oxenhope Oxenhope Finescale

[Harlequin]

Recently @jonhinds showed us a plan based on Oxenhope station on the preserved KWVR. Unfortunately it wasn't quite right for Jon in the end but historical Oxenhope had a lot of elements that piqued my interest:

• The curving cut into the hillside and the trees above it that form a natural amphitheatre, with lower ground in front. Perfect for a display layout.
• The presence of water nearby in two forms - a natural Beck and the man-made system of mill pond, sluices, mill race and weir.
• The old stone mill building, which the station seems to have been wrapped around.
• The combination of a dead-straight private siding for the mill and the organic curves of the platform and the station's own sidings threading their way through the site.
• The little details like the many bridges over the Beck, the complex level changes, the watercourses that flow under the station in culverts and the old footpath that descends the cutting and crosses both the railway and the beck.

 

So I wondered what an imaginary model of Oxenhope, could look like if you had lots of time, money, space, people, endurance, etc, etc...

 

 

To represent Oxenhope as a finescale model I decided not to compress the trackplan so that all the features are in their correct positions and views of the model should closely match the real thing. (Even though the station is quite compact that still results in a large model!)

To make a great exhibition display I aligned the station plan on a set of angled baseboards with a continuous curving panoramic backscene behind. There are then some slight changes to the position of real world features around the edges to help frame the scene.

I included a good distance of the main running line to give a flavour of the line in the countryside and to capture the opposite curve to the platform, which conveniently helps align the track's exit into the fiddle yard.

 

The baseboards break down into manageable units. Maximum width 735mm (~2ft 5in) and the longest is 1690mm (~5ft 6in). Most of them are simple parallel-edged boxes with angled ends, although some are more complex. There are two distinct groups: The working railway boards along the back and a set of purely scenic boards wrapped around the front. The joints avoid complex trackwork and many fall nicely to be naturally disguised by scenery but some scenic elements might be built on separate "jigsaw pieces" to further help with that. The railway could be run without the scenic boards being attached. The corners are rounded on the public facing side to avoid painful collisions for public and operators.

 

Some elements are a bit sketchy but I think you can see the idea. I'll add a few more notes as I think of them below, including something about operations.

 

Thanks again to Jon for letting me pick up on his original idea of modelling Oxenhope.

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Harlequin

[Nick Holliday]

An interesting looking project. I wonder whether the prototypically correct short headshunt to the platform loop might place restrictions on potential modelled operations, if running locos that didn't actually appear on the branch. The entrance to the goods yard is intriguingly complex, and none of the OS maps offer a clear guide to what was there, although I suspect a single slip, at least, might have been involved.

[03060]

A lovely looking plan / design @Harlequin, I have seen a compressed 3mm scale (14.2) version built and a chap in the Aire Valley MRC has built an N gauge version.

 

It's an area I like to visit and walk regularly in kinder times, the dogs love playing in the river or chasing each other around the pathways .....bacon sandwich and a coffee on the platform on a Sunday morning .....and there's even steam trains and period DMUs to help take you back in time.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[jonhinds]

This looks absolutely magnificent. I’ve now chosen to focus on Ingrow (West) along the same line, so it’s nice there’s a merry band of contemporary modellers exploring K&WVR in various scales and at various times in its history! I can’t wait to see this at an exhibition. Wow.

 

Did you mention you’d be modelling Oxenhope during the LMS period @Harlequin?

[Harlequin]

4 minutes ago, jonhinds said:

This looks absolutely magnificent. I’ve now chosen to focus on Ingrow (West) along the same line, so it’s nice there’s a merry band of contemporary modellers exploring K&WVR in various scales and at various times in its history! I can’t wait to see this at an exhibition. Wow.

 

Did you mention you’d be modelling Oxenhope during the LMS period @Harlequin?

 

Sorry to disappoint you Jon, but did you spot the word "imaginary" in my first post...?

 

I'm afraid I don't have to room, the time or the money to build this myself but it's fun to dream! If a club was interested in doing something with this design I'd be overjoyed and give them all the help I could!

 

[jonhinds]

Just now, Harlequin said:

 

Sorry to disappoint you Jon, but did you spot the word "imaginary" in my first post...?

 

I'm afraid I don't have to room, the time or the money to build this myself but it's fun to dream! If a club was interested in doing something with this design I'd be overjoyed and give them all the help I could!

 

Oops, I think that key word passed me by in my excitement.

 

Well, regardless it looks amazing, and I think it would make for quite the club layout. Your design skills are incredibly impressive!

[JSModels]

2 hours ago, 03060 said:

... a chap in the Aire Valley MRC has built an N gauge version.

 

 

There's a Facebook page for the layout mentioned. It isn't mine, but I am a member of the club & I doubt Robert would mind me posting a link here!

[Aire Head]

I have also seen an 0 Gauge version of this before but I can't remember who made it 

[jonhinds]

4 hours ago, Aire Head said:

I have also seen an 0 Gauge version of this before but I can't remember who made it 

It was Bradford Model Railway Club:

 

https://www.bradfordmrc.org.uk/Oxenhope_details.html

[DCB]

Looks good.  The only suggestion I would make is as an exhibition layout allowing the public to view from the end of the station, the view they get as they turn into the car park would be interesting. Its very weird the way the full size line just peters out.

The short H/S is presumably to stop run aways not facilitate shunting.  I assume its one engine in steam south of Damens loop, and if not the blokes on goods could have a brew when passenger in int section instead of scoughting they guts out shunting.  Short H/S wi buffers means a coupe of blokes can manhandle errant wagons back into siding where catch points mean getting breakdown vans out from Leeds, which would be a waste o money.

[Harlequin]

1 hour ago, DavidCBroad said:

Looks good.  The only suggestion I would make is as an exhibition layout allowing the public to view from the end of the station, the view they get as they turn into the car park would be interesting.

Thanks. Yes, that end is left open for exactly that reason.

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Harlequin

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

27 minutes ago, DavidCBroad said:

Looks good.  The only suggestion I would make is as an exhibition layout allowing the public to view from the end of the station, the view they get as they turn into the car park would be interesting. Its very weird the way the full size line just peters out...

The whole line from Keighley was built on a formation that could be double tracked; the original plan having  been to continue into a tunnel under Oxenhope Moor for a through route to Halifax. 'Owd Jack', the last occupant of the Station House,  told my parents all about it when they moved to Mill Lane, as their house pretty much stood where the tunnel mouth would have been. Whatever, there was indeed an 'interesting view of the model railway' from my parent's front bedroom window.

[Harlequin]

I'm no expert on the KWVR branch but here's what I've gleaned about operations from a bit of research:

 

It seems that the branch was relatively busy both in passenger and goods traffic up to WW2. Workmen used the trains to get to and from work and Haworth, just down the line from Oxenhope, generated a lot of tourist traffic. There were also excursions to Morecambe and football specials.

 

Summer timetable for 1902: From Oxenhope, Weekdays:

5.12, 5.56, 6.53, 7.53, 8.26, 9.35, 10.50, 11.38, 12.40 SO, 1.30, 2.20, 3.13 SO, 4.00, 5.12, 5.48 SX, 6.35 7.17, 8.12, 9.20 SO, 10.10 SO, 10.27 SX, 11.03 SO.

 

Summer timetable for 1938: From Oxenhope, Weekdays:

5.49, 6.35, 7.05, 7.41, 8.40, 9.39, 10.48, 11.40, 12.47 SO, 1.35, 2.15, 3.22 SO, 3.56, 4.35, 5.17, 6.26, 7.30, 8.19, 9.22, 10.10, 11.10.

At peak times there were two passenger trains on the branch at the same time but unless they were scheduled to cross on the double track at the Keighley end, one train ran empty because the passing places were not rated for passengers. (This might mean more departures from Oxenhope than appear on the timetables.)

 

There were up to 20 mills in Oxenhope at one time (not sure how many were still working by 1939) which must have generated a lot of goods traffic along with all the usual supplies for the village. The passing places and electric token working up to Haworth allowed the pickup goods to take its time shunting the yards between Keighley and Haworth but from Haworth to Oxenhope was operated by staff and so goods trains normally had to work up to Oxenhope, shunt the yard and return to Haworth between passenger trains. (You probably already noticed that there is no signal box at Oxenhope but there may have been a remote token machine in the station building, allowing a driver to lock his train into a siding and clear the section for another train to enter. So the goods train could stay on scene while passenger trains arrive and depart if you wanted.)

 

So, plenty of action and regular visits to Oxenhope by at least 3 different trains.

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Harlequin