RailwaysInMyDNA

That's interesting to know Ian, thank you. You never know, he might message if he spots the thread! Will keep my fingers crossed.

Yes, I've spotted a commission build centering on Doncaster station.

Many thanks for the pointers.

Research phase. Well, the easiest thing is starting a project! This year should see tangible progress, but gathering all the necessary relevant information is my starting point. Drawings of the station, works buildings and signal boxes, together with an accurate trackplan of my chosen time period (late 60's/early 70's) will be essential for depicting this well known location. The intention is to model the station to scale without scaling compromise, bridge to bridge and everything in between. Any reference help would be greatly appreciated on this. More details soon. Paul.

Correct Jeff, Lots of good pointers there, thank you chaps. Will investigate further and update so others can benefit from what l can get hold of. Cheers, Paul.

Hi guys, Can l ask, do Network Rail allow individuals to request station plans or would the local council be a better idea? I'm looking for scale drawings of Doncaster station for an upcoming project.

Apologies Jeff, but my chosen time period is around 1970. It won't be fixed in stone, as someone will always be pointing out an error, stating such and such! So l do reserve the right to have something turn up unexpectedly!

Many thanks for your good wishes. I am aiming big but will be able to work on it full time when the layout build itself gets underway. The trackwork is indeed complex, with a number of slips required and building pointwork will be a real challenge. A new thread will appear at a more appropriate time when the layout construction begins after sizeable building work has been done.

Agreed Graham, l followed HLJ build and went to see it at Wakefield. I thought it was a magnificent achievement!

Evening all. There have been significant developments since my last update, in that huge decisions have taken place that have altered all my plans! After careful negotiation (with the wife) and my offer to build stables away from our established stabling block, it means l now have a much larger footprint in which to build my project. With this development in mind it has resulted in an ambtious plan to build an even bigger project, with the intention of opening it to the public! After much deliberation and with the extra space becoming available my plan for York will not now go ahead. What l now propose to build is a complete scale model of Doncaster station, under the umbrella of my business CreativeRail. Therefore, l won't continue this thread. Going forward l will start a new thread, but only when construction of the layout begins. The scenic section will be in the region of some 70 feet, but much building alteration must happen to make this work. I do apologise if this news disappoints some, as York remains very special to me and others but l hope that my interpretation of Doncaster will be impressive in this scale. The new thread will be a considerable length of time coming. Many thanks, Paul.

What l'm hoping to do is board above the fiddle yard to gain the necessary space for the shed and fuelling point. There will be an operating well between the station approach and fiddle yard area.

Just a little update. I've put a plan into AnyRail that hopefully gives a good idea of the extent of what I intend to include in my interpretation of York Station southern approach. I'm hoping that I can directly overlay which commercially available points will fit this plan. There will be some omissions from this plan, due to cost and complexity, such as most of Holgate Junction, but the plan will hopefully still be convincing.

Hi Paul, Thank you for the excellent wagon references. Your collection recording so much of Britain's railway heritage has been invaluable to me over the years and is very much appreciated. Cheers, Paul.

Many thanks for your good wishes. I do get your valid point on 20's. I recall seeing an image showing an abundance of single 20's around the turntable in what is now the main hall of the NRM. My choice of location was a battle between Hitchin and York. Both had their own merits and l took my time in making the final decision. Am l right in saying the 03 pilot had a match wagon, as did the Newcastle pilot?

I didn't recognise the name but recall him by his 53A Models username. Agreed, an absolute superb collection of my chosen time period. I do have a dmu on pre-order and will need to add additional units later on. To answer your earlier question about trackwork, l'll be looking at Marcway for pointwork initially, but will work through my trackplan when drawn up. One thing l can say is it won't be an exact replica, although l do aim to make it look authentic. Cheers, Paul.