Enfield Town Model
Railway Club
Members' layouts
CROMPTON TOWN
- by Roger Elkin
|
|
|
Crompton Town is
a new 00 gauge "modern image" terminus to fiddle yard layout
being built by Roger Elkin in a small room 8ft x 6ft. Crompton Town is
located somewhere on the south east side of the Greater Manchester conurbation.
The period is around 1990 and the layout represents the last 10 years
of British Rail.
The former through
station is now a terminus and the main line was reduced to a single track
in a rationalisation programme by BR. The station buildings have been
modernised and platform facilities reduced to a "bus shelter"
type waiting room.
|
The station still has regular Inter-City services to London as well as cross-country, regional and local passenger services. There is also some air-braked freight traffic from the brewery, paper factory and engineering works on the local industrial estate.
Fortunately part of the station and the former loco depot and goods yard have been taken over by a railway preservation society, and a variety of preserved steam and diesel locos can also be seen at Crompton Town. The preservation site also includes a turntable and a connection to the BR mainline so it can provide facilities for main line steam specials. Preserved rolling stock includes some of the splendid new Hornby Gresley teak coaches, and an old LNWR coach as well as the inevitable ex-BR Mark 1 coaches.
|
|
|
The
layout is built on MDF baseboards supported on steel shelving units. Kitchen
type cupboards above the layout provide storage space for unassembled kits
and other modelling materials. The track is Peco code 100. Separate control
panels are provided for the BR main line and the preserved running line,
with All Components "On-Track" centre-off controllers being used.
|
|
|
Space for scenic structures is rather limited so extensive use is made of background scenery to provide the atmosphere for a flourishing northern industrial town. Most of the back scenes are home-produced on a computer using the Photoshop Elements programme to heavily edit digital photographs of real buildings (many of them taken in Macclesfield in Cheshire). These are supplemented by a few commercial items such as the Metcalfe cardboard kit factory and brewery, and a Corgi card kit for Victoria coach station in London has been turned into a modern low-relief shopping centre by adding digital photos of real shop window displays.
|
Track
laying was completed early in 2006 and most of the track has now been
wired up and tested. The point motors and signals have still to be connected
to the control panels. Work is progressing well on the station buildings,
platforms and road bridges. The first draft of the proposed timetable
has been written and tested.
|
|
|
Picture
details.
1. (Top) - A general view of the room with the layout under construction.
2. An Inter-City train in the station.
3. "Clan Line" being turned on the preserved turntable ready to work a main
line steam special.
4. The station approach.
Text and
photos © R.Elkin
|
