YorkSouth

This is one of the best photos I have seen of a model railway loco and in a superb setting. The oily sheen on 61098 takes me back to some of my best, but vaguest, memories. Thank you.

...and the semaphore signals are still in place and operational at Liskeard.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions and messages. I have incorporated David C Broad's suggestions and amended the area pointed out by Flying Pig - it was an area that needed another view, for sure. Here's what I have ended up with: York 12 RM.pdf

David, the layout is 5.5m by 3.8m. I will send you the Anyrail plan via PM. Not all sidings are long enough and I will check again. Thanks Paul

Thanks, Mike. I do have sufficient access. Paul

Thanks again to both of you for your feedback. I checked again on the crossing at the top right. The entry to it is, per Anyrail, on a 650mm radius curve but I will see if I can smooth it out some more. The 'red line' warnings come from any curves which are below 762mm radius curves. If I set the alert to to 649mm, I have no red lines on the plan at all. Bryant's plan gives me some more ideas, but itself would require taking chunks out of a stair way, which I can't do. Between that and your sketches, I will work on this for a while and report back. Take care, Paul

Thanks, Bryant & David. I will look into these in detail tomorrow. I really do want to run 7 or 8 coach trains if possible, so storage is key. I have ruled out multiple levels for various reasons. Bryant - there is a platform on the right of the up Doncaster line. I do have access across most of the top of the fiddle yard, otherwise it would really be impossible. I need to have a really detailed look into your revised plan - you have some excellent ideas there. David - that is a standard Peco wide crossing on the top right hand side and all curves are within my limits. I will extract that and send you the detail parts and info. I really appreciate your draft ideas on how to gain bi-directional access. Many thanks again! Paul

I have been designing my 'dream' OO layout based on a distilled essence of the south end of York station and, being extremely greedy, have packed in my ideas of a loco shed, a complex junction and 14 tracks of storage into the usable area of my double garage (5.5m by 3.8m). Other than operational flaws, which certainly abound, my question is how best to arrange the access to the storage area. Aside from the ECML, York had trains from Scarborough from the north-east, and routes south-west to Leeds and the Midlands which would have crossed over the East Coast mainline. My plan shows the real-life arrangement of a Doncaster pair and a Leeds pair of lines south of the station but a single set of 'up' and 'down' storage sidings. Consequently, if I run according to real life, this results in tricky arrangements to get access to the storage, but having reviewed the contributions on this forum I am considering having two up and two down areas. The designs done by Phil and Bryant McG with your help also suggest that I should consider some bi-directional storage. Would I be better off even further compromising the prototype and having all 'up' traffic on lines 1 & 2, rather than 1 & 3 as now ? I would be really grateful for your thoughts on the conundrum I have set myself. Other factors: · I intend to run trains Eastern / North Eastern region dating from 1958 - 1972, so steam transitioning into diesel and the blue era. · I consciously sacrificed the visible running lines at the top to have more space for storage/loco shed area. · Minimum design curves at 762mm radius in scenic area, 650mm in storage. · There is access across the bottom and top of the layout as well as the operating well. · I have already built the baseboards, so am pretty committed to the overall design. · The grid on the plan is at 50cm. BTW: many thanks to Phil for his earlier advice - I hope he can see some of it in here, but the mess is all my responsibility. Many thanks. Paul York 11 RM.pdf