Full size planning session!

Here are the results of last night's full size planning session. I had to make some minor alterations to the trackplan to make it fit on the boards, but i'm very pleased with the end result.

The decision was made to reduce the size of the boards to 900x700 mm, this doesn't seem to have impacted on the feeling of space, or the length of trains that can be run on the layout so the added transportability is an added bonus.

The only compromise was the inclusion of a small 300x700 mm board at the end of the station to ensure that the station building across the end of the platform doesn't hover in mid air off the end of the board! The minimum radius on any of the curves is 18" and that is only a short section... the rest are all >24".

The first board off the fiddle yard (left). The building at the rear is Glencloy Lodge, this sits at the end of a tidal inlet which is based on an area of Plockton that looks like this...

The goods yard board. The small building at the end of the two mineral sidings is just a yard office. The good shed is sat at the back of the yard with a small shed next to it which will house a small inspection railcar. To the right of the goods shed is the platform with cattle docks. The track with dotted lines along it at the rear is supposed to represent a dirt track that will lead off into the backscene supposedly to a croft. The area either side of this will be sparsely covered with crofts and rusty corrugated sheds.

This is the 'Plockton' board. The curve at the rear will represent the main road in Plockton which looks like this.... I may retain the palm tree, might be something different to have on the layout... The buildings will be more like the ones in the link, more tightly packed. The signal box is on the left of the shot, and the boat builder's is sat on the tombolo/spit.

The station board and the 300x700 mm scenic board. The station building will be removable and sit over the join of the two boards. At the front of the station will be a stone retaining wall leading down to water level. From this there is a wooden jetty leading out to the steamer. Behind the station the building is a white washed church. On the end of the platform sit the water tower (weird torpedo shape - i do have a prototype :wink: ) and the coal stage.

View across the 'bay' towards the Plockton scene.

View over the tombolo with the boat builders at the front of the layout, the area between this and the seawall will be submerged at high tide, so will give me a good chance to experiment with more types of seaweed and grime than on Dunbracken... It's all based on the same sort of scene at Plockton (again) a mini version of this...

View along the entire length of the layout. The edges of the boards will be tidied up to make them more flowing curves...

Final Developments?

I've just returned home from Narrow Gauge South West, I used to go every year when I lived in the Westcountry, but have missed it for the last few years so it was nice to return.

While there I met up with two friends who are planning to build layouts that will join onto PnC.  We had a planning session and have come up with a scheme that should prove quite interesting to watch and operate.  

The junction has disappeared from the trackplan on PnC, but the rest of it will remain the same (just have to finalise how much of a curve it will sit on).  This was done to allow more free space on the layout, having that extra line was just that bit 'too far'.   So, the intention now is for PnC to act as the end of the layout, coupled to this will be an 8' wide, 6' deep glen scene which the line will travel up one side of and down the other.  On this module (if you can call it a module being that big!) will be a passing loop and stabling siding for a banking loco.  The banker will be needed to assist locos climbing the 3" from one side of the glen to the other, a challenge if we run long trains!  Finally the last module before the fiddle yard looks like it will be a contractors yard and staging point for a major construction scheme.  This is heavily inspired by Fersit from the Lochaber Railway.  The intention of this site is to represent something major being constructed (like a pipeline) and spoil being removed from this site, taken to the dock at PnC and tipped into the puffer.

So, these additions to the layout should make it very interesting to operate, and allow someone at an exhibition to follow a train along around 20-30' of layout!

I don't anticipate any changes to the trackplan from now on, so now i've just got to decide construction methods for the baseboard and plan that... then I can begin! It's looking likely to be either a ply frame with blue foam centre, or a ply frame with chicken wire over formers... both will be light, but i'll have to work out shapes etc. to check which is best suited to the trackplan.

Super Power

The release of the Graham Farish 08 chassis has made me think about uses for it, and then seeing how John de Frayssinet has used them in his mallet River Brue and to remotor his Backwoods Miniatures Manning Wardle really got me thinking.

I came up with a design for a tank loco to be based on a Roco 0-6-0 tender loco chassis.  This ran really well initially, but developed a slight case of the wobbles as the chassis block wore slightly.  There is a solution to this, to add some bushes to eliminate play on the rear axle.  However the advent of the Graham Farish 08 diesel chassis should provide another solution to outside framed chassis...

Source: Kernow Model Centre

The plan I came up with was very much inspired by the compound locos that ran on the Ballycastle Railway in Ireland.  The wheel arrangement would be changed from 2-4-2T to 2-6-2T, and the whole loco would have a longer and slightly lower appearance.  I'd like at least two of these, and will make a start on them after the rush of getting Dunbracken ready for exhibition is over.  Frames will be plasticard i think, and valve gear is likely to be either Backwoods Miniatures or Roco transplanted onto the chassis.  The chassis seems easier than other Farish models to fit DCC decoders to and one feature that i'm pleased i've managed to incorporate into the design is a bunker which will be large enough to house a Soundtraxx speaker, and form a small box to amplify the sound as much as possible.

I'll upload a copy of the plan once i've managed to revise it to fit on the 08 chassis.

If this one goes well then I expect i'll construct a couple more on the same design, and possibly venture into the area of larger stock if all goes well.