Change of Plans- Shillingstone gets priority

I have agreed to extend the Shillingstone layout and take it to Shillingstone for the August Bank Holiday, Dorset Central Railway/S&DR 160 anniversary event. August 1863 is when the line opened between Blandford St Mary and Templecombe and the NDR are planning a celebration event of which the model will be a part. There will be more details on the event as it gets closer but in the meantime it means I have a list of new and long time planned but not completed jobs to complete.

Firstly I need to build the boards for the extension and the fiddle yard. The layout will be configured as end to end so that it could be shown in a long carriage if required. Onto the existing 16 feet will be a 4 foot each end line extension board which will connect into I think a 6 foot fiddle yard at each end, that will give me 36 feet of layout to manage.

The fiddle yards coming from the single track will be into a 3 way point, 2 further points and give me 5 roads at each end of at least 4 feet and one closer to 5. This is one of the most basic options but from a build and ease of operation is the simplest. Trains will need to be turned and whilst I did consider a turntable that isn’t going to work in a carriage easily and requires some complex woodwork. I’m going to have a loco lift at each end for turning the engine, will fix kadee points so its a lift off coupling and have lamps at both ends of the carriage rakes so they don’t need to be turned. The brake vans will also have kadees or no hooks so they are easy to lift and turn.

The big decision for the week is whether to use the boards I have prepared for Kilsby Drift or park these and buy more wood. Need to think about it as the long boards are not quite long enough (1400mm 55 Inches). Need some time to think about that.

Whilst the weather has been so cold I’ve been reviewing stock and planning the trains I’m going to run. This included photographing everything for the rosters

Coaches