justin1985 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Random thought popped into my mind this morning about how a train ferry and loading sidings might make a nice layout - perhaps a large but only part modelled ferry could hide the entry/exit from one end of a self-contained "cameo" style layout. Have there been many layouts featuring train ferries before? The only one that came to mind for me is Burntisland 1883, which has the fascinating scene of freight wagons being loaded on and off a very early train ferry (passengers transferred to a more traditional steamer). This can't be the only model of this kind of thing though - I'd love to see more examples! Justin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philou Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) Here's a photo from the Continental section of RMweb showing a small ferry that did work. It was based on a prototypical location, though the modellers used H0 gauge track and stock rather than the original's metre gauge. There is/was an H0 scale model of one of the Sealink rail ferries available (I forget by whom) that is about 1m long and had three rail tracks inside the cargo bay. If I recall correctly there is till the rail 'bridge' in Dover harbour, though the rail connection has probably long gone! Cheers, Philip Edited February 2, 2020 by Philou Added scale of ferry 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) Hi Justin, There are a couple of Danish outline ferry layouts that i know of in the UK; Dave Bush's Prinshavn and Havnegade by David Beighton. Both were at Midland Railex 2015 so YouTube may be you friend. Speaking of YouTube, I found this video from a show in the Netherlands. There have also been a few US outline layouts featuring carfloats but I cant recall names or buolders right now. Nick Edited February 2, 2020 by doctor quinn 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium pete_mcfarlane Posted February 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 2, 2020 'Wardlesworth lines', a huge N gauge layout in the Railway Modeller in the early 1970s had one. There was a fairly detailed article on the construction of the ferry. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted February 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 2, 2020 An easy way to do it, is to arrange the fiddle yard to look like a ferry. Or the same for cassettes. Not that I've tried either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 58 minutes ago, pete_mcfarlane said: 'Wardlesworth lines', a huge N gauge layout in the Railway Modeller in the early 1970s had one. There was a fairly detailed article on the construction of the ferry. And the original idea had been two ferry ships with regular sailings to and from the port of Hellandam on the island of Wotulijk, to enable one train to go over the water and another to return. 29 minutes ago, kevinlms said: ... arrange the fiddle yard to look like a ferry. Or the same for cassettes.... The cassette is much as was proposed for the Wardleworth lines. However what the constructor found was that it was difficult to keep N gauge stock on the rails when the ferry was moved, so the single ferry that had been constructed was left static. Good concept if it can be made to work reliably. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenser Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I believe American modellers sometimes use a carfloat (functioning as a detachable cassette fiddle yard) for a compact urban "shelf-switcher" 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Andy Hayter Posted February 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 2, 2020 There has been a 1917 ferry layout doing the rounds here with ROD locomotives and mainly UK wagons being on-off loaded. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Andy’s post reminded me that “Operation Overlord” is another layout on the UK circuit that has a military train ferry. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yardman Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Here's one we did earlier. Not exactly a car Ferry, it's a Car Float. It is water, it does float and it's G scale. http://a19modelrailwayclub.org/layouts/los-karr-quays/ 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 3 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said: 'Wardlesworth lines', a huge N gauge layout in the Railway Modeller in the early 1970s had one. There was a fairly detailed article on the construction of the ferry. Yes, I was trying to remember the name of that one! Egham MRS had an American H0 layout featuring a working train ferry. There's also been an article in RM in recent years about a chap who had two layouts in different rooms in his house, each featuring train ferry berths, and he worked goods stock from one layout to the other by picking the ferry up and carrying it into the other room! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 26 minutes ago, RJS1977 said: Egham MRS had an American H0 layout featuring a working train ferry. I remember seeing that one, complete with real water. Was it actually set in Canada? Unfortunately not only does real water not 'scale down' very well; the fact that the rails the ferry ran on were clearly visible under the water did spoil the illusion somewhat, but hats off to the club for trying, and it certainly was something different. Chris Ellis, the Editor of the old (Airfix) Model Trains & it's successors, was a keen proponent of modelling train ferries, and highlighted several prototype EU locations as potential 'Basis for a Layout'. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Here's one, never mind the carfloat - look at some of the trackwork! http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/crrnjbxt.html 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 And a video of barge slips on the Columbia and Western, a layout modelling the lines (as they were) around Nelson, British Columbia: https://youtu.be/IEFPfu4xsnw The service on Slocan Lake was the last of what had been quite a few carfloat operations on the lakes in southern BC, ending in 1988. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 1 hour ago, F-UnitMad said: I remember seeing that one, complete with real water. Was it actually set in Canada? Thanks for reminding me - it was called Carling Lake https://esmrs.weebly.com/carling-lake.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin1985 Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 Many thanks for all of the suggestions! Really interesting stuff out there This layout Spodsbjerg Havn is EXACTLY the kind of thing I had in mind - even down to the Baltic setting! I can't seem to find any other web presence for it though (sharing its name with the prototype harbour doesn't help here though!) 5 hours ago, doctor quinn said: There are a couple of Danish outline ferry layouts that i know of in the UK; Dave Bush's Prinshavn and Havnegade by David Beighton. Both were at Midland Railex 2015 so YouTube may be you friend. Speaking of YouTube, I found this video from a show in the Netherlands. I didn't manage to find the layouts mentioned in any of the Youtube videos of Midland Railex 2015 that I could find though. Looks like people only filmed the British layouts ... J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 31 minutes ago, doctor quinn said: Thanks for reminding me - it was called Carling Lake https://esmrs.weebly.com/carling-lake.html Ah, thanks for the link - I didn't recognise the Carling Lake name, but as noted, it was as Fraser Mills that I saw it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 12 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said: Ah, thanks for the link - I didn't recognise the Carling Lake name, but as noted, it was as Fraser Mills that I saw it. My apologies, I didn't realise that Fraser Mills has a float on as well. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) 32 minutes ago, justin1985 said: I didn't manage to find the layouts mentioned in any of the Youtube videos of Midland Railex 2015 that I could find though. Looks like people only filmed the British layouts ... J Just found that Havnegade has been videoed at Frinton on Sea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXiDwlxhyGw Edited February 2, 2020 by doctor quinn Typo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted February 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 2, 2020 3 hours ago, Yardman said: Here's one we did earlier. Not exactly a car Ferry, it's a Car Float. It is water, it does float and it's G scale. http://a19modelrailwayclub.org/layouts/los-karr-quays/ Beat me to it, Tone! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 30 minutes ago, doctor quinn said: My apologies, I didn't realise that Fraser Mills has a float on as well. Nick No need for apologies, the way I read the link was that Carling Lake is the latest version of the layout that was Fraser Mills, years ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyC Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 There is this model of the Rugen Island narrow gauge with a working model of the Wittower ferry. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Have a look at : http://www.bronx-terminal.com/ James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Train ferries or car floats are fairly common on US layouts. IIRC there was a British layout set at a fictional Channel port where ferry vans and sleeping cars were loading onto a rather impressive ship. I think it was done in HO as it mainly used Continental stock. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yardman Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 13 hours ago, New Haven Neil said: Beat me to it, Tone! It's still alive and well Neil. We keep threatening to set it up at one of our open days, although it is a lot of hard work for us old codgers now. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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