Eridani

No, it's not vital - I mainly planned it that way to save on wood since I couldn't find a 2440x610 sheet at the time. Portability's not massively important either, so I wouldn't mind compromising if making a join is too difficult. Thanks a lot for the help.

Any thoughts on this rough plan? I know it's still got the settrack points and bay, although an obvious issue is that the loco runs around in the fiddle yard.

I'll probably use the longest road as a headshunt for the station, and the other two for storing trains off-scene (I feel like 3 gives a little more breathing room than 2). I've given both cassettes and a sector plate some thought before, but I'm less confident in my woodworking skills beyond putting the boards together.

I agree, I definitely need to work on those, although I put three sidings there to use as a kind of shunting puzzle arrangement. As for the station, are you referring to the first plan in my last message? My main issue with that arrangement is that without the curved entrance, the fiddle yard ends up wasting space at the front of the layout (top of the images). Sorry if I haven’t been clear enough with the orientation of the layout

I've put together a straight plan as per @Flying Pig's advice, and it certainly looks neater than with the curved fiddle yard approach. I'm still unsure on the station location though, since my original plan had it in the middle of the board to make space for some scenery at the street-level entrance (although that means the yard is also in the middle, obviously wasting the limited space). At the moment, I intend to operate the layout facing the fiddle yard, but that's not set in stone. I considered adding a fourth fiddle yard road too, although I feel it would've been slightly too short. This one is even closet to their plan, and includes my attempt at filling in the space behind the station. While there's no space in front of the layout for scenery, I could squeeze in a couple of workers' cottages to fill the empty space between the two goods yards. There's less space for industry however, though I could probably change the siding arrangement on the right. As always, thanks for the help!

I’ve moved the goods shed to what looks like a more useful position, and I definitely prefer the inglenook-like arrangement. I’m still a little unsure on the position of the engine spur and shed though - would loco storage and refuelling take place on the same siding? Thanks a lot for all the advice!

I’ve considered using something like a Peco loco lift or a short cassette to run the loco around - what do you think the ideal fiddle yard design is for a layout like this? Thanks for the track advice too, is there a specific siding/feature that’s cluttering the layout?

Hi all. I'm planning to build my first proper layout over the summer, and I'm looking for some advice on setting up a layout that's both operationally satisfying and plausible (although I'm not too bothered with strict historical accuracy, since I've got a pretty mix-and-match selection of rolling stock). The track is mostly Hornby setrack, since that's all I've got laying around, although the flex is Peco. The main constraint is the baseboard, which will probably be made up of two 1220x610 boards that'll need to be disconnected for easier transport and storage. As for trains, the longest loco I'm planning to run is a Fowler 4p 2-6-4t, and I'll generally keep train lengths to two coaches or shorter to keep in the loop. Attached are a couple drafts of the track and building layout. All the buildings are metcalfe kits, which I've already put together for the temporary layout I've got at the moment. Power will be from an HM6000 unit (Connected at the red arrows) Thanks a lot for any advice!