Wakefield Railway Modellers' Society

The model is based on the Cromford to Sheep pasture section of the C&HPR which opened in 1930 to link the canal at Cromford with the Peak Forest canal at Whaley Bridge. Built to canal engineering principles there were level sections which were initially horse-worked and inclines where a flight of locks might be considered. The northern portion of the railway closed in 1892 but this southern part worked until 1967. Its course is now a footpath known as the High Peak Trail but most of the buildings still survive.

The incline is correctly pitched at 1 in 8 but lacks the catch-pit which was installed to halt runaways. On the real incline, wagons were tethered by lengths of chain plaited around the haulage cable but on the model, each truck carries a magnet which attaches to a short spring spliced into the winding rope.

Short wheelbase locomotives were needed on the sharply curved route and the layout features examples of most of these classes used in British Railways' days.