THE MELMIN VALLEY

A model railway layout based on the EMCR and TNR.

These pages are designed to showcase my model of a stretch of the EMCR at the village of Melmin, as it looked about 70 years ago. Melmin is a good place to model, because of course it is where the EMCR branch-line from Coldur meets the TNR branchline from Torchester. As a result, Melmin is now a bustling small town, but I decided to model it when it was still a rural village, barely touched by the passage of the centuries or by the steam revolution.

Last updated 17/9/07

History of the East Marches Coastal Railway

The East Marches Coastal Railway was founded in 1508 FM, seven years after the Torbridge Naralay Railway, and nineteen years after Haggernal demonstrated his first steam locomotive. The first use of fire elementals instead of coal had taken place two years earlier. The TNR had been very successful, revolutionising travel across the north-east of Mhorann. It had become easier to go from Torbridge to Westmarch than to Asgrim, despite it being twice the distance. The Grafs of Asgrim and Coldur could see the benefits to Westmarch and Torchester of the improved links, and knew they had to act. With the aid of the barons of the local villages, and with assistance from the Merchants' Guilds of the cities, the EMCR was planned and financed.

The great dwarven engineer, Grodual Varath, was persuaded to take on the project. With the aid of dwarves from Vidvellir, local humans, as well as a substantial contingent of orcs from the Lyng Valley tribes, most of the track was laid in less than two years. Only a serious confrontation with the elves of Elrethas over the presence of the line only a mile from the elven forest delayed the opening, and valiant diplomacy by Graf Stevermer finally negotiated a solution acceptable to the elves (though the elven communities still shun the railways).

The first locomotives were a pair of Pegasus class engines, bought (at considerable expense) from the engine-makers at Mirgannwich in Tyvale. The Pegasus class was then the mainstay of the three Elason railways, and were considered much more dependable than the TNR's Mk2 Thunderbolts. Painted in the distinctive royal blue livery, these became the mainstay of the EMCR for over twelve years, before they were finally replaced by the new Minotaur class 2-4-0s from the newly-founded Westmarch engine-shop.

Within fifteen years the Rull Railway had been built through to its junction at Asgrim, and the various branch-lines to Whitsone and Stonesfall had become the Helyat line. South of Torbridge, the EMCR extended to Chelbury and then onwards to Ravensport.

In about 1521 FM, the new quarries at Olsdoom opened. The dwarf miners realised that a railway branchline would help move the stone, and they negotiated to construct a branchline from Bredon, south of Coldur, to Melmin.

Meanwhile, the TNR had built its own branchlines from Torchester to the dwarven city at Vidvellir, and to Telwich for the timber there. Extending that branch a little further, to Melmin, seemed only natural.

Over the following thirty years, the branch lines to Melmin from Coldur and Torchester have become more and more popular for travellers, who can avoid the more complex interchange at Torbridge and shorten the overall journey. Under pressure from passengers, the line was upgraded to carry the larger 2-6-2 locos and full-size coaches rather than the small coaches that the branch-line trains had formerly run.

A more recent picture; people have started to appear! (Rentokil have been informed). Like the quarry, don't believe the sky. The rest is real.

Melmin has also become an important goods junction, where stone from Olsdoom and general goods from the north can be carried to the heartlands of Mhorann. The building of the mountains line, between Melmin and Stonesfall, effectively linked the north to the Torchester valley.

Livestock is also a major element of the goods transported.

My layout is set just as the mountains line has opened, and as the traffic on the branchlines began to grow dramatically.

Locomotives

The Pegasus class is long defunct. One example, Scanius, is still preserved at Asgrim station, but most have been scrapped long since. The EMCR has had a succession of locomotives since the days of the original Pegasus engines. The line's current engines include four Paladin class 4-6-2s (Menethor and Arkadia have both broken records for the journey from Asgrim to Torbridge), six Magus class 0-6-0 tender engines, used for general haulage duties (shown right), and four smaller Drake-class tank engines.