Cudsfield is a fictional Yorkshire location inspired by the railway landscape between Wakefield, Huddersfield and Sheffield, probably somewhere near Cudworth in the heart of the former South Yorkshire coalfield.
The area was served by a remarkable mixture of railway companies. The Hull & Barnsley Railway reached into the coalfield here and met the Midland Railway, while the Great Central, Great Northern, Lancashire & Yorkshire and North Eastern railways all had interests nearby. Following the Grouping of 1923, these routes brought together both LMS and LNER operations, making the setting well suited to a wide variety of locomotives and rolling stock from either company.
Cudsfield takes inspiration from the densely packed railway geography typical of this part of Yorkshire, where collieries, towns and industry sat alongside fields and woodland. Joint lines, running powers, bridges, cuttings and sharply changing levels all provide plenty of justification for an unusually varied railway within a relatively compact area.
The layout is built in 00 gauge using Code 100 track, allowing a broad range of proprietary rolling stock to be operated. Its compact curves use second and third radius geometry, while conventional DC control keeps operation straightforward and accessible.
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