How to deal with a modelling crisis.

[Karhedron]

Try looking at Aspects of modelling: Track Plans by Anthony New. This is a great book for browsing for ideas. It covers BLTs, MPDS, goods yards, larger termini and layouts to watch trains go by.

 

It has 2 versions of Penzance in it. The first is fairly close to the original, the second is a more cut-down version nicknamed Penzuncle. Both show good ideas for capturing the feel of Penzance in a generous and modest space respectively.

[The Johnster]

i like the idea of Penzuncle just on principle.  

 

Have you seen the price of the steak and kidneys in that shop on the town's High Street.  That's the famous 'Pie Rates of...'

 

Sorry, there was no excuse for that, I'll take my meds now, nurse.

[The Stationmaster]

N gauge. Job jobbed!

 

 Already done of course, as a group effort and very impressive -

 

https://www.facebook.com/StRuth2mm/

 

[njee20]

There are numerous models of Penzance in N in various guises, I know of 2 others at least, clearly it holds appeal for a lot of people!

 

It was obviously a tongue in cheek comment, although it would be a great space in N, with 10-12 coach trains no problem whatsoever, and minimal compression required.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

I did wonder about West Wales, as, based on maps and photographs, it appears to offer much of what makes Devon and Cornwall so attractive but which has been comparatively neglected by modellers. However, as I have no direct experience of the area I thought I'd better not risk talking what might be rubbish.

So very lovely and so much less developed.

 

Gives you free rein to imagine a 'what if' based on  - let's say - a line which went past  St Davids to the coast at Whitesands Bay where the railway promoted the  resort 'St Davids Westerly' (or think up your own title) with its compact terminus ideally sized to fit in a standard garage in 4mm scale.

[Andy Kirkham]

So very lovely and so much less developed.

 

Gives you free rein to imagine a 'what if' based on  - let's say - a line which went past  St Davids to the coast at Whitesands Bay where the railway promoted the  resort 'St Davids Westerly' (or think up your own title) with its compact terminus ideally sized to fit in a standard garage in 4mm scale.

A genuine Pembrokeshire might-have-been is Abermawr http://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/explore-pembrokeshire/beaches/abermawr/ a little way west of Fishguard. It was for a while in 1848 intended to be the terminus of the South Wales Railway until Neyland was chosen instead. Some earthworks for the Abermawr route were made, and parts of the route were utilised nearly over fifty years later when the new Fishguard line was built.

Edited January 23, 2019 by Andy Kirkham

[F-UnitMad]

So very lovely and so much less developed.

 

 

No need to be like that about the Welsh..!!

Sorry, off to join The Johnster in the Naughty Corner...

[jonny777]

I sympathise with Clagsniffer. It is not easy when, after having all those plans in the mind for many years, you finally get to the point where you can turn them into reality; only to find they don't fit the space available. 

 

The problem, as I see it, is not so much finding an alternative - be that real or fictitious; but finding an alternative which has the same raison d'être as Penzance. A much cut down Penzance would not look right, and a fictional much cut down version of a coastal resort station would be no better, mainly due to the fact that (maybe summer Saturdays excluded) a much smaller station would not have had 8-10 coach Western-hauled expresses as a regular feature of the timetable in the first half of the 1970s. 

 

In fact, even if it had survived Beeching, a much smaller version would have been reduced to a simple DMU service to the nearest mainline station, or maybe a class 25 and three coaches occasionally. 

 

I have been in a similar situation, and the only way I remedied the subsequent frustration was to completely abandon all my fantasy layouts (at least for the time being) and spent my time trying to come up with a solution where I could run my collection of large locos in the available space. 

 

Yes, it is harsh, and will need courage, but unfortunately I see no other way. 

[61658]

I to can sympathise with this situation, after a number of years and a change of scale trying to get the layout I had dreamed of. I recently chose to dismantle everything and start from scratch with something more simple and more realistic for the space I have. I hate making baseboards so this was a painful decision but they came apart much easier than they went together and now I am starting to make visible progress and enjoy my hobby rather than be disheartened by it. 

 

Sometimes you have to take a couple of steps backwards before you can move forwards again. 

[Nearholmer]

I’d be surprised if anyone who has been in the hobby a while hasn’t got at least one ‘blind alley’ layout on their ‘CV’. In my case, two that involved a lot of work before abandonment, plus a few little ones.

 

Fortunately, I quite enjoy making baseboards, although, to be honest, I’m not a great woodworker, so the woodwork was quite fun!

[john new]

The other tip I offer is don't promise it to a show before it is finished. I got totally burnt out as regards my modelling mojo due to that. Layout concerned still exists in storage but untouched for years and only partially complete. It will be finished one day but isn't a current project now my mojo has returned.

[Ravenser]

 

…....

The problem, as I see it, is not so much finding an alternative - be that real or fictitious; but finding an alternative which has the same raison d'être as Penzance. A much cut down Penzance would not look right, and a fictional much cut down version of a coastal resort station would be no better, mainly due to the fact that (maybe summer Saturdays excluded) a much smaller station would not have had 8-10 coach Western-hauled expresses as a regular feature of the timetable in the first half of the 1970s. 

 

In fact, even if it had survived Beeching, a much smaller version would have been reduced to a simple DMU service to the nearest mainline station, or maybe a class 25 and three coaches occasionally. 

 

 

 

 

Err - Aberystwyth?  Which had a class 25 on a good deal more than 3 coaches on a Summer Saturday in the 1970s

 

More pertinently , if an alternative  based on a West Wales prototype - and Neyland and Aberystwyth might be the strongest contenders there - doesn't appeal, then some more radical "imagineering" might be necessary.

 

This involves prototypes which were not served by BR because they don't exist.

 

Let us suppose that Lyonesse actually exists, beyond Cornwall and past Lands End. The West of England main line  naturally extends past Penzance into Lyonesse, and terminates at the largest coastal town. This features a terminus reminiscent of Penzance (because it plays a similar role, and serves a vaguely similar town ) but rather smaller, because traffic continues to dwindle away as you continue west. You are now allowed to add scenic elements of Padstow or Bude or an equivalent of Tintagel Castle into the mix....

 

You get your WR 8-10 coach expresses, a reduced but similar station layout.. It has the same raison d'etre as Penzance - it is the end of the WR main line - but is more compact.

 

Some very careful thoughtful planning might be required to make this work, but with considerable care - especially in thinking the scenic side through and making it credible as somewhere smaller and more remote than Penzance  (I'm thinking of Douglas IoM  or maybe the West of Ireland, and perhaps the ex LSWR North Cornwall line as another visual reference). Lyonesse is doubtless that bit wilder, emptier, and more remote than Cornwall, just as Cornwall is rockier , more sparsely populated and more remote than Devon....

Edited January 25, 2019 by Ravenser

[ForestPines]

Didn't "Designing A Layout" by Barry Norman feature a Lyonesse-based design? Or am I thinking of something by Iain Rice?