Mini railroad

[wayne57]

Have a question but not sure this is the right spot
I remember seeing a few pics somewhere of WWI
scale gauge railroads use for re-suppling the trenches
on the western front. the ones i have seen were really small
temporay type rail lines with a small engine and some crude track system.
Does anybody have some sites or information about them?

thanks

Wayne

[former user]

You mean narrow gauge trench railway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_railways

and we have a railway wargaming board, but I guess workbench is as good 

You will probably have to use HO gauge model railway and convert quite a bit

[Westfalia Chris]

There's also a very nice little book, "Railways and War before 1918" by Davis and Bishop (can be found at Amazon). Of 1970s vintage, it chronicles the use and various types of hardware of military railroading, illustrated in colour plates. A strong focus on Allied material, but some Central Powers types are featured as well. Much recommended.

Regarding actual modelling, former user is quite right - the possibly best option would be to get some cheap 00 or H0 gauge tracks plus matching wheelsets and scratchbuild from there.

[sukhe_bator]

Davis and Bishop's book has been pretty handy for me. I can thoroughly recommend it for ideas.
Since most of the trench railway systems were actually narrow gauge usually 2' or 2'6" (Admiralty Gauge) you should probably consider 009 for use with 20-25mm figures. There is a wide variety of interesting kits out there including early petrol tractors like the Simplex and wagons that are suitable available online. Peco do some ready made wagons. Plus you can use N gauge track (also 9mm wide) provided the sleepers are covered in dirt. The Dapol 'Pug' kit also provides a useful 0-4-0 saddle tank loco that has been widely converted to narrow gauge by fans. The Allies widely used US rolling stock and Baldwin locos. There is plenty of scope out there...

[former user]

- the possibly best option would be to get some cheap 00 or H0 gauge tracks plus matching wheelsets and scratchbuild from there.

for one they throw sets at You at Christmas time and sell them quite cheap afterwards, and they come quite cheap at railway modelling stockists that sell 2nd, because it is the most common gauge that everyone collects

You should do quite well with a period one cargo set

[Ramirez Noname]

Hi there Wayne,

More background info can be found in the following books published by Plateway Press :

"Narrow Gauge At War" by Keith Taylorson
"Narrow Gauge At War 2" also by Keith Taylorson
"The Light Track From Arras" by T R Heritage

All the above mostly deal with British units on the Western Front, but there is bits and pieces about the Balkans, Palestine/Sinai and the Italian front in NGAW Vol. 2

For more about the US activity during WW I, check out Charles S Small' s book "Two-Foot Rails To The Front".

There is also a small selection of 1:55 scale WW I kits available here - http://www.blackhamtransfers.com/55/MalSavKits/MalSavLocos.html

Scroll down to the "armoured simplex".

Hope this helps.

RMZ

[Michi]

Try to google pictures of "Heeresfeldbahn" which ran on 600mm gauge tracks.

[FramFramson]

You may also find some mention of the railways in anything on Verdun, given how desperately vital the rail line proved to French defences there.