by Graham Elliott

New layout rationale

I'd recently sold my inner city terminus layout "Grayhampton" (N Gauge Journal 4/03) and felt I needed a small portable layout principally to display my diesel collection. Hence this seemed to point the way to a diesel depot, but also as I have a few DMU's, some servicing roads and possibly a platform for passenger services was considered The layout board was going to be 4 feet by 15 inches so I played around with the design and came up with the diagram. As it was likely to be also a test track I decided not to scratch build all the buildings as I usually do, but use kits to show what can be done with commercial products.

Having the fiddle behind the scenery at one end is hardly very original but it does put everything on the same board, so the whole layout is fairly conventional from that point of view. The passenger station developed into a two platform affair and represents a small inner city commuter location one stop out of the main (off-scene) central station. The double track line continues off scene under the footbridge but not used by passenger trains. Local services terminate at this small station in order to relieve the main station not having terminating stationary trains blocking platform usage. However I then decided to build small extra fiddle yard extensions at each end of the layout to allow through running of DMU's should the opportunity arise to exhibit the layout.

The track plan includes two roads for DMU storage when not in use, the rest is given over to diesel locomotives storage and stabling. This stabling area used to be historically the goods yard for the station but converted for diesel locomotive and DMU use in the 1970's. There is no run-round or loop on the layout as I don't see the need for bringing in goods vehicles apart from an oil tanker or two for the oil storage depot for the locomotives. Any empty oil tankers can be removed by a locomotive pushing them out of the depot.

I have mocked up a one quarter size cardboard model (picture enclosed) to check that I'd thought about all the construction processes - it's a nuisance to add or remove something from a completed baseboard. The ends will be of 9mm ply for stability, the rest 4mm ply for lightness but with soft-board as the track base as it also is lightweight and easily takes track pins (which can be removed after ballasting). The high road level at the back will have Metcalfe low relief terrace houses and shops and will include a bridge to hide the fiddle yard. Retaining brick walls thus enclose the railway area. It will be conventionally wired for DC operation but arranged so that there can be two operators, one for the passenger DMU tracks and one for the diesel depot so something can be happening all the time.

Page last updated: 07/08/08