Peter Marriott dives head-first into the world of narrow gauge railway modelling.
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Narrow gauge enthusiasts were left with plenty to smile about when Bachmann announced it was to start making locomotives, wagons and buildings in ‘OO9’. If you’re new to our wonderful hobby, you’d be forgiven for thinking that assembling kits or scratchbuilding would be the only way that narrow gauge prototypes could be recreated in miniature. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, as off-the-shelf products are all you need to create your favourite narrow gauge line.
Firstly, a brief explanation of what narrow gauge is. In the UK, the standard gauge for a railway is 4ft 8½in between the rails, but some independent companies have railways with narrower track, such as 2ft (610mm) gauge. The main reason for this is cost. A track that’s roughly half the width of the standard gauge means the sleepers only need to be half the length, and two can be laid for the same amount of material as on standard gauge lines. A narrower track also means narrower
locomotives and wagons, again meaning less materials needed and a lower cost.
Narrow gauge railways were also commonly used in wartime to link the frontline with standard gauge railheads and storage areas behind the lines. They were favoured because they were quick to build and required lightweight materials and equipment. Bachmann’s first ‘OO9’ products were in recognition of the work carried out by the hundreds of miles of wartime light railway and their operators. One of the first ‘OO9’ introductions was the Baldwin Class 10-12-D locomotive, which is available in six different liveries. I’ve employed No. 590 Welsh Highland in lined maroon on this diorama, which looks superb and is even fitted with DCC sound.
Usefully, if you want specific ‘OO9’ track, Peco retails a wide range including standard straights that are 87mm in length (eight per pack), double straights at 174mm (four per pack), radius 1 curves (16 per circle) and double curves (eight per circle, four per pack). The track has Code 80 rail so there shouldn’t be any problems with deep flanges hitting sleepers and you can purchase either wooden sleeper track or irregular sleepers and various points.
Changing gauges is a great way to reinvigorate your enthusiasm for modelling. It makes you think about what you’re doing, and it was lovely to explore manufacturers’ websites to see what’s available. Being able to employ 4mm scale buildings, figures and details retained a sense of familiarity from my usual ‘OO’ and ‘HO’ projects, while still feeling different. Indeed, the prospect of combining standard and narrow gauge lines on the same layout is an enticing thought.
If you’ve been wondering about dabbling in narrow gauge railways there’s never been a better time, with so many great products available off the shelf. Go on, the time is right to model in ‘OO9’!
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I had left-over risers from other projects and used these to create what I hoped would be an interesting landscape, with the standard gauge line towards the back of the layout, narrow gauge line at middle height and the quayside at baseboard level.
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To cut the foamboards to size I first marked a line with a felt-tipped pen and used a steel ruler and foam knife to gently cut through the foam. Any knife will do the job, but special foam knives are available, as well as spare blades.
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Glue the risers to the baseboard. I use Woodland Scenics Foam Tack Glue, but there are a number of suitable adhesives. It’s recommended that while the glue dries you keep the risers in place with heavy weights or foam nails.
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Peco produces a useful range of ready to use ‘OO9’ track, which contain fishplates for a quick and simple installation – much the same as ‘OO’ gauge standard track. It might be tempting to use ‘N’ gauge track, but the sleepers are too small and too close together.
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Risers are available from Woodland Scenics in five heights (1.27cm to 10.1cm) in packs of two or four. These are a quick and easy way of making an undulating landscape and adding a great sense of depth to your scene.
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I used a mixture of Woodland Scenics hard foam risers to raise the level of the narrow gauge and standard gauge track on the diorama. Here I placed the track in situ alongside some of the Scenecraft buildings to get an idea of how the final scene might look.
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I screwed up some wrapping paper to fill the gaps between the risers. This is important for a number of reasons: it will add some extra strength as it eliminates the gaps but it also gets rid of the harsh contours you don’t see in the real world.
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To finish the base of the landscape the rock faces were made from Woodland Scenics Lightweight Hydrocal and will be described in a future issue of Model Rail. Here I’m using a wide, clean paintbrush to remove the dust from the landscape.
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To set the landscape, lay plaster bandage over the risers and scrunched-up paper. Use several layers and wet the bandage until it is suitably damp. Leave for around 24 hours to dry until it is rock hard. In a warm environment, this time is reduced.
Standard gauge and narrow gauge work well together! One can almost hear the seagulls… You can get so much more railway interest in a small area compared to standard gauge. The locomotive shed scene on this layout only occupies around 0.3 square metres. If your standard gauge layout is complete, it might be possible to add a 3in extension to part of the baseboard to enable a narrow gauge feeder line to be added. The advantage with ‘009’ is that you don’t have to worry about the scale of the buildings from your ‘OO’ model as these remain the same, all you have to do is add the extra line!
ALAMY
Once Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, research trips to Wales and other parts of the UK to watch narrow gauge trains in action would be fun and could be combined with family outings or holidays.
ALAMY
Studying photos of real narrow gauge railways showed me the differences between basic railway aspects, such as ballasting, compared to their standard gauge counterparts.