Monkey

Martin, thanks for the info. I might try my hand at picking up a LNER one and renumbering it. Would you know, or can point me towards finding out the appropriate coloured transfers to use?

Can anyone help me with information on 60033 Seagull, as she would be depicted during the 1948 Locomotive exchange trials? Am I right in thinking she would have still been in LNER blue? Obviously any images I've found have been black an white. Ideally I'd like to find a factory made OO model that is correct for the period, but I can only find pre BR models in blue, or BR Green. Any pointers towards a readymade model would be appreciated.

Ah I see. Thanks. I think that'd fit with my other idea to have a small NR depot just off to the left.

Thanks, thats exactly what I'm looking for - ideas to give the layout a story / purpose. Forgive me but I'll need tamper siding /RRAP explained to me

Cheers for the feedback Chris. That inability to come into the short platform 'the right way' was something that bothered me (see my previous post when I was trying to add a slip to 'Pacific Terminus'. But it was a feature of the original Minories, and thats what I've based this on. I'll come up with something further down the track to make this fit the story, perhaps a depot or a branchline. I'll be sure to remember what you said about track spacing too. The positions as they are aren't set in stone, I think it's more of a diagram to me and I'll test and adjust when it comes to laying it. So overall do you think it works? Am I missing any operational features to make it make sense, or do I have anything pointless in there?

Apologies for not replying for a couple of weeks, I've been busy in real-life. I've had a rethink, trying to maximise the room that I have available and to avoid the traverser. I've come up with the following which I'd really like people's views on whether it works, and also any pointers or changes to make it operationally plausible. I decided I can use the back wall of the garage too, giving me a maximum space of about 6000mm x 2010mm in an L-Shape. I wanted to keep it 2ft wide. I'll have a 1829mm x 607mm board tucked into the top right as you look at it, so all the pointwork fits on one board. I've managed to squeeze 3 x platforms that are long enough to accommodate the class 800 on my wishlist, as well as a shorter siding and bay platform, with nothing tighter than a 2nd radius curve (mostly less). The Hornby platforms are there just to help me visualise it. If this works, it should give me enough length along the top wall to still have something of a layout and a hidden fiddle yard. ????

I'm showing my naivety here, but why are they awkward? Also, I have no idea about the radii of the elbow turns, I just connected it up using flexitrack on scarm and presumed it would work. It could probably do with tidying a little, but that was to give you the gist of my idea. The two routes to platform 0 was just a nice to have, I can lose the idea if you don't think it works. What I'd really like to do is work out a second route out of platform 3 for my potential XC route.

Here's what I've got

Pretty much a direct rip-off of Phil's design, with extended platforms and a slip to allow access to Platform 0. There won't be room for anything else once we're out of the the throat but thats ok, I'm thinking modular and can put more boards in between the station and the traverser at a later date. I have more than enough to play with for now. I don't know how I'm going to allocate the upper yards. I'm thinking a small NR / BR (depending on the era) depot. Or perhaps changing the layout a little to (in the future) run a XC route from platform 3.

So two deliveries of materials later and I have two of my three boards made up. The third one is the traverser, which I'm actually enjoying building rather than dreading it as I was initially.

Thanks! Oooh, that's complicated things a bit.

I don't think it'll be a regular thing. For a start, I only own one set at the moment. Anyway, whats to stop me railing them from the layout and running them into the yard. Well I've taken the plunge and ordered the materials to knock up some boards. The final board will be the fiddle-yard / traverser or whatever I do, so for now I can make a start with the terminus end and worry about that later. Does anyone by any chance have the length of a OO 5 car class 800?

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I appreciate you taking the time to look at this for me. I think my heart is still in a minories-style layout, however the Long Rock sidings idea I like. That could be the depot / stabling for the NMT (or sleeper if I get one - not keen on 57s though, so might have a bit of artistic licence with that one and use a 59 or 37). That would open up a bit more of the second board for use and I could have maybe squeeze 2 or 3 roads into a hidden fiddle yard... After all it doesn't all have to be on the track at once does it? Then I'd avoid the dreaded traverser too. I don't anticipate much fiddling / uncoupling. It'll be mostly HSTs or DMUs. I could always top and tail other diesels or a visiting steam tour.

Doh!

That's not too bad, I've been allowing 1.5m for the 2+3 working on an average of 300mm each I thought the 43s were 265mm and the mk3s 305mm

I'd always thought the conventional orientation of Minories looked quite like Penzance anyway - although I thought it was double track and therefore wouldn't save much in the way of pointwork. I take on board what you say about simplifying it, but then I think the pointwork is part of the interest of the layout. If you take that away it loses something. You mentioning longer HSTs has made me think of something, eventually I want to get a Class 800 which although 5 cars long would be longer I think. So perhaps I need to plan for this and make sure I have a platform long enough to accommodate that anyway.

I'm thinking that I might squeeze that in now too. I've painstaking recreated 'Pacific Terminus' using scarm, and found that I've still got just under half of my maximum length left. I expect to have up to 5 x HSTs covering various time periods and themes. My plan is to have a layout that I can equally run Swallow HSTs and my NSE class 50 sometimes, and other times replace them with GWR sets. I also have the NMT Class 43 on order that I'll need to find somewhere suitable to position. Although I'm not modelling it on Paddington per se, the terminus would be a smaller representation of it, i.e. a London terminus for the western region. So I have room for creative licence as I want, for example a NR depot where the NMT can stable. Thanks to Phil I definitely have the foundation of my layout, now it's adapting it's use to suit my theme(s) and sorting out this fiddle-yard business, If I can avoid a traverser / cassettes (scary!) I'd rather.

Hi Harlequin, Thanks for sharing your layout. That really does fit the bill perfectly, and arranged that way kind of represents Paddington to me. I'm apprehensive about a traverser though. I already think I'm taking on a fair bit doing this as a first project. It's nearly 25 years since I did woodwork at school!

That's an idea I hadn't considered. Thanks!

I already have one set of powercars, and class 43s are my thing (grew up next to Paddington in the 80s), so I want to stick to oo. I will run other things too, NSE DMUs probably, but the layout has to be capable of handing the HSTs. I'm already compromising on the length of the rake.

Being completely new to the hobby, but having lurked for a couple of years, I've decided to use my new-found spare time to finally lay down some track. I'm in the planning stages, and not very good at it. I'm trying to come up with a minories style layout with platforms long enough for 2+3 length HSTs. I'd like to keep to a maximum of 16ft x 2ft including the off-scene fiddle yard, that again has to be long enough to hold up to 5 HSTs. By my reckoning my HSTs are going to be about 5ft long, which x2 leaves 6ft to get the station throat and the fiddle yard pointwork in. I know its cheeky, basically asking someone to come up with a plan for me, but if anyone has the skills and time I'd be ever so grateful.