RMweb Gold Popular Post Alister_G Posted December 6, 2018 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) What's a Ladmanlow, you might ask? Ladmanlow is a small hamlet just south of Buxton, in Derbyshire, where the main A54 road to Macclesfield starts on its journey over the Cat-and-Fiddle, and splits off from the A53 to Leek. The significance of the name, and the place, is that it lies on the original route of the Cromford and High Peak Railway which joined the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge, with the Cromford Canal at Cromford. The C&HPR was originally built with the express purpose of creating a link between these two canals, to allow the passage of goods from Manchester south to Derby and beyond. The route passed from Whaley Bridge, up an incline at Shallcross, and then through the Goyt Valley, alongside the Fernlee Reservoir (which didn't exist at the time the railway was built) and then through a tunnel under Long Hill, before appearing at Ladmanlow. It then ran South East through Grinlow and past Harpur Hill to Hindlow, where it joined the rest of the C&HPR towards Hurdlow and Parsley Hay. This section of the railway was closed in 1892, and parts of the route are now used for roads - in particular the bottom section of the Long Hill road to Whaley Bridge runs on the track-bed of the railway. Here's Ladmanlow, with the route of the railway shown in red. So why pick this name for a layout then? Well I've an interest in modelling the C&HPR, but also wanted to build a small shunting puzzle, and none of the existing real locations lend themselves to an interesting layout. So I chose instead to build the layout with my chosen design of track, and pinch an old name from the C&HPR to attach to it. There were some sidings at Ladmanlow, so that's why I chose it. The layout therefore will be unmistakably C&HPR, but not modelled on a real location. I've already started an accurate model of Cromford Wharf, which is the southern end of the line, but I don't currently have the space to set it up and work on it. This shunting puzzle will first and foremost be small enough to fit on the kitchen table, so I can work on it there, and set it up when I want to play trains. The baseboard will be 4' long and 18" wide, with an 18" fiddle-stick off one side. Here's the track layout: I want it to be quite minimalistic, and yet contain the unmistakable character of the C&HPR, and in this I have been very much influenced by Rob Gunstone's Sheep Lane. In fact, the track layout I settled on, with 5 turnouts and 4 sidings, is unashamedly stolen from Sheep Lane, albeit modified slightly. Rob need not worry, however, as I'm not attempting to copy the whole thing, and Ladmanlow will not be a Sheep Lane clone. (or I'd have called it Dolly ) Unlike previous threads of mine, I've actually made a start on building this before starting a thread, and I have a complete baseboard, with the track laid and wired up, and I have actually run trains on it already! However, I will post up various photos I took whilst planning and building, to bring you up to date. I have only just regained my modelling mojo after more than a year without it, so I'm crossing my fingers that this layout is small enough and manageable enough that I might actually complete it. I'll post up more soon. Thanks for looking. Al. Edited January 22, 2023 by Alister_G replaced images 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 6, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 6, 2018 Oh, you might notice that Andy Y kindly changed my login name for me. I found that acg_mr, my original login, was remarkably difficult for people to remember, and going to shows and saying "I'm acg_mr on RMWeb" was often met with blank looks. Hopefully you'll know who Alister_G is... Al. 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 Welcome back mate, pity it's NOT O Gauge, but you can't win them all. I'm looking forward to seeing some more of your superb Buildings, Details and Weathering. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 6, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) Let's get some photos of work on the thread! Here's the beginnings, shoving some points around on an offcut of ply: These are Peco Code75 Long points. The plain track is C&L Flexi: Once the track layout was settled on, I took the plywood off into the dungeon to butcher it: and returned some hours later with a baseboard: You can see that there will be an access road, leading up to a small yard. More in a minute. Al. Edited January 22, 2023 by Alister_G replace images 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 6, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 6, 2018 Welcome back mate, pity it's NOT O Gauge, but you can't win them all. I'm looking forward to seeing some more of your superb Buildings, Details and Weathering. Thanks very much Andy, great to hear from you. I hope your flood is under control I'm not sure yet whether there will be much in the way of buildings on this layout, I'm hoping to keep it quite open, but we'll see what happens. Al 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon A Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 Looking forward to this, Gordon A 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) Thanks very much Andy, great to hear from you. I hope your flood is under control I'm not sure yet whether there will be much in the way of buildings on this layout, I'm hoping to keep it quite open, but we'll see what happens. Al You should be able to find room for one of those little rusty tin sheds somewhere mate. Edited December 6, 2018 by Andrew P 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 6, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 6, 2018 Looking forward to this, Gordon A Thanks Gordon, I know the C&HPR is a favourite of yours. Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 Nice to see you back Al, we’ve missed you. Derek 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 6, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) Continuing, Here's the finalised track layout on the baseboard: A bit of PVA and newspaper forms the contours of the land: A fine selection of tinned goods, as I glue the track down! I'm using Peco point motors to switch the turnouts: I cut a hole in the side of the baseboard to fit the socket for my NCE Powercab controller: and then started wiring up the track That's all for now, must get to bed. Thanks for looking, Al. Edited January 22, 2023 by Alister_G replace images 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 6, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 6, 2018 Nice to see you back Al, we’ve missed you. Derek Thanks Derek, I've got some catching up to do again on everybody's threads, great to hear from you. Al. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold westerhamstation Posted December 7, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2018 Hi Al, good to have you back, you can never have enough tins and bowls of fruit on a layout. All the best Adrian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 7, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2018 Hi Al, good to have you back, you can never have enough tins and bowls of fruit on a layout. All the best Adrian. Hi Adrian, no, a well stocked grocery cupboard is a must for any modeler The bananas are essential... Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan product fan Posted December 7, 2018 Share Posted December 7, 2018 (edited) Hi Al good to have you back. The area you highlighted on the map is such an interesting place when i drive too crewe this is the way i go and when i pass the little farm i have often wondered about the railway history of this area as you drive up the hill you can still see the embankment and parts of the bridge that crossed the road and in the farm field you can see a railway bridge being so high up i always wondered the purpose of the railway was.Look forward to your model good luck.https://goo.gl/maps/J8R2UeSkPYP2 Edited December 7, 2018 by vulcan product fan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 7, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2018 Hi Al good to have you back. The area you highlighted on the map is such an interesting place when i drive too crewe this is the way i go and when i pass the little farm i have often wondered about the railway history of this area as you drive up the hill you can still see the embankment and parts of the bridge that crossed the road and in the farm field you can see a railway bridge https://goo.gl/maps/J8R2UeSkPYP2 being so high up i always wondered the purpose of the railway was.Look forward to your model good luck. Hi Andy, Yep I often go that way when visiting friends in Macc, and as you say the old embankment and bridge are very clear to see as you start up the hill. It's only recently that I found out they were a part of the old C&HPR, I thought they were an old tramway or something. Cheers mate, Al. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Alister_G Posted December 7, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted December 7, 2018 Here's another quick update on my progress. So after wiring up the track, and testing it thoroughly, I started on the weathering by spraying all the track in a Tamiya matt brown as a base coat: I then set too and painted the sides of the rails, and the chairs, in Humbrol Matt 113 Rust: And after that, I thought I'd take a couple of photos... A quick flavour of the C&HPR. More to come soon, Al. 24 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Hi Al good to have you back. The area you highlighted on the map is such an interesting place when i drive too crewe this is the way i go and when i pass the little farm i have often wondered about the railway history of this area as you drive up the hill you can still see the embankment and parts of the bridge that crossed the road and in the farm field you can see a railway bridge being so high up i always wondered the purpose of the railway was.Look forward to your model good luck.https://goo.gl/maps/J8R2UeSkPYP2 Likewise I often wondered what trackbed the earth works were for when using the road, now I know. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Hello Al, Nice to see you back, buddy! That's a smashing part of the world up there - it was close to the limits of my old cycling territory (when I lived in Derby) but I used to ride both trails quite regularly. I love that wild line and really must set about modelling it myself sometime. Cheers, John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 8, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 8, 2018 Hi John, great to hear from you. The C&HPR is a very special little railway with a very distinctive character - wild and open as you say. I hope this layout will capture that feeling. Al. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Nick Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Hi Alister The freight yard to the left of the road as you come into Buxton was still in occasional use into the sixties as was the branch line in to Grinlow quarry which ran down the middle of the lane in front of a row of houses in Ladmanlow where an old school friend lived at the time. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MCMLXI Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) Good to see you back Al. Great to see you're modelling again, especially modelling a bit of C&HPR, my favourite railway. One of the most unique railways ever built I think. Looks of quirky features, from signals to inclines, incredibly sharp bends etc ! A bit of everything. good luck with your new adventure... joe Edited December 8, 2018 by Joe MCMLXI Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 8, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 8, 2018 Hi Alister The freight yard to the left of the road as you come into Buxton was still in occasional use into the sixties as was the branch line in to Grinlow quarry which ran down the middle of the lane in front of a row of houses in Ladmanlow where an old school friend lived at the time. Nick Hi Nick, That's interesting, it was my understanding that the whole of that branch was closed when the link to Whaley was shut. Cheers, Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 8, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 8, 2018 Good to see you back Al. Great to see you're modelling again, especially modelling a bit of C&HPR, my favourite railway. One of the most unique railways ever built I think. Looks of quirky features, from signals to inclines, incredibly sharp bends etc ! A bit of everything. good luck with your new adventure... joe Hi Joe, Thanks mate, yep the C&HPR is a favorite of mine as you know. Looking forward to doing this, I'm really hoping this will be good. Cheers, Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted December 8, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) A bit more of an update, this evening. So far, I've built the baseboard, laid the track, tested it, and painted it. Next was to start adding some details. First thing I did was to add the first of four buffer stops. This is just the cheap Peco offering, but modified, painted and weathered, it looks a lot better than you would think: Just to try out some ideas, I added some old lengths of Javis drystone walling along the side of the line: I reckon that has a flavour of the C&HPR about it. Al. Edited December 8, 2018 by Alister_G 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Alister_G Posted December 8, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2018 I decided to do a bit of stock weathering. Here's a Bachmann Brake van, brand new out of the box: And here it is after some attention from some weathering powders: Then my DJM J74 which was factory weathered, but I added some extra smoke and rust: I stuck the row of Terrace cottages from my Grindleford layout on the board, just to see how it would look: I don't think they will be staying, but interesting to see how it looks. And here's a more general shot with some of the new stock: Thanks for looking, Al. 24 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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