Narrow Gauge North

Coleford is based on a real railway in the Forest of Dean, with history having been changed a little ... The railway from Coleford to Monmouth had its origins as a 3’ 6”gauge plateway, the Monmouth Tramway carrying coal, clay and lime to the river Wye at Monmouth. But it’s been reinvented as a 2’ gauge railway serving some quite different industries, gold processing, fashion clothing and a chocolate factory.

I wanted to design something that was portable and not large. At the same time, I wanted something that was interesting to operate. I have always been a fan of unusual trackwork, and on Coleford, there are two different types of track; stone based chairs, and longitudinal sleepers. I used and abused commercially available track to construct these.

The locos and stock are a mixture of bought, kit built and scratchbuilt, including some very unusual locos. Some of the stock is quite unusual too – look out for the chocolate train. The scene shows the railway in a fairly run down state in the depths of winter. So there are lots of bare trees and all the people look miserable!

The layout featured in the May 2013 edition of the Railway Modeller, and has since been extended, nearly doubling its size.

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• Life of a Line Life of a Line
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