At
last, I’ve found some time to build and detail a few items
of rolling stock, after spending the past few years building
layouts. There were times when working on rolling stock projects
made a pleasant change from layout building, but there was
always more of a desire to create something for them to run on.
Recently, the rakes ofheavily modified and kitbuilt wagons have
taken up most of my modelling time, so that they can finally
complete the scene for the railway running through a townscape
in West Yorkshire.
The catalyst for
Wibdenshaw started many years before its construction, just
after I had built my firstcontinuous exhibition layout. It was
a circuitous scene on all sides, a large operating well in the
middle, and with under-baseboard storage sidings which were served
by 1:40 curved inclines. I was never happy with the outcome of
the layout, even though it ran well and attracted a lot of nice
comments. The yearning to do something better and base it on
a fictional but probable location, resulted in its sale just
prior to its sixth exhibition appearance.
Now that I had the experience to
build a large layout, the next project would need to be better
planned before any construction work took place. It was at this
time that I had been experimenting with EM gauge, so a small
selection of my locos and wagons were being tested on the Gloucester
MRC EM gauge layout. I was impressed by the better looking track
and wheels, and once a few more items were converted, there was
no going back. Plans were drawn up for an EM gauge layout that
could fit inside my garage, and have the provision to be lengthened
sometime in the future. Construction was all plywood, machine
cut from large sheets, and each baseboard was built in a jig
for uniformity.
This second
exhibition layout was set in the mid 1980s and based in WestYorkshire,
where the chosen name Holmeworth, represented an amalgam of
other place names nearby. It wasn’t mandatory to have a
fictional location, but most prototypical layouts to a scale
size result in too much space being taken up, or a need to compromise.
Based on the Calder Valley route, it gave the excuse to have
four main running lines and a wide variety of traffic passing
through. Added interest came with the station baseboards, which
slotted in the middle, and added a few more feet to the length
of the layout. Obviously, in its extended format, it wasn’t
possible to run it at home, although parts of it could be set
up for testing and running in new stock. In its final form (after
the extensions and many changes over the years), the layout ended
up with a modular 24' fiddleyard, including an integrally designed
method of keeping the stock in place during transit to and from
exhibitions.
Looking to the back of the layout,
the 16 road fiddleyard is capable of holding 32 full length trains,
and serves the four tracks that circle around to the scenic section.
The design of the fiddleyard utilises folding lids covered with
sheets of foam sponge, which are lowered onto the stock so that
it is gently cushioned. Prior to this happening, all couplings
are parted at the baseboard joins, and drop-in gates are fitted
to the end of each baseboard to capture any potential runaway
wagon. Lower height block rakes, such as coal or open wagons
are kept in dedicated sidings, and foam sponge strips are fitted
to the lids accordingly, and match up snugly with the stock.
All
non-consistent height stock such as mixed freights are taken
off and carried in separate stock boxes. At first I was concerned
that long periods oftime with the stock being compressed by the
lids would cause problems, but just a light force is enough to
stop the stock rolling anywhere, even when it’s
sloping at 30 degrees!
Having 80% of the stock in place
and in the right order saves many hours of tedious coupling up
of 3-links, and reduces the amount of damage caused by handling.
After
40 exhibition appearances, the scenic section was broken up for
spares, but the relatively young and invaluable fiddleyard was
an ideal basis for Wibdenshaw. All I needed to do was build another
set of modular baseboards totalling 24 feet, that could slot
in place of the now defunct Holmeworth scenic section. The design
would incorporate the four tracks at each end coming around from
the fiddleyard. The end curves are set off scene, so there are
no unprototypical curves in view on the scenic section. To some,
this may appear a waste of potential modelling space, but a good
theatre has more going on backstage, than it does on stage. Although
having through tracks available to base my design upon, I didn’t
just want to build a four track mainline as previously, because
it wouldn’t
suit the location of where the layout was going tobe based. This
dilemma was overcome by the idea of having a junction, so that
two double track routes could diverge. I’d often thought
about the proposed, but abandoned Midland Railway main line that
was to cut right through the city centre of Bradford, so my thoughts
turned to an area between Dewsbury and Shipley.
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The
history
Wibdenshaw is just a few miles south of Bradford and on the eastern slopes of
theSpen Valley. The year is 1976 (or thereabouts) and it is estimated that the
town would have a population of around 90, 000 inhabitants. It would have developed
in the same way as many similar sized towns during the industrial revolution,
with woollen mills dominating the landscape. Now many are closed down and the
railway is a shadow of its former self. There may be a slight air of decay at
some of the lineside locations at Wibdenshaw, but there is also the hustle and
bustle of a busy town centre, well served by local and Inter City train services.
I had in my mind an idea of where
Wibdenshaw was situated, and the sort of railway traffic that
would run through it, so the townscape and a reason for its existence
began to form part of a wider and more realistic picture. Maps
of the area were drawn up to justify the project further, and
give some air of provenance to Wibdenshaw, being one of the many
towns that are situated in the conurbation of West Yorkshire.
Another WYPTE layout is born, and I’ve denied myself the
opportunity to create a model of a different part of the country.
I already had the stock suited to the area, so it just seemed
right to model the same area again, but for more believable reasons.
I remember so many trips to that part of the country back in
the 1970s, so this is really a nostalgia trip for me, inspired
by some of the better models in public gaze.
The station was to form the south
end ofthe layout, of which part would be modelled. The platform
ends come out from under the large arched overall roof, which
also acts as an ideal scenic break. With Pudsey Junction to the
north of the layout, a short section of track forms the station
approaches, and joins the two features together. The result is
a fairly slow approach to a busy station, with diverging routes
coming in from Bradford and Leeds. I had seen a photograph in
a 1962 issue of ‘Modern Railways’ that featured a
photograph of a junction near Leeds, with a Peak passing by on
an express train. One of the routes was immediately crossed by
a road bridge, which gave the idea for a scenic break for the
Leeds tracks, whilst the Bradford route could continue along
for a bit longer before going off-scene.
Detailed planning
Now that the basics for the layout were mapped out, detailed planning could
begin. To give more emphasis on the route that goes off-scene mid way along
the layout, all four tracks leave the station parallel to the baseboard,
then curve slightly towards theLeeds direction. When Pudsey Junction is reached,
the Bradford line heads off at a slightly different angle, but remains on-scene.
The use of transition curves are important to break up the straight lines
of the baseboard construction, and have a good reason for being there. The
track plan leaves large irregular spaces at the front and rear of the scenic
section, which have been used for the loco stabling point and the goods depot.
The ‘busy’ end of the layout slowly gives way to the more industrial
scene, and then the suburbs begin to appear before the journey continues
on to the next town.
Pudsey Junction stabling point
has been built to represent a former steam locomotive depot,
which has been reduced in size considerably, and still retains
some of the features that would have been seen at such a location.
The redundant turntable well, offices, stores and other buildings
are due for demolition soon, even though there are still signing
on facilities for drivers and some refuelling of locos taking
place. The rundown infrastructure and dereliction after the steam
age is something that was frequently seen in the ‘70s,
and it felt right to model the bad, the sad and the good things
that my memory keeps telling me about. Many of the locations
that housed blue diesels in my trainspotting days, were at old
steam sheds, with disused and redundant structures giving way
to nature and sometimes redevelopment. Peter Johnson had built
a scale model of the semi-derelict offices and loco shed at Holyhead
Breakwater, shortly before he constructed Canada Road. The building
had been lying around for several years, originally planned as
part of a layout based on the Breakwater, complete with a brace
of scratch-built Barclay class 01 shunters. The building was
donated to the Wibdenshaw project and is now located on the depot
approach road, next to where the turntable used to be, and is
due very shortly for demolition judging by the arrival of a low
loader and its heavy plant. The stabling area is part of the
old covered steam shed, now without a roof and open to the elements,
and the three regularly used roads are all that’s left
of a once thriving depot. A few redundant locos await their fate,
whilst outside inspection pits start to fill with debris and
are being covered over.
On the other side of the main line,
is the goods warehouse and depot yard. Again, it has seen better
days, but the local mail order catalogue companies are keeping
the place just barely going. More often than not, some of the
sidings are occupied by engineer’s department wagons, probably
in preparation for a bit of track recovery somewhere close by.
An array of parcels stock occupies the platforms alongside the
station, so there’s a regular flow of traffic arriving
and departing, as well as a variety of through trains passing
by. This aspect of the layout was most important, because it
gives the opportunity to shunt, or run trains, as well as carry
out light loco moves to and from the stabling point. The goods
depot is in the shadow of a large viaduct, which used to carry
another railway line over the streets of Wibdenshaw, and acts
as a good mid-scenic break to define the different parts of the
layout.
C&L trackwork is used throughout
the scenic section, with all the points and crossings being built
from individual components, and strengthened in certain places
by copper clad sleepers. All the track was built in situ’,
and wired through multi-pin connectors to the control panels.
DCC was very much in its infancy at the time, so conventional
variable DC is used with section switches on the control panels.
Route selection is controlled by relay logic, allowing any track
to be accessed from all routes, and the points are switched by
solenoids for remote operation.
Buildings
Choosing the right kind of building for a particular location became important,
so that the railway doesn’t look out of place in its surroundings.
The Kibri and DPM building kits have been used extensively around the town
centre, and are easy to anglicise. Shops, banks and pubs are situated adjacent
to the station, and industrial buildings appear more frequently along the
route as the junction is approached. Inspiration for the bus depot came from
Ludlam Street in Bradford, which was still painted in its corporation colours
long after the PTE took over. Adapted from a Peco modern diesel depot kit,
it is shown with an open aspect to the front, and features buses undergoing
maintenance around the usual related clutter. The goods warehouse is scratchbuilt
from Wills brick sheets, whilst other anglicised kits and components make
up the urban sprawl. Most of the buildings in the area portrayed would have
been constructed from stone, so the weathering and blackening of the retaining
walls and other structures has been copied fromphotographs. The scenic break
at the north end of the layout has been achieved by placing a large office
block at the front of the layout, so that the Bradford tracks go off-scene
behind it. As with a lot of the buildings on the layout, the office block
is constructed from plywood, and then clad with an assortment of window frames
and brick card. The Leeds tracks are hidden from view by a high level road,
which introduces the tracks onto the scenic section, as well as serving the
woollen mills, shops and houses in the district.
Careful thought has gone into the
juxtaposition of all buildings and structures on the layout,
so that the continuation of the railway can be imagined, beyond
the scene portrayed. There are some locations on the layout that
prevent the railway from being seen at all times, and these features
have been created to give the impression of the railway cutting
through a scene, much like the real thing. Uniformity has also
been an important factor in construction, so that each part of
the layout blends in with the surroundings, and gives a justifiable
reason for its existence.
The rolling stock has an important
part to play in completing the scene, and has been tailored to
fit in with the West Yorkshire theme. The time line for the layout
is set firmly in 1976, although some licence has been used to
allow stock from a couple of years either side of this date,
providing it fits in well with everything else on scene. Off
the shelf models have been fitted with extra detail, modified
and converted to EM gauge, and all items have been weathered
to varying degrees by studying photographs of the prototype.
Most of the locomotives are from proprietary sources, with some
being well over 20 years old, and are a good match for the more
recent additions once the detail work has been completed. Additional
motor bogies and extra pickups have been fitted to a large proportion
of the fleet, to give better performance and reliability.
Diesel Multiple Units are important
to the area, and a wide cross-section of different types has
been modelled from kits and modified proprietary items. Two and
three car units are run in multiple with each other, to provide
greater capacity during peak periods, this being one aspect of
DMU operationthat is rarely seen in model form. All coaching
stock is run in fixed rakes, and coupled together with Kaydee
buckeye couplings, with only the outer ends of the rakes having
3-link couplings. Folded black card is used between the coaches
to represent the corridor connections. Last but not least, the
wagon fleet has been built up mostly from Parkside and Cambrian
kits, and this area of construction has taken many enjoyable
hours. The type of wagon and the merchandise contained within,
is an important factor in representing the traffic flows of the
area.
Conclusion
So, the scene is set, and many enjoyable hours are spent watching the trains
go by, each one serving a purpose, with a destination in mind. A time machine
would be quite handy, but I’ll settle for a regular trip to Wibdenshaw
instead. I have enjoyed immensely, building and operating the layout, but
could not have done so without the help and encouragement of other EM gauge
modellers and professional railwaymen. There are regular monthly updates
on my dedicated website www.kierhardy.co.uk,
which features stock and scenic projects, and showcases other similar themed
layouts. |