Byfield

Byfield was a small through station in rural Northamptonshire on the grandly titled Stratford and Midland Junction Railway opened in 1870. This linked the Midland main line south of Wellingborough to the GWR at Stratford on Avon. It had a spur to the LNWR  at Blisworth and after 1904 north and south spurs to the Great Central at Woodford Halse only two miles away. It was absorbed into the LMS in 1923. 

It was single track with provision for doubling if the traffic merited it. It never did and it remained a little used byway.  
In BR days it was at its busiest  as a heavy freight link between the industrial areas to the north and south wales. As such engines from ex LMS, ex GWR and ex LNER all worked through Byfield including 9F’s and WD Austerity’s ( see list below ).

Byfield had very productive Iron Ore quarries to the north of the village which became particularly important during both world wars. They had their own independent railway with engine shed and an unusual weighbridge with interlaced tracks and exchange sidings. It was active until 1965 and the whole line was closed in 1966.

The model is OO and control is DCC by PowerCab. Byfield was a through station but is at present modelled as a terminus. When time and space allow a second fiddle yard will be added to make it a through station. As the quarry was in reality half a mile from the station the track plan has been modified to fit everything in. The sawmill siding is pure fiction but all the buildings are accurate to the real Byfield