Antony Farrell

Some interesting thoughts here. I have just started building the baseboards for the branch line but there is a distinct lack of timber currently available so only two and a half board done so far. The branch comes off of a double track roundy roundy mainline with a large through station on part of it. This would also be the junction where trains for the branch would deviate Thanmyr Junction. The diagram shows where the branch is supposed to fit in. Though initially it will run to a fiddle yard. The inclines marked on the plan are tentative and I may not include them. They are for scenic purposes in any case rather than for clearance of tracks above each other.

When it is fitted into the larger layout it would normally be viewed from the bottom. But I do like the idea of a canal wharf.

This makes me feel old, I still have a Mainline prairie and Manor. These have been sitting in their boxes for decades now. Wonder if they will still run?

Perhaps if I replace the north quay with some factory type buildings/warehouses etc.

Here is a revised version. I cannot really rotate the station as it will then impact on clearances to the rest of the layout. I wanted a smaller turntable than the one shown, a 50 - 60ft one would work best. Assuming that I have got the arrangement working it should now be possible to shunt the upper left hand siding without impacting the upper platform road. The plan shows bits of adjacent boards. This station will come of a roundy-roundy section. Clearances will be subject to alteration to get everything to fit.

This is my proposed branch line terminus which will fit into a larger layout. The minimum radius is 2ft. Could people let me know what they think. I have just started building the boards, a slow progress as timber is hard to get at the moment. The quaysides can be extended both in width and depth (I have some ship models to fit in here)

Just wondering as to how close to the edge of the quay would you place the track. Was there a recommended distance?

Looks like I can use the Comet chassis to replace the decrepit one sitting under a battered Finecast body which I will disassemble and rebuild. I think I may also have an old Star class, also Finecast kit somewhere in my mountain of old locos. I assume this as I found a comet chassis kit for a Star.

To slightly resurrect this; Wizard list an ex-Comet chassis kit for the Saint, Hall and Hawksworth County, does anyone know what model/maunfacture Saint it was meant to go with? The old Finecast Saint for example? Or the old Hornby model etc. The instructions do not appear to say.

Could you do the reverse, paint the mortar first then dry brush the bricks?

Well assuming the 4mm Slaters GWR coaches do reappear I will be after several at least.

When was the last time Ratio put out a new coach kit? With the loss of the 4mm ranges swallowed by Coopercraft I could do with some easy to build (relatively) GWR Dean and Churchward coaching stock.

The main purpose of those crossovers (and I think they should be the other way round) is so that goods trains on the upline can be stopped and reversed into the through stations good facilities. Though this does duplicate the double slip on the bottom left hand side so they could be eliminated (which would save 4 points!). You would have thought I would have noticed that. Looks like I can extend the through stations platforms a bit as well.

This time I drooped the fiddle yard but increased the side of the branch station turning it into a port. The station here can hold 3 70' coaches plus loco, possibly 4 56' ones at a stretch. I'm not sure whether the tracks at the back can be reached if a derailment occurs here. So still a work in progress. The turntable should be large enough to take a GCR 8K for my fish wagons.

On the plan in the book one is marked as 'siding' that is the one on the top right, the others are not labelled.

The three spurs appear to serve a small goods shed. The one closest to the platform is between this shed and the platfprm. The other two are on the other side of this shed so I presume are small goods sidings. These end short of a building labelled W.B on the plan. The plan I have is that in 'The Great Western & Great Central Joint Railway' by S C Jenkins. I have grabbed a copy of the station plan you referred to as it shows the signalling diagram and catch points so very handy.

So basically keep Haddenham but change the single slip to a double and increase the length of its spurs allowing them to follow the mainline for a distance. Obviously more freight uses tis station.

Sounds promising. Incidently the through station is almost a replica of the double track stations on the GWR/GCR Joint which I think was mainly a passengers rather than freight line hence the limited freight and awkward movement. Perhaps not the best for 'fun.'

Definitely rethink. The limitation of course is the doorways and how far can I safely reach. Back to the drawing board. The mainline station is based on those on the GCR/GWR Joint but perhaps that should be revised too?

Thanks Harlequin, this is just the sort of information I was after. A different pair of eyes is very useful. If I increase the number of sidings do you think I would still need the fiddleyard? If not I can re-rout the branch terminus or enlarge it into a bigger station and have the continuous run pass behind it.

Not a problem Harlequin, but can you be a bit more specific as to where you see the problems? I have not yet started construction so no problems yet. As far as I can see I now have reasonable access to everything. The two lifting sections only have a little bit of track on them and I have a mainline passing station (with admittedly limited freight access) a small branch terminal and a fiddleyard I am still not really happy with. I am not sure yet whether to increase the height of the branchline station. Have to think more on this.

Having thought this through, I have turned the branch line back to where it was originally. This looks like it would allow easier access. It also means that if I build the branch line station as a module long term I could build several stations which could be dropped in here. I will be starting shortly (just need to build the frames for the branchline station and a temporary fiddleyard). I am not sure whether to raise the level of the branchline or not. It does not need to clear another line but it could help hide the fiddleyard at the back. It could also help to access the portion of the fiddleyard on the right.

I'd like one of these coasters too, I think it would pretty good moored alongside an Acorn or Acheron class pre WW1 destroyer which would scale at under a metre in length.

I found it amazing how close they are to the stock on the London, Buckingham and East Gloucester Railway. I don't think any purists would be able to tell; except of course the L B & E G C was never built. I do need to consider liveries for it though.

Looking forward to following this. It is something I have been meaning to do with my Bachmann LNER version. I want mine in more or less original condition (I model 1912/13) so virtually new.