge or two). I could still make out where the Rye end was a few months ago.
Releasing the route soon?

pitleyfalley · Post by **pitleyfalley** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:27 am

Nice one mate,

looks absoloutly excellent, as for the Southwold, ill be finsihing off some little jobs on it hopefully at the end of next week, with a view to mailing it to you the week after for the custom made models. Still havnt tested the platforms.

That engine looks so cute.... you could almost take it home with you!

Reminds me of Sea Lion on the Groudle Glen

Chris

BruceB · Post by **BruceB** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:31 am

pitleyfalley wrote:Reminds me of Sea Lion on the Groudle Glen

Chris

Just What I was thinking

Bruce

jpmedd · Post by **jpmedd** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 10:20 am

Hi,

Great job of the Camber route; I too thought that the locomotive was Dolgoch for a minute! I'm sure when this route comes out for download, myself and a lot of others will want it! This is certainly what I've been looking for for a long time!

Cheers,

James.

jdtech · Post by **jdtech** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 12:16 pm

Very good, Lovely route.

fadedGlory · Post by **fadedGlory** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 1:01 pm

Thanks guys, for all the positive comments!

I found the RE not too troublesome this time round, I guess 2 miles isn't enough to confuse it (fingers crossed). The trackwork, as it is, is finished, as are the various buildings associated with the railway. I still need to make a number of other structures, mainly around Rye Harbour.

I am right now busy with the rolling stock. They had two steam engines, Camber (in green) and the slightly larger Victoria (in blue). Both Bagnall 2-4-0's. In the 1920's they replaced these with a petrol tractor. The passenger fleet consisted of two bogie carriages and two open wagons converted to passenger stock with help of a few wooden benches. All very high tech!

This was truly an amazing venture, the Company was founded in 1895 by a few wealthy citizens of Rye who needed some form of convenient transport to the new Golf Course in the Camber Sands! So they issued shares and built the tramway. They called it a tramway to get around certain legal implications of building a railway, the need to completely fence it off for instance. It was in fact a light railway.

It turned out to be quite a success, and it survived as a viable concern right until WW2 when it was abruptly closed. The Admiralty used it to transport goods to Rye Harbour, but at the end of the war the track and rolling stock was in very poor condition, and the company was wound up.

It would have made a fantastic tourist attraction nowadays, but it is gone. I'm making the route not so much for its operational interest but more as a cameo of a time when individuals could plan and build a railway in the timespan of a few months and keep it profitable for years on end.

I will need some more time to make further buildings and stock, but hopefully I can release a test version later in the summer.

Jur

sillyevan27 · Post by **sillyevan27** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 4:56 pm

INDEED! Take your time Jur

Don't rush and make mistakes (did I say that?!)

I tried rushing with my bill and ben models...*curses*...I totally threw away an hours worth of 1) coffee and 2) hard work

Rfairlie · Post by **Rfairlie** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 10:02 pm

Very nice Jur the Rye & Camber is one of my favourite railways.

I don't think i'll be driving a Double engine with 12 coaches on along it the train might be longer than the railway.

Tim

southcoasttrains · Post by **southcoasttrains** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 2:09 am

Is there any remains of the railway still there today?

sillyevan27 · Post by **sillyevan27** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 2:26 am

decapod wrote:You can still find bits of the line today (at least the path and a bridge or two). I could still make out where the Rye end was a few months ago.

There you go