EASTWELL IRONSTONE COMPANY by Paul James.
Trackplan
Gallery Pictures & Stock
The EM gauge layout Eastwell Ironstone Company, owes its
existence to a particularly interesting history, and the persistance of
its owner, Paul James. It was developed from the original Sherdington
and Eastwell layouts which were constructed between 1974 and 1977. The
Eastwell Ironstone Co is situated in the South Midlands iron ore
field and is connected to the BR network by exchange sidings alongside
an ex GWR secondary line.
Rolling stock developments. Since the retirement of Eastwell,
Paul James has been working on a variety of different rolling stock projects for eventual use on a succesor layout,
but in the meantime, these items can be seen running on Wibdenshaw and Shenston Road. The pictures below show some
of Pauls rolling stock.
Following a thread on a previous RMweb forum, these salt hoppers which were
built by Paul James have been dusted off and photographed. They are based
on the Lima agregate hopper, but a few detail differences do make it a
challenge. The first is the outside ribs that need to be added using plastic
L angle section. The salt hopper is a scale 2ft 2inches longer than the Lima
agregate hopper. This is most noticeable on the wheelbase which is 18ft 2in
(5537mm) on the salt hopper and 16ft 0in (4880mm) on the agregate hopper. This
is not easy to remedy as you have to change the wheelbase and the hopper length
whilst keeping the hopper detail consistent. By careful calculation of
measurements and starting with a smaller middle part
it is possible to make 3 salt hoppers out of 4 agregate hoppers. Some of the fleet
are still in use by EWS as HGA wagons and have been modified again by being cut
down by about 18 inches, as the following photo shows.
Exhibitions attended with Eastwell.
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
Over the 10 years we exhibited we attended at least 35 exhibitions. I think this list covers
everything but if anyone can add to it let me know.
The era portrayed is the early 1970's, and a eclectic mix of industrial
steam and diesel locomotives can be seen plying their way between the
works area and the BR exchange sidings. Prototypical operation is followed
from where the ironstone hoppers are loaded at the crushing plant, and taken
away for exchange with empty returned hoppers.
A mixture of BR locomotives and stock can be seen passing by on the
main line, representing those which would have been seen in the area
and timescale. At present the layout is in storage, and part of it
(including the BR exchange sidings), will hopefully be used as part of a
new layout which is being designed by Paul James.
There is a lot of history behind the concept and evolution of Eastwell,
much of it published in the model railway press over a number of years.
The Eastwell layout photographs are courtesy of Tim Rogers, Paul Bason and Paul James.
For further images of Eastwell Ironstone and and its associated rolling stock, please
click here
The following list of magazines feature photographs and articles on the layout - Model Railway Constructor
(May 1980), Model Railways (Aug 1987), Model Railways (Sep 1987), British Railway Modelling (Aug 1994), British
Railway Modelling (May 1997), Rail Express (July 1997).
A 4 car class 101 DMU, which includes a trailer buffet vehicle. This and several other DMU projects will be featured
within these pages, and current projects can usually be seen on the OMWB pages.
A Park Royal 2 car DMU built by Paul James, heavily modified from a Hornby class 110. Further
details of this project can be seen on the archive OMWB pages.
A class 104 DMU built by Paul James (converted from the Hornby 110), which
made its debut appearance at the Aylesbury (Railex) exhibition in May 2007.
Paul James class 123 was finished in late May 2007, and also made its
debut appearance at Railex. Here it is seen leaving Wibdenshaw station. A full
description from start to finish, can be seen by clicking the link to the
left of this page.
September. Bulmers Rly Centre, EOS open day. Mini.
4/5th November. Shrewsbury. Mini.
4/5/6th May. Wolverhampton. Mini.
26th September. Bulmers Rly Centre, EOS open day. Mini.
13/14th October. Halifax Mini.
12/13th January. St Albans. Mini.
18/19th May. Expo EM, Bletchley. 1st exhibit of exchange sidings.
24/25th August. Rochrail 91, Southend. U shape.
25/6/7th October. Leeds. Short L shape for one and only time.
December. Hereford swapmeet. Mini.
Should have gone to Whitby in August but exhibition was cancelled.
November. Burnley. U shape.
9/10/1/2th April. Harrogate. Mini.
12/ 13th June. Chatham. (The Gainsborough!!) Straight.
28/9/30th Aug. Skipton Straight.
13/14th Nov. Hull. (One of the best!!) Straight.
1/2/3/4th April. Harrogate. U shape.
14/15th May. Expo EM, Bletchley. Straight.
5th Nov. Risborough & Disrict MRC, Aylesbury. Straight.
December. Hereford swapmeet. Straight.
January. Shrewsbury. (one day only). Straight.
22/23rd April. Crawley MRC, Horsham. U shape.
19/20th Aug. Cleveland MRC Redcar. (That £10). L shape.
16/17th Sept. Chippenham Modern Image Show. Straight.
16th March. Slough. U shape??
4/5/6th May. Wolverhampton. U shape.
28/29th Sept. Peterborough. Quickest dismantle 45Mins Straight.
15/16th Feb. Festival of Model Railways, Doncaster. Straight.
13/14th Sept. Rail Express 97, St Albans. U shape.
8/9th November. Tolworth Showtrain, Hampton Court MRC. U shape.
16/17th May. Expo EM, Bletchley. Layout + Dragline U shape.
28th Nov. Expo EM West, Malvern. U shape.
I have no records for 1999 for some reason. I know we exhibited at the Rutland Railway Museum,
Cottesmore but I dont know if it was this year. I also have a note for Farnborough in 1999 but cant
remember going. If anyone can remember this or any other exhibitions in 1999 let me know??
26/27th Feb. Cardiff. Straight.
14/15th October. Portishead. U shape.
14/5/6th April. York. L shape.