GWR57xx

There’s another example here: https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrsh1117a.htm

Another possible issue I see with your plan is that every train that arrives in your fiddle yard will have to have the loco removed and moved to the other end of the train for the next journey. That means a lot of handling of locos. Might cassettes be an easier option? edit: unless of course all your trains are top & tailed.

If you haven’t already seen it, I’d suggest having a read of @MAP66’s thread, as he’s using very similar sized helix to you and explains some of the issues and possible solutions. E.g gradients, train lengths, curve radii, basically how long a train can your locos pull up the inner spiral?

A little bit more progress to report. The doors are painted: All over brown (tint #4, chocolate) would have been a lot easier but they're done now and look quite stylish. A batch of low walls with chamfered engineers blue brick headers have been built and painted, ready for mortar: Difficult to see the chamfer from this view though. The interior end walls have been mortared and painted, now ready for assembly: Still a long way to go...

Nice crane! Is that from a kit?

Also, if this is a goods only sidings then the turnouts would probably be controlled by ground levers, so no need for a signal box or point rodding. Also probably no signals.

My understanding is that facing point locks are to protect passenger carrying lines, so if you have no passenger facilities nor a through passenger line then they would not be needed anyway. Saves you having to worry about leaving them out!

The revised shed arrangement looks great 🙂. Sorry, I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment on the signals.

Just a suggestion: you could keep the left hand board to 1200mm if you don’t mind having the centre of the leftmost crossover straddling the join. Perhaps have a very short straight between the turnouts on the crossover track to avoid cutting the turnouts themselves.

I should have remembered about the Silhouette cutter, since I’ve been following your topic for a while. I blame my memory and old age! Using whatever tools you have to hand and are able to wield successfully is not cheating in my book. I use a laser cutter and 3d printer and don’t understand some folks attitude to them. I enjoy learning new stuff, and the 2d and 3d CAD programs took quite a while to get to grips with. It certainly isn’t a case of just pressing a button and sitting back, there’s a lot of work involved in getting to that point. Your buildings are all looking great.

Really good scalpel work there to cut the frames out so perfectly. Are you a surgeon by any chance? 🙂 A question (as I have no idea what the Banff railway practice was): in your CAD drawing you’ve shown the open window as hinged at the top. Is that correct? I thought signal box windows were always sliders, but there always seem to be exceptions.

That’s quite a transformation on the wagon.

They can go over or under. There has been a few discussions previously on RMWeb, such as:

A sad end to all the previous work, but I’m looking forward to seeing the new layout develop. It’s a pity all the earlier photos have been lost from RMWeb.

Freudian slip? Or a spell checker with a sense of humour?