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LINFIT WEST – C.C.E. SIDINGS.
By Richard Timms & Steve Hitchcock, Leeds Model Railway Society
History.
Originally just ‘ Linfit West ‘ and built by Andy Morris, also of LMRS. fame. The layout had stood idle for almost ten years before being acquired in late 2003. The original plan has been on hold for some time but now the layout has been rewired, refurbished and brought forward in time by about thirty years, from late fifties steam – early diesel, to the more colourful era of 1987 – 1993, or thereabouts. It has also been extended by five feet, initially, to incorporate a large chemical plant, another source of traffic besides the civil engineers dept. and the rather too busy local station, anyway, let me set the scene.
The Layout.
Linfit is an urban location in a busy commuter belt of Yorkshire; it is also one of those few parts of Britain that Thatcher managed to miss, retaining local industry, through traffic and a reasonable passenger service, albeit from a rather reduced station facility. Much of the station forecourt is now a ‘Kwik-Save’. Despite being rather restricted by BI directional running through a single bore tunnel, the area still sees quite a lot of rail Bourne traffic, speed link having not yet given up here. Also on line business in the form of steel, scrap metal, cement, petroleum, aggregates and of course, chemicals and the presence of the civil engineers department ensure many and varied trains running through and to the town of Linfit. Bolstered by its apparent economic success, the town has not only a regular through passenger service, but also a terminating local to the nearby cities, usually made up of units but occasional loco-hauled services do appear. The range of loco types seen runs from weary class 20’s up to new class 60’s but mainly consists of the ubiquitous 31, 37 and 47 classes’ common throughout the area at this time. A number of shunters can also be seen, working the engineers’ yards and the busy Linfit Chemicals plant east of the station. Which receives and dispatches a wide range of traffic and freight.
In Conclusion.
Despite being entirely fictitious I hope you enjoy watching Linfit West and it’s varied traffic patterns, and that it brings back memories of long gone locomotives, traffic flows and the railway scene as was, before EWS and the shed invasion, combined with Virgins hatred for anything even resembling a proper train put paid to our once quite interesting and colourful railway history, but, please don’t dwell too much on the Thatcher years!
Future Plans
Having been successfully exhibited at Barrow-in-Furness in 2005, the layout has received some further modifications and scenic completion. Further plans will see another five-foot expansion at the chemical works end and the completion of a fascia for the layout, this will allow for its next planned exhibition at Leeds 2006 and for future provisional invites to Alexandra palace and Wakefield in the future. More rolling stock is to be acquired and additional locomotives to supplement the present collection will be added as they become available.
Information for Exhibition managers.
LINFIT WEST – C.C.E. SIDINGS.
Description.
Type end to end linear fiddle yard to fiddle yard Urban / Industrial setting with Civil Engineer yard Scale 4mm / foot 16.5mm gauge, ‘OO’ scale Mostly propriety and r-t-r with some kit and scratch built items. Era pre-privatisation modern image circa 1987 – 1993 +/- a bit!
Dimensions.
Length 11m (34 ‘) max, allowing for access one end Width 3m (10”) allows for operating space behind layout Power one 13a 240v ac socket Setup two hours Breakdown 45 mins.
ReqRequirements.
Transport Standard ‘transit’ van + one car Staff four Accom. 2x twin rooms Insurance Ł15.000, ( no items over Ł250.00 )
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