Simpasture Junction update

As I've now managed to work out a more accurate track plan for Simpasture Junction I've revisited it and updated the signalling to be a little more prototypical. Although I've still some track alignment and (quite a bit of) landscaping to do, this section is now starting to look reasonably representative.

Here's the view looking north towards Simpasture Junction Box:





The junction proper. The leftmost lines form the Simpasture (Shildon-Newport) Branch, while the two rightmost lines are the (still in use) Bishop Auckland-Darlington line:



Looking south from the junction:



A DMU from Darlington heads for Shildon and Bishop Auckland:





A freight from Newport leaves the Simpasture Branch and joins the combined down line:

Beyond Shildon

Although I've not blogged for a while, I haven't been inactive (just a bit slow now the good weather is here, LOL).

The good news is that I've pretty much completed landscaping on the central area within the triangle formed by the Bishop Auckland - Shildon North, Bishop Auckland- West Auckland and West Auckland - Shildon North lines, and as a result I've been able to take a step back and work out what to do with the south eastern section of the route.

The end result of that is that rather than terminate the route just east of Shildon station as previously I've decided to bite the bullet and extend to just beyond Simpasture Junction to roughly where Newton Aycliffe is today. That has of course resulted in a whole host of extra work (new research, baseboards, DEM, tracklaying, texturing etc.) so there hasn't really been much worth showing until recently.

Fortunately that is now starting to change (although textures and vegetation are currently rather basic on this section, so please bear with me). So, without more ado, here's some new screenshots. :)

The Bishop Auckland - Darlington (left) and Shildon - Newport (right) lines diverged east of Shildon at what is now the site of Newton Aycliffe station. The latter were of course the subject of the pioneering NER 1500V DC electrification scheme in 1915:



Although the double track line on the left is still in use today the Shildon - Newport line closed in 1964.

Here's Simpasture Junction, where the two lines joined:









The line between Simpasture and Shildon was incredibly busy in pre-nationalisation days, and still retained five running lines until the mid 1960s. Looking east, the three leftmost lines (originated in Middridge Sidings) were dedicated to up freight traffic, with the second and third lines from the left both being electrified in NER days. The fourth line carried up traffic for Darlington whilst the rightmost (also electrified in NER days) carried both down traffic from Darlington and freight from Newport.



Looking the other way, the bridge in the centre of this view marks the entrance to Middridge Sidings (the easternmost extent of the Shildon Yards, and the first to go during rationalisation):



Of course, this does mean that I'm now committed to doing Shildon Yards as well...

Weardale Reconnections

I've been taking a break from routebuilding over the past few weeks due to work committments (and to recharge a bit - all that landscaping gets a bit tiring after a while!).

However, on 19th February I was fortunate enough to be booked onto the first mainline tour (from Kings Cross, no less) to travel up the Weardale branch since at least 1993 - the "Locomotion and the Weardale Railway" tour organised by UK Railtours. The tour was completely sold out, so I obviously wasn't the only one who felt this way. :)

Our train (mostly Mk1s where the heating worked, thankfully) was "topped and tailed" by DBS class 67s, led by 67029 "Royal Diamond" in EWS Executive livery:



Of course this was also a chance to revisit my hometown (even if very briefly - we didn't stop there) and visit the NRM at Shildon:





It was quite an experience to travel through Shildon Tunnel again. Quite breathtaking, in fact!



Once we reached Bishop Auckland we had quite some welcome, for at virtually every crossing on the route local people had turned out to wave to our 12 coach train. It was quite fantastic to see how glad people were to see the railway running again.



Although a rather long day, it was all worthwhile to be on the first tour to travel up to Weardale and to sample (albeit rather briefly) the hospitality of the Weardale Railway. I wish them well, and hope their plans for the long term development of the line bear fruit.

When I Moo, I only Moo for You

I'm busily landscaping again, this time on the Tunnel Branch between Shildon North and Fieldon's Bridge Junction.

You can find this charming little scene about halfway between the two junctions:













More from this area of the route soon.

Peak-a-boo!

Shildon Tunnel (or Prince of Wales Tunnel to give it its full name) was built by the Stockton & Darlington Railway to link Shildon with Bishop Auckland without all those pesky inclines. I've now finally got around to landscaping the area around it on my Bishop Auckland route:



The tunnel portal I've used here is a temporary one until I can get a protoypical asset sorted. The real thing actually looks like this:



Or, for a more up to date photo (the one above was taken around 1900 - it's the only one I've found which shows that it was originally double tracked), see http://blackhatrailwaypics.fotopic.net/p41265249.html

I've just about finished laying scenery around Auckland Park Colliery now, so once I've done a bit more work on Coundon Grange and South Church I'll be able to post another full set of screenshots. :)

Work in Progress: Tunnel Branch Junction

As well as the familiar (and surviving!) line from Shildon to Bishop Auckland, there was also a line (the "Tunnel Branch") from the northern portal of Shildon Tunnel to West Auckland at Fieldon Bridge. The Tunnel branch closed with Randolph Colliery near Evenwood on 31st August 1968 (itself 6 years after the Stainmore line itself closed), so in reality I never got to see it and only learnt of it later.

What's particularly interesting to me is that the Tunnel Branch was opened by the S&D to replace the Brusselton Inclines, so it has a real place in history in its own right. It's a real pity it's not better documented - I've not found a single contemporary photo of the branch.

As this is a "work in progress" post, the following screenshots are somewhat incomplete. In particular, you'll see areas of untextured landscape, a lack of trees etc. as I'm trying to give a flavour of this part of the route here (an area which I've not shown before) rather than show the finished article.



The view from Tunnel Branch (or Shildon North) Junction looking north towards Auckland Park and Coundon. The lines on the left form the Tunnel Branch to West Auckland, Butterknowle and Barnard Castle, whilst those on the right lead to Bishop Auckland itself.

Sadly, all that remains here today is a single line to Bishop Auckland, as an be seen in the photo at http://blackhatrailwaypics.fotopic.net/p41265262.html.



The junction where the private sidings at Auckland Park Colliery met the Shildon-Bishop Auckland branch. Although Auckland Park Colliery closed in 1946, the site remained active as a pumping station until 1961.



Looking back up towards Tunnel Branch junction from the Tunnel Branch. The line to Bishop Auckland can be seen coming in from the left.



...and back the other way.




Finally, these two shots show where the Tunnel Branch meets the West Auckland - Bishop Auckland line at Fieldon's Bridge Junction. Full landscaping here is still a little way off, but West Auckland MPD can just be seen in the background behind the large gas tank.

Alone in the Dark? (part 3)

Even more midnight meanderings (but this time with a few trains in them!).



A Gresley A3 shunts coal hoppers at Rough Lea.





A Carlisle-Eastgate cement train passes a Bishop Auckland - Durham service at Hunwick.



Newton Cap viaduct.



A Peak passes Auckland Park on the Bishop Auckland - Shildon line.





Finally a pair of West Auckland shed's class 24s stabled at Coundon on the Bishop Auckland - Spennymoor line.