nathanmallard
Active member
Hi,
Today I thought I'd start a route, and I very quickly decided it would be a narrow gauge one (2ft of course!). The question was: where would it be set? In real life, most 2ft narrow gauge lines are located in Wales with a few notable exceptions. Instead of doing a Welsh one, I thought I'd do one in England, more specifically, Holderness in East Yorkshire, an area beloved by high school geography case studies for some reason, and quite close to where I live. Of course, the line, named the Holderness & Kilnsea Railway, is fictional, as is the full history coming up:
HISTORY OF THE LINE
In the years before WW1, the MoD began construction of a number of new fortifications along (and in!) the Humber Estuary. These new facilities included batteries at Kilnsea and Sunk Island, and a modernisation of the Napoleonic-era fortress at Paull. However, the remote rural locations of these facilities made getting materials and men there difficult. At the same time, tourism in the area began to increase as working families in Hull grew more prosperous. This led the MoD to open negotions with the North Eastern Railway about building a railway line from the city of Hull to Kilnsea, where the biggest fortifications lay. The army highlighted the role of tourism in the construction in the new line, hoping that the NER could be persuaded that such a venture would be profitable. However, the NER were very skeptical about the army's claims and were reluctant to begin construction. Eventually, after the MoD appealed to the government, the NER gave in to the pressure and agreed to begin work with one stipulation: the line would be built to 2ft gauge to reduce costs, and to avoid knocking down newly-built houses in Hull the line would start at Paull, a few miles east of the city instead. The army agreed and work began in 1913, and the line was eventually completed two years later in the midst of WW1 in 1915. Initially, there was no passenger service and rolling stock was provided by the War Department (Simplex diesels, Baldwin 4-4-0s, Alcos and the like) although the NER fully took over operations in 1920, three years before the line (along with the rest of the NER network) was absorbed in to the LNER. In 1930, the LNER built an extension to Withernsea, then a growing tourist hotspot, and passenger numbers increased exponentially. After the closure of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in 1935, the LNER purchased that line's stock to use on the Holderness & Kilnsea Railway (however they retained their previous liveries for quite some time, with Lew keeping it's Southern Green until it's withdrawal in 1951!). In 1939, WW2 broke out and passenger services were halted immidiately. Once again, the WD took over operations to service their installations along the Humber Estuary. The Germans knew of the line and bombed it, putting the Patrington-Kilnsea section out of action. After 1945, passenger services restarted on a more limited scale, and continued after nationalisation in 1948. However, passenger levels never reached pre-war levels and BR ended passenger services in 1951. Many locos were withdrawn that year, including most of the ex-L&B ones although Lyn and the River Class Mallets soldiered on. Freight traffic too, gradually declined as lorries took over the railway's business. Although the line successfully made it in to the 1960s, it succumbed to Beeching's Axe in 1965. At the MoD's insistance, the track was left in place, and the army continued to use the line as a training aid. However, they abandoned it in 1984 and most of the track was lifted for scrap.
That would have been the end if it weren't for a few pioneering enthusiasts, who, inspired by the full restorations of the Ffestiniog Railway & the Lynton and Barnstaple (yeah, this fantasy world is a good one for NG enthusiasts) decided to rebuild the line. Work started in 1991, and 20 years and lots of blood, sweat and tears later the full line reopened in 2011, using a mixture of heritage stock, complete new-build stock and ex-South African stock.
Here's a (basic) map so you can visualise what the line will look like:
(I am doing the line as it would be now, in the preservation era. They haven't got around to rebuilding the Withernsea branch yet, hence the dotted line)
Here's progress at Paull so far:
You can see Fort Paull (now a museum) in the background. Anyone whose ever visited should hopefully recognise the area.
Today I thought I'd start a route, and I very quickly decided it would be a narrow gauge one (2ft of course!). The question was: where would it be set? In real life, most 2ft narrow gauge lines are located in Wales with a few notable exceptions. Instead of doing a Welsh one, I thought I'd do one in England, more specifically, Holderness in East Yorkshire, an area beloved by high school geography case studies for some reason, and quite close to where I live. Of course, the line, named the Holderness & Kilnsea Railway, is fictional, as is the full history coming up:
HISTORY OF THE LINE
In the years before WW1, the MoD began construction of a number of new fortifications along (and in!) the Humber Estuary. These new facilities included batteries at Kilnsea and Sunk Island, and a modernisation of the Napoleonic-era fortress at Paull. However, the remote rural locations of these facilities made getting materials and men there difficult. At the same time, tourism in the area began to increase as working families in Hull grew more prosperous. This led the MoD to open negotions with the North Eastern Railway about building a railway line from the city of Hull to Kilnsea, where the biggest fortifications lay. The army highlighted the role of tourism in the construction in the new line, hoping that the NER could be persuaded that such a venture would be profitable. However, the NER were very skeptical about the army's claims and were reluctant to begin construction. Eventually, after the MoD appealed to the government, the NER gave in to the pressure and agreed to begin work with one stipulation: the line would be built to 2ft gauge to reduce costs, and to avoid knocking down newly-built houses in Hull the line would start at Paull, a few miles east of the city instead. The army agreed and work began in 1913, and the line was eventually completed two years later in the midst of WW1 in 1915. Initially, there was no passenger service and rolling stock was provided by the War Department (Simplex diesels, Baldwin 4-4-0s, Alcos and the like) although the NER fully took over operations in 1920, three years before the line (along with the rest of the NER network) was absorbed in to the LNER. In 1930, the LNER built an extension to Withernsea, then a growing tourist hotspot, and passenger numbers increased exponentially. After the closure of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in 1935, the LNER purchased that line's stock to use on the Holderness & Kilnsea Railway (however they retained their previous liveries for quite some time, with Lew keeping it's Southern Green until it's withdrawal in 1951!). In 1939, WW2 broke out and passenger services were halted immidiately. Once again, the WD took over operations to service their installations along the Humber Estuary. The Germans knew of the line and bombed it, putting the Patrington-Kilnsea section out of action. After 1945, passenger services restarted on a more limited scale, and continued after nationalisation in 1948. However, passenger levels never reached pre-war levels and BR ended passenger services in 1951. Many locos were withdrawn that year, including most of the ex-L&B ones although Lyn and the River Class Mallets soldiered on. Freight traffic too, gradually declined as lorries took over the railway's business. Although the line successfully made it in to the 1960s, it succumbed to Beeching's Axe in 1965. At the MoD's insistance, the track was left in place, and the army continued to use the line as a training aid. However, they abandoned it in 1984 and most of the track was lifted for scrap.
That would have been the end if it weren't for a few pioneering enthusiasts, who, inspired by the full restorations of the Ffestiniog Railway & the Lynton and Barnstaple (yeah, this fantasy world is a good one for NG enthusiasts) decided to rebuild the line. Work started in 1991, and 20 years and lots of blood, sweat and tears later the full line reopened in 2011, using a mixture of heritage stock, complete new-build stock and ex-South African stock.
Here's a (basic) map so you can visualise what the line will look like:
(I am doing the line as it would be now, in the preservation era. They haven't got around to rebuilding the Withernsea branch yet, hence the dotted line)
Here's progress at Paull so far:
You can see Fort Paull (now a museum) in the background. Anyone whose ever visited should hopefully recognise the area.
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