Dark Satanic Mills

Dark Satanic Mills (or in Model railway parlance DSMs) is a term lifted from William Blakes famous poem "Jerusalem" written in 1804 (only later turned into an emotionally charged highly patriotic hymn by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916). 

Dark Satanic Mills are a symbol of the Industrial revolution in England, huge factories built of Brick or stone filled with what was then the latest hi-tech machinery manufacturing the goods that turned England into the then greatest industrial power in the world. Later the empty shells of these structures came to symbolise the industrial malaise that inflicted England in later years. But I digress.

The model represents a rundown SLT (single line terminus) in an industrial area of a city in the North of England.  The station has clearly seen better days. It was once a intermediate station with lower level goods yard on a busy commuter line but following the cutbacks and rationalisation of British Railways in the late 60's and early 70's it's now the terminus of a rundown branchline, with the lower level goods yard now turned into a permanent way store.

The influence of the model is unashamedly from the Model Railway Journal scenic O scale masterwork Inkerman Street (about halfway down this page) A layout that left an indelible mark on me and many other modellers who saw it, including those who queued up for hours to see this layout at the first Model Railway Journal exhibition at Central Hall, Westminster.

I got so into the concept of the layout that I didn't produce just one sketch visualising the model. I produced four. Viewing the layout from all angles focussing on different areas.

 Above: General overhead view

 Above: A view down the layout from platform height, to get a feel for the factory towering over what remains of the station.

 Above: The station entrance under the road bridge is a distinctive and unusual prototype feature.

Above: Another overall aerial view.
To be honest, this idea still fires me up. In fact a 4' x 2' baseboard with embankment built on it exists in my basement. The only thing that stops me finishing the layout up is acquiring the stock to use on the layout from England. I've been working on that detail off and on for three years or so. Things get pretty expensive in that regard. Could any of my American readers suggest a location in the states for such a scene. Chicago or Detroit perhaps? I'd be interested to hear.