Huge Calder Valley model railway hidden from girlfriend unveiled
- Published
The trains used are era-specific to the 1980s
A train fanatic has unveiled a huge model railway that he originally hid from his girlfriend after eight years of work.
Simon George made a scale-model of 1.5 miles (2.4km) of the Calder Valley line at Heaton Lodge junction in Kirklees.
At 200ft (61m) long, the creation has to be transported in three lorries.
Mr George said the ultra-realistic model depicts the railway near where he grew up, with him spending hours watching trains pass by his house.
"It depicts the 1980s as it used to be with lots of coal trains before the miners' strikes," he said.
"When we're children we have our own special places, but for me I used to come here as a child and spend so much time watching the freight trains go past."
Simon George said he spent hours as a child watching the real-life trains near Mirfield, close to Leeds
The model arrived in sections and required three lorries to transport it
The model is made up of more than 1,000 metres of track
The model was partly created from Mr George's memory and photos, with trees being placed in the exact positions they would have been in in 1983.
"It was done purely so I could put myself back into 1983, and even now if I look up for a split second and see the trains coming in the distance, it does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up because it's like deja vu," he said.
The trains run on 3,280ft (1,000m) of track, passing near bridges and line-side furniture like electricity boxes and even litter.
Details include litter and train spotters in 1980s cars
More than eight years of work have gone into the creation
Mr George created the model over eight years, with the coronavirus lockdowns providing him with more time to perfect the set.
The trains run on a timetable, loosely based on what they would have done in the 1980s.
Speaking at an event at Wakefield Market as the model was unveiled, he said he was pleased with how it turned out.
The Calder Valley line, pictured here in 1985, connects Leeds to Manchester and Blackpool
He said he had been told it was Britain's biggest model railway by filmmakers and rail magazines, but he never intended to create a model this size - and even tried to hide the creation from his girlfriend.
"When I first met her she didn't know I was building this," he said.
"She knew I leased a mill with a huge basement, but I kind of led her to believe I was a wine merchant because that sounded cooler than building a model railway."
There are plans to take the model on tour so more people can see the creation.
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