Burntisland - East of Scotland 4mm Group
1883 Challenge Entry
Winner
Firstly, pronounciation: we are talking here of ‘Burnt-island’, situated on the north shore of the estuary of the River Forth; in the Kingdom of Fife, in fact.
Burntisland plays a key role in transport history, for it was here that the first roll on/roll off ferries entered service. The ingenuity of Thomas Bouch was responsible for the moving bridge connecting ship to shore. Prior to the building of the Forth Bridge, these train ferries, and the associated passenger ships, formed part of the link between Edinburgh and the east coast of Scotland.
The model will eventually depict the ferries and the roundhouse, but the section entered for the competition is the first part to be constructed. It will show the terminus, the yard throat, where the line took off for the train ferry and the connection to the roundhouse. This is a dockland site, so the quay walls will be a quay(!) feature, with the imposing stone terminal building behind.
Once the competition is past, the layout can grow at its own pace staging the addition of the loco shed with its roundhouse, the train ferry area and varying periods of the dock lines as desired. Not only that, the loco shed and the train ferry area can also each be exhibited independent of the main station if desired.
Period: 1883, what else?
Operation
The period chosen enables us to show the passenger trains connecting with the ferries and the freight activity on and off the train ferries. So there will be much shunting. It should be borne in mind that the trains going north still have to negotiate a similar operation to cross the Firth of Tay to reach Dundee. This period means considerable research into train operation and signalling of the period, as well as a goodly amount of scratchbuilding.
Our view is that this site could inspire an attractive layout, and one that could also be a record of part of the town's history.
Photographs from Scaleforum 2009
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