AndrewT

Ditto - I cant get anything until end February... :-(

And I for one couldn't agree more. This area was a formative part of my teens and I'd hate to see some of the heritage lost for the sake of saving a few minutes on a journey. Thankfully - it's thanks to models of this sort and calibre (and attention to minute detail) help preserve those memories.

Not listed - I just checked. They've already had local consultation meetings and intend to submit a Transport and Works Act order in Autumn 2020. I understand from another source that the work is expected to last until end of 2024 with around 156 weeks of line closure out of the total 208 week project. All details and all the other connecting maps here: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/railway-upgrade-plan/key-projects/transpennine-route-upgrade/huddersfield-to-westtown-dewsbury/

Using part of the old Midland Railway Huddersfield (Newtown Goods) branch formation by the look of things. I assume, in the absence of available information from NR that the overall radius of the curve from / to Huddersfield for the new 'fast' lines is to be eased to allow higher speed running - hence the demolition of the houses and use of the disused MR track formation. Anyone out there from NR know??

1_Colne_Bridge_and_BattyefordV2_FINAL.pdf I assume you've seen the Network Rail plans for the scheme? - see attached. 1_Colne_Bridge_and_BattyefordV2_FINAL.pdf

That means losing a good slice of Ravensthorpe & Thornhill Lees.......... some might consider that a good result!

In the late 70's it was exceptionally rare (in fact I can't actually remember a single one), to ever see a freight heading East, coming from Huddersfield to use the tunnel / duck-under line. Freights always used the 'old' route to come round the corner. That all changed presumably when they lifted one of the pair of lines leaving only the Westbound one. Similarly - very rare to ever see a passenger train use the 'old' route - perhaps (if my recollection is right) the odd FootEx special - the only reason I can offer is that they used to come round slower, then halt, awaiting a faster (regularly scheduled) train to come under the tunnel route, rejoin the main line and carry on its way. Also - passenger trains other than specials and empty stock workings were never seen using the Calder Valley line. Not sure when that changed - I'd moved on by then, but I'm guessing when Brighouse station was re-opened? Perhaps someone knows.

Looking at that last photo - I remember that odd signal on the Westbound line before the tunnel. We never knew why such a signal was required there or why it was that type. It was illuminated internally at night. Can anyone familiar with signalling (a subject I'm not that well versed in) tell me about it? Thanks.

It's 212m from West face of footbridge to East face of tunnel portal...... trust me and don't ask any questions !

I can confirm that the remains of the signal box base were certainly visible in the winter months in the late 70's. In summer they were covered by weed growth. Talking of weeds - the thing that sticks in my mind was the amount of Rose Bay Willow Herb that used to grow in and around the whole of the lineside areas. Flowers June-September, but its Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaenerion_angustifolium) has an interesting note : 'The plant's rise from local rarity to widespread abundance seems to have occurred at the same time as the expansion of the railway network and the associated soil disturbance'. I understand the model is represented as being outside these months, so the brick base would certainly be visible.

Fabulous - and as SHMD said - highly informative. You were hanging around Heaton Lodge about three / four years after I'd moved on to other things (girlfriends, motorbikes etc!), but nothing much has changed really, and it honestly looks like the real location - and as you pointed out, as for yourself, as well as me, seeing the video really takes me back to the late 70's (early 80's in your case). On another note - I'm still curious when the footpath tunnel leading from the footbridge was lined with profiled steel. It certainly wasn't lined in my day, it was simply wet slimy stonework in there - and at the top of the wall, there were dark recesses formed between each steel 'roof' girder. One time we noticed something sticking out of one of those recesses - turned out to be an air rifle someone had stashed there - it wasn't in great condition, but we did hand it in to the police (PC Diggins as I remember!).

It'd be interesting to know when the regulations changed for hi-viz clothing from the universal BR 'donkey jacket' with a hi-viz orange shoulder patch to the full hi-viz jacket and pants. Also when hard-hats became mandatory. I'm modelling Horton In Ribblesdale station in 4mm to represent the late 1970' / early 1980's and although I'm a long way off placing figures on the layout, it would be good to know.

From old photos and maps, I knew there were some sidings between the LNWR Huddersfield-Leeds line and the Leeds 'new' Line, as well as a few nearer to the houses at Heaton Lodge itself, but on all the photos I've ever seen - they were empty. Anyone know what their purpose was? I do know that roughly where the arrow-head on the above map is on the RH side after the word 'Leeds' - there was a very small drift mine (actually a bit nearer the (blue) running lines. Might have been something to do with that perhaps?

I used to cycle to Healey Mills to cop whatever was on shed. A friend of my Dad's (now retired, who shall remain nameless) was one of the train Controllers at HM, and if we went over the bridge to the yard control office, he'd print off a copy of the shed list for us on what looked like a teleprinter (This was 1979!). Often he'd escort a couple of us round if we asked nicely. On New Years' day for a couple of years running my mate (who shall also remain nameless as his father is extremely well known in railway photography) and I, used to take what I might describe as 'unescorted' shed tours..... if you get my drift. The place would be packed due to most trains not running that day, and freight in particular. Great times, but of course all that stopped, and the place deteriorated gradually to what it is today - a wasteland. I can't wait to see the model develop.

There was no pot bellied stove in it - certainly between 1976 and 1981 inclusive...... ermmm... I can absolutely assure you of that! There were however some very old rather soggy Railwayman's Operating Instructions - the newsprint type booklets that contained details of line closures, warnings, engineering works, temporary speed restrictions etc. I spent my formative years 'spotting' here. I lived 10 minutes walk away, and would be found there with my spotting mates after school, school lunchtimes, weekends and all day long school holidays. I've sat hours and hours on that footbridge that led the the underpass (which had not been lined with corrugated metal at that time) and to the row of houses at Heaton Lodge. Spent hours wandering round the abandoned Mirfield shed (That would make an ideal extension to give you something to do when the main part is finished!). The big embankment on the South side of the main lines made I assume from excavated spoil from the construction of the Ex-Midland goods line, was called 'Doggy Bank' - for reasons lost in the mists of time. Class 124 Trans Pennine units were the order of the day along with the Liverpool-Newcastle (and vice- versa) expresses normally hauled by a 40, 45, occasionally a 46 or in latter times 47's. From around 1981 on winter mornings the Huddersfield-Leeds 07:40, normally a 2-car DMU, would on many occasions be subsituted for three MK1 coaches hauled by a class 31. Oil trains off the Calder valley, normally with a 40 in charge. Rarities would be in 1979 a class 24 on a weekday evening going who knows where with what looked like old parcels stock. Sunday afternoons would see the resident Huddersfield station pilot 08 head back to Healey Mills (slowly!) to refuel for the following week. 20's were a rare sight, but we did get our fair share of 25's, sometimes double headed. 37's were common as muck on all classes of freight. We witnessed the first Romanian-built 56's with MGR's, saw the passing of the 24's. Saw the APT being loco-halued one toward Leeds having come from Manchester direction, also an HST in 1978 which was way off its normal stomping ground - Never saw the 58's or 60's in operation here - as I'd moved on the things with two wheels, and an engine and also that other species with wobbly-bits by then. What great times and I can say without a doubt your model really captures the exact feeling of being there all those years ago. Sadly - I didn't take photos in those days, so I've nothing to share, but I do have my spotters books and some notes..... as well as the booklets (now dried out after 40 years!) from the lineside hut . If you have any questions from a witness (albeit slightly earlier than your period) - feel free to ask and I'll try remember details.