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A fictional narrow gauge model railway inspired by the Devon village of Tamerton Foliot on the Plymouth-Waterloo main line
Tamerton Foliot is a station on the London & South Western Railway (LSWR) Waterloo-Plymouth main line just north of Plymouth, at the mouth of a tidal creek where the rivers Tamar and Tavy join. A short branch to the village 2 miles away was planned but never built. Passenger demand was thus minimal and the village didn’t grow with commuter traffic, unlike the villages further north.
In my reimagining, the branch was built as a narrow gauge light railway, predominantly for passengers until the motor bus took over. Freight is served by a transfer yard at the junction; the main exports were rabbits and strawberries to London, so handling facilities are basic.
The line north from Plymouth to Lydford was built by the Plymouth, Devonport & South Western Junction Railway but leased to and operated by the LSWR from opening in 1890 until the 1923 Grouping, when both companies were absorbed into the Southern Railway. (The PD&SWJR also owned the branch from Bere Alston to Callington, but operated it themselves until the Grouping.) The model is set in the immediate post-Grouping 1920s, and therefore has a mix of LSWR and SR features.
An RNAD depot at Ernesettle on the south side of Tamerton Creek served nearby RN Devonport dockyard, and some ex-RNAD wagons (presumably surplus at the end of WW1) somehow made it to the north shore to join the TFLR.
The layout has two boards, each depicting one terminus of the narrow gauge line:
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The junction with the standard gauge main line. The non-running main line (here reduced to single track - a fate which finally befell the real line in 1970 - but otherwise a close copy of the real station) looks down on the TFLR terminus station and goods yard from an embankment. The goods yard includes transfer facilities to a standard gauge line which runs along the front of the board.
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The TFLR line crosses under the main line on its way to:
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Tamerton Foliot village. A small halt provides passenger facilities, while the goods yard handles agricultural produce and serves the small harbour which stands at the head of the creek.
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