Different people reckon it's somewhere in Yorkshire (West), Lancashire (East), or maybe even the very North of Derbyshire. It depends on where the person answering your query has their allegiance. But wherever it may be, it's "SKIPLEY": at least that's what the signs on the canal basin warehouse say and they were there before the Midland railway was formed and on whose practices the layout is based.

The Layout itself is the usual oval, with the fiddle yard at the rear; the front and two sides are for public viewing with full scenery.

 

So, let us begin our journey. Viewing from the left , the lines appear from a tunnel into a cutting, and under the road over-bridge, to appear alongside the goods depot and coal yard, where stands a typical Midland Railway goods shed, with cattle dock: these are situated to the outside of the main running lines.

 

The typical Midland Railway timber built signal box sits in a commanding position amongst the maze of lines, and controls a varied array of operational lower quadrant Midland Railway signals and upper quadrant signals from the days of the London Midland and Scottish Railway.

 

​ Different people reckon it's somewhere in Yorkshire (West), Lancashire (East), or maybe even the very North of Derbyshire. It depends on where the person answering your query has their allegiance. But wherever it may be, it's "SKIPLEY": at least that's what the signs on the canal basin warehouse say and they were there before the Midland railway was formed and on whose practices the layout is based.The Layout itself is the usual oval, with the fiddle yard at the rear; the front and two sides are for public viewing with full scenery. So, let us begin our journey. Viewing from the left , the lines appear from a tunnel into a cutting, and under the road over-bridge, to appear alongside the goods depot and coal yard, where stands a typical Midland Railway goods shed, with cattle dock: these are situated to the outside of the main running lines. The typical Midland Railway timber built signal box sits in a commanding position amongst the maze of lines, and controls a varied array of operational lower quadrant Midland Railway signals and upper quadrant signals from the days of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. 

 

After the MPD the line goes into the country, where can be seen the canal basin with its barges and warehouse buildings in true canal fashion, with the wooden structures for the grain and cargo hoists. Although once again these buildings are completely fictitious they are based on many pictures in books and visits to Shardlow Canal port (near Derby) and its buildings. The barges are built of plasticard and balsa, and are modelled on actual craft used in the area of the layout, namely the Huddersfield canal, Leeds and Liverpool canal and Trent River Navigation. The barge which appears to be a passenger boat is actually a model of a steam canal tug.

They are painted in the blue and yellow livery of "BRITISH WATERWAYS" which came into being after canal nationalisation in the late 1940's. This bought to an end the era of the colourful "Castles and Roses" livery with its multi - coloured sign written company names on the sides of the boat cabins. Although many older canal folk still kept their old painted water jugs and buckets.

 

The main line now disappears under a plate bridge connecting the warehouse buildings to return to the fiddle yard. Thus with the era of the layout set to early British Railways times, you will see both steam and green diesel locomotives, diesel multiple units and carriages, parcel vans and goods stock running as they did in that area during the fifties and sixties.