Tag Archives: traction

Off my trolley – interurban branchlines 3 – the Sacramento Northern

Posted on February 27, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Despite the fact that the Sacramento Northern boasted 183 miles of track around San Francisco it was really just a long, glorified branch line.  Even in 1940, long after most other interurbans had degenerated into poorly-maintained shadows of their pre-WWI … Continue reading →

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And Vienna, 2007

Posted on February 25, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

And so to Vienna.  It was really too hot to wander around hunting trams, but I did get a few shots….

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Prague trams, 2007

Posted on February 23, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Another batch of photographs.  In 2011 I went on a study tour of Prague and Vienna (I did pay for the privilege!), looking at flood defences and hydropower schemes. I was delighted to have a hotel room in Prague overlooking one … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – modelling traction in N

Posted on February 18, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Let’s take a slight diversion away from layout design to consider what one might run on this N gauge traction layout.  At moments like these I sometimes wish I had chosen HO to model in.  There is a good range … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – interurban branchlines – 1

Posted on January 29, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

A good, if rather conventional, place to start with interurban layouts, is the conventional branch line.  Some electric railroads were no more than a branch line in total.  Others, like the Pacific Electric, had twigs off the branches off the … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – interurbans

Posted on January 18, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

WARNING – if you are from North America, please look away.  This is a confirmed UK resident writing about US railroads, so total accuracy is unlikely!  But I hope in this post to give some idea of the breadth of … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – streetcars and trolley layouts

Posted on January 9, 2014 by snitchthebudgie

Again we need a cultural translation here: trolley = streetcar = tram.  Streetcars tended to be smaller that the big interurbans running between towns.  But you could find an interurban winding its way through the city traffic on its way to … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – a new design series

Posted on December 29, 2013 by snitchthebudgie

As I continue to make good progress on my modules, the armchair modeller in me is already thinking about another layout.  I have this irrational urge to build an N-gauge US trolley or interurban layout – sometimes known as a … Continue reading →

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