Bodmin Central - Closed

Could you not use the buildings you're planning for Bodmin on a smaller layout (eg the 2010 challenge) to tide you over, keeping the full sized Bodmin until you have the space to do it justice ?

 

Or, build another part of the Wenford branch (the clay trains must come from somewhere) with the future plan to connect the two layouts together (eg at an exhibition) ?

 

Stu

Changing scale sounds all too drastic to me , and dumping all your 4mm could be a very bad idea if you then find you can't get on with 2mm.

 

Buying the Wessex 153 ought to be a fairly safe bet - the things are small enough and moderately priced, and so should fit any plan, no matter how compact.

 

It's a lot easier to offer advice from the outside than to deal with a situation first hand, and these things boil down to what you are comfortable with - which is very personal. But for what it's worth, l'd try to put everything mentally on hold until you've had the interview, and not progress the board this week. That gives you plenty of time to consider alternatives for a possible Challenge layout without feeling that you've mentally committed to dropping Bodmin.

 

Then , after you've been to Warley, I would sit down with a sheet of paper and write down a list of essentials and desiravbles, US style , covering all the different areas - operating potential , construction requirements, period, setting, scenics etc etc. Then score each of the possible options on those grounds from say 1-4. That would be Bodmin , the 2mm, and anything you come up with as a Challenge plan

 

I'd almost be tempted to do it on the train back from Warley - though you'll probably drive...

 

Add the lot up and you'll get a total for each choice. That may help clarify things quite a bit.

 

I did this when I was trying to decide which concept I should go for for the last Challenge, and it did throw up a clear winner , and eliminate the "nice idea with snags" as clearly inferior

 

Giving it till after Warley means you've more time to think things through and you can factor in any sudden inspirations from the show

 

 

 

@Stubby

 

I've tried coming up with a similar terminus layout but shrinking the platforms down to 4ft and trying to compress the throat into 4ft, but all this does is limit train length too much (the 5 ft platform will handle a loco on 4 mk1s, or some pretty long modern DMU formations), and the thoat just looks like a model rather than the prototype (having to use shorter, tighter points and making everything much too crammed up.

 

The big problem I have at the moment is that after spending a show opperating Blackcombe, I was bored silly of shunting after about five minutes. I guess part of that was down to the couplings getting tidious (I'm planning to go down Jim SW's method of DCC controled couplings coupling up with the screwlinks hook on the locos, with prototypical couplings between wagons within the rake) but even so, shunting layouts just dont hold my interest.

Conversely I spent a day operating on Dagworth at the Stroud show earlier in the year, and a day on another terminus passenger layout last year which kept me much more entertained for longer. The beauty of the Bodmin plan is that in enables me to not only run the intensive passenger service that keeps me entertained, but it still offers plenty of freight to run (which I enjoy modelling more.) And does this without the need for a large continuous run that I just dont have the space for (or for that matter access to a decent sized operating team locally to help at shows).

 

@Ravenser

 

Quite sensible advice there. Will definitely have a througher think before making a decision. Something that appeals to some extent is to go through my current fleet and sell everything that dosnt fit a single era (given that I still have stuff from 4 main periods). that way I can concentrate 4mm scale modelling around that one area and be done with it.

 

Part of the problem I have at the moment is that for the most part I am running out of challenges with my modelling, and certainly is one of the areas that does appeal about trying something new. It just seems to be the same old jobs of changing wheelsets, fitting new grills and renumbering rtr stock thats got a bit repetitive. I was thinking about it the other night and came to the conclusion that once I've done something once and proved that I can do it, I've satisfied the challenge and want to try something else (maybe thats another reason why these layout challenges are so appealing to me.) While Bodmin does offer some interesting new things to do (mostly focused around building flat bottom trackwork) that is pretty much all it does offer as practically everything else is just using refined versions of the same techniques that were used to make Blackcombe.

2mm scale does offer some new challenges, with a lot more etched kits to build and a slightly different approach to track making.

 

Will see what happens.....

Rich - I won't comment upon your thoughts to change to 2mm scale [as I am biased!] however I would like to say I am very impressed by your indexed blog - I assume once the structure is in place that you can add different sub sections as required? Pete

The idea is that if I think a post is of sufficient substance it gets added to the index, and is then further split so that for example for the work im doing on my 150 you have part 1, 2 and 3. helping to keep multiple posts on the same subject organised.