Gauge: ‘OO’ | Period: 1968-1971 | Region: Eastern | Operating team: Ian Woodward and friends
Wardwood is a fictitious market town set in the old West Riding of Yorkshire between Barnsley and Wakefield. Steam has finished and British Rail are in the process of changing its corporate livery from green diesels and maroon coaching stock to the new blue and grey. You will see both the old and new liveries on the locomotives and rolling stock on this ‘OO’ gauge layout.
Wardwood is still a busy station with three terminus platforms and one through platform. A service is provided to London with through carriages joining with the main London train at Wakefield. It has local services to towns across Yorkshire and via the Calder Valley route to Manchester and the North West. It still boasts healthy parcels traffic.
Locomotive changes take place in the station area with light engine movements to and from the station to the depot situated off scene. Freight trains can be seen transiting through the station heading for the marshalling yards at Healey Mills and Wath. The local warehouse still receives rail traffic with the loading bay recently upgraded with a covered shed.
A wide variety of diesel locomotives and Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) that would have been seen in this area can be seen operating the services.
The layout is DCC controlled with the vast majority of the Diesels and DMUs being sound fitted. The points are operated by slow action point motors controlled from a conventional control panel. The colour light signalling is semi automatic with a route being set and the signal returned to red by the passage of the train.
