Manchester Waterworks Railway diorama

[Dunalastair]

Today's diorama in my 'diorama a day' series is a depiction of the unusual electric narrow gauge railway operated by Manchester to serve the reservoir works in the Longdendale Valley, near Glossop and the GCR Woodhead Tunnel. Narrow gauge steam railways were often used for reservoir construction (Harold Bowtell was the authority and his books make interesting reading) both for private contractors and for Corporation direct labour projects.

 

https://www.marplelocalhistorysociety.org.uk/society-meetings/meetings-2014-2015/202-february-16th-a-history-of-longdendale-valley-2.html

 

Some water boards retained NG rails for maintenance, many of which survived until comparatively recently. Manchester was different in that they used an overhead wire electric locomotive, apparently supported by their tramway department which used similar equipment.

 

 

In later years IC traction was used, but the loco body survived as a lineside shelter.

 

 

Several railway enthusiast visits recorded what then survived - in the 21st century the NG line is now a path and even the Woodhead line is a cycleway.

 

 

My little diorama on an A4 sized base uses 16.5mm Tri-ang track suitably buried in the static grass, alongside one of the stone-lined water channels. The 3D printed steeplecab locomotive with its tramway trolley pole hauls a flat wagon loaded with a section of waterworks pipework. The overhead wire support poles are based on photographs of surviving structures. A rather American-looking worker watches from the other side, having used the footbridge to keep out of the way of the short train.

 

 

A useful resource for projects such as this can be found in back issues of the Industrial Railway Society's 'Record'. Many of my models are based on scaling from photographs in articles from that useful journal.

Edited June 28, 2023 by Dunalastair

[Dunalastair]

Googling again now, I find that the Narrow Gauge Railway Society has a special issue of TNG on the NG railways in Longdendale - I don't remember seeing this so I think this may have been published after I did my research. I must now try to resist temptation ...

 

https://www.ngrs.org/book-sales-tng-special-issues/