Tricky

Going round the bend with this little lot! A commission layout based around curves - not one single straight turnout! This is one of four boards, although this one and another one are the most complicated. It takes careful setting out to make sure everything lines up, especially from board to board. I’ve used C&L components and my own laser cut ply scale 14” wide crossing timbers. The paper in various places are my Autocad templates stuck down in key locations.

Here’s some photos of the micro layout. The fiddle yard is located by the brass dowels and held there by magnets.

I think what I'm going to do is make a type of fiddle yard at the left hand end with two 'modules' - one for the coaches and another for the loco. They slide around on a board and interconnect via pattern-maker's dowels. So the running-round happens off stage. If anyone does Instagram and Facebook they'll know what I mean from my posts on there...but I'll post some pics on here a bit later to illustrate. I made a micro layout for a customer and his fiddle yard employed this scheme. It's quite ingenious ( and his idea, not mine!).

Tony - that looks to be just what I’m looking for! As a novice, if I wanted a two-coach train, which would you go for?

Yes, that’s the sort of thing - that shot of the train made up of two short coaches. The two-tone livery is quite attractive. If this idea is to work though I need to create a run-round at the left hand end. Pushing coaches back down the line won’t look quite right.

That’s the ticket! Great minds….

I have another idea brewing: prompted mostly by thoughts of motive power…. At the moment the stud will be the 0-6-0 (currently in Warren Haywood’s paint shop), a half cab (to be made) followed lastly by a Manning Wardle 0-4-0 (also to be made). This last creation will handle the quay traffic down to the mill. The specific idea I have brewing is to also employ the MW as motive power for a ‘works train’ which serves the mill workers and possibly workers associated with another industry down that end of the layout (brewery?). To this end, I imagine the MW in a free-lance livery - something perhaps like GE blue, with a free-lance coach of some antiquity to match. So, firstly what do folk think of this plan? Secondly, do you know of any cheap-ish ways of sourcing a suitable coach (kit?) as I have no real experience of coaching stock as a whole. The MW will be from Slaters. Thanks! Inspiration acknowledgments to @wenlock for his ‘Lady Jayne’ spotted shunting at Sherton Abbas over the weekend at Uckfield! And also congrats to him for ‘Best in Show’ as chosen by the exhibitors. Well deserved!

Stunning work. How many of us I wonder have a collection of hankies with paint spots all over them…?!

More or less finished the engine shed at last!