St-Étienne-en-Caux | French H0e/009 Narrow Gauge Model Railway | The Railway Room

Today on The Railway Room is a quick look at St-Étienne-en-Caux, a French Narrow Gauge model railway in H0e/009 by Charles Insley.
This freelance layout is set in Eastern Normandy in the late 1950s, and the Quai and depot sections are seen here at North West Narrow Gauge (mini version) in Rainford, in September 2022.
Info from Narrow Gauge North website:
A 009 layout by Charles Insley
Scale 009 (4mm/1ft)
Gauge 9mm
Size 5’ x 4’
St Etienne-en-Caux is at the heart of the Tramways de Caux, a 60cm railway system set in the Pays de Caux in eastern Normandy. The railway was built in the late 1890’s, following the successful demonstration of 60cm railways by Paul Decauville at the Paris Exposition in 1889. The railway was built as a common carrier, carrying both freight (largely agricultural produce, sugar beet and stone) and passengers. The Tramways, unlike its neighbour to the west, the Chemins de fer du Calvados, managed to weather the Second World War and staggered into the 1950’s, largely kept going by the use of cheap autorails (railcars) and its stone traffic, with a seasonal tourist traffic in the summer months.
The model, although freelance, is based on a number of norther France narrow gauge railways, in particular the CF du Calvados, the CF Froissy-Cappy-Dompierre and the Tramways de Pithiviers a Toury. The station at St Etienne Quai is based on the harbour side station at St Valery on the metre gauge CF de la Baie de Somme. Althought the Calvados system is now closed; happily the other three lines are still with us and well worth a visit. The model is set in the late 1950’s.
www.narrowgaug...

[@MartinLong-y1b]

I have really enjoyed the video as it helps me with my recovery from my brain tumor and stroke as I try to get back to my modelling I mention my illness so you know who is watching and why 😂 thank you
I love the french details 😂

[@FortheLoveofSteam]

I'm really glad you enjoyed the video, and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[@MartinLong-y1b]

Thanks for the reply ☺️

[@marka87]

Wonderful! So atmospheric

[@MrDavil43]

I love this layout, so much detail to see and the buildings really capture the era and atmosphere. The locos are possibly a little speedy, perhaps. For me, the narrow gauge and the secondary standard gauge lines of old generally had a leisureliness and unhurried character. I'm not one for the sound files but I can enjoy the sounds made by the actual models, the wheels clicking over joints and paintwork, the whine of the electric motors etc. All the other facets, the billowing steam, the smells of hot coals and oils can be supplied by the imagination. Charles Insley can be rightly proud of his work.

[@tomellis4750]

It would be nice to live there.

[@onkelmichl3300]

Sehr schön ausgewählte Szenen. Super !

[@paulgalyet5308]

That looks like a Minitrains Brigadeloc thats had the tanks shortened? I have one of these models and I'm thinking of adapting it. Do you have any pointers regarding this? Also it's not easily obvious how the body comes off?

[@FortheLoveofSteam]

Yes, this is a rebuild of a Minitrains Brigadelok; Charles posted details of the rebuilding in the Facebook 009 Railway Modellers group. I don't have a Brigadelok myself, but I believe the domes come off, revealing the screws which fix the body

[@steffenrosmus9177]

Oo9 ang HOe are not the same, they share the gauge of 9 mm but 009 is 1:76 and HOe is 1:87 scale.

[@FortheLoveofSteam]

You are absolutely correct, however it is very common for 009 modellers to use H0e stock from larger prototypes which scale out to the same loading gauge. Even ready to run manufacturers mix them...the minitrains Decauville Progres seen here is sold as H0e but actually 1:76 scale. There is conflicting information online about what scale this layout actually uses. It's most often described as H0e, but this may be an assumption based on the French setting, and I suspect it's actually 1:76.

[@andrewl9191]

Hello! Some day I want to model the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme, but I'm not sure which scale/gauge would work the best. I really like my N scale in America because it doesn't take up much room, but I know the trains in France for this line are metre gauge compared to some standard or larger gauge that's just right next to it. Any advice for modeling a French heritage railroad? Is there a good way to get a hold of Charles that he would be open to? Thanks!

[@andrewl9191]

So far I'm just picking up a couple n gauge locomotives, an 04 shunter and a pannier tank from Dapol. No coaches or other carriages yet.

[@FortheLoveofSteam]

Good question! I would suggest looking at H0m, which is H0 scale (1:87) with 12mm track gauge. This layout uses 9mm gauge, representing 2'-2'6" gauge (effectively H0n30), so a bit narrower than the CdFdlBdS. Either way you will probably need to scratch build or import from Europe a lot. If you're on Facebook, I can recommend the group "009 railway modellers" as they are a friendly and knowledgeable group, or else NGRM-online will likely be a good source of advice

[@andrewl9191]

@@FortheLoveofSteam Thank you for that suggestion! I've found a couple people who are knowledgeable about 3d printing design and I've found some larger buildings that could potentially be scaled. I'm wondering how scratch building would work, since I haven't done a ton. We'll see, it'll be an adventure I'm sure. I had an idea for something large and grand, but I might just end up doing one of the stations instead. Maybe having one of those layouts that just goes around back into a fiddle yard.

[@Living_Life_RN]

From that thumbnail, I genuinely thought that was a real Railway and not model!

[@FortheLoveofSteam]

It really is a superb piece of modelling!