Ffarquhar, Knapford, Both?

[splodgestudios]

Hi All,

 

This will be a bit of a convoluted post but hopefully an enjoyable one for any Railway Series fans such as myself. 

 

I have a 7’6” x 20” space, I plan to use modules as this will need to be a transportable layout, and if space is available in future I’ll be able to expand it with different modules. 

 

The Ffarquhar Branch-line is the favourite of my modelling muses, and this modular layout will capture different scenes of the Branch; and here lays my conundrum “where to start?”

 

Being set in the early 60’s I want the layout to feature a running passenger line as well as some goods working and some shunting. This leaves me with two potential locations. The terminus of the branch; FFARQUHAR STATION, or the foot of the branch KNAPFORD HARBOUR. Both pose challenges of space consolidation but with some manipulation I think I’ve built a plan that can fit either 

 

If you seen my previous posts I’ve been toying with the idea of a Ffarquhar Station layout for some time, it’s definitely the easier of the two but presents some interesting challenges and I’ve come up with a design that I feel capture the essence of Ffarquhar while coming close to what the Rev W Awdry drew up in his map of the area and in his own layout 

 

 

 

I also drew a concept of what it could look like

 

 

Knapford is definitely the bigger challenge of the two, but provides unmatched visual interest with two tiers of running traffic which I haven’t seen done on a small layout (but I am certain it has been). The biggest challenge is that there is such little reference to the area in Wilberts writings when compared to Ffarquhar - other than the dates of the harbour rebuild and the moving of the upper lines station there really isn’t much to go off of other than book illustrations which really aren’t the most consistent thing in the world especially in terms of a track plan. My friend @sleeperagent01 on twitter is more versed than me on the railway series and real life operation. He provided this track plan

 

 

Which helped me create this plan
 

 

From that and studying some of the illustrations I’ve come up with this proof of concept layout plan along with Ffarquhar I drew a concept of what it could look like. 

 

 

I chose to model between the bridges as it avoids the mess of the main line and fits decently well while keeping both running lines visible and workable. The right side could either be traversers at two heights or I could employ cartridges I’m not sure yet 

 

Also to note it’ll be DCC (I have an NCE powercab), 4mm OO gauge, code 100 Peco Streamline. 

 

I’d love to build either but it really is difficult to decide so thoughts and opinions are welcome!

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by splodgestudios

[splodgestudios]

Small update, I played around and came up with a more finished version of KNAPFORD, affectionately calling it “between the bridges”. @BrimptonHalt on Twitter had the brilliant idea of adding a PW Gang on the mainline bridge. More drawings to come and will probably be edited into this post. Watch this space! 
 

 

Edit: adding drawing

 

 

I am very much leaning towards the knapford option.

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by splodgestudios

[OnTheBranchline]

I think Knapford would be the more creative option! 

[splodgestudios]

Hi all, here’s an updated and detailed Knapford plan. The fiddle yards are somewhat complicated so they may get some tweaking in future. Any ideas are welcome! 
 

 

(over line will be 3-4 inches above the lower)

 

Tried to make it as compact as possible. The sector plates fit decent sized trains, have measured and all are under 1 1/2ft, some smaller. I am considering cassettes as an alternative to the sector plates.