Narrow Gauge North

2024

A 009 layout by James Griffiths
Scale 009 (4mm/1ft)
Gauge 9mm
Size 6’ x 1’

History

The Sand Hutton Light Railway was opened in 1922 by Sir Robert Walker, replacing a smaller, miniature railway on his estate at Sand Hutton (North Yorkshire). His new 18inch gauge railway ran from Bossal, via Sand Hutton, to Warthill Station, where it connected with the NER. The line was primarily a freight concern carrying local agricultural produce, coal to the brickworks at Claxton, and bricks from it. The majority of traffic either originating or terminating at the Warthill exchange sidings. There was a modest passenger service on the line, using the single carriage.

The line was around 5 ½ miles long, but there were plans to extend the half-mile from Bossal to Scrayingham, but this would have involved an expensive bridge over the River Derwent. Sir Robert Walker died in 1930 and the line closed in 1932 and was scrapped soon afterwards, the only surviving piece being the passenger carriage.

The Layout

This layout is based on the fiction that, when Sir Robert Walker died, the line was bought by the LNER and extended to Scrayingham, which led to a slight increase in traffic. The line passed into British Railway hands, but closed in the early 1950s. In the 1960s a preservation group moved in and have gradually rebuilt a section of the line, starting with the Scrayingham to Bossal section. The line has not been re-laid with 18inch track, but with 2 foot gauge, which has enabled visiting stock from other lines.

The goods shed area of Scrayingham has been restored using local bricks, and a locomotive shed is under construction. A platform shelter has been built in the style of North Eastern examples from the area, and a water tower has been sited at the end of the station loop.