Another track plan!

A couple of new books arrived last week - Barry Norman's "Designing a Layout" and Stephen Williams' "Great Western Branch Line Modelling Part 1". Both contain a good number of track plans (both prototype and model) and photographs of stations. And the inevitable has happened - I've started experimenting with new track plans!! (Now you might be beginning to see why I've not built a layout yet!)

The track plan above got its inspiration from two very different locations: Aldeburgh and Shipston on Stour. Opposite sides of the country but both quite similar in terms of their track layouts with the goods yard opposite the platform, and the goods shed situarted on a siding immediately adjacent to the run-round loop.

As well as the engine shed siding, I've also added a short siding at the end of the platform for loading and unloading cattle or possibly milk.

I actually rather like the idea of the goods yard being at the front of the layout: its more accesible for a start (useful when you're coupling and uncoupling wagons with 3-link couplings!) and a lot of the operational interest is in the shunting of goods wagons.

Again, the exit to the fiddle yard is hidden by a road bridge and backscene joins and corners are disguised with trees and hedges. The small hut to the extreme left of the goods yard is the weighbridge office.