Eaton Hall Railway: 15″ gauge in 1:12 – Part 1

For the past 30+ years I’ve been working in 1:48 mostly North American narrow gauge prototypes and the time has come for something completely different. For several years I’ve been collecting information on British industrial and light railway narrow gauge with the long-term view of building a small operating diorama in a larger scale. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, this getting old business is for the birds, and doing the level of work I do in 1:48 is requiring ever stronger vision appliances, which I find to be less and less enjoyable. I will continue with the 1:48n3 projects that are currently in the works but have begun the drawing process for this new project in 1:12. The old photo below, taken ca. 1899, is the scene to be modeled.

It is the Belgrave shed on the Eaton Hall Railway, an estate railway built to serve the Duke of Westminster’s country residence at Eaton Hall. The loco in the foreground is Katie pulling a couple of loaded goods wagons. The railway was built in 1895-96 to connect the Hall to a transhipment point with the Great Western Railway’s Chester-Wrexham main line at Balderton approx. 3 miles distant. Total track length of the railway was 4 1/2 miles including sidings. Traffic on the railway consisted chiefly of coal, road metal and building materials although there were passenger excursions for shooting parties and other social occasions. My primary reference source is the excellent book Sir Arthur Heywood and the Fifteen Inch Gauge Railway by Mark Smithers, published by Plateway Press in 1995. The photos here were all scanned from the book, hence their somewhat less than crisp appearance. The photos below give somewhat clearer shots of Katie at Belgrave, built in 1896 by Abbot & Co. to specifications set forth by Sir Arthur Heywood, a strong proponent of light narrow gauge railways. In 1:12 the boiler diameter is large enough to hold a Faulhaber micro-motor which I’ll use to power the loco. The photos above give a good sense of the size of the tiny loco: overall length 8′, wheelbase 3′, width over bufferbeams 3’10″, height to stop of stack 5’11″ – it’s tiny even in 1″ scale. The loco was scrapped in 1926 except for the frame which most recently was stored at Ravenglass on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. A reconstruction of the loco was completed in 1994. The color photo at the end of the article pictures the reconstruction which runs on the present day Eaton Park Railway.

The Belgrave shed is still in existence though heavily modified from the original and in use as a loco shed on the present day Eaton Hall Railway. The photo below shows it in 1947 approximately 6 months before the remaining railway was scrapped. It’s a substantial brick structure, 20′ W. x 39′ L., at least substantial for the diminutive equipment it was designed to hold. Fortunately I have preliminary drawings of the exterior which I’m using as a primary reference source to produce my construction drawings. Unfortunately I have only one fairly dark shot of the interior which doesn’t yield much information. I expect I’ll have to resort to creative license on interior details.

Of course, if anyone out there has photos or more information on Katie, Belgrave and the Eaton Hall Railway, I’d be most interested in hearing from you.

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Tags: 15" gauge, 1:12 scale, Belgrave Shed, Duke of Westminster, Eaton Hall Railway, Katie, Mark Smithers, Model-making, Sir Arthur Heywood