Wardleworth Lines Committee?

[SteveyDee68]

Possibly the wrong place for this as it is a query, but try as I might with the search function I keep returning to the same half dozen entries...

 

The Wardleworth Lines Committee (layout) written about back in 1973/74 (?) in The Railway Modeller magazine has been cited as inspiration by a couple of folks on here. I recently came into possession of said articles but wonder if anyone knows what became of the layout and its builder, Rev Alan Shone? Searching his name here pulls up plenty of references to "the sun shine" but not the Rev Alan. Somebody else mentioned his son, but no luck with that either!

 

A Google search on the wider www points me to the same RMWeb entries, my own reference and a YouTube video of one of the locos running elsewhere!

 

I'm intrigued as to what became of the layout, and especially the amazing LARGE ship models seen in the photos - the train ferry and the cross channel packet steamer.

 

If this is the wrong place to ask, AndyY or Moderators please feel free to move appropriately! 

 

Steve S

[Pacific231G]

30 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

Possibly the wrong place for this as it is a query, but try as I might with the search function I keep returning to the same half dozen entries...

 

The Wardleworth Lines Committee (layout) written about back in 1973/74 (?) in The Railway Modeller magazine has been cited as inspiration by a couple of folks on here. I recently came into possession of said articles but wonder if anyone knows what became of the layout and its builder, Rev Alan Shone? Searching his name here pulls up plenty of references to "the sun shine" but not the Rev Alan. Somebody else mentioned his son, but no luck with that either!

 

A Google search on the wider www points me to the same RMWeb entries, my own reference and a YouTube video of one of the locos running elsewhere!

 

I'm intrigued as to what became of the layout, and especially the amazing LARGE ship models seen in the photos - the train ferry and the cross channel packet steamer.

 

If this is the wrong place to ask, AndyY or Moderators please feel free to move appropriately! 

 

Steve S

Assuming he was a Church of England vicar you may be able to find out from diocesan records. Do you have any idea in what part of the country the layout was built? 

I wanted to find out more about the Rev. P.H. Heath who invented the Piano Line and was a pioneer of 00n3. Even Cyril Freezer didn't know much about him- he was one of those people who contributed a few articles to RM then just wasn't heard from again-  I eventually tracked down the Church he'd been vicar of at that time and the former church warden remembered the Piano Line in the vicarage and also appearing at the odd church fete.

[Joseph_Pestell]

18 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

Assuming he was a Church of England vicar you may be able to find out from diocesan records. Do you have any idea in what part of the country the layout was built? 

I wanted to find out more about the Rev. P.H. Heath who invented the Piano Line and was a pioneer of 00n3. Even Cyril Freezer didn't know much about him- he was one of those people who contributed a few articles to RM then just wasn't heard from again-  I eventually tracked down the Church he'd been vicar of at that time and the former church warden remembered the Piano Line in the vicarage and also appearing at the odd church fete.

 

If CofE, Crockford's would be an easier first stop. I don't know if back numbers have been digitised.

 

Edit: They have but you  have to pay for access. Revd Robert Alan Shone may well be your man.

Edited August 22, 2019 by Joseph_Pestell
Add info

[ian]

From the information in the articles you can glean that his parish was Wardleworth in Lancashire - the three stations being named after the churches in his care.

 

Edit: And a quick Google shows that he was in post in 1966.

 

From the London Gazette:

 

Pursuant to the Pastoral Reorganisation Measure, 1949, the Church Commissioners hereby give notice that the Right Reverend William, Bishop of Manchester,
has made, and deposited with them, an Order dated the Sth day of May 1966, authorising the Reverend Robert Alan Shone to hold in plurality the benefices of Saint Mary, Wardleworth and Saint James, Wardleworth, both situate in the diocese of Manchester, subject to the conditions specified in the said Order.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2019 by ian

[SteveyDee68]

Thanks folks

 

So, the first bit of information gleaned is that his name was actually Rev Robert Alan Shone whereas I thought it was simply Rev Alan Shone!

 

I have two RM articles - the Wardleworth Lines Committee article itself and the feature article on his train ferry. I remember reading a further article (I am sure) about the locomotives, again in RM. Although I am sure the magazine was still black and white, I seem to remember there being colour photos of his locos, to demonstrate the liveries applied.

 

I do know that the parish was in Wardleworth in Rochdale - not only does the article mention it, but I also did some cover teaching at Wardleworth High School (of youth brass band fame) which is in the parish. In fact, "jus down't rowd from mi, lad" (I live in Bury).

 

His supposition was for a cross-Pennine railway route that got "missed" by BR... bringing it up to date it would be a cross-Pennine rail franchise, and more modern locos could easily appear in WLC liveries! Maybe an opportunity for a limited production run of class 66s in WLC colours?! 

 

Steve S

 

 

[Pacific231G]

According to a local reference he was known simply as the Rev. Alan Shone.

 

St. Mary w St. James seems to be known now as St. Mary in the Baum. It still exists but shares a vicar with St.Chads - the Rochdale parish church.

contact details here http://www.rochdaleparishchurches.org.uk/contact-us/contact-us-4288.php

A polite letter or email  will likely get you more information and though the current vicar, Rev. Mark Coleman, probably didn't know Alan Shone there's likely to be someone there who did. I'd normally suggest the Church Warden but that position is currently vacant for St. Mary in the Baum.

 

Given the Rochdale location it might be worth trying the Manchester MRS. He might have even been a member. 

Update 

I've just read Alan Shone's article in the December 1972 RM article. He says that he took up railway modelling in his mid fifties in 1967 so I think we can assume that he's no longer with us but he also says that the layout was a joint effort with his son in law and various parishioners. It seems likely therefore that someone would have kept major models like the Rachel Louise train ferry. I remember seeing the  separate article by him describing the ship but for four or five years work the Wardlleworth Lines Committee was no mean achievement. I imagine he was also a very energetic vicar. 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2019 by Pacific231G

[ian]

Another quick Google showed he was still in the Manchester area in the early 2000's , albeit retired and was at the Wardleworth parish for 18 years.

 

Best guess is on retirement or move to another parish the vicarage housing the railway was vacated and the layout dismantled (it was very not portable). Given that the two boats were named after his daughters I'd imagine they stayed in the family.

 

BTW there was a second part to the December 1972 Railway of the Month article in the January edition which had more photos.

[Pacific231G]

17 hours ago, ian said:

Another quick Google showed he was still in the Manchester area in the early 2000's , albeit retired and was at the Wardleworth parish for 18 years.

 

Best guess is on retirement or move to another parish the vicarage housing the railway was vacated and the layout dismantled (it was very not portable). Given that the two boats were named after his daughters I'd imagine they stayed in the family.

 

BTW there was a second part to the December 1972 Railway of the Month article in the January edition which had more photos.

Thanks for that Ian. I have a bound volume of the 1973 RM but hadn't spotted that article which includes a colour photo which shows a pretty good standard of modelling.

I found an article about he and his wife's diamond wedding celebration in the local pages of the Manchester Evening News on 24 April 2005

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/whitworth-and-healey-news-in-brief-1178782

I assume it's that piece that your Google search also turned up as it does say that Rev. Alan Shone retired after 18 years as vicar of the Wardleworth parish in 1981 after serving in parishes in Leeds and Didsbury. It gave their address as Whitworth, a small town in Rossendale a few miles north of Rochdale, so close to his old parish but not too close.  CofE clergy have normally retired by 70 with the average 65 but they can generally officiate at services for as long as their faculties allow and Alan Shone carried out a number of burials at Whitworth cemetery from 1981 until at least 1995 so may well have had some ecclesiastical involvement with the local church St. Bartholomews.  

Alan Shone's wife Eileen died some time after him in Feb 2009 but I've not been able to find out when he died.

 

You're probably right about the Wardleworth Lines being dismantled when Alan Shone and his wife left the vicarage but it would be interesting to know whether he ever built another layout. 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2019 by Pacific231G

[pete_mcfarlane]

I have a vague notion of seeing this layout in one of those large format books on railway modelling (the kind that are basically pictures of layouts without telling you much about how they were made) that I borrowed from the library as a kid. I was already familiar with it from my Grandfather's stash of Railway Modellers. 

 

Have you seen this video? At least one of the locos survives.

 

 

[SteveyDee68]

On 23/08/2019 at 20:00, pete_mcfarlane said:

I have a vague notion of seeing this layout in one of those large format books on railway modelling (the kind that are basically pictures of layouts without telling you much about how they were made) that I borrowed from the library as a kid. I was already familiar with it from my Grandfather's stash of Railway Modellers. 

 

Have you seen this video? At least one of the locos survives.

 

 

 

This was the video I found, too.

 

Thanks for all the information --  have been busy reading the Minories layout design thread, particularly regarding the curved approach to a terminus negating reverse curves into platforms, and noticed the pointwoek into St John's in the plan in the RM ... the Rev appears to have used the same idea, so even more impressed with his work.  Having decided to model a train ferry in 4mm scale, I may end up with something similar to his plan for St John's, especially as his design for a "generic" train ferry is damned good looking!

 

Hopefully not infringing copyright by pasting a photo of the relevant bit of the plan here...

 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by SteveyDee68
Corrected autocorrect errors!

[Bob Wood]

Hi . 

I am delighted that someone has enquired about Wardleworth Lines and it’s creator the Rev’ Alan Shone . My family were members of the church at St Mary’s the Baum , Wardlworth, Rochdale when I was young where I attended Sunday school . 

It was a magnificent N gauge layout with a continuous run , a terminus station, a boat ferry and a branch line . The layout had overhead catenary built partly from pedal cycle spokes! Part of the continuous run was on an embankment and based on the west coast main line at a point where it runs parallel to the M 6. 

Scale length trains were run including a full Pullman train . I don’t think cab control was included as you had to set the various speed and direction controllers accurately . 

The Rev Shone built the layout with the help of his son in law David Moss and we had some fantastic running nights . 

Sadly the vicarage was sold off and Rev Shone moved to a new, modern vicarage near where I lived . I can remember the layout in pieces at the back of the attached garage , a sad end to an amazing project . The rolling stock I believe was sent to an auction house . 

It was this early inspiration that motivated my own interest in railways and to create my own layout based on the Lancashire and Yorkshire branch line through Shawclough and Healey to Bacup . 

Bob Wood.