Time to give Dunks some competition
I've attempted to squeeze the last three stations on the Culm Valley Light Railway, in S, into the space given. I like the idea of a walk around style layout (with wireless DCC control), a sense of journey / distance, some periods of just train in landscape, operational flexibility (run as one engine in steam or support a group of three, maybe four operators) and waybills for each wagon, so I've doodled the following
Its a lot of work (the mainline run is over 100', the baseboard is rarely less than two feet wide so there is acres of scenery to do), but it is not impossible to do given enough time and motivation - retirement project?
I chose S because I just think that it would relish the space without being overpowering or looking underwhelming. Suggested height is with the rails at 48" off the floor, in a shadow box style presentation (dark brown pelmit and fascia, dark brown curtains covering up legs which are set back at least a foot from the front edge), full height sky backscene on wall with 3 foot radius corners. A sky coloured curtain would run from where the backscene ends on the left handside down to the swan neck at the bottom of the plan, removing the distraction of the doorway and fiddle yard. The space between Hemyock and Whitehall is big enough for a couple of chairs and a table, so one can sit in the middle and watch others running, or just drink tea.
I've decided that the doorway for the room is at the bottom left, a convenient distance from the wall to give room for a fiddleyard - I'd go for a traverser with a loco relase to minimise stock handling. The train exits the yard through a plasterboard backscene that has been laid around the room and skimmed with plaster for as good a finish as possible. Past a couple of trees, over a three span steel bridge then around an easing right hand curve (ruling radius on mainline is 6', about 4' in the brickworks) into Culmstock. A loop and two sidings, its either a place to stop and pass through, or collect / set down a wagon or two. A run of 40' now, just fields, trees and a single bridge to cross, as we wind around scale radius (6 chain) curves to arrive at Whitehall Halt. The distance between Culmstock and Whitehall is about a third of what it should be, but that is the same ratio of compression between Whitehall and Hemyock, so its in proportion. A small (3 wagon) siding exists here, providing some service to the attached mill. The line then winds back around another 180 degrees (long transition in), passing the trailing siding that leads through a gate into the Culm Davey brickworks. Hemyock arrives next (all of the track layouts are of the post 1930's changes) although this one is a little more curved than the original in the area of the main run round loop, just to try and squeeze that bit of extra length. None of the buildings are drawn to scale in the plan, so most are too large, but they give an idea of how it would look.
Operation is simply pretending to be driver / fireman / guard. With DCC, I'd have sound fitted locos, working head code lamps, taillights on the stock, ground frames at the two larger stations (hand levers everywhere else), line tokens and a delivery schedule. The time taken for a run would be extended by operating crossing gates and slowing down for the sharper curves. Full ambient sounds would be cool, as would be the option to run at night.
Stock requirements can start at one 14xx, a coach and a few milktankers plus another wagon or two - the real thing was one engine in steam anyway. Main stock period would be circa 1947 to 1955, but I'd be happy to accept any compromises and be able to run stock outside of this period, right up to the hydraulics - I'm just not sure I'd want to build them in S! Although I think it would be good as a solo runner, I reckon it would be more fun by seriously ramping up the train frequency and getting at least two others to be running at the same time. With the dairy workings just past Hemyock having three sidings, general goods traffic and cattle requirements, there is enough to shuffle around before adding the brickworks, Whitehall and Culmstock into the equation.
Steve[/attach]
