Smalldale Quarry 2mm/N
Smalldale is a small village situated between Buxton and Chapel-en-le-Frith just east of Dove Holes. The quarry is now a popular rock climbing area, but it was once part of the ICI Buxton lime operations.
Our layout is not based on the actual quarry but is a depiction of what it could have been like in the 1970s and 80s.
The layout is 12 feet by 8 feet and consists of four baseboards complete with integral legs. The key features of the track plan are a three platform station, the quarry, a spring water bottling plant, riding stables, and a small maintenance and refuelling point. There are two continuous loops plus an extensive shunting area for the industries. The layout is DCC only with several sound fitted locos. Most of the rolling stock had been professionally weathered.
There is provision to keep three operators busy.
On the left of the layout is the loco maintenance depot. This consists of a re-fuelling point, oil tanks, office, and shed. To the right of the loco maintenance area is the old quarry pond.
Towards the middle of the layout is the quarry. The quarry building is complete with conveyors. On the right of the layout is the bottling plant and riding stables.
To the front of the layout is the three platform station with avoiding line.
Empty stone trains enter the headshunt by the bottling plant and the mainline loco is uncoupled. An industrial loco (e.g. the N gauge Hunslet) can then pick up the empty wagons and take them into the quarry building, carrying on through the backscene so that the empty rake of wagons can be replaced by full ones. The mainline loco can then go to be refuelled.
Once loaded, the Hunslet can bring a rake of loaded wagons out to the headshunt and uncouple, waiting for a main line loco to pick up the loaded stone train and exit on the left via the crossover or to the right via running round the train.
Meanwhile the bottling plant can receive raw materials and take away loaded goods.
The station can keep an operator busy with through and stopping trains.
There is a fiddle yard at the back with a crossover to a 5 road traverser when required.
The layout is located in Crewe Cheshire & transport is via 2 cars with 4 operators.
Accommodation is required if travelling more than 1 hour in each direction.