CC2002 Platelayers Hut

Long before the first steam locomotives were built a system of guided land transport had been developed called the plateway. This was a system devised to reduce the rolling resistance of horse drawn carts and to prevent damage to the poorly constructed roads. The carts were fitted with cast iron wheels with narrow tyres and ran over two parallel strips made of cast iron plates about three feet long and wedged into rough hewn stone blocks. The cart wheels were plain, the flanges being on the plates. Later the system was reversed to form the railway system we know today. The men who laid the stone blocks and cast iron plates were known as platelayers. When the railway age came it was these men who laid the tracks just as the Navvies who had earned their name digging the canals (‘Navigators’) transferred to the railway earthworks. Thus the name of these pioneers of the industrial revolution gave their name to the little cabin found beside every railway line.

Our prototype was a G.W.R. design although similar styles were in use by every railway throughout the land. Sleepers were sawn up into 2” thick planks to build the walls, the chair bolt holes being plugged and strips laid over the butt joints to keep out the weather. Railway companies built to last and often favoured slate for the roof, while a fire and brick chimney (to resist the heat) kept the cold at bay in winter and provided the essential tea brewing facilities. The hut was used to store the tools employed in maintaining the length of track that a particular gang would be responsible for. We provide you with a pick and shovel as an example. Outside a stone grit grindstone was erected for the use of the men cutting hedges and grass alongside the line, as from time to time they would need to regrind their hooks and scythes.

A base is provided for the hut and this is convenient for modellers who change their layouts fairly often, but even if you want a more permanent structure you can blend the base into the surrounding area with Polyfilla or scenic scatter material.