West Cornwall Layout Planning (Was Lands End)

[The Stationmaster]

My only suggestion would be to move the station Building further to the left enabling you to have a longer bay. as at Kingswear.

I would also move the cattle dock and out it on the short siding beyond the release crossover then move the goods shed a couple of wagon lengths up the siding.

[Chris Chewter]

As an update, currently the layout is on hold whilst I work on a small diorama to double up as a photo plank.  However, the practice partners I work for have just taken on a job in Redruth, so it looks like I'm going to be able to visit the area. In particular, I want to gather images to use for backscenes and to get photographs of typical architecture that Google Earth cannot quite provide.

 

One thing that struck me was whether to model rolling Cornish hills in the background, with the station on the edge of St Just, or to model low relief Cornish architecture to reflect the station being a bit more in town.

 

If the latter was felt to be a bit more appealing, I would need to adjust the design to allow the station building to be moved towards the back of the layout.  I was previously going to use the hills visible from the A3071, but I'm starting to think that the view would look a tad generic.  However the mixture of Victorian villas and Cornish cottages to South Place gives a more regional feel. (Or perhaps I'm over thinking this and should just get on and build it?)

[Chris Chewter]

Well, it appears that its taken nearly over a year for me to pull my finger out, save up some cash for the timber and trackwork, and actually make a start.  The joys of having a young family!  

 

Anyway, I thought I'd post the final iteration of the plan for those who are interested.

 

Timbers cut, boards made, and track in the process of being laid!

[Chris Chewter]

I thought I'd share my progress in the last few months.  It shows that even when things are planned on a computer, this invariably change once construction starts.

 

To ensure that the curves were correct, I glued the plan to the boards, and laid the trackwork over.  Some oddities occurred such as the Peco track not matching up with the plan.  Also, I wanted the layout to be able to be split into three should the need to move house occur.  Some points unfortunately fell on the join, and therefore had to be relocated.

 

I've pushed the station to the far left.  I've also been able to increase the size of the goods yard, but I'm in two minds whether its a tad oversized and whether it needs to be reduced in size. The coal bins shall be removed as coal traffic has been discussed earlier in this thread.  Also, the wagon weighbridge (on the short siding by the silver tanker) may disappear too. Whilst I thought it would add additional operational interest, I cannot find an west country examples in any of the books I've read, so it'll probably have to go!

 

Once fully wired, I think its time to give the layout a thorough testing!

[Chris Chewter]

Now that the track laying has been undertaken, I wanted to give the layout a good test to check whether there were any issues before I started on any scenics.  However I found that without a fiddle yard, and somewhere for the trains to run to, its very difficult to assess this.  Now that the storage sidings have been completed over the past few months, I can get a good feel if the layout does what its designed to do, and I've been surprised by the results.  

 

Apart from a couple of point pins that are a bit too long causing some locos to catch when they run past, and a point motor whose wiring loom worked loose, the most surprising thing I've found is that the carriage sidings and turntable are completely unnecessary!  I managed to spend a good hour and a half on the layout and didn't use them once.  To give the layout a good test, I also (un-prototypically and invoking Rule 1) ran a manor across the layout and felt quite happy running it tender first when required!

 

I like the idea of making the scenery at the back deeper, so the carriage sidings are being eyed up for removal.  However I'm in two minds about removing the turntable though. Apart from the fact it looks good, visitors like watching locos being turned.  More importantly, its removal will also leave a dirty great hole, and brings into question the removal of far too many points.

 

The headshunt to the goods yard is certainly on the short side, holding just three wagons and a small loco, but I don't think I can do anything about that now.

 

I've also been thinking about past comments on this thread about prototypical trains, and I do like the thought of keeping operations more realistic.  However that troubles me slightly.  Apart from selling a load of stock, I could have chosen a real location to model instead of making one up! Keep an eye on eBay as I've certainly identified stock that can go!

 

I certainly don't want to make any hasty decisions that I might regret in the future. Anyway, I need to get the minor issues sorted and a few more test sessions done before I finalise any adjustments to the design. I'll let you know how things progress!

[imt]

Your points about the need for carriage sidings and a turntable rang bells with me.  I wanted a particular type of layout and I thought that meant I needed all the facilities on the main board - and of course they didn't fit.  You have a lot more space.  However friends set to work on me (and my plans) and convinced me that a good fiddle yard was the best way forward and just to operate the layout as having those facilities "up the line".  Works a treat and I haven't looked back.

 

Having said that I'd keep a turntable!