What - a layout???

I had great fun recently at the RM Web member's day operating Nick Palatte's excellent little layout, "Lochnagar".

This got me thinking about the boards which have lain dormant in my workroom for almost two years now, while I worked out if I could do something along the lines of Neil Rushby's equally excellent and even littler "Abergwynant".

I think I've come to the conclusion that Neil's plan would have two drawbacks for me: firstly I'd like the run-round operation to be visible on the layout, and second, that whilst I love the sense of space Neil's layouts (even the tiny "Shell Island") convey, I'd rather have a little more operational interest - I want to get the little 'un finished quite quickly so I can concentrate on building more stock and move onto "big layout", which could well have no pointwork on the visible section at all.

Having a little shunting / terminus layout that could co-exist and give some operational interest will work well, and Nick's basic plan for Lochnagar was fun. I've tweaked a little to suit my space, and mocked it up on the boards to get used to the idea.

This is an end on view of Nick's layout:

My main change is to change the run round points around so the up (non-terminus) end leads onto the headshunt, not under the bridge, keeping locos in view while they're running round. This will enable the bay platform point to be closer towards the bridge, meaning the overall platform length can be increased so that coaching stock will be stood adjacent to the platform when the loco is running round. I've also realigned things so the boards will be a bit wider (to get that illusion of space) and the general alignment will be on a convex curve.

In terms of stock, a little layout like this isn't too bad. To start with I'll probably do a set of 1968-70 stock with mostly HJ 27s and two carriage trains, together with some traditional 4 wheel short wheelbase freight wagons (I have a good selection of these nearly done, with justr a few details, lettering and weathering to do). The '29 ( a story for another day) will also go well. I reckon four trains for each era (2 passenger and 2 freight or 1 freight and 1 parcels) should be enough, with maybe a few spare wagons.

The other initial set of stock will represent the end of loco haulage out west, with a couple of 37/4s (I may even treat myself to a Railfreight liveried 20), some nice interesting civil engineers' stock, and a 156 unit.

I don't generally like cassettes, but given the space constraints and the need to operate from the front at home, with the cassettes slipping out from the back along the wall (across the entry door), I think they will be the way to go for this layout. An era change should be as quick as two trains to clear the layout of stock and a switch of station signs and road vehicles. We could run 1970 on the even hours and 1989 on the odds...

By the way, the big layout will showcase some of the classic WHL scenes, particularly the civil engineering structures (but almost certainly not Glenfinnan viaduct - I wouldn't have room for anything else), and I'll be able to just run (scale length) trains around in the shed to suit myself and any visitors.