Chesterfield 1977

[Mophead45143]

Time to start a thread for my new 00 gauge layout, which is now finally coming out of the planning phase and into the construction phase. The inspiration behind this layout is the north end of Chesterfield station, the area modelled being from just beyond the footbridge to the north, to the point where the station buildings start to the south. However, this will be compressed to about 1/2 scale length, due to space constraints. As such, there will be a little artistic license as each part of the layout will be scaled down. That said, the simple layout of the track plan should mean this has little visual impact, and the layout should still look reasonably proportioned for what it is. It's not like I'm trying to squeeze in lots of sidings!

 

The layout will be set firmly in the summer of 1977, and will feature, as closely as possible, the every day scenes from the area during that time period. There was a good variety of traction in the area, and the ladder junction (southern part of Tapton junction) was very well used, with freights crossing over from fast to slow and vice versa. This should provide lots of operational interest. 

 

Layout Plan

 

Below is a plan of the layout illustrating the scenic section at the top, with the large storage yard at the bottom. Left is North, and right is South. The red lines illustrate planned baseboard joints. There are several dead end sidings to facilitate DMU's which will terminate at Chesterfield from the north, as well as trip workings hauled by a Barrow Hill class 08.

 

Non-scenic crossovers allow freights to gain the fast lines, with the illusion that they have travelled up them from the south, prior to crossing back on to the slow lines to head towards Barrow Hill and the 'old road'. This works in the opposite direction too, with trains waiting to gain the fast having come from the Barrow Hill direction. The dead end line at the bottom left hand corner of the plan will actually rise up and provide some additional elevated dead end storage roads. Passenger trains will stick to the fast lines to / from Sheffield as was usually the case. 

 

 

 

The board in the top left hand corner will be hinged to provide access in and out of the garage door. The board with the overbridge for the river and road is dropped to a lower level to allow for the transitional embankment and bridges to be installed beneath the roadbed. As the rest of the scene was either at or above track level, the other two scenic boards are at track level. 

 

The overall dimensions for the layout are just over 19' by 9', as can be seen by the grids on the plan. 

 

I hope this provides some enjoyment and inspiration as it develops!

 

Cameron

 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Mophead45143

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Liking the look of this. If you pulled the timescale back a few years I'd be in heaven, although you'd have a tad more crossover pointwork to build!

 

Mike.

[Mophead45143]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Liking the look of this. If you pulled the timescale back a few years I'd be in heaven, although you'd have a tad more crossover pointwork to build!

 

Mike.

 

Although they would be situated further north!

 

Cameron

Edited May 23, 2021 by Mophead45143

[Mophead45143]

And just to prove that the construction phase has begun, here are some pictures that were taken this afternoon. 

 

First, a few general views inside the garage showing the baseboard construction so far. Baseboards are made using 9mm hardwood ply cut to size, with softwood frames, and cross bracing for strength and rigidity. These are fixed to battens around the wall, with outer legs added after. Large spirit levels on the boards dictating the exact length each leg should be.

 

 

 

 

As can be seen in the photo above, one board is fixed lower down so that the embankment and bridge at the north end of the station can be modelled. The right hand end of this board (South end) is where the scenic break will be, which will be aided by the station buildings. As the embankment and bridge were quite shallow, I will not need all the depth given here, so I intend to build the scene up from the bottom of the board.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Mophead45143

[Mophead45143]

About 50% of the baseboards have now been completed. With this start made, I took the opportunity to make sure my calculations for storage yard track spacing were satisfactory. I can fit 19 through roads on this plan, the useable part of the storage yard boards being just over 2' 10". 

 

On storage roads that serve the same line (e.g. up slow), I have set the centre to centre track spacing at a minimum of 42mm. This is on the proviso that only one train will be in motion at any given time, and all stationary trains will be stabled on straight track, with the least possible overhang. Storage roads between differing lines (e.g. up slow & down slow) are set at the usual peco streamline centre to centre spacing of 52mm.

 

The minimum radius on the non scenic section is 24", which is the minimum allowable for my longest vehicles to pass each other at peco streamline spacing (52mm c-c). A couple of curves on the DMU sidings are tighter than this, but only where no passing is possible or where spacing is increased.

 

A couple of redundant Airfix MK2's were used just to prove the track spacing theory on the straight sections. The track here was just temporarily secured with blue tack. 

 

In the picture below, the roads that the two caches are standing on are spaced with a centre to centre of 42mm, which is just enough. The centre to centre for the roads either side are 52mm, hence they are noticeably larger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, it's probably worth mentioning at this point that I intend to use code 75 track (with improved sleeper spacing) on the scenic section, and code 100 in the storage yard. I already have boxes and boxes of code 100 flexi, so it makes sense to use this financially. So long as they are laid nice and sensibly, the adapters between code 75 & code 100 should cause no running issues.

 

Cameron

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Mophead45143

[Mophead45143]

And just to whet the whistle as to the sort of scene I will be trying to recreate, the following snaps from the wonderful John Woolley collection on Flickr.

 

Do pay his Flickr site a visit as it's an excellent source of reference material from the period: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All photos credited to John Woolley, and can be found on the web link displayed above. 

 

Cameron 

[37114]

Looks a great plan, good luck with the build.

[Enterprisingwestern]

6 hours ago, Mophead45143 said:

 

Although they would be situated further north!

 

Cameron

 

I believe it's called selective compression!

 

Mike.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

 

Just sayin'!

 

Mike.

[Mophead45143]

5 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

Just sayin'!

 

Mike.

 

Lol. I'm afraid number 7 will be nameless, blue, and will have a big gash in its bodyside grille on my layout! Please feel free to share more images from your days in the area though, that'd be super!

 

Cameron

 

[Johann Marsbar]

Shame you aren't covering the south end of the station as you won't be able to model the "spotters compound" that I used to see there when I used to pass through on the Harwich Boat Train!

[Mophead45143]

2 minutes ago, Johann Marsbar said:

Shame you aren't covering the south end of the station as you won't be able to model the "spotters compound" that I used to see there when I used to pass through on the Harwich Boat Train!

 

Aye, space constraints are a swine! There are some nice features to the south too, such as the parcel siding and goods yard. 

 

Cameron

[Enterprisingwestern]

12 minutes ago, Johann Marsbar said:

Shame you aren't covering the south end of the station as you won't be able to model the "spotters compound" that I used to see there when I used to pass through on the Harwich Boat Train!

 

AKA "The Wall" which is where my photo was taken from, or more specifically, I dropped down onto the track of the end load bay!

 

Mike.

[Mophead45143]

 

Above is the locomotive roster for Chesterfield as it stands. The idea is to portray a typical selection of motive power that might have be seen during a day in the area, and generally the sub class or depot allocation will dictate what trains they will pull. Naturally as they weren't that common, you wouldn't expect to see all of the 40's or 44's listed above for example appearing in one running session, but having several differing examples will make each session more interesting. Loco's highlighted in green are, you guessed it, still carrying green livery!

 

There will be a couple of 'celebs', namely union flag 47 164, and bulled up 'Melton Mowbray Pieman' machine, 56 008. Other locomotives, while all carrying standard blue, will still have key detail differences that make them stand out from the rest. This is where research into the prototype is key. For example, even though all 6 of the 44's I have modeled are in standard blue, on research it can be seen that no two of them are identical. 44009 had a 45 style nose at the No.1 end and the differing grille style, 008 had welded over nose end doors, 007 had severe damage to its long body-side grilles, and 002, 004 & 005 all had varying quantities and positions of their numbers and OHLE warning flashes.

 

Cameron

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Mophead45143

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Talking of the wall, the top of it is just visible in this photo, but there is a tale to tell.

 

 

The Devonian/Cornishman, can't remember which, rolled to a stop and all the passengers de trained and stood on the platform.

The loco and stock reversed into the goods loop by the old goods shed and the driver, secondman and guard got off and wandered up and down the train for a few minutes, climbed into the coaches, and after about 15 minutes or so assumed their normal positions.

The train then pulled forward into the platform to collect the passengers, and some 20/30 minutes late departed.

I wandered down to ask the Station Master what had had gone on, and he nonchalantly mentioned that there had been a bomb threat received, but they didn't find anything during their (cursory to me) search, so continued onwards.

Slightly different days than todays H & S hit the panic button solution to the situation!

 

Mike.

[Mophead45143]

53 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Talking of the wall, the top of it is just visible in this photo, but there is a tale to tell.

 

 

The Devonian/Cornishman, can't remember which, rolled to a stop and all the passengers de trained and stood on the platform.

The loco and stock reversed into the goods loop by the old goods shed and the driver, secondman and guard got off and wandered up and down the train for a few minutes, climbed into the coaches, and after about 15 minutes or so assumed their normal positions.

The train then pulled forward into the platform to collect the passengers, and some 20/30 minutes late departed.

I wandered down to ask the Station Master what had had gone on, and he nonchalantly mentioned that there had been a bomb threat received, but they didn't find anything during their (cursory to me) search, so continued onwards.

Slightly different days than todays H & S hit the panic button solution to the situation!

 

Mike.

 

That's a brilliant story! No messing about!

 

Cameron

[Phil Bullock]

My sort of layout! And as soon as I saw it you came to mind @Enterprisingwestern! But is it the right gauge .? .. and given the era no middle wicket dodging too....

Edited May 24, 2021 by Phil Bullock
Spelling Timothy!

[Johann Marsbar]

As the Harwich-Manchester train passed through Chesterfield each day, I think you really ought to have another Stratford 47 in your "fleet", unless you want to have 47 164 on it every day!

This site will give Class 47 allocations for any given time period, which may be of use...

http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_data_435.php

I threw out most of my pre 1978 spotting records, but I know that 47 019 and 47 160 were hauling it on a couple of occasions during 1977 when I was travelling to/from Manchester. You did occasionally get other depot allocated locos on it, as 47 178 (BS) was used on it on another date in '77.

[Mophead45143]

7 minutes ago, Johann Marsbar said:

As the Harwich-Manchester train passed through Chesterfield each day, I think you really ought to have another Stratford 47 in your "fleet", unless you want to have 47 164 on it every day!

This site will give Class 47 allocations for any given time period, which may be of use...

http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_data_435.php

I threw out most of my pre 1978 spotting records, but I know that 47 019 and 47 160 were hauling it on a couple of occasions during 1977 when I was travelling to/from Manchester. You did occasionally get other depot allocated locos on it, as 47 178 (BS) was used on it on another date in '77.

 

Good point, it has crossed my mind before. As Bachmann are supposed to be doing a proper banger blue 47 with dominos soon (FINALLY!), I may well get an extra one for said reason. I need one for Immingham's 212 anyway. Like you say, having 164 on it all the time would be a bit silly. I have seen pictures of peaks on it though, but I suppose that was less common.  

 

Cameron

Edited May 24, 2021 by Mophead45143

[Mophead45143]

21 minutes ago, Phil Bullock said:

My sort of layout! And as soon as I saw it you came to mind @Enterprisingwestern! But is it the right gauge .? .. and given the era no middle wicket dodging too....

 

Hahah. From reading your threads, I am aware of the lobbying you have received to take the plunge from 'narrow gauge' on your new layout!

 

This is my first stab at a serious model railway, and given the huge amount of stock I have that would require converting, and my limited experience in building a layout, I have decided to make the compromise of sticking to 00, with code 75 on the scenic section. I figure that the slightly underscale rail height for flat bottom balances out the narrower 16.5mm rail to rail. 

 

As for middle wicket dodging, no D800's on this layout!

 

Cameron

[Johann Marsbar]

4 minutes ago, Mophead45143 said:

 

Good point, it has crossed my mind before. As Bachmann are supposed to be doing a proper banger blue 47 with dominos soon (FINALLY!), I may well get an extra one for said reason. I need one for Immingham's 212 anyway. Like you say, having 164 on it all the time would be a bit silly. I have seen pictures of peaks on it though, but I suppose that was less common.  

 

Cameron

 

I travelled on that service, with its various route changes, from 1962 up to around 1990, generally at least 4 return trips a year, particularly in later years, though from 1967 onwards they had to correspond with school holidays. Can't remember much detail, obviously, for the earlier years, other than a green 37 pulling into Ipswich with it on one occasion!.  I think it regularly tended to be 37 hauled up to the early 70's with 47's taking over from then - which would cover the times when it was routed through Chesterfield rather than the delights of Lincoln and Gainsborough. I did have a 31 once south of Sheffield and the odd 37, but the more "interesting" things - Classes 40/45/46 - tended to do the Sheffield-Manchester Piccadilly & return section only when the SF 47 came off/was put back on at Sheffield.

[younGGuns7]

I will be following this with great interest, I spotted at Chesterfield/Tupton up to around 1974 and have plenty of notes from back then, great memories great model 

[Enterprisingwestern]

4 hours ago, younGGuns7 said:

I will be following this with great interest, I spotted at Chesterfield/Tupton up to around 1974 and have plenty of notes from back then, great memories great model 

 

We must have been close to meeting!

 

Mike.

[Phil Bullock]

11 hours ago, Mophead45143 said:

 

Hahah. From reading your threads, I am aware of the lobbying you have received to take the plunge from 'narrow gauge' on your new layout!

 

This is my first stab at a serious model railway, and given the huge amount of stock I have that would require converting, and my limited experience in building a layout, I have decided to make the compromise of sticking to 00, with code 75 on the scenic section. I figure that the slightly underscale rail height for flat bottom balances out the narrower 16.5mm rail to rail. 

 

As for middle wicket dodging, no D800's on this layout!

 

Cameron

Have to agree with your logic .... we sing from same music sheet! 

[Enterprisingwestern]

8 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

Have to agree with your logic .... we sing from same music sheet! 

 

Where does logic come into it?, this is model railways,  it's a no brainer!!

 

Mike.