4mm The Holyhead Breakwater Railway

M

matto21

Western Thunderer
The Holyhead Breakwater railway

Background:

Firstly, why the Holyhead Breakwater railway? Well, not only is it a fascinating and unique prototype, it’s also local to me – although, sadly, I never knew of it’s existence until fairly recently.

I’m not going to recount history, and I’m too young to have ever witnessed the line in operation, but a year spent working in Holyhead back in 2015 allowed me to explore the Breakwater Park area [and the breakwater itself] in more detail. I continued to maintain an interest and have carried on collecting whatever photos and information I came across in the intervening years.

I’ve attempted various layouts over the last few years and, needless to say, not one of these projects has been completed. As a result, about 12 months ago, I reassessed my modelling in general and made the decision to start working in EM gauge. Part of the reason for this was a vain hope that I could narrow down my interests and focus my time and efforts rather than continue with the scattergun approach.

I’ve largely succeeded, and I am in the process of planning a Scottish themed 1980’s era layout which, when it eventually gets built, will be my long-term project.

Why now?

A couple of things have happened in the last 6 – 12 months. The first, and most significant, is that life - as it often does - has thrown me a curveball. If you’d told me a year ago that my marriage would be over [not my choice or fault!] and I’d be facing the prospect of having to start over and find somewhere else to live, I simply would not have believed you! But that is the situation I now sadly find myself in. I can, and will, continue building stock and planning, but any hopes of actually starting the Scottish layout are on indefinite hold, at least until I know where I will be living.

As mentioned, I’d always maintained a vested interest in the Holyhead Breakwater Railway, but an inability to solder, and the unlikely availability of a RTR Class 01 meant it could only ever be a pipe dream. However anyone that follows my intermittent workbench thread will have seen that I have made huge efforts to learn how to solder in the past year or so and now that I can, the world is literally my modelling oyster!

The layout:

A couple of months ago I started wondering if a simple layout based on the Breakwater Railway could be feasible. My main enjoyment in a modelling sense is building stuff and the more I thought about it, the more achievable I realised it could be.

So, the principles of the layout will be:
  • Will need to be small in size [ideal as the average “train” seemed to be an 01 plus two short wheelbase wagons]. I’ve been giving some thought to using one of those “Really Useful Boxes” [RUB] and laser cut baseboards – at least it’d be easy to store!
  • Everything will be built by me – this will include the loco [to be built from the Judith Edge kit], wagons, structures and everything else.
  • I’ve always wanted to build track but never had the opportunity or confidence to try. Given that only 2 turnouts are required, I've decided to attempt to make them from British Finescale EM kits, with the plain trackwork utilising that which is available from the EMGS.
In addition, the aforementioned opportunity to build everything will give me something practical to focus on in the weeks and months ahead. By planning it around the RUB, it could all be self-contained too. And by that, I mean I could keep everything in the box and transport it/work on it wherever I find myself.

Finally, it’d also be a pretty handy, scenic, test-track for other stuff I build – such as stock for the Scottish layout.

A couple of weeks ago I took the plunge and bought the Judith Edge Class 01 kit. Although I’m yet to start it, I do now have all the bits needed including motor and wheels etc. Once the Class 37/5 I’ve been working on for, frankly, ages is finished, the 01 may be my next project.

This isn’t going to be a fast-paced thread, and there’ll be long periods where I either can’t work on this, or choose to focus my time on other things.

Even though it’s not prototypical, the Dave Bradwell brake van I’m building at the moment is destined for this layout – so maybe I have started after all!

Thanks for reading

Matt
 
PhilH

PhilH

Western Thunderer
M

matto21

Western Thunderer
PhilH said:
I first visited this line in 1964 when it still had the Peckett 0-4-0ST, although it was out of use by then. I made several other visits before the line was closed and photographed D2955 on one occasion shunting at the brickworks.
Photos were posted here: https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/philhs-br-photographs-from-circa1959.9383/page-5 - post-230271
Post #85.

Which particular part of the railway are you proposing to model ?
Click to expand...
Mainly the area immediately surrounding the shed.

https://flic.kr/p/9FY9Jj

Not the actual breakwater itself!

Matt
 
Kier Hardy

Kier Hardy

Western Thunderer
The late Pete Johnson once planned a layout based on the area around the shed, having scratchbuilt 2 Class 01 shunters, as well as the buildings. It never materialised, but the following clips taken from the emgauge70s December 2020 update page may be of help.

canada_omwb998.jpg
Making the new chassis for the ‘01’ got memories stirred of my two visits to the Holyhead breakwater railway during the late 70s. Both were of limited success as the shed was firmly locked, but a search eventually found a slit in the shuttering from where the two locos could be glimpsed in the gloom. The unique nature of the operation grabbed my imagination and plans grew to model the location and rolling stock. A further visit to collect location photographs in November 1981 was rewarded by access to the loco shed, thanks to a fortunately timed errand by a railwayman from the main depot.

Sadly, the axe was already falling on the rail operation, and a return with a surveyor’s tape for a more detailed survey in April 1982 was to find the tracks largely buried by mud, and large rocks blocking off rail access to the shed. Another BR man on an errand described how the locos had been driven out of the shed and cut-up just a few weeks earlier – and kindly gave me a polaroid he had taken showing the scene.

canada_omwb999.jpg
Sketches from the time (and never thrown away!) show what was planned, with an accurate scale model of the large shed/workshop, and the running line between the quarry and breakwater. The two class 01s became my first attempts at scratchbuilding small shunters. 01 002 was completed, the baseboards were built and track laid. A start had also been made on the shed building when it began to dawn that although I was fascinated by the location there might be very few others who were – or were even aware of it.

canada_omwb1000.jpg
Long days stood behind the ‘Holyhead Breakwater Branch’ layout at exhibitions as a constant stream of people glanced at the mostly empty track and walked on began to be imagined, and so the project was abandoned. The outcome was ‘Canada Road’, several more scratchbuilt small shunter types, and an ever growing fleet of wagons. 01 002 was carefully boxed with a thought to improve the chassis one day, just for the memories.

canada_omwb1001.jpg
The incomplete Soldier’s Point shed building was offered to Kier, who skilfully incorporated it into the stabling point on Wibdenshaw. The baseboards and track were stored…..and still are. The loco that was to be 01 001 was finished instead as ‘D2954’ in an early ‘60s livery, and sees use on Canada Street.

canada_omwb1002.jpg
The re-worked model of Barclay 0-4-0 ‘01 002’, finished as the loco appeared in the late 1970s, during its 14 years of exile on the isolated 4 mile long system of the Holyhead breakwater railway…..Nicely in time for the 40th anniversary of BR closing the line….
 
M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Kier Hardy said:
The late Pete Johnson once planned a layout based on the area around the shed, having scratchbuilt 2 Class 01 shunters, as well as the buildings. It never materialised, but the following clips taken from the emgauge70s December 2020 update page may be of help.

View attachment 240656
Making the new chassis for the ‘01’ got memories stirred of my two visits to the Holyhead breakwater railway during the late 70s. Both were of limited success as the shed was firmly locked, but a search eventually found a slit in the shuttering from where the two locos could be glimpsed in the gloom. The unique nature of the operation grabbed my imagination and plans grew to model the location and rolling stock. A further visit to collect location photographs in November 1981 was rewarded by access to the loco shed, thanks to a fortunately timed errand by a railwayman from the main depot.

Sadly, the axe was already falling on the rail operation, and a return with a surveyor’s tape for a more detailed survey in April 1982 was to find the tracks largely buried by mud, and large rocks blocking off rail access to the shed. Another BR man on an errand described how the locos had been driven out of the shed and cut-up just a few weeks earlier – and kindly gave me a polaroid he had taken showing the scene.

View attachment 240657
Sketches from the time (and never thrown away!) show what was planned, with an accurate scale model of the large shed/workshop, and the running line between the quarry and breakwater. The two class 01s became my first attempts at scratchbuilding small shunters. 01 002 was completed, the baseboards were built and track laid. A start had also been made on the shed building when it began to dawn that although I was fascinated by the location there might be very few others who were – or were even aware of it.

View attachment 240658
Long days stood behind the ‘Holyhead Breakwater Branch’ layout at exhibitions as a constant stream of people glanced at the mostly empty track and walked on began to be imagined, and so the project was abandoned. The outcome was ‘Canada Road’, several more scratchbuilt small shunter types, and an ever growing fleet of wagons. 01 002 was carefully boxed with a thought to improve the chassis one day, just for the memories.

View attachment 240659
The incomplete Soldier’s Point shed building was offered to Kier, who skilfully incorporated it into the stabling point on Wibdenshaw. The baseboards and track were stored…..and still are. The loco that was to be 01 001 was finished instead as ‘D2954’ in an early ‘60s livery, and sees use on Canada Street.

View attachment 240660
The re-worked model of Barclay 0-4-0 ‘01 002’, finished as the loco appeared in the late 1970s, during its 14 years of exile on the isolated 4 mile long system of the Holyhead breakwater railway…..Nicely in time for the 40th anniversary of BR closing the line….
Click to expand...
Hi Kier,

Funnily enough, Pete and I were in communication about his plans for a Breakwater layout for quite some time.

Thanks for sharing those photos, much appreciated.

Matt
 
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