mac1960

Roy I have 2nr on order but they are not digital, and I will be renumbering them, and one will be Bolton's (in late 60,s) 48773 with Yellow stripe. As I am modelling S&C in late 60,s with many a Yellow stripped Jubilee on that route, I have quite a collection of stripped locos be them 4F, Patriot, and aforementioned Jubilee's. I was quite surprised they picked 48773 as a launch model for the digital model, and also that the none digital were the earlier BR sign. But the real pain for me are O/H lightening flashes. Every steam loco I have 25+, with the exception of the Patriot has had to have these retro fitted, and that is a real pain in N gauge !! Mac

That looks really good and I know what you mean about the time periods. I am involved with a model of Horton in N gauge on the S&C. We decided to have some leeway by giving the period autumn 1964-67 when Kingmoor closed. It has given scope for a number of locomotives (including Claytons Blue and Green) as well as the BR Corporate Blue intermingled with the Red of the earlier 60,s period. Board and track down and scenery nearly ready to commence, but work and Covid have delayed things by around 5 months. I did think of doing a Waverly model before settling on Horton, and looked at Whitrope and some other sections. Given space I would love to do Whitrope Siding in OO, with a big depth of layout to give that bareness and barran wind swept feel pre the forestation. I look forward to watching your project develop. Cheers Mac

Jason / Jeff Totally get where you are coming from with this, and it is exactly what we are hoping to do with Horton. However as it is N Gauge I have the luxury of a fiddle yard with 10 roads, which allows 10 individual trains each way as they are subdivided. I look forward to seeing your interpretation of the typical S&C scenery. Mac

Given the model is going to be in the 1950,s that stone work would be heavily contaminated with Soot. There was a lot of zealous cleaning of stonework from mid 70,s onwards, so you might need to try You Tube for more accuracy for the period. I think there is a British Transport film called "This is York" (in BW unfortunately) from that period which may help. Mac

I am modelling 64-67 on the S&C in N Gauge, but as I was born in 1960, and I therefore just remember both steam and Green diesels, and obviously the corporate Blue 70,s. As a result I have purchased some Blue Grey Mk 1/ GUV, and some Blue 45, 17, 50 , DMU to show the changes which were occuring on the railway at the time. It works well to break up a train with the odd Blue Grey and is very evocative of that late 60s transition period. However somehow running a full rake of Blue Grey behind say a Britania, looks wrong to me, even though there are a number of pictures of this occurring. Cheers Mac

Kris I am told mine have arrived, unfortunately I am overseas but back Sat so will see what they look like then. I also have some Farish 8F on order (18 months now) I wish they had come as quick as the Cl 17. Prost Mac

I have a Green one with small Yellow ends and a Blu one on order, but does anybody know the actual release date for it yet ?

Well we finally got Horton baseboards and track delv from White Rose this last weekend and tested and set up at home The delay has been part Covid and then work / holiday commitments, but we are now in a position to start though due to work issues this may be at least another 2 weeks off but we will see. It's just good to get it here after such a long wait, mainly as I say due to Covid 19. On the plus side WR did an absolutely wonderful job in interpreting the teams design brief and we are very pleased with what we have, and how the delv was handled in these strange times, so full marks to WR. We will now try and make the scenery match their skills in electronics and baseboard construction. I will send some photos in another month when construction of the scenery will hopefully be underway. Cheers Mac

My aunt lived close to the New Line, and I remember as a child watching the 16.55 (thats when it passed her house !) Liverpool to Newcastle with class 40 with 1/2 Yellow warning panels in and around 1964, and the Mirfield shed was on the other side of the valley. I do not remember many diesels apart from the Newcastle to Liverpool,s and return,s and they all went via Standedge route anyway. The big traffic was endless 16t Grey Mineral wagons loaded and empty, with 8F or Austerity power plodding along, and they did not change to diesel power until 67, and obviously stayed to a degree until 68. The Red Banks often had 40,s on them, but again I can not help with numbers, at that age it was more the sound and smell of the different locos and power I remember.

James It is meant, as you say to be "a model of a railway", and that is what we are striving for. It is being modeled in the autumn (or should I say fall as you are in BC) and the station and buildings are in the distressed state they achieved in the mid 60,s on the S&C. The time frame is Oct 1964 up to Oct 1967, and the line changed little apart from the introduction of some BR Blue stock and locos, and of course the demise of certain steam classes in that period. Ultimately in Dec 67 the end of regular steam occurred with Kingmoor closure. This allows the running of everything from A1 to Class 50, and in theory 100t tanks and Freightliners, though even though I have seen video of these very types of freight train on the S&C I will not be having these as they were not the norm. You will as you said be looking down at arms length to the station, and the idea is to set the railway in the scenery rather than vice versa. Glad you like what we are about. Have a good weekend Cheers Mac

James Some locos re numbered and marked up that I got back from White Rose today, which have been up there for track testing. Feels like it is coming together like all good projects should. Cheers Mac

James Please see clearer photos from todays visit. Cheers Mac

James I am up with White Rose later today, so will get some better photos for you. As you say White Rose have done a great job on the boards etc. The fiddle yard is lit for ease of use and can be covered. I did not want the curves modelled as I find most layout curves far too tight when compared with reality so the layout is essentialy the straight areas. Scenic breaks will be the cutting to the south and we will be introducing a typical S&C bridge (Coal Road Dent) to the north, as there is no convenient break at that end. Mac

Well its been a while coming, but I now have some pictures of Horton and its surround casing. As you can see the fiddle yard is to the front, and will be underneath the hill which is behind the station in reality (for those who know the area), and is therefore covered by this. This was dictated by the room into which it is going ultimately, where access to the back would be difficult. The layout is currently at White Rose Models, who have done a really excellent job of interpreting my brief for the base boards, and indeed wiring and track construction. It was difficult to explain to them what I wanted, so I used the analogy of a theatre. The idea is that you will view the layout through the upper opening, and look down onto the station and buildings at a distance, and these will be like items on a stage, with the trains playing the actors so to speak. The quarry has not been modeled due to space obviously, and only the spur to it will be visible as you can see from the control board. Otherwise the track plan is accurate. There has been some debate as to how life like we can go, and indeed there may have to be some slight changes as the scenery develops, but it will have the feel of the place.. Anyway White Rose are completing their works shortly, and then it is down to the scenery, which is being done by another excellent member of the Horton team. All the buildings are completed, and trees and signals like wise by other specialist in their fields. Hopefully it will come together over the next few months and I will be able to post some more progress shots as the works progress.

Duncan That is some work you have done there, re numbering and putting stripes on steam locos is about my limit ! However you can see your attention to detail on Shirebrook as we discussed when I first saw the layout at Leeds last year (I am the guy who lives in Munich part time if that helps you remember, and we were discussing DB operations as well). Cheers Mac

I have completed the stock required for my S&C layout (Horton) and all have been renumbered and Yellow striped / Lightening flashed where appropriate and weathered but I have not fitted any train code lights as yet. To be honest I am not sure if it is worth it at N scale, but thought I would ask a larger audience for input. Looking at the N gauge layouts on the circuit there does seem to be a variation in the adoption of head codes being fitted. I just wondered what the forum thinks with regards to their fitting. Cheers Mac

I need to curve some back scene material on which to place the painted back scene. I am told there is a material that you can bend to curve required and then wet it and it retains its shape when dried, and will not change back even if slightly damp. Unfortunately the person telling me about this did not know the name of it. Does anyone know of such a type of sheet material, as I have tried Google with out success so far? Regards Mac

RHB Simon I am in the same boat with Horton. Boards track / ballasting / electrics and front screens all complete at White Rose and awaiting a move south post virus. Buildings completed and being weathered and all stock procured detailed and renumbered, just awaiting new Farish 8f,s in September. I hope this weekend brings some good news re lock down. Cheers Mac

Phil Just remembered there was a British Waterways work barge tied up just inside the tunnel gates, within the tunnel. It was open topped with no cabin or engine and was about a foot high above the water level. I guess it was for inspections as all the other locks were cascaded at the time. Not sure you will even want to model it, and the gates you have on the model looking at the photos look ok to me as they are, just need closing. All the best. Mac

Phil I do not have any photos of the canal tunnel unfortunately, but the gates were a darkish Blue from memory and did not extend into the apex of the tunnel, so straight topped if you get my drift, from the point where the roof starts to curve. They were obviously locked by padlock and chain and sat level with the towpath. There may be some photos on Google if you look for Huddersfield Narrow Canal restoration. I am so glad that you did not mind me pointing out about the date of the restoration vis a vie your operating period, as the model is so good it felt like being a little churlish when pointing it out. Also the Pullman was in 1967 when steam was still coming up the valley with about 53 freight trains a day but this dropped to 16 by 1971,and all diesel usually 37 and 40 from Healy Mills, with Class 46 and occasionally 47 on passenger and parcels. In the late 1970,s and early 80,s there were also Deltics (Tulyar being one I travelled back from Uni on a few times) and also TPO for Shrewsbury and Whitehaven of all places. As for living here, its great on a day like today with a glorious sunny day in prospect, but as we live at 1100ft contour height the winters can be pretty brutal. The local Colne Valley joke about the summer is it starts 1st July and ends on August Bank Holiday, outside of that you can expect anything from Snow to heatwave often on same weekend !! Let me know re exhibitions as I would love to see your work. Cheers Mac

Phil I noticed you ran a Blue Pullman saying you like the model but that it was unlikely to have run in the area. I have just been reading a book about the LNWR Lines in Yorkshire of which Standedge is the main one. You may like to know that a Blue Pullman did indeed run over Stanedge from Reddish to Leeds for some promotional work in 1967 but did not return this way. So a little before your modelling period but surprisingly it did happen.

Phil I just came to this and have to say that is an excellent job you have done and truly catches the feel of the place as I know it quite well as I live 4 miles away above Slaithwaite . If there was little thing which is wrong for the time frame you appear to be modelling ie BR Blue, it is that the canal and tunnel did not open again until 2001 and the restoration from Slaithwaite did not start until 1987. This would be long after BR Blue. The tunnel had collapsed internally in parts and was drained and re built . There were Blue wrought iron gates to the canal tunnel and the water looked like the colour of coffee. I know this as I work in the construction industry and got a tour of the site by the contractor who I was working with at the time. However still an excellent representation of an iconic location. Do you have any exhibition dates planned post Covid 19 obviously ?

Barcaldinegoods Thanks for coming back to me on that and confirming what I thought. I had not looked in for a while so sorry for slow response but thanks once again. Regards Mac

Sorry Title should have read as water column but it is the middle of the night my time. Regards Mac

Well it’s been a while since I posted due to work, but Horton in Ribblesdale is coming along. Base boards and track are nearing completion and scenic work is due to start this winter. I have just about got everything together though we have had to make some compromises as even with a 3.5m length board in n gauge it is still approx 1m too small to model as reality. As a result we are using track plan from mid 60,s but have introduced an bridge to the south and may even put a goods shed in . Perhaps I should change the name to just Horton so it can be more generic ? Anyway the reason for the post is does anybody know if there was a water tower on any platforms or indeed yard as despite looking at video and many books with regards to zHorton in Ribblesdale I have yet to find one. So maybe somebody knows or may even have been there at the time and can advise. Regards Mac