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About this blog

An island in the North Sea - What if Doggerland hadn't been submerged...

 

A freelance network run by British Railways, modelled in N Gauge.

Entries in this blog

A Side Note

A side Note - The Isle of Hauge

Doggerland was always a working title, or place holder, for my imaginary isle in the North Sea and I've bean scratching around for a proper, permanent name for the land mass.   I live in The Howe of the Mearns.  In Scots, Howe has come to mean valley, or hollow, which fits this area because the Howe of the Mearns was once under water and marsh, hemmed in by hills on two sides and by high ground to another.  It has since been drained into a lush fertile area.  However, Howe seems to com
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scottystitch in A Side Note

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Episode 10

Episode 10 - Some Thoughts on Power and Control Distribution

Thoughts have turned to distribution of the DCC power/signal and the carving up of power districts.  I've arrived at the following:     The grey boxes, top left, are circuit breaker boards,  They receive the DCC power/signal from the NCE Master Panel and the power is split into three power districts, each with their own circuit breaker...cicuitry.   #1 District serves the upper fiddle yard and teh hidden main-line track all the way to the lift out section. #2
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scottystitch in Episode 10

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Episode 9

Episode 9 - Some More Thoughts on Trains

Some further thought has gone into trains formations, timetabling, etc.   I have already done an awful lot of work on a Glasgow-based layout and Perth-based layout (same era, same timetable) so it dawned on me to make proper use of this research.   To this end I've decided that St Catherine's Bay will be timetabled almost exactly the same as Glasgow Buchanan Street, as per the 1964 timetables.  Ditto the train formations (helped by my hope to eventually build my Glasgow North
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Episode 8

Episode 8 - Adventures in Refinement 4 - And Monclarence becomes Clarencekirk

I've been doing some more work in the background of this project.  The single track main-line at the rear of the branch terminus, continued to make me uneasy.  I just couldn't find a mechanism that would allow my brain to accept the arrangent as presented, i.e. that of a single track main-line passing a branch-line terminus (Particularly when the branch is served by St Catherine's Bay, and by extension the means of landscaping between the two.  It all felt far too contrived.   With thi
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Episode 6

Episode 7 - Some Thoughts on Trains

I've been thinking about trains which will run into St Catherines's Bay, with consideration being given to their length and the number of each type required to operate the day's services.   I've pretty much nailed on the passenger services, I think.  Most trains will spend life as permanent sets, and most will have a dedicated cassette for storage, when not in-play.   Express 1 - Mk1 - BSK, SK, SK, RMB, FK, BSK, SK Express 2 - Mk1 - BSK, SK, SK, SO, RU, FK, BSK Express 3 - Mk
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scottystitch in Episode 6

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Episode 6

Episode 6 - Monclarence Takes Refined Shape.

My little station has a name. I think I have settled on Monclarence.  My SO had a cat, a blue British Shorthair whom she wished to call Clarence, after the angel in "it's a Wonderful Life", her favourite movie.  The name Clarence was vetoed by her then husband as not being a name for a cat, and so he became Bubba, which to be fair my SO also chose and liked.  Since his passing a couple of years ago, I have always wanted to honour the fiesty-yet-affectionate little fellow somehow, without being t
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scottystitch in Episode 6

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Episode 6 - The Things That Keep You Awake at Night AKA Adventures In refinement 3

Having largely sorted the intermediate station, still with no name, I decided to give it a while before ordering the turnouts.  This would be where the first spike would be driven so I wanted to be reasonably sure I was happy with it.  Almost immediately a sense of, I don't know, not so much doom but something that made me feel a bit uneasy.    Long story short, it became increasingly clear that what had started out as an exercise in creating a layout with a decent scenic area for trai
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Episode 5 - Adventures in Refinement 2A

I think the intermediate station is now getting closer.  I'm now much happier after removing the dual main line past the goods yard.  The goods area now feel sufficiently separate from the running line(s).   Over the weekend, I started cutting/modifying baseboards, and after physically seeing the lack of separation between the hidden lower line (dashed on the illustration) and the line of the visible trackwork, I've realised that a viaduct is not viable, on the basis it will require lo
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Episode 4 - Adventures in Refinement 2

The intermediate station, I think, needs the most work.  Based on Kirkby Stephen, albeit on a single track line, it' s the single track part that is causing me deliberations.  A milk loading siding has been added. Buildings will be Metcalfe S&C initially, pending an aspiration to design and build etched brass buildings in the future.:     I'm unsure whether to put a facing crossover in where the red circle is to allow a goods train to be overtaken, for instance, or two a
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Episode 3 - Adventures in Refinement 1

I've been working on refining the track plan for the terminus station and I think I'm just about there (famous last words...)   The terminus has also gained a name.    And so, gentle reader, I give you St Catherine's Bay (pronounced Cathereen):     Goods Shed Goods Yard Goods Yard Locomotive release runaround Passenger platform Passenger platform Locomotive release runaround/van storage Passenger platfor
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Episode 2 - The Trackplan

The railway room is approximately 17ft3 by 9ft9.   First up, the entire plan, without annotations showing the extent of the layout.   The fiddle yard is along a short wall, 12 inches deep. In front is a small rural terminus, roughly 3.75 inches lower and again 12 inches deep. Maximum train length is 36inches, which is roughly 6 N Gauge mark 1s.    Along the top wall is a Settle and Carlisle inspired scene with the line emerging from the fiddle yard, splitting into t
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Episode 1 - How we got to where we are...

A couple of years ago, whilst having a wobble around whether my man cave (converted garage) layout would ever begin to see fruition, I dabbled in the idea of an imaginary island existing in the North Sea, not unlike the Isle of Man, or for that matter the Isle of Sodor, in the Irish Sea; Only "my" island would be larger.  Based on this premise, I hit upon an idea to design a layout that operated as a complete system, i.e. a terminus at each end, and a couple of intermediate stations in between. 
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