The track plan has been updated to include some more hidden sidings, as well as being tweaked slightly in some other places to allow more flexible running.

The main layout is a double-track loop, with a loop line serving St Mary Mead. However, it is intended to be operated more as an end-to-end layout, with trains running between Paddington and terminating in the hidden sidings before returning to Paddington. The option of having a continuous loop is great for the days when you might want to have a more “hands-off” approach and are content to let the trains continuously circle! Having an end-to-end layout folded back on itself to form a loop means that the hidden sidings serve both ends of the layout so the track work leading into the sidings looks complicated, and it is! This is to allow the locomotives of the trains to be turned around and then head back to Paddington.

The layout was designed to scale in AutoCad, but then manipulated in photoshop to make it look a little more interesting! Currently the buildings on the layout are rough placeholders but, as buildings are designed more fully in CAD, they will be replaced with more accurate representations at time goes on.

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