Lodberry Lane
Lodberry Lane started as a simple fiddle yard and eventually became a mini layout in its own right. It connects with my main layout using a removable custom built Plate Girder Bridge.
Although the fiddle yard was originally made for my diesels I wriggled a couple of small sidings in for shunters too.
Fitting ground signals was groundbreaking for me. Had always worked with semaphore before. It took a few attempts before they were all fitted and working nicely. Those puddles took some doing too! Hours of dribbling varnish into potholes until it dried clear and shiny.
The most noticeable feature of Lodberry Lane is the canal, and the main building, aptly named Lodberry Mill is an old run down abandoned mill recently sold for demolition.
Lodberry Mill itself is made out of cardboard........................
Lodberry Mill itself is made out of cardboard........................
The trick with cardboard buildings to make them look real is in the detailing. It took a couple of days of weathering and adding detail to get this building looking right. Most of it was done with Derwent watercolour pencils and a rubbing finger!
The dereliction on the wharf is evident to see and the area only attracts drug addicts and the homeless. Here is Wandering Walter with his dog being nagged by Whining Winnie his wife. Even the dog looks miserable!
Details like this bring a scene to life.
Details like this bring a scene to life.
The Canal features quite prominently on this layout. A quiet backwater created by the interception of the railway across its route and built to take goods which were previously moved by canal barge, has allowed nature to take over. Bullrushes both flowering and seeding have engulfed the end of the water section. Flag iris, buttercups and Rosebay Willowherb now have a strong foothold. Mute swans feel safe enough to nest and try to raise a family and despite the No mooring sign even a canal boat family have the same idea. Up to press nobody has disturbed them in their quiet backwater home.
All bullrushes and flowers were painstakingly hand made
All bullrushes and flowers were painstakingly hand made
The Depot lads are so pleased to get a brand new toilet block complete with washbasin, coat hooks and places for boot storage that they have a roster on the wall and each lad has a day of the week allocated to toilet duty. Today's janitor carries his bucket while catching a quick word with the driver of the Peckett B2 as he shunts down the siding.
Signalman Roy is so fed up with near misses that he now supervises the manoeuvres of every tanker arriving to load or unload at the fuel depot, while his mate collects the daily morning milk over the fence. Time to brew up.
Back in the early 1900s my family took advantage of the cotton industry which was at its height in East Lancashire. My gt grandfather, his brother and a family friend went into business together and formed the Jopson, Bardsley & Jopson Carr Dye Works in Nelson. I am just old enough to remember going into the mill with my grandpa when I was about 3 and before it closed down when the industry declined. My family made a mint of money from the industry and the backscene is a dedication to them.