As mentioned in the opening blog post, Trevanion Dries is a small facility with the run-around severely limiting train length. Before I plunge headlong into handbuilding any more 2mm pointwork however I want to make sure I've got a workable track plan which bears as much resemblance as possible to dries in the area bearing in mind the huge compromise I'm making with space. The current plan is below:

From top to bottom:

Line 1 - enclosed within the dries facility for loading of any wagon type

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Works

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Line 2 - beside dries facility, with canopy for loading of swing-top wagons/CDAs, run-round loop suitable for 6 CDAs or equivalent

Line 3 - beside bagged/palletised clay loading area

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Raised hardstanding for loading of bagged/palletised clay

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Line 4 - other side of bagged/palletised clay loading area

Line 5 - Loaded wagons for collection

Off-scene, there are 3 storage roads, with plenty of space for handling - this could be replaced by a traverser, or interchangeable stock sections in similar fashion to Welton Downs:

The boards on this 'tester' have been designed to store inside each other with the track (and stock) on the inside to make storage easy when the guest bedroom railway room is in use by visitors. I'll use a different design for the finished version. The track will be tweaked until I've got a plan I'm happy to go firm with in 2mm although the concrete area is pretty fixed for the time being! The concreted area will eventually comprise the visible areas of lines 1, 2 and 3 to just short of the pointwork at the throat. I'm also planning to increase the length of the boards on the final 2mm layout to allow for 9 or 10 CDA hoppers in the run-round loop. In fact, the whole scenic board will probably be increased by a minimum of 50% in all directions to allow for greater scene depth and train length.

The concept of operation is a train will arrive in line 2, the train engine will run round in line 3 before shunting, or departing and leaving the shunting to the works 08. PAA, PBA, PRA, and Polybulks will use Lines 1 & 2 for loading, the VDA, VGA, and Cargwaggons will use lines 3 and 4. I'm still trying to work out where the slurry loading point would be for the ICA and TTA slurry tanks, but with a board extension I could easily build a slurry loading shed somewhere on Line 3.

Here's another from a better viewpoint as track laying had just been completed. Line 1 is on the left with Line 5 on the right.

All comments and suggestions most welcome!

Graham