Before writing about my current layout Little Scrumpton, I wanted to present some of the thought processes behind the layout from a planning perspective. I enjoy reading about the history and development of railway lines of interest and I have read in the past that the railway modeller should consider the history of their model, whether real or imagined. Therefore when I was in a position to starting building my current layout, I wanted to provide a link between this and my old layout, Blackbow, by inventing the history and developing the trackplan of the whole line. The theme would be cider related in honour of the first layout and provide options for further development of other layouts for the future. I had several requirements of both the new layout and the line, firstly my own enjoyment, showing some of what I like to see in a layout, but also to try and make to most of my stock in a prototypical way:

For the layout:

GWR Branch Terminus with 2 platforms

3 coach train capacity

Small loco shed

Goods, Coal and Cattle services

A strong non railway feature

For the line:

River Valley Branch line with 2 large towns and a number of villages.

A GWR mainline junction with links to LMS

A smaller connection to SR

A link to Blackbow Cyder Distillery

A goods only terminus/shed.

Historical places of interest references.

Hence I developed the following:

The fictional history is as follows:

Built during the late 19th Century, the Blackbow line along the Valley of the River Tipple, provided much needed transport links in the region as the river became overcrowded with commercial use. The brainchild of local land and business owner, Lord Applebury of Magnerton House, the line passed through the major regional town of Magnerton, its nearest neighbour the heavily industrial Tipplebridge and then on eastwards, through several villages, to link with Lord Applebury's Famous Blackbow distillery and his family's ancestural home at Strongthorn Castle near Little Scrumpton. To the West of the junction with the GWR mainline at Magnerton the line passed Applebury Park and joined with the Southern Railway at the small town of Clatterby.

Hence my current layout, the terminus at Little Scrumpton, had a reason for being. In part 3 I will go into the track plan and construction of the basic layout.