Wath Road
‘Wath Road’ is another of our takes on the ‘Micro-layout’, but in a divergence from our norm, is not in ‘OO’, but rather ‘N’ scale. Whilst the baseboard is of traditional plywood and 2×2 frame construction, it measures at just 23” x 9” so that it can fit in a storage box from The Range for transport, and including fiddle yards at each end, the layout is less than 4ft in length.
The premise behind ‘Wath Road’ is that the ex-Midland Railway route from Rotherham to Leeds via Cudworth was not completely closed in 1986 due to mining subsidence. Instead, the southern portion of the route was partly retained to provide through services between Doncaster and Barnsley, via a reopened link to Barnsley Interchange, as well as a link from Sheffield via Rotherham. The local services are usually formed of the ubiquitous class 142/144 ‘Pacers’, financially supported by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. In addition, the former goods yard has been taken over by a steel firm, served by trip workings from Tinsley.
Power, as usual, is by a MERG DCC System, with trains being operated via JMRI software on a laptop. The JMRI sequencing also controls pointwork and signals. Trackwork is Peco code 55 and scenery is from Woodland Scenics and Peco, whilst the buildings and figures are from Scenecraft. Road vehicles are from Oxford and Graham Farish and the signals are by Gaugemaster. Rolling stock is from Dapol and Graham Farish.
