Topologically correct Ashover Butts

[Dinadan]

A while ago I said I would like to build a layout based on the Ashover Light Railway and asked questions about Peco crazy track points.  After much faffingI have come up with the following layout.  It is supposed to be Ashover Butts, albeit distorted to fit onto the size of plywood sheet I have.  I haven't included the fiddle yard which would fit on the bottom right.  The brown trapezoid is supposed to be Ashover Butts station, the red octagon is the 'Where the Rainbow Ends' cafe, the grey rectangle the cast concrete works, the thick light blue line possibly a double sided back scene and the light grey in the top right the Butts quarry.  The darker blue is the river Amber and Marsh Brook and the brown lines road and paths.  The track for the quarry is not yet finalized.   All the track has greater than 9" radius and all the points are the crazy track ones.   Does anyone have any comments please?  It would be my first layout since I was a child

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Dinadan

[Dinadan]

Apologies, I do not seem to be able to delete the extra image

Chris

[phil_sutters]

3 hours ago, Dinadan said:

Apologies, I do not seem to be able to delete the extra image

Chris

Have you deleted both the main image and the thumb-nail below it when in edit mode? The thumbnail has a small dustbin at the lower right corner which you need to click on. It may  only appear if you hover over the thumbnail.

Edited March 8, 2021 by phil_sutters

[Dinadan]

Thanks very much for that.  I had previously failed to notice the dustbin

 

Chris

[Woody C]

Hello Chris,

 

A very interesting track plan and scenic outline and you have obviously spent some time developing it and getting a lot of key features in a relatively small space. The only point I would raise, apologies if I have missed the explanation, but the two stub sidings to the top of the wye look fairly short - about 6 inches. Not sure if you just intended to turn locos on the wye or whether the sidings are planned to be used for rolling stock storage or turning full trains but the limited length of the sidings might be an issue. Other than that it should be a cracking layout when built.

 

Hope this is of use?

 

Woody

[Dinadan]

Thanks for passing on your comments.   I agree with you, it does need a bit more length particularly for the right hand (station) siding.  I am probably only going to be using a single carriage along with a locomotive, hence I don't need to lengthen it much (the locomotive normally went in first, so I do need to).  The other siding was for a coal wagon, which would be pushed in (all the way from Fallgate I think), so the length would work.

 

I am working on a modified design,  where the 'quarry' is compressed a bit more to the north, the triangle is moved a bit to the left, a curve is added between the point at the end of the triangle, and the station siding is lengthened a bit and goes more into the top corner.  Alternatively, I could use a 4x4ft baseboard

 

Also, I was planning to put a fiddle yard in the bottom right, probably using a large enough turntable to turn a train round.

 

Currently, I'm dithering, as I want to swop the polarity of the points' frogs, on whether to use point motors and, if so, which ones to use.  Again, any advice would be welcome.

 

Chris

Edited April 11, 2021 by Dinadan
Typo

[Dinadan]

I went for the 4 foot square option and below is my latest version.  Hope you like the 'Where the Rainbow Ends' cafe.  Any comments would be gratefully received.  I've bought all of the track and various other bits and I'm currently making the baseboard.

 

I found an online OS map with ALR track still in place:

https://maps.nls.uk/view/189227376

which was published in 1955.  I'm presuming this is due to the OS not updating regularly rather than there still being track at that point.  Interestingly, at the Butts Quarry end there are two lengths of track crossing the Amber and going into the quarry, the second of which isn't on any track plan in the standard books.  Whilst being sceptical about the second length, I have just came back from a long weekend in Derbyshire where I went to visit site of the Ashover Butts station and the quarry.  About where the second track would have crossed (upstream from the bridge), there is a large concrete block in the Amber, with a hole in the top surface with a sapling growing out of it.

 

I've got several pictures of various features and various general  views which I will upload some of when I get chance.  Very picturesque area, albeit with a lot more trees than in the ALR's time.

 

Chris