Crampton Tyney was built by Arthur Whitehead of Wakefield. After exhibiting it several times, he offered it for sale. As I was looking for something more operationally challenging than the layout I already had, a price was agreed and on the 27th of September 2009, Crampton Tyney moved homes.
Arthur had built it as a light railway serving a small stone quarry. My thinking behind the history is that, having built the railway to serve the quarry, the promoters had run out of money to actually run trains. A trip to the Midland Railway (M.R.) headquarters, at Derby, secured an agreement for the M.R. to operate the line for 99 years.
Due to it's (supposed) location, gradients were quite steep. This means train lengths are limited to 3-4 wagons and only a couple of 6 wheel coaches. If I operate it as B.R. steam, then the platform just nicely takes an Autocoach and a 0-4-4T. My preferred period is pre-grouping and so, the normal goods trains are headed by 1F 0-6-0T loco's and the, sparse, passenger service is hauled by a 1P 0-4-4T. It is possible to run round three wagons and a brake van, Indeed, unless one (or more) is a cattle wagon, it is JUST possible to run round four and a brake van. This does require very careful positioning of the vehicles, though.
Main Operators
Dave Mason
Robert Davey