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Where and what if modelling the Woodhead line


Trevor H

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We considered Dunford Bridge while searching for a prototype location, but ultimately settled on Deepcar as it gave extra operational interest with the Stocksbridge line. We had almost made up our minds when we took another member of the group to Deepcar, who hadn't been with us before and he was so enthused it clinched it, the rest is history :no:

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Guest stuartp

My first job on the railway was signalman at Huddersfield Junction. Sadly it was post electrics but a lot of the infrastructure was still there, and I had the dubious pleasure of being on duty for the last ever train off the main line, 7T10 recovering scrap from Penistone Goods in 1988. I used to take modelling to work with me, the signalbox on Portwilliam must be the only G&SWR box ever with GCR/LNER furniture in it because when it came to detailing the inside I just copied what I was sitting in !

 

Two ideas I had at the time, both were intended as joint projects with a mate, both were 'what ifs' and neither progressed beyond a lot of sketches and half a scratchbuilt 76 on a Minitrix 27 chassis:

 

Burngreave Road - the premise was an avoiding line for Victoria along the Don Valley towards Wincobank, running parallel to the MR line but higher up the valley side. We actually spent as much time (and had a lot of fun) trying to get as many Marrillion/Sharpe/Sheffield Wednesday references into the place names as we did planning the actual layout. Lots of deisels working trip freights into a small yard (think Chris Pendleton's North Sheilds) for the electrics to take forwards.

 

Barnsley - Exchange Station in the early 70s but with the wires extended from West Silkstone Jcn through Barnsley to Wath, as a diversionary route off the Worsborough Branch.

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Guest stuartp

Yes, somewhere between Petre Street and Carlisle St East, although we were a bit vague as to exactly where, and I never did sort out the topography at the Tinsley end properly. I think as originally proposed it would have involved a gradient of about 1 in 10 to get down to Tinsley East !

 

The Wednesday bits were a necessary evil, sorry. I don't do football but his wedding day consisted of a quick half hour in the registry office then off to Hillsborough for the match with the bride still in her posh frock. She got her own back, he started keeping koi carp a few years later and she immediately christened the fattest one 'Pressman'.

 

All of which is very off topic, sorry. I'll try to find some MSW photos to scan and post, I never got round to reposting the ones which vanished with Fotopic.

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Burngreave Road - the premise was an avoiding line for Victoria along the Don Valley towards Wincobank, running parallel to the MR line but higher up the valley side. We actually spent as much time (and had a lot of fun) trying to get as many Marrillion/Sharpe/Sheffield Wednesday references into the place names as we did planning the actual layout. Lots of deisels working trip freights into a small yard (think Chris Pendleton's North Sheilds) for the electrics to take forwards.

 

Intrigued by the possibilties offered by Marillion references; Perhaps some of the trip freights would have run to or from Rothery Road Sidings ?

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Guest stuartp

Intrigued by the possibilties offered by Marillion references; Perhaps some of the trip freights would have run to or from Rothery Road Sidings ?

 

I think we had Grendel Road, and a pub called The Harlequin. Sharpe references were The Rifleman pub at the other end of the street, Badjoz St and Talevera St (both battles and well out of era for late Victorian terraces). Wednesday was represented by (Terry) Curran Junction and Olive Grove Junction boxes at each end of the yard, which was Myrtle Road sidings. The latter were both former grounds.

 

It would have been great if we'd ever got round to building it ! These are still lurking in the loft:

 

post-270-0-71091900-1315255175.jpg

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xm607, where can i find out more about your layout, especially photo`s and plans. Also, very interested in plans of sheffield victoria station. Intending one day to model it, after all, you can use so many of heljans locos on it. There would be the em1 and 2, dp2, falcon, kestral, lion and if you modified one, the type4 brush type2. All these were used on the master cutler at one time or another.

 

DS Smith

 

Modelers license would be used to enable all to be used at once.

 

Don't think Kestrel ever worked the "Master Cutler". You'd be OK with the other three prototypes though.

 

Another location worthy of consideration is Rotherwood Exchange Sdgs at the eastern end of the MSW lines. Loops on both sides of the line; Orgreave Coking Plant as a backdrop (bottled smells essential....) Good mix of electric, steam and diesel.

 

Regards,

Peter

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xm607, where can i find out more about your layout, especially photo`s and plans. Also, very interested in plans of sheffield victoria station. Intending one day to model it, after all, you can use so many of heljans locos on it. There would be the em1 and 2, dp2, falcon, kestral, lion and if you modified one, the type4 brush type2. All these were used on the master cutler at one time or another.

 

DS Smith

 

Modelers license would be used to enable all to be used at once.

 

Hi,

The station area as modelled was based upon drawings that I produced from my own slides and photos taken from the internet and magazines, I can copy the drawings if you would could use them, they are to 2mm though.

Steve.

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  • RMweb Gold

Another location worthy of consideration is Rotherwood Exchange Sdgs at the eastern end of the MSW lines. Loops on both sides of the line; Orgreave Coking Plant as a backdrop (bottled smells essential....) Good mix of electric, steam and diesel.

 

Oi, keep away, nothing to see here :nono: . T-B-G and myself have the patent on this one, (when we win the lottery). As Tony worked there he will be coming up with the correct smell, in EM gauge of course :scratchhead:.

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Oi, keep away, nothing to see here :nono: . T-B-G and myself have the patent on this one, (when we win the lottery). As Tony worked there he will be coming up with the correct smell, in EM gauge of course :scratchhead:.

 

 

Well, the little known yard at Netherwood has already been done in 7mm :sungum: see here:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/26939-netherwood-2/

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  • 6 months later...
  • RMweb Gold

I looked at all the locations - both on Google and on old-maps.co.uk. Very difficult to find something that works as a model in anything like a reasonable space. I came to the conclusion that Hadfield was probably the best option for a station.

 

I travelled over the line shortly before the end and it really was something special. I do wish they would reopen it!

 

Not sure if I will ever have the courage to model it though. I do find catenary rather trying!

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  • 9 months later...

The Woodhead line was a wonderful line and shame it closed before I was born, it would have been a fantastic train journey even today even if it was kept open.

Layout wise, I would build something representing the line in the Sheffield area, as I know the city well. Shame there's no ready-to-run Woodhead electrics in N Gauge, but I'd model the line if it had stayed open running modern stock, which would be interesting.

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There is a very nice layout in the current (Feb 2013) Railway Modeller mag. Temperance St - portraying a multitrack mainline just outside Manchester London Rd in LNER days but with O/H electric and a green EMI. Good photos, 6 pages,and plan.

 

Why did they shut all our interesting railways ?. Woodhead, Waverley, S&D to name just three. Still they can be kept alive in models.

 

Brit15

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For me, having known some of the western end of the Woodhead line, there isnt really a station I would model, although Broadbottom comes close (dad's birthplace). The trains I would model are the push pull's behind C13's, other locals behind J10 and J11s, and semi-fast expresses behind B1s and A3s. Freight was the province of just about every Class 04 variant plus B16's and 02's. The longer I wait, the more becomes available RTR, which is more than can be said for the LNWR line over the Pennines I chose to model... :(

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I wouldn't mind modelling a couple of places 1 of them is penistone station and the other isn't quite woodhead route its stairfoot sidings and new oaks junction which is one corner of the wombwell main ,aldham juction triangle but I believe they did think about putting wires up through there and Barnsley station so a bit of modellers licence required .One day when I have the time money and that railway room that my young children are using for a bedroom (ill keep on planning)lol and then there's my current layout grange lane jct and sidings which is set in a similar position to stairfoot which will in the end see catenary up and my 76s on long freight trains.

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  • 1 month later...

for me it would have to guide bridge holding sidings and fuelling point circa 1978-1980. lots of 76s and DC units and diesel classes 08, 25, 40 and 47 .. i had the pleasure, around 1980, aged 12 or 13, of driving a class 76 out from one of the sidings into the station. a quick change of end and it was back into another siding presumbably to release another loco. i found myself, not too many years later working at the drivers signing on office in the now demolished buildings on platform 4. much has changed at this location but at least it still has a yard and P Way depot to keep the enthusiasts interested. peak

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  • 1 year later...

I'm new to this hobby and never built a layout but would love to model Wadsley Bridge station as I grew up two minutes walk away from it (live only a mile n half away from what's left of it now). Maybe a what if, if the station was still in place and a preserved railway, which was being touted a good few years ago.

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  • 1 year later...

Years ago I started a freestyle layout in OO which had a branch line feeding into a 6 lane marshalling yard. This in turn serviced a mainline with terminus and locoshed. The branch was inspired by the Woodhead route and considering this was in the early 80s and there were none of todays goodies available I had to try to populate the line with Trix EM1 and Triang EM2s. I did manage to source quite a few and didn't break the bank doing so. I loved those Locos despite the crude nature of them, particularly the EM1s even thought the wheels were so course.

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The Woodhead line was a wonderful line and shame it closed before I was born, it would have been a fantastic train journey even today even if it was kept open.

Layout wise, I would build something representing the line in the Sheffield area, as I know the city well. Shame there's no ready-to-run Woodhead electrics in N Gauge, but I'd model the line if it had stayed open running modern stock, which would be interesting.

 

 

I know this was posted sometime ago but there are expressions of interest for an N gauge EM1 from DJmDave.

 

                           http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=30497.0

 

 You never know!!.

 

                         Ray.

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  • 1 year later...

Years ago I started a freestyle layout in OO which had a branch line feeding into a 6 lane marshalling yard. This in turn serviced a mainline with terminus and locoshed. The branch was inspired by the Woodhead route and considering this was in the early 80s and there were none of todays goodies available I had to try to populate the line with Trix EM1 and Triang EM2s. I did manage to source quite a few and didn't break the bank doing so. I loved those Locos despite the crude nature of them, particularly the EM1s even thought the wheels were so course.

You may have been one of those who purchased my 3 x Trix EM1s a while ago!

I did keep an unrun black EM1 for my retirement project which starts now. I'm lucky enough to have a 42' long basement and a collection of OO Gauge steamers.

My Woodhead 'itch' has never gone away as I await delivery of the 6 x 2.4m baseboards that will make up the 40' straight-ish run of Mains/Goods tracks that sat under the wires from Hazlehead (with Hepworth Colliery loop - a must-have for a coal line!) through Dunford Bridge (all 3 tunnels depicting that one day in June 1954 - hence its layout name: Time Tunnel June 1954) and into a train time-delay 8' Woodhead Tunnel with Winsecar reservoir above, to emerge at Woodhead and on through charming Crowden before re-tunneling and looping around  hidden fiddle dumbell returns at each end of the layout. All four are very short stations for local Push-Pulls, 506s or DMUs, whilst the EM1 coal trains can slow-haul on the Goods whilst the green EM1s and steamers race Manchester-Marylebone passenger trains the entire length of the visible Mains track and alongside a reflecting 16' glass reservoir from Woodhead to Torside and the level crossing with waiting Faller conversions. I can mix my favourite trix colour searchlight signals with older semaphore.

I am awaiting delivery of a custom-made Glossop 506 (which only ever travelled to Dunford Bridge on the day of opening!!) whilst I cobble together a temporary ersatz 506 from DC-Kits Class 303 centre cars with drilled/adapted cab ends exact to Class 506, Sommerfeldt pantograph, but, alas, with the wrong number of windows between the sliding doors.

I can hear the howls now!!

I love stand-off-scale - a watch-them-go-by  a-la Stoke Bank type rather than a builder/operator...

...well it is MY trainset!!

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You may have been one of those who purchased my 3 x Trix EM1s a while ago!

I did keep an unrun black EM1 for my retirement project which starts now. I'm lucky enough to have a 42' long basement and a collection of OO Gauge steamers.

My Woodhead 'itch' has never gone away as I await delivery of the 6 x 2.4m baseboards that will make up the 40' straight-ish run of Mains/Goods tracks that sat under the wires from Hazlehead (with Hepworth Colliery loop - a must-have for a coal line!) through Dunford Bridge (all 3 tunnels depicting that one day in June 1954 - hence its layout name: Time Tunnel June 1954) and into a train time-delay 8' Woodhead Tunnel with Winsecar reservoir above, to emerge at Woodhead and on through charming Crowden before re-tunneling and looping around  hidden fiddle dumbell returns at each end of the layout. All four are very short stations for local Push-Pulls, 506s or DMUs, whilst the EM1 coal trains can slow-haul on the Goods whilst the green EM1s and steamers race Manchester-Marylebone passenger trains the entire length of the visible Mains track and alongside a reflecting 16' glass reservoir from Woodhead to Torside and the level crossing with waiting Faller conversions. I can mix my favourite trix colour searchlight signals with older semaphore.

I am awaiting delivery of a custom-made Glossop 506 (which only ever travelled to Dunford Bridge on the day of opening!!) whilst I cobble together a temporary ersatz 506 from DC-Kits Class 303 centre cars with drilled/adapted cab ends exact to Class 506, Sommerfeldt pantograph, but, alas, with the wrong number of windows between the sliding doors.

I can hear the howls now!!

I love stand-off-scale - a watch-them-go-by  a-la Stoke Bank type rather than a builder/operator...

...well it is MY trainset!!

I think that I need a trackplan to understand that.

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My attempt at getting the Woodhead spirit,heres a video of my Triang EM2 running under a short lentgh of Trix Catenary 0n my Hornby Dublo 3 rail layout.

 

               

 

 

 To improve the return current,i modified the trailing bogie with modern Hornby coach wheels running in Peco brass bearings.post-4249-0-22221800-1498829316_thumb.jpg

 

I do have one more EM2 to convert & also three Trix EM1s plus an Olivia trains EM1 but it needs the pantographs replacing before i could make it pick up from the catenary,pity Heljan didn`t put working pantographs on what is a very expensive loco.

 

 

                                                  Ray.

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