dibateg
Western Thunderer
After years of speculation, I have finally put pen to plans and begun working out what I can fit in the available space that I have. Party due to being incapacitated at the moment, and the prospect of possibly finishing the house renovation in the next 6 months I had some free time to sit and play with this idea. Originally I had planned on doing West Hallam, but after several operating sessions on other layouts I wanted something with a little more interest and challenge from an operating point of view. So Geoff Taylor and I sat down and went through a few ideas and Basford North became a possible choice. There are principally two traffic flows, north to Annesley via Bulwell Common, and south to Nottingham Victoria via Bagthorp junction. The tunnel at Mapperley had closed in 1960, so the direct line to Colwick was just open as goods only by the time I am modelling, 1962. It was occasionally used as a refuge, to allow the Derby locals to proceed unhindered.
So I obtained some large scale maps and then began to work out what I could fit in 23' by 15' with outside return loops at one end. After several iterations Mrs Tony came up with a great idea, which looks like it might actually work.
So here is the initial map:-
So there have to be lots of compromises of course, but the whole of the station is only slightly compressed and using a minimum radius of 6 feet, and having 6 tracks passing outside the building I came up with this. I really wanted the whole station on the straight, but that is just not possible as tracks can only exit at one end of the building. The outside tracks will be in boxes, but I shall actually build a lean to, to give double protection from the weather. I came up with this:-
The GNR liked their long ladder crossovers and it could be that one will be required outside the building to allow goods trains to back from the up line to Mapperley into the goods yard. I'm still thinking about that one.
So I obtained some large scale maps and then began to work out what I could fit in 23' by 15' with outside return loops at one end. After several iterations Mrs Tony came up with a great idea, which looks like it might actually work.
So here is the initial map:-
So there have to be lots of compromises of course, but the whole of the station is only slightly compressed and using a minimum radius of 6 feet, and having 6 tracks passing outside the building I came up with this. I really wanted the whole station on the straight, but that is just not possible as tracks can only exit at one end of the building. The outside tracks will be in boxes, but I shall actually build a lean to, to give double protection from the weather. I came up with this:-
The GNR liked their long ladder crossovers and it could be that one will be required outside the building to allow goods trains to back from the up line to Mapperley into the goods yard. I'm still thinking about that one.