Smalldale Quarry

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 4 feet and consists of four baseboards complete with integral legs. The main 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. It is expected to keep three operators busy.

On the left of the layout is the loco maintenance and refuelling area. This contains a re-fuelling point, oil tanks, office, repair track and shed. To the right of the loco maintenance area is an old quarry pond. In the middle of the layout is the quarry. The quarry building is based on a Walthers Glacial Gravel kit. On the right of the layout is the Bottling Plant which is based on the Walthers Central Beverage Distributers. To the front of the layout is the three platform station with avoiding line. A row of workers cottages is by the station.

Empty stone trains will come into the headshunt by the bottling plant and the loco will uncouple. An industrial loco can then pick up the empty wagons and take them into the quarry building and carrying on through the backdrop so that the empty rake of wagons can be replaced by full wagons. The mainline loco can then go to be refuelled. Once loaded, the industrial loco can bring a rake of loaded wagons out to the headshunt and uncouple, waiting for the 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 wing extension when required.