So one of the nice things about building buckden is the relatively simple track plan of the station. This allows prototypical workings and track layout inexpensively and easily. One of the main reasons I chose to start back in the hobby with something fairly simple is that I wanted to be able to finish something to a degree of accuracy that I could be pleased with.

There is a nice 1927 map in "Branch Lines around Huntingdon" by Vic Mitchell et al. which shows the short goods loop, long siding and cattle dock siding.

© Crown Copyright and Landmark Information Group Limited (2013). All rights reserved. (1926).

I wanted to be able to keep the open feel of the station complex, and also have a platform long enough for the 3 carriage trains common on the branch. I therefore had to compromise to fit the space I had been allowed, and so the goods loop had to be shortened. I still think it looks about right, and should allow some working, albeit with shorter goods exchanges etc.

So I worked up a track plan using peco streamline and code 75

And after building some basic boards (after finding a very handy timber yard who very accurately cut all the timber to size) I have now laid the track. I've done a first pass painting the track and sleepers with Precision trackdirt, and then the rail sides with Precision track colour (rusty rails). In the picture you can see my scratch built odd shaped goods shape, card mock up of the station building for positioning, and weigh bridge in roughly the right places.