As I've mentioned a number of times before the Penistone line from Hudersfield to Sheffield runs along the bottom of our garden. Until 1981 the line also formed part of the Woodhead route between Sheffield and Manchester. The line to Manchester branched from the current line at Penistone and climbed into the Peak District where it entered a tunnel at Dunford Bridge before reappearing at Woodhead and continuing to Glossop and on to Manchester. Since the line originally opened in 1845 there have been three parallel tunnels built. The original tunnel was joined by a second one in 1853 and a new tunnel replaced both of these in 1953 when the line was electrified. When the new tunnel opened in 1954 the two Victorian tunnels were closed and the track lifted and they remained unused until 1966.
In 1963 the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), now known as the National Grid, announced that they wanted to construct an overhead power line linking Thorpe Marsh power station in Yorkshire with Staylbridge in Cheshire. There was significant public objections, however, to allowing pylons to be built within the Peak District and eventually the CEGB decided to route the cables through the old Victorian railway tunnels. As part of this work a 2 foot gauge railway was installed within the northern of the two tunnels to ease access. A number of locomotives have worked this line but my interest has been caught by Clayton battery electric locomotive works number 5843 which was a one off variant of a standard Clayton design using larger wheels to give a higher top speed.
The locomotive was delivered new in 1971 and withdrawn, I believe, sometime during the 1990's. It's now owned by the Moseley Railway Trust who purchased it in 2000. Amazingly these two photos are the only colour images I've been able to find of it in use prior to preservation (there is a black and white photo in issue 77 of the Industrial Railway Society journal). It's not just photos of the locomotive that are hard to find though. Given how much interest there is in the standard gauge Woodhead route I can find almost no published accounts of the 2 foot gauge railway that replaced it. I'm guessing this is mostly due to only short sections at either end of the tunnel being visible to the public and both of these are in fairly out of the way places. If you happen to know of any more details on the line, the locos or the rolling stock I'd appreciate it if you could leave a comment.
Fortunately, while details of it in active use might be scarce I already had a set of drawings done by Jeremy Tilston in 2005 and these have allowed me to make a start on a model. Currently progress is only virtual as I'm again intending to 3D print the majority of the model.
There are still a few details to add before I order a print but the render on the left seems to be a good representation. My plan is to print it in two halves; a chassis (in orange) to which all the mechanical parts will be fitted and then an upper body (in yellow) which will slide over the motor and be secured by two screws. What you can't tell from the images is that this model is in a new scale for me.
I really wanted to produce a model of this locomotive in OO9, the same scale as the Hudson-Hunslet, unfortunately it just wasn't possible. On the Hudson-Hunslet the motor just fitted within the bodywork, unfortunately on this locomotive there isn't enough space in OO9 to fit even a 6mm x 10mm motor horizontally within the body and if fitted vertically the driveshaft would be almost touching the rail and two low to drive the layshaft. This means I've had to move up a scale and this model is designed for O14. For those not familiar with this scale it models narrow gauge in O scale (7mm to the foot) using 14mm gauge track. This has the advantage of being an accurate representation of 2 foot gauge railways. Even in this larger scale the model is very small and in fact won't be much bigger than the OO9 Hudson-Hunslet!
Of course having never modelled in O14, or any scale larger than 4mm to the foot, I'm going to have to see what modelling skills work in a larger scale and which need some more thought. I'm also going to need to build some 14mm gauge track to test it on. I can see months of fun ahead!
I'm looking forward to this saga unfolding.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting project Mark. All print or part etched?
ReplyDeleteSimilar locos, albeit with smaller wheels, were also available in 18" gauge. So with a few revisions and a 9mm gauge power unit you could offer it to the O9 lunatic fringe...
My current plan is all printed bar the maker/works plates and the bell holder as everything else appears to fit within the limits of the printing process and I'm confident in my 3D printing skills than my etch drawing skills. Having said that certain parts of it would probably work well as etches (the top of the battery box being a good example). I'm going to try a printed version and then may refine the model depending on how it turns out so it may gain more etched bits as I go along. After all it appeared in three different liveries so I can experiment by building at least three models!
DeleteI've got drawings for the normal version but that seems to be 2 foot gauge as well, although I'm guessing it would have been easy to regauge for 18 inch so an O9 version is a distinct possibility.
Battery locos were often designed to be easily re-gauged, as they were sold to contractors who might need to use different gauges to suit different jobs. I have a photo of a similar 18" gauge Clayton being used on a sewer tunnel contract about to be lowered down a shaft. (Industrial Narrow Gauge Railways in Britain, Bradford Barton. Oddy enough the next two photos in the book are of cabless Huddy Hunslets...)
DeleteExciting times ahead. What I can't understand is why I find it so interesting watching someone else model things in which I have no real interest. The human mind is a strange thing. Well mine appears to be anyway.
ReplyDeleteI was aware of the ng. line as I lived in Stalybridge for a while in the early seventies...my job at the time took me up to Woodhead delivering materials. I remember the works yard and the narrow gauge track but I can't remember a locomotive. This looks like a very worthwhile project- something interesting and unusual. As for the change in scale, I find 7mm/ft so much easier than anything else, although it's sobering to think that the little loco will still be tiny!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Do you by any chance have any recollection of what buildings were by the Woodhead tunnel entrance around that time? I've seen a report that suggests the building that was just removed was built in the early 1980's but I've seen a photo dated 1978 that also shows it so I'm not sure exactly when it was built or what came before it.
DeleteIf I've interpreted the photos above correctly the one on the left is taken looking out of the western end of the tunnel. There seems to be too much daylight for there to have been a building on the left immediately having exited the tunnel, but there is a point with track leading off left which I understand went to some form of engine store, but so far I've no idea what that looked like.
I'm really scratching my head...I remember the road was pretty hairy for the truck I drove, although I had only just passed my class 2 test at the time. Yes, I think the photo on the left is the W end and I have a dim recollection of a large wooden shed, set hard in to the retaining stonework, but I can't quite remember. I will mull over it for a day or two and something might come back- sorry I can't be of more help just now. Perhaps the synapses will repair with encouragement!
ReplyDeleteThe road out there can still be pretty hairy, especially if the weather is bad!
DeleteA large wooden shed sounds about right as the only description I have so far (from No77 of the Industrial Railway Record) refers to a "specially built charging 'shed' which forms part of the pump house at the Woodhead end". I assume 'shed' wouldn't refer to the more substantial building that was there recently.