Heaton Lodge Junction

[d winpenny]

Looking great

 

david 

[HeatonLodge40]

My mini diorama on the latest board isn’t too far off now.

 

I’ve layered the static grass twice then used postiche or hair sprayed with matt varnish before covering with woodland scenics earth blend.

This gives a good impression of dense undergrowth and weeds.

Other ingredients are crushed sieved earth for the paths and PVA for the static grass base.

 

08579 was a Healey Mills shunter for years and is built from a MMP kit

[HeatonLodge40]

Couple more snaps - one of the ingredients 

[HeatonLodge40]

The other end of the subway - awaiting a few details 

[peach james]

Simon,

 

Is there any chance of taking another photo of the pathway with something that scales it well?  Like a pencil or pound coin?

 

I'm just curious as to how big the grass looks to be, in that I've been playing with static grass on Long Marton in OO, and are curious as to how big the area we are seeing in each of those photos.

 

(which are absolutely wonderful !)

 

James

[HeatonLodge40]

James here you go..

the grass is 12mm noch wildegrass mixed with mini natur 6.5mm late fall.

[millerhillboy]

On 12/04/2019 at 14:03, HeatonLodge40 said:

The other end of the subway - awaiting a few details

 

however long that fencing took you it was well worthwhile, that's simply superb

 

[HeatonLodge40]

The fiddle yard cometh..

 

Exactly a week ago I started on the fiddle yard opposite the scenic section.

What you see is the up and down fast lines on the extreme left bypassing the beginning of the 2 fiddle yards for the up & down slow lines. These first 2 yards are a tad shorter at 45ft each.

 

All didn’t go to plan though since I forgot to plan for avoiding points over board sections. This meant with the necessary filling in bits of straight track, I couldn’t fit as many roads in. However it turned out ok as I installed 4 kickback siding just for DMU’s.

As each ‘road’ is 34-40ft long and each train has its own ‘road’ to itself makes more sense for the DMU’s to have something more their size.

 

After reading some threads on here I modified the Peco points by cutting the factory wiring joining the frog to the outer rails, (ie totally isolating the frog), connecting the stock rails to each other and soldering a lead to each frog for polarity switching by the cobalt motors.

 

I’m very tempted to make this fiddle yard into a giant TMD but I’d be collecting my pension before finishing that.

As you can see by the photos only another 150ft to go 

[Tony Teague]

Amazing - as ever!

[HeatonLodge40]

These days I’m spending half my time on the fiddle yard and half on the scenic side. I’ve just finished the latest scenic frame and am awaiting a new batch of 3 on that side.

On the fiddle yard side I’ve just been and collected another 15 frames (each 4’long by 5’wide) so plenty to go at now.. At a push I can lay and wire one board a day (with just straight track ) and there are 40 boards in total. Hopefully the whole fiddle yard will be done in 3 months..

 

Photos show progress and how far to go. 

I still sometimes walk in and think it would have been easier to model an 8’x4’ branch line station 

[HeatonLodge40]

Meanwhile on the scenic side I’ve just got round to super detailing the ex LNWR lineside hut kit by Intentio models.

Originally concrete, this example is typically delapidated with the roof caving in, door hanging off its hinges and the steel reinforcing bars showing 

[AndrewT]

On 06/03/2019 at 20:15, HeatonLodge40 said:

Ah thanks much appreciated Ian.

 

Might fit a pot bellied stove - visible if the roofs caved in!

There was no pot bellied stove in it - certainly between 1976 and 1981 inclusive...... ermmm... I can absolutely assure you of that! There were however some very old rather soggy Railwayman's Operating Instructions - the newsprint type booklets that  contained details of line closures, warnings, engineering works, temporary speed restrictions etc. I spent my formative years 'spotting' here. I lived 10 minutes walk away, and would be found there with my spotting mates after school, school lunchtimes, weekends and all day long school holidays. I've sat hours and hours on that footbridge that led the the underpass (which had not been lined with corrugated metal at that time) and to the row of houses at Heaton Lodge. Spent hours wandering round the abandoned Mirfield shed (That would make an ideal extension to give you something to do when the main part is finished!). The big embankment on the South side of the main lines made I assume from excavated spoil from the construction of the Ex-Midland goods line, was called 'Doggy Bank' - for reasons lost in the mists of time. Class 124 Trans Pennine units were the order of the day along with the Liverpool-Newcastle (and vice- versa) expresses normally hauled by a 40, 45, occasionally a 46 or in latter times 47's. From around 1981 on winter mornings the Huddersfield-Leeds 07:40, normally a 2-car DMU, would on many occasions be subsituted for three MK1 coaches hauled by a class 31. Oil trains off the Calder valley, normally with a 40 in charge. Rarities would be in 1979 a class 24 on a weekday evening going who knows where with what looked like old parcels stock. Sunday afternoons would see the resident Huddersfield station pilot 08 head back to Healey Mills (slowly!) to refuel for the following week. 20's were a rare sight, but we did get our fair share of 25's, sometimes double headed. 37's were common as muck on all classes of freight. We witnessed the first Romanian-built 56's with MGR's, saw the passing of the 24's. Saw the APT being loco-halued one toward Leeds having come from Manchester direction, also an HST in 1978 which was way off its normal stomping ground - Never saw the 58's or 60's in operation here - as I'd moved on the things with two wheels, and an engine and also that other species with wobbly-bits by then. What great times and I can say without a doubt your model really captures the exact feeling of being there all those years ago. Sadly - I didn't take photos in those days, so I've nothing to share, but I do have my spotters books and some notes..... as well as the booklets (now dried out after 40 years!) from the lineside hut . If you have any questions from a witness (albeit slightly earlier than your period) - feel free to ask and I'll try remember details.

Edited May 21, 2019 by AndrewT
Additional info.

[HeatonLodge40]

Thanks Andrew for those memories, loads I didn’t know. I caught the 08 many a time travelling towards HM for  refuelling. Didn’t realise either those banks had a name!

 

Back in the basement I’ve lost count of the number of droppers I’ve soldered (see pic). The fiddle yards for tracks 1 & 2 are nearing completion. The slightly longer yards for 3 & 4 will then begin.

 

 

[HeatonLodge40]

For those interested I’ve made the decision to model part of Healey Mills.

The fiddle yards in the previous pics will be moved towards the camera by 40ft to provide room for the depot. (Originally this 40ft was just plain linking up track).

 

The yardmasters office on the north bank, the shed itself and fitters shed will all be portrayed together with 3 of the 6 giant lighting towers. I’ll make these towers from brass angle and they’ll scale out at 1.1m high. Basically what you see in the pics (taken from opposite ends) will be modelled.

 

Needless to say although the track will be laid by the layouts first outing, HM itself won’t be complete. 

I’m planning to use Marcway points for the track formation.

[Stubby47]

"...moved by 40ft..."

 

The sheer scale of this layout continues to impress and frighten me in equal amounts...

[TheSignalEngineer]

18 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

"...moved by 40ft..."

 

The sheer scale of this layout continues to impress and frighten me in equal amounts...

To move my fiddle yard by 40ft I would have to buy the next two houses.

[HeatonLodge40]

1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

"...moved by 40ft..."

 

The sheer scale of this layout continues to impress and frighten me in equal amounts...

Believe me it frightens me sometimes too 

[iands]

To take on modelling Heaton Lodge is one thing. To do it with the level of detail you have already undertaken is both astounding and astonishing. And now, rather than just have 40' of plain line, you've decided to model half of Healey Mills! This is just going to be ............... sorry, but awesome just won't cover it. I've run out of superlatives for this layout, your skill, your dedication, your patience and everything else that you've put into it.

 

I don't know about layout of the year, or even decade, but this may well be the layout of the century the way it is developing!

 

Truly an inspiration to mere mortals like me struggling with the simplest tasks of model making/layout building.

 

I don't know how you do it, but please, just keep doing it.

[Geoff Endacott]

Presumably the next extension will be called Yorkshire.

 

Geoff Endacott

[HeatonLodge40]

1 hour ago, iands said:

To take on modelling Heaton Lodge is one thing. To do it with the level of detail you have already undertaken is both astounding and astonishing. And now, rather than just have 40' of plain line, you've decided to model half of Healey Mills! This is just going to be ............... sorry, but awesome just won't cover it. I've run out of superlatives for this layout, your skill, your dedication, your patience and everything else that you've put into it.

 

I don't know about layout of the year, or even decade, but this may well be the layout of the century the way it is developing!

 

Truly an inspiration to mere mortals like me struggling with the simplest tasks of model making/layout building.

 

I don't know how you do it, but please, just keep doing it.

Thanks the encouragement is very much appreciated. I’ve started so I’ll finish !

 

[37038]

Does building HM mean you need to buy more stock too?!

[Enterprisingwestern]

10 hours ago, Geoff Endacott said:

Presumably the next extension will be called Yorkshire.

 

Geoff Endacott

 

, and part of Lincolnshire?

 

Mike.

[HeatonLodge40]

4 hours ago, 37038 said:

Does building HM mean you need to buy more stock too?!

Yes it does - the stock is going to be the biggest outlay after the track & frames. I’m still working on how to get what I’ll need, but to give you an idea to fill HM siding near the shed with full length empty MGR’s and also have enough for 5 empty trains of them in the fiddle yard/scenic side I’m going to need 360 of them (10 x 36)

[branchie]

51 minutes ago, HeatonLodge40 said:

Yes it does - the stock is going to be the biggest outlay after the track & frames. I’m still working on how to get what I’ll need, but to give you an idea to fill HM siding near the shed with full length empty MGR’s and also have enough for 5 empty trains of them in the fiddle yard/scenic side I’m going to need 360 of them (10 x 36)

Dapol's accountants just fell of their chairs with joy! 

 

Awesome modelling BTW. 

[freebs]

On 26/05/2019 at 18:56, HeatonLodge40 said:

For those interested I’ve made the decision to model part of Healey Mills.

The fiddle yards in the previous pics will be moved towards the camera by 40ft to provide room for the depot. (Originally this 40ft was just plain linking up track).

 

The yardmasters office on the north bank, the shed itself and fitters shed will all be portrayed together with 3 of the 6 giant lighting towers. I’ll make these towers from brass angle and they’ll scale out at 1.1m high. Basically what you see in the pics (taken from opposite ends) will be modelled.

 

Needless to say although the track will be laid by the layouts first outing, HM itself won’t be complete. 

I’m planning to use Marcway points for the track formation.

 

I really miss Healey Mills. Coming from Huddersfield you had the spoil heaps at Caphouse Colliery and then coming down the hill, the mighty lighting towers at Healey Mills. Amazingly, after being used to seeing them towering over the landscape for so long, it's only recently I'd realised that they're not there any more!

Looking forward to seeing this come alive