Flying Pig

There's a slug on the window of my first floor flat.

I agree. While I can see the attraction of a larger loop, in this case I think it unbalances the layout and doesn't compensate for the loss of @Zomboid's nice station designs. The curved not-a-fiddleyard will probably be more of an annoyance than an advantage imo. Theoretically, if I were to extend the loop, I would take one of the earlier plans and make the vertical axis longer, turning the layout into more of an equal L. This would keep the visual focus of the layout around an operator's position by the station, though it would mean a rethink of the loco sidings as the convenient corner they occupy would be lost. Obviously, that isn't possible in the space you have.

Well, it's a plea, but it didn't help George Harrison much.

Some of you may have already seen the sad news of Shirley Rowe's recent death in the MRJ 280 thread or read her husband Dave's beautiful tribute to her in the magazine itself. As I knew Shirley slightly, Andy has invited me to start a thread here. Although I had long been aware of Dave and Shirley Rowe through their articles in modelling magazines, when I met Shirley it was in an entirely different context. As Dave describes in his MRJ article, Shirley's daughter and her partner for some reason decided it would be a good idea to stop travelling the world and reconstruct a derelict barn in the Vale of Pewsey as a family home instead. Despite being in their sixties at the time, Shirley and Dave pitched right in and worked amazingly hard. As a friend of the couple I spent several days on site, ostensibly helping with the work, and so got to know Shirley a little. She was as all who knew her will say a thoroughly lovely person. Unsurprisingly, given Shirley's quiet nature, most of the anecdotes relating to the Barn centre on Dave who was as much of a Character in that context as in the modelling world. Shirley just got on with it, usually with good cheer and often until she was clearly very tired. The only time I remember her complaining was when I trod on her trainer-clad heel while the five of us were carrying an improbably long item (a timber of some sort I think) over the broken terrain of the work site. H&S would have had a fit. I last met Shirley at her daughter's wedding a good few years ago and am greatly saddened that I will not now see her again. My sincere condolences go out to those who knew her better than I and will feel her loss more keenly. By the way for those who are interested, Dave in his inimitable fashion made a beautiful model of the Barn as it was before work started and Andy has already posted a picture in the MRJ thread and kindly allowed me to make a selection. The one below shows a wider view of the buildings and the lunar landscape within which work took place, now a very pleasant garden. What it doesn't show is the incessant rain of the first winter's work and the baking sun of the following summer, the only shelter a caravan which was itself nearing dereliction and was ultimately broken up on site.

Ok, since wobbly sketches are now in play, here's one illustrating my comments about the goods yard. The left hand blue crossover could probably be omitted if a single slip was used by the platforms instead of a diamond. Green crossover gives direct access to dock sidings. I think your rh red crossover could be omitted by substituting a trailing single slip in the junction. This was certainly done in some places and would look interesting - I don't know if the companies involved here would have countenanced it though. It would of course only allow shunts via the lower branch.

On the lower plan, the junction to the right of the station needs to be a proper double to single layout as @DavidCBroad drew it. What you have would almost certainly not be permitted in the 'traditional' era of mechanical signalling due to the facing point on the main line. Ok from about the 1960s onwards if the branch survived. It occurs to me also that access to the goods yard is a bit odd on most of your plans. Again, it would be useful to look at prototypes, but my guess is that both the LNWR and GWR would have used the conventional layout - i.e. a simple trailing crossover from the adjacent running line at the left hand end and a trailing crossover through a diamond or single slip at the right next to the platform ends. You got the left hand crossover in your first iteration, but it seems to have mutated in subsequent ones. N.B. - for prototype layouts, check the links in the pinned post at the top of the signalling forum.

A Code 100 diamond is shown modified in this post on @JamieR4489's Tuxford North thread. It appears that the long moulded checkrails on the obtuse crossings are a problem. @LNER4479 describes altering a slip for Grantham in this post.

I thought you might be interested to look at the coal concentration depot that was the remains of Norwich Victoria station. It has the sort of compact layout you're designing though of course it just handled coal. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/n/norwich_victoria/index.shtml https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/26/87/ https://alchetron.com/Norwich-Victoria-railway-station

As Zomboid says it would be worth looking at some prototypes. Pending that, I like it apart from the handling of the bay platform and the associated loops which don't look like any prototype formations I've seen. How would a bay be used - do you even need one at this station? It isn't nearly big enough to terminate traffic off two double track routes, which presumably continue to a larger joint station along a section of joint line. So effectively it's just a wayside station on two separate lines.

Only somewhat - there are a number of differences and yours is usefully more compact in this situation (West Kirby in model form here). Your version has appeared on RMweb before as a conventional double track throat (see here).

Try http://www.jpaerospace.com/ Also, people might find the Upward Bound playlist on Isaac Arthur's Youtube channel of interest. There are an awful lot of ways of getting to orbit. ...an unimaginably long time into the future - billions of years, though it is possible Earth will become uninhabitable in only hundreds of millions of years. We'll either be as long gone as the trilobites by then or well capable of dealing with the issue. My favourite approach to fending off fiery oblivion is Star Lifting which requires no new physics (just very big machines) and could extend the habitabity of Earth to trillions of years. That should be enough for anyone regardless of the size of their kit stash.

Try http://www.jpaerospace.com/ Also, people might find the Upward Bound playlist on Isaac Arthur's Youtube channel of interest. There are an awful lot of ways of getting to orbit.

That's my favourite too and with the slightly wider panhandle I would add another goods siding at the front. This is one of the most appealing schemes I've seen in a while - bookmarked for future reference.

The thing is if you buy a surfeit, they all come in a single pack with one copy of the instructions. He was probably overcome by solvent fumes trying to build them all at once: a salutory lesson to the rest of us to work in a well-ventilated room.

The curves on the inner loop where the flexi meets the Setrack look a little tight to me, especially on the right where Anyrail is warning you with a red line. I suggest you continue the Setrack with another half curve (Peco ST-227) at each end to give the flexi an easier time (assuming you don't follow DavidCBroad's suggestion and use Setrack throughout). That will give you a more realistic idea of the space you have for a platform.

I don't like to quibble but the old Comet site lists D1925/69 which was a 1935 design, as well as post war variants, though I haven't checked current availability from Wizard. Which reminds me that the Bachmann porthole composite is of course an option for @Aire Head too (duh moment there).

Quite true and unsurprisingly not easy to represent using rtr stock only, the only rtr period III compo as far as I know being the old Airfix model, which shows its age badly and tbh always had its issues. Hence the advent of Comet sides to stick on them, which I guess is still an option. For completeness I went looking for LNWR elliptical roof stock and there appear to be kits in the 51L range.

There must be thousands of Mainline/Bachmann Period I composites sloshing around the second hand markets and the prototypes ran well into the BR era. Very nice models too, particularly the later ones with metal wheels.

Keeping the loco sidings separate from the station maximises the stock storage capacity of the station yard, which is important on a layout without hidden sidings. Your design does reasonably well in this respect, although I think wagon capacity is always going to be tight in the space available (particularly due to the limited width of the panhandle). One aspect of this station that I like is that the rear runround could be used as a carriage siding and probably would be on a mostly DMU railway. I think a two track shed would be too much in a small space like this - remember that most depots have a lot of siding soace in the open. A single road maintenance or fuelling shed on the further siding could help break up the main line visually and wouldn't hide all your locos.

I'd suggest retaining the loco sidings, given the tendency of model railways to accumulate locos. They're quite credible as a stabling point, perhaps the rump of a former mpd and I think you'll find that they form a separate scene on the layout, despite their closeness to the station on the plan. I like the idea of a couple of level crossings across the legs of the triangle very much, but then my imagination always gravitates to the Eastern region for this period and particularly Lincolnshire where level crossings in inconvenient places were legion.

Overall I like the plan, but this is a pity - a trip from the station yard to shunt it would have been a nice move. Can it be relocated inside the loop?

Ah - I thought the track spacing for the island platform might be an issue. This arrangement loses a little in appearance I feel, but it's still the most appealing of the sectional track designs. I don't think converting the station to a blt with effectively a single approach line adds anything and it will reduce operating flexibility. I still like your earlier 'St Botolphs' in streamline best.

I think this is a neater arrangement of setrack for the throat and it gains about a point length.

I like the look of this, but it does need room for a proper headshunt this side of the nearest points - I don't see how it can be worked otherwise.

Not sure I approve of this cupboards business. Aren't you supposed to be able to see the junk that accumulates under layouts?