Photo: Tony Wright, courtesy Warner Group Publications
Whiteadder Junction
EM gauge layout of the Skipton Group EMGS
Dimensions:
34ft x 2ft 6in (10.37m x 0.72m) plus operating space, see Whiteadder
Plan.
Type
of Layout:
Standard gauge country
junction of two secondary lines, one ex-NE, the other ex-NB, set in Scottish
border country, 1930s.
Number
of Operators:
4/5.
Transport
Requirements/Expenses:
Trailer hire. Fuel for 1 large MPV. B&B accommodation if more
than 50 miles (1½ hours) from Skipton. (For very distant venues B&B accommodation for
night after exhibition).
Next
Appearances:
Wakefield 2012.
Past
Appearances:
Skipton 2004; ExpoEM North 2004; ExpoEM 2005: Skipton, 2005; Festival of
British Railway Modelling (Harrogate) 2006; Keighley, 2006; Derby, 2006; Wigan
2006; Kendal 2007; Skipton, 2007; Grantham, 2007; Preston, 2007; Middlesbrough
2008; Chatham, 2008;
Blackburn, 2008; Derby, 2009; Pickering, 2009.
Contact:
Trevor Shaw
24 Nursery Lane
Addingham
Ilkley
LS29 0TN
Tel: 01943 831935
Email
Note: The above email address is an image and cannot be used as a link.
Layout Description
We imagine
that late in the 19th century the North Eastern Railway built a cut-off route from Tweedmouth to
Haddington, which would have given them direct access to
Edinburgh
without having to use the whole of the North British Railway's east coast
route. Some years later, the North British built a single track route from
Coldstream to
Reston
on its own east coast line. This
had to cross the North Eastern’s cut-off route near the small
village
of
Allanton
on the Whiteadder Water.
Because of the lie of the land, the NB line had to cross the existing line on
the level by joining the NE in a trailing junction from the south, then running
for a matter of yards along NE metals before branching off northwards to Reston.
Whiteadder station, with its small goods yard, containing little more than a
loading bank and coal drop/lime cell, was a few yards to the east of the
junction and not accessible to the NBR’s trains.
Our layout is set in 1937, at a time when pre-grouping rivalry between the NER
and the NBR still meant a lot. The NER signalman often kept NBR trains waiting
for long periods. There is also a goods loop to the east of Whiteadder station
where North Eastern goods trains were stopped to allow passenger trains to pass.
The baseboards are open plan and
show the characteristic scenery of the Scottish Borders with the Lammermuir
Hills in the background.
Buildings are scratch-built mainly from card or plasticard and are based on
those at Norham, which has been ‘almost’ preserved in private ownership. It
was surveyed and photographed in 2003 for the purposes of this layout. Scenery
is plaster laid directly onto fly-screen mesh and then covered with various
types of proprietary ground cover. The bridges are scratch-built, being based on
prototypes in the Border area. Trackwork is C&L with
hand-built points.
Operation
is by two controllers (Up and Down) and two panels - one for the signalman and
one for the driver. The points are operated by Tortoise point motors. Two
additional operators take care of the fiddle yards, which use cassettes.
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