HeatonLodge40

Love the old BR Bedford HA vans

08579 for many years a Healey Mills based shunter..

Under the bridge..

Another shot of the gantry & Woodend Bridge

Couple of new shots from the far East end of Heaton Lodge..

Kryten65 so a car enthusiast too! I'm always amazed how many Supercar enthusiasts love railways too. Hopefully one day model railways will be as cool as Supercars! Still on the mend the old girl but thanks for asking. I really do appreciate the kind comments once again. As we all know building layouts can often be as frustrating as rewarding sometimes. I'm about to disappear into the garage for another session on board 11 right now. I've said it before, but modelling a real location has been a lot easier especially because HL was so well photographed in the '80's. You simply model what you see. There's just a lot of it! Simon

Thank you for the compliments. Realistically it will be finished by the end of next year so will be on the exhibition circuit early 2018. I am hoping to have it set up in its own industrial unit from mid next year and if anyone is interested I'll do an open day for anyone on here to come and take a look.

Thanks for that. The track and ballasting is way beyond my capabilities though and is the work of expert track builder Norman Saunders. His attention to detail is awesome

Thanks. I use a product called Earth Powder made by Treemendus. It's a fiver for a smallish bag but goes a long way. Sieved real earth is also good but the earth powder for some reason nails it for me

Walking along the path.. Looking at this I've not touched in the end of the broken fence posts oops

Another view from North looking to the South bank. First two tracks are the ex L&Y far two the ex LNWR

I well remember this broken fence and a cut through down to the track in '82..

Looking from the South bank to the North..

Thank you Grob, Time for a bit of an update..I have been busy working on boards 10/11/12 which when finished later this month will be almost 50ft of 4 track mainline totally completed. This has taken me about 5 months of 2/3 evening and a Sunday a week to complete. (As previously mentioned I get each 4ftx4ft'6'' board with track laid by Norman Saunders and fully wired by White Rose modelworks. Board 13 is where it gets much more interesting with the start of the first double junction - which in itself is 12ft long (over 3 boards). Thereafter begins another 40ft of 6 track mainline - 2 of which begin a 40ft descending gradient. These two tracks descend to a 'dive under' twin bore tunnel which cuts under the 4 track (ex L&Y & LNWR) mainlines and head towards Huddersfield. The track for the junction is being constructed right now.

Thanks for that picture of the gantry Michael. The 2 aspect signal head is pretty new being installed only in the last few years. The old 4 aspect one which was present on the far right of the gantry disappeared in the mid 1980's, though the other 4 aspect head which preceded the existing 2 aspect lasted much longer. Take it you're on the TP run?

The two newly completed boards are now joined to the other 30ft or so. Just as I got the camera out - with the sun rising an '08 came trundling through with an old OAA wagon and two recently refurbished newspaper vans perfect timing..

If I may put across my thoughts on static grass - getting the correct shade is vital to an authentic result in my opinion. Colour, as we know cannot be scaled down and in trying to achieve the washed out winter grass look, for the model Heaton Lodge Junction, I went as far as to go to the actual location in December last year and snipping a variety of lengths of grass before sticking them in a colour spectrometer machine! After getting the pantone - or shade- in the form of a code I was able to to have paint mixed to the same colour at B & Q. I then sprayed this through an airbrush onto bleached static grass. The result was surprising, it was far far too bright and made the model appear as if July was the season. Dumbing the shades down therefore is all important, sprinkling dry sieved real earth onto the newly laid 'grass' is also vital and for me neat PVA works every time. I would use the shades I've used here for summer too to be honest. I do use the RTS Greenkeeper 55KV and a vac straight afterwards as Giles advises in his video tutorials to encorage the grass to stand upright. The following pics show 2 layers of grass the second applied through holes cut in a piece of card to achieve the different lengths.

Bit of an update.. I'm working on 5 boards now which together with what's already been completed takes us to 40ft and the beginning of the first double junction. It's taken me 3 weeks from picking up the following 2 boards (complete with track and wired) to entirely finish them. Sort of got a checklist now before 'signing a board off' which includes : 1) 2 layers of grass to different lengths 2) postiche brambles laid 3) postiche with 'burnt flock' to simulate undergrowth laid 4) small sapling trees planted (these made by Paul Bambrick) 5) large trees planted (these now by Anthony Reeves) 6) detail wooden fence (in other words break half of it and replace with sections of wire fence (as on the prototype) 7) occasional shrubs with brown leaves (these are seamoss heavily sprayed with Matt varnish then real ground dead leaves sprinkled on) It's much of the same right now with 40ft of similar scenics and plain 4 track main line. However things are about to get a whole lot more interesting.

I don't think the landscape behind Heaton Lodge has changed in the last 70 years let alone 30 Paul! Makes life easier for us of course

Tell you what I've been doing Allan. Fingers covered with superglue, stabbed myself repeatedly with piano wire making yarrow stems, and I'm covered with plaster eating cornflakes for tea. I've nothing in the fridge but fortunately no female shouting 'when are you coming out of that garage you might as well put a bed in there'. Anyway. Here's some pics of 47421 later named 'The Brontes of Haworth' posing on the newly completed board. 47421 was for many years in the '80's a regular at Heaton Lodge. I spotted it many times in fact I remember the driver shaking his fist at me for sitting on the concrete troughs too near the track. (Sorry if he's reading this)

Delticfan, there will be 3 permanent way huts on HL, all ex LNER the first is about 30ft from where we are up to now. There's even one which dates from pre grouping at the junction itself. Thanks for the positive comments.. Davey, the problem is with a British winter as I call it is there is very very little on the market scenery wise to make life easier. That said I've found some great ways to replicate dead leaves, frost and winter brambles all common on railway cutting and embankments.

You are right Joseph there isn't a backscene as yet. I replied to Mike on the other thread on Heaton Lodge by mistake. Paul Bambrick of Bambrick studios is doing a 3D type backscene that will be higher than most. I want to create a total illusion and therefore hide the operators completely. I'm lucky in that the surrounding landscape that Paul will be replicating has not changed since the 1980's one iota. All the viewing public will hear too (between the sounds of thunderous heavy freight passing by) is the sound of birds singing. Again I remember that vividly from the time. I'm working on a few more surprises that will hopefully raise a few eyebrows. Once again though the positive comments are very welcome. Thanks. Simon

Sorry Neil it wasn't you that asked that. Sleep deprived I am!

Class 66, there isn't any backscene on it yet - the few completed boards happen to be sat next to a light coloured wall and one of the photos has had a background photoshopped in. Paul Bambrick of Bambrick studios will be doing a 3D type backscene. Fortunately the landscape of the prototype is rolling countryside and hasn't changed at all in 30 years. Thanks, Simon

Once again thanks for the kind comments. To be honest I'd still build this model even if no trains were to ever run on it!! I'll use this thread to update when a new section is complete and the one under scenery structures and transport about methods..if anyone is interested. Just about completed another board which has taken about a week of evening. We are getting near the actual junction now and the North embankment starts to drop in height. I'm working to a drawing of the terrain after many site visits and photos taken in 1982-5. This board has another couple of relay boxes on the North side and some vandal has chucked a cooker down the embankment on the South. Few pics including another almost completed module, detail pics and a terrain drawing I'm working to..