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Industrial Trams
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John Thomas designed this little On18 (or HOn3/30) tram based on an HOn30 design
he found on the Web. John shrank the plan to just 20"x30" (50x75 cm) using
a 6" minimum radius. This same plan could be used for O, HO, S, or even Gn15
trains. Scenery in my drawing is in 1/4" scale.
This tiny, self-contained Brickworks Rwy uses two-axle critters for motive
power and a fleet of four-wheel cars -- skips for raw material and bulkhead flats
for finished bricks. The railroad hauls bricks from the kiln to the yard, and then
to the interchange track for shipment on the standard gauge. It brings in skips of
raw clay from beyond the yard to the clay hopper and dump.
Brickworks are inherently interesting prototypes, and this little pike provides an
excellent opportunity to super-detail a working industrial landscape in a very small
space. The somewhat-larger original layout, on which this version is based, was designed
by the late Alex Ceres around 1967. Many thanks to Jack Matson, who posted his friend's
drawing and brought it to our attention. |
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Another industrial tram, designed in the mid-Sixties by the late Alex Ceres, was
this lime kiln HOn30 tramway in 2'x2' (60x60 cm), the Specialty Lime Kiln Co.
This one features a full operations menu, including bringing in raw materials and
fuel (usually limestone and coal), charging the kiln from above, removing the lime
at the bottom and hauling it to the cement plant, and loading standard gauge cars
with both product and waste.
This layout abounds with opportunities for superdetailing and creating a very busy
and believable little industrial scene. There's even a street railway with a trolley
moving back and forth to bring the workers to the site!
Many thanks to Jack Matson, who forwarded his friend's track plan. The artwork shown
here is Ceres' original sketch--but color and typography have been added for clarity. |
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Dominion Geolite Co. is a complex On18/O9
industrial micro layout designed and being built by Ian Campbell. It's a 17"x22"
(430x560 mm) model of a WW I era explosives plant, purposely designed as a showcase
and testing ground for industrial modeling and animation techniques. Several additional
modules will complete this large, historical factory.
 The geolite raw material (sand) follows the production process
from the dumping shed (front) onto a conveyor to the separation plant with its upper
level settling tanks. The tanks release spoilage to the lower level and good material
to the upper level where the "manufacturing process" continues. In this
model version, the sand is ultimately returned in skips to the dumping shed to begin
the process all over again.
Ian has currently completed about 40% of this complicated working layout--the basements
and ground floors of most buildings are finished, the lower level track is in place,
and he's working on the animated car elevator. We're looking forward to periodic
progress reports of this very-advanced industrial tramway!
Ian also serves as the moderator of the Model Industrialist
e-group.
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Ian Holmes created this innovative
plan, The Brewery Line, inspired by photos of Dublin's Guinness Brewery Railway
found at Steve Thomason's website.
Although not copying the original, Ian has captured in 28"x24" (71x61 cm)
the essence of this wonderful 22" gauge prototype. Like its inspiration, this
micro railway runs in and out of the brewery buildings carrying barrels, raw ingredients,
and general supplies for the entire process of brewing and shipping Guiness's famous
product.
The line can be viewed from all four sides, each of which offers a unique look at
the operation inside and out. As drawn, with six-inch radius curves, the layout is
designed for On21 -- 7mm scale on 12mm gauge, using scratchbuilt rolling stock running
on standard European TT gauge wheels and track. Many other narrow gauge scales are
possible. Small, cabless diesels and narrow cars are the ticket here -- the line
squeezes in and out of the stone and brick buildings, with very tight clearances.
For scratchbuilders, a challenge might be to model the original, unusual 0-4-0 steam
locomotives, which piggybacked on a special converter chassis to run on the 5'2"
gauge railway that served the brewery from outside. Truly a unique interchange!
Another challenging project might be to rig an old turntable under the baseboard
and slowly rotate the entire layout, so the artistry of each scene could be viewed
as the little trains ply their trade. Incidentally, Ian has arranged things so a
train running end to end on the tiny line will travel about 92 inches -- nearly 8
feet. Stout fellow, Ian!
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Apple Valley Farm Supplies is a tiny layout for a big scale -- Gn15 in just over
two square feet! Ian Holmes designed this little jewel to work as an Inglenook switching
line bent into a U shape...so the trains have somewhere to go (behind the backscene).
Operating possibilities are strong, using any of the many index card switching systems.
Lush, rolling farmland makes for good scenery opportunities, and the possibility
of lincluding freshly plowed fields opens the layout to aromatic modeling opportunities
as well! |
 The Beltane Wood Railway is just a few millimeters
larger than an A3 sheet of paper (297x420 mm or 11.7"x16.5"). Kevin Payne
built it as a "bookshelf display on which trains trundle slowly around."
Track is handbuilt using Roy C. Link templates to O14 standards (British On2 at 7mm
to the foot). Rails were soldered to PCB sleepers (ties). Structures are wood and
corrugated tinplate, with cast concrete represented by plaster.
Kevin explains, "There isn't really a story behind it, although it could well
be part of a primitive industrial tramway serving a brickyard or quarry. I have no
idea who the woman waiting at the back of the shed is, or why she is there. I was
photographing the 'Buzzing Bee,' a Grandt Line speeder with suitably narrowed track
gauge, and I didn't notice her when I clicked the shutter."
[Ed.: A likely story!]
Operations on this tiny layout can be interesting when the spur at the upper
right (in the overall layout photo) is treated as an interchange track where freight
and supplies for the industry are shipped and received. The tramway's job then is
to move the cargo from the interchange to the mine/brickworks/whatever. With sidings
leaving the line in both trailing and facing positions, the little locomotives must
use the track circuit to run around the train in order to shunt facing spurs. So
things can become intricate at times!
P.S. The name comes from the day that Kevin dreamed up the idea of building this
little gem! |
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A 'Sheet of Paper'
Layout
Geoff Perkins, from Brisbane, Australia, has concocted
this delightful little industrial tram that can be built in HO or OO narrow gauge
in the space of a sheet of A4 paper -- 297x210mm, about 8-1/4 x 11-3/4 in! The scene
depicts one side of the Perko Paper Products factory which is based, says
Geoff, "on a paper recycling plant where raw materials come in and are processed
into bulk rolls that are then carted off to another part of the plant or to a transfer
facility for road or rail transport to other places.
"Raw materials coming in would be bales of waste paper for recycling and coal
for the boiler. Materials out would be the bulk paper rolls.
"HO or OO narrow gauge would be used. The headshunt over the coal drop and the
train turntable at the rear would need to be long enough to hold a loco and two small
wagons. The loco would be a typical 4-wheel battery/petrol/diesel and the wagons
would be 4 wheel flats for the paper bales and rolls and 4 wheel hoppers for the
coal. If wanted, an ash conveyor could be worked in to remove the waste from the
boiler as well, which could be dumped into another hopper wagon for removal."
The tricky parts of constructing this line would be
hand-laying the tram-style track complex of two turnouts and a crossing at the front,
as well as concocting couplings (and uncouplings) that will stay together on the
layout's 8 cm (3 in) curves.
There are lots of opportunities to create variations
on this clever design. For example, I'd like to see the wagon turntable operating
out in the open -- although that would require a second locomotive to pull the turned
cars into the factory, and later to replace them on the turntable. I dug out some
HOn30 industrial rolling stock and dropped it onto a full-size printout of Geoff's
original layout drawing, just to see how a two-loco layout looks.
I also mentioned to Geoff that I'd like to see an On30/O16.5 or even a 1:32 or 1:24
narrow-gauge version of this layout ... it could be made in about a 28x20 inch space
(70x50 cm) -- still a micro-sized layout! And I'll bet you can also think of some
other variations to suit your taste -- all of which can be built in the space of
a single sheet of writing paper!
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