Freelance Nautical themed layouts?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Art Fahie's outstanding Niagara & Pearl Creek Railroad has a scene, Old Port, that might have something that would help, Brad. You can get there from here:

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire

Brad, apart from the many thousands of ports and harbours around the world with railroad connections, there are many railroads running along seashores, coastlines, etc.

Some good examples would be the various German narrow gauge lines on the Baltic islands, the CF la Baie de Somme in France, or for something really exotic, the Barbados Railway! One of the US West Coast lines had a station (depot) right on the tideline, IIRC - just can't remember the name offhand.

Mark.

And for traction fans, there's always the "big red cars" running along the beach in Southern Cal.

What you are describing fits the narrow gauge Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Company to a T.

Historical page on the railway:

Page on the two abandoned schooners, Hesper and Luther Little, laid up at Wiscasset in 1932, and their relation to the railroad:

Bob Jones did a fantastic book on the railway that has images of the pier, etc. IIRC, the yard for the railroad is now a school playground.

The northern end of the railroad was an enigma for me. Looking at the geodesic maps and Bob's book, it is obvious that the railroad ends on a bluff overlooking a major river, and that crossing that river would have taken a huge bridge that would have cost more money than the railroad could ever have generated.

Doh! I just got the two Morning Sun volumes on the PE, but I didn't think of that!

Little industrial locos, Porter or suchlike, hauling large stone blocks from a quarry out along a breakwater that's being built. With a steam crane to unload the blocks and place them. Regards, Bill.

I think the IHC web site has some nautical themed buildings/structures on it. I don't have the address right off hand, but you could search on International Hobby Corporation. It's eomething like ihconline.com

Hope this helps..............

dlm

Thanks everyone for the responses. Lots of interesting and educating stuff. Here are several short follow-ups:

Bill (of B'sRR Empire) posted:

That's a nice one Bill. I like the rocky seashore they've designed. Was curious as to how they would do the water. Looks calm but good. Pumpkin Hill sounded interesting on that RR too but didn't see any pumpkins. :(

Those folks at Bar Mills can really model. That Shipyard Brewing Co. building on the homepage is incredible. Took me awhile to convince myself that wasn't a picture of a real full scale structure.

Mark Mathu posted:

~snip~

Never knew there were such yards with trains and boat docks all connected together. Fascinating stuff. Thanks!

Mark Newton posted:

Interesting stuff! And yes, the Barbados line catches my eye too. Will search Google and see if I can find some more pictures of that RR. An exotic tropical themed layout would be another interesting project. Lots of possibilities.

~snip~

That's quite a history. Seems so much fate of those old RRs rested on the avoidance of a major mechanical breakdown or accident. It's sad that repairs and maintenance costs so much. We'd probably have lots of such little RRs still going today if it weren't so. I liked the abandoned schooners close by too. :)

William Pierce posted:

That's an idea. Would be especially fun if the crane was operational. :) Too much area for the layout I'm working on but it's worth taking note of.

Dan posted:

Think I have their site on file but have only looked at their On30 boxcar and caboose kits. Will see what else they have. I can work a nautical structure into what I'm doing even without a coastline.

Thanks again everyone! ~Brad