Carrick Island - new project

[saddletank]

I am putting Highworth to one side for a bit to cool off since it is just one headache after another and I need a break.

What I'm currently doing is a narrow gauge route set on an island 'somewhere off the coast of southern England'. It's fiction and is set in the present but these are working railways, not a tourist line (although summer tourist traffic is a big earner). The island's first railway was built in the 1860s to bring tin ore down to the docks and to a tinplate works, and passenger trains were introduced about a year after opening. This line operates along the north shore of the island. A second line was built about 1880 and served the southern coast along with a farmed timber plantation, and small coal mine. In about 1900 a third line was built to link these two and to serve a stone quarry. In 1910 the three railways were amalgamated under a Joint Committee. The grouping of 1923 did not affect the island since these lines were an irrelevance to mainland railways. In 1948 they did not come under the remit of BR due to a simple clerical error and so have remained privately owned until now.

The island has been built using TSTF and real terrain has been used, and real place names (the terrain is actually Cornish) but the industries, vegetation and settlements of the island are largely ficticious. I have written a comprehensive line history so that I can aim for some sort of beleiveable background and meaningful traffic operations.

The route is an unashamed excuse to use all the 2x scale NG stock currently available (thanks Kevin, and ta John for the new coaches). The three lines still use a good deal of the original 3 companies stock, with Tallylyn locomotives and coaches on the gentler northern line, more powerful Ffestiniog engines and bogie coaches on the more precipitous and heavily engineered southern line with a mixture of Corris and WHR stock on the quarry/coal mine line.

The route has it's inspiration in several sources: Madder Valley Railway, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Talyllyn, Ffestiniog, Wantage Tramroad and a few other bits n bobs (both gleaned from the modelling press and from snippets of half baked ideas formulated while on holidays to places like Sark and Lundy). I hope the result will be quite unusual.

Terraforming is all done, I'm just filling the sea at present and then it is out with the surveying poles across the hills...

Now - a request. I am not a 3D modeller as you know. I can use quite a lot of models from the various freeware sources run through SFM to 2x size but will be short of railway - specific buildings like station shelters, signal cabins, loco/carriage sheds, coal stages, water tanks and so on. Plus small industrial plant like little engine houses, pump houses, crumbling corrugated tin sheds and screens etc. If anyone would be interested in assisting me (we can invent the style of building and company colour scheme as we go) then please drop me a line.

[kevmt]

This sounds rather good, Martin. Like the way you,ve thought the "history" out first. (and I'll somewhere to run all of my stock!)

Thanks
Kevin

[tigermon]

This is a request and i wont mind if you dont incorparatee it into your route but,

I have ridden on a Swiss railway where the train actually stops the traffic and travels on a road through a small village, well that could be done in a Narrow Guage line couldnt it?

Perhaps something like this

A small village that was built on the edge of a cliff wanted the Railway to come to them, but there was no room for the tracks let alone a STation, so they asked the local council if they could use a tiny area of unused land, in the Village centre, the council agreed and they helped dig up part of the road so the trains could run.

So lets say it runs through the village on the road on one side and out the other side not on the road, perhaps through a small tunnel.

So what about it?

[saddletank]

I said there was some inspiration from the Wantage Tramroad, and also the Weston Cleveland and Portishead (which I didn't mention) but yes, I plan to have one section running from a quayside up through one of the principal towns to a main station that will run along a road, perhaps to one side of it with a single car spawner on the other side. The juxtaposition of trains and cars/lorries using the same road is a fascinating one and one I definitely want to incorporate if at all possible.

[Christopher125]

Hi all

How about having 2 car spawners, and having 2 invisible level crossings, so as the train approaches the traffic stops, and afterwards, it starts to go again.

[johndibben]

Good idea Martin, a fantasy layout where you can get away with almost anything.

Kev will bear me out when I say I'm working on the same sort of thing.

Absolutely nothing built yet though.

I saw a layout in a 60's RM recently set on Lundy Island.

It had a damn good service

I'm opting for 3' gauge so small stuff won't look out of place and neither would WC&P light railway stock.

I've been eyeing up the Drewry railcars and the like.

Got a standard gaugeTrainz layout to complete first so it'll be a while but there's a lot of fun to be had in the planning.

With scant buildings and spaced out a bit fps should be much higher and the sort of problems you have with Highworth.

Visiting engines and stock would of course add to the fun.

Cheers

John

[saddletank]

Good idea Martin, a fantasy layout where you can get away with almost anything.

I've been eyeing up the Drewry railcars and the like.

With scant buildings and spaced out a bit fps should be much higher and the sort of problems you have with Highworth.

Visiting engines and stock would of course add to the fun.

John

Yes, it's an anything goes route as far as stock is concerned - and visiting is no problem since there is a weekly ferry to the mainland that brings the grockles in summer, and can ship stock over too....

Now a little 4-wheel Drewry, that would be nice. There was an exquisite one on the Freshwater Yarmouth and Newport Railway on the IoW in 1913 - I can find you a couple of pictures if you're interested.

I plan to have some fairly busy areas but some quite 'bald' zones of moorland or Forestry Commision type woods so that should help fps.

[saddletank]

Hi all

How about having 2 car spawners, and having 2 invisible level crossings, so as the train approaches the traffic stops, and afterwards, it starts to go again.

Interesting idea, I see what you are driving at, but traffic caught between the 2 crossings will be driven over by the train....

[johndibben]

[

Now a little 4-wheel Drewry, that would be nice. There was an exquisite one on the Freshwater Yarmouth and Newport Railway on the IoW in 1913 - I can find you a couple of pictures if you're interested.

I plan to have some fairly busy areas but some quite 'bald' zones of moorland or Forestry Commision type woods so that should help fps.[/quote]

Yep I'm interested but it'll be a little while.

I've got pics of a couple of railcars on the WC&P which take my fancy

Fps can always be increased with an axe in the RE

[tigermon]

SO whens a beta version being released, i cant wait, its been ages since we had a new Narrow Guage railway, fictional or not, i am waiting for both 'Ffestiniog' and 'Carrick Island' railways.

Double Fairlies are just too powerful for the Talyllyn, and the Ffestiniog coach's are too long and get caught on the tight curves, well i am hoping that i shall be out early next year, but i would say that v1.0 might be out around August, boy i sound like im building it, lucky i aint, i dont even know how to place a tree.

Any chance of a Screenie or two?

[gopher]

Interesting idea, I see what you are driving at, but traffic caught between the 2 crossings will be driven over by the train

Adjust the warning times for the crossing Martin.

[saddletank]

Interesting idea, I see what you are driving at, but traffic caught between the 2 crossings will be driven over by the train

Adjust the warning times for the crossing Martin.

Hmmm...OK, I'll investigate.

[pitleyfalley]

Why do the Ffes coaches jam up the Talyllyn? Suley the new Talyho bogie coaches are the same length?

Sounds like a great Idea. Screen shots ASAP!!! Fictional routes are always fun. Id release the route ive been doing but its not all that good and I dont know how to package it all!

What about the county donegal railcars. You could even have the stock reliveried into fake 'company colours' So all the stock is the same from all the railway companies.

Sounds great though.

Pitley-Falley

[tagsdm]

I for one think it'll be great fun. I'm a bit surprised that there isn't more free-lancing done in MSTS, as it's been well established for many years in the US in model railroad form. The loco designers will have a blast conjuring up the Hunslets and Manning Wardels that might have been.

[tigermon]

Try running 'Linda' with four of the longest coach's and you will find out, you will barely make it out of Wharf, and if you dont have the new version then if you have a Double Fairlie then you will break away at Pendre