by Artist MikeA British outline, preserved line in North Devon
History of the area
The EALR , though fictional, fits
snugly into the somewhat weird and idiosyncratic railway history of
this quiet coastal North Devon area.
Known well for the narrow gauge Lynton
and Barnstaple line, the area also boasted the little known, now
extinct, B, WH & A, R , The
Bideford Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway. This unusual line though
standard gauge, was totally disconnected from any main network, was
only eleven miles in length and had passenger train lengths of mainly
two carriages and one in winter when the weather was bad ! ( they
only owned six carriages in total), oh and all stock carried single
buffers, Despite this the carriages were wider than standard railway
networks and tended to cause consternation when traveling along the
middle of the road in Bideford, ... seriously!
Anyone reading the
real history of the B, WH & A, R will realise that though it was
perfect for modelling, people would never have believed that a line like
this could possibly have existed in reality and therefore the EALR, though only
a shadow of the lunacy of the B,WH & A,R, has been created with
many of the same traits that made that line infamous locally.
The EALR
The EALR has
survived by becoming a preservation railway that also serves the
small fishing communities of Appledore on the coast, to those small
hill farms on Exmoor. The area here has for centuries been a centre
of shipbuilding in both wood and steel and, as many have been made
redundant with the closing of the shipyard, the EALR has been lucky
to employ some of the shipwrights to produce it's own rolling stock
in the Bloody Corner Carriage Works ( Bloody Corner being a real place
locally where Hubba the Dane was defeated by Odun, Earl of Devon in
the late 9thC ).
Two views of Myrtle Street Station
In line with the
much lamented B,WH & A,R,, stock on the EALR is not that of
other railways though keen observers will see the influence of
companies like the GWR, W& L and many others. Walter, the
governor, often visits other lines to see how others have solved
particular traffic problems and uses this intelligence to built stock
back at the works. Walter, as a traditional shipwright, tends not to
work to scale plans of these wagons but lofts them up in the Carriage
Works, much as ships have been traditionally for years, so though the
influences can be seen, they are by no means identical and like
ships, may be a little pointed at one end!
Here is a typical sight at the Carriage Works as the latest off the production line, a sheep wagon, is moved to the paint shop for painting.This wagon was manufactured as a result of a request
from a local sheep farmer, one Wendolene Ramsbottom, to be able to move stock from her farm on the moors to the quay for shipping onward.
Aficionados of wagon construction will notice a similarity to a Sheep Wagon run on the Welshpool and Llanfair.
After painting, the sheep wagon is prepared for duty on the line and discussions start over where the sheep can be found!