Hi all,

after trying to work the 009 layout, and ending up reducing and reducing the amounts of things going on with it I got sick of it! plus why would i want to spend near on £200 for each loco (im useless at scratch building them) so i figured, after stumbling upon a video for Hettle, that I quite liked the aspect of having a normal mainline station with decent sized rakes going through!

So I decided that im going to base the layout on my local station (Feltham) during the 1960's, which would offer me the potentials of running EMU's, diesel, steam, short suburban rakes, long express rakes, and a looooooad of freight both going to the marshaling yard and local. so despite the fact there isn't much in relation to track work etc it would mainly be based on seeing decent sized rakes trundling by!

I'm intending to make the level crossing an operational one to add a little more visual during the time the trains are being changed around the back via 4ft cassette's which will be removable from a constant oval.

Whilst im basing this on my local station, it obviously wont be an identical production as the real one is more of a straight line rather than the curve im having, but i'll try to make it look as much like it as possible!, trying to find a 2mm scale plan of the station building is proving impossible though!

The station (as per attached picture) will be on the right side, curving around and disappearing off the board to allow spacing for an 8 carriage train at most.

the 2 siding above the mainline are still in planning and are not exactly how they are going to be! but they will be used for a platform parcels etc, and a coal merchant, which most of the time will just have static wagons but will be moved at least a couple of times during the full cycle of the operations!

the level crossing will be around the middle, at an angle with our concrete footbridge present! and to the left there is another siding mainly being used for departmental stock (dont think ive ever seen anything else stationary on the real thing!)

so all in all it may look boring, and i might be the only one to find it interesting but i'm the one building it so i may aswell enjoy it eh? and with a total projected track cost of around £60-70 i cant complain

if anyone has any info/pictures of 1960's Feltham please give me a shout (i wasn't around then being born in the 80's)