Model Railway Forum

A bit of advice please. Did private lineside industries e.g. wagon works which ran their own loco, have their own coaling and water facilities. I’m modelling a seen better days wagon works and engineering works And need to know if I should include these facilities. So far I’ve built a small baseboard, painted the back scene (a dreary grey sky) and am about to start on a grotty wagon repair shed. Any suggestions/help will as always be gratefully received. I will send some progress pictures in next time I see my son. Thanks as always.

If they had their own locos yes. Slough Estates locos weren’t allowed onto the Western Region track. They had large exchange sidings where they transferred goods to the main line. They shifted tons of coal to the power station so certainly didn’t need to go anywhere else for it.

Thank you WTD.

Depending upon size industrial railways would have had facilities appropriate to their size. Steam locos required coal and water and on a small system the coal might be kept in an old railway wagon, standing on a siding next to the shed. A water tank might be rectangular or cylindrical and on stilts near the shed, or even built into the shed roof. A hose with a tap on it may be all there was to fill the locomotive tanks.

Some of the larger systems would have facilities not so different to a main line shed.

This is a basic situation.

Thank you LC&DR. A very useful photo.