Layout planning thoughts.

The track plan is something I've been giving some serious thought to over the past weeks since the last blog post. I don't rightly know what I want yet. I've been exploring ideas though. Firstly, I was really impressed with some of the pictures over at Dave Enefers website. Particularly the second page  , link shared here again so you can see what I'm on about. Those pictures of the railway running in front of the farm houses and barns are very atmospheric and appealed to me in a big way. My grandparents lived in small farmhouses not at all dissimilar to those.

concept 1

This first concept is very basic, but it would allow continuous running of trains, something I have found to be very important as I often get distracted and drawn into conversations about my modelling which if I'm working a shunting layout leads to a lack of action on the model. Simple shunting into the one siding by the barn is available but it's not much.
I think it would also be important to me and the layouts presentation to incorporate "tatey clamps" or graves. These are where the potatoes are stored in long, low piles between harvest and distribution to the rest of the world. A couple of sidings serving graves would allow more shunting. But, (and this is a pet peeve of mine on model railways). If you're going to shunt an open wagon into a siding, it should leave it loaded and vice versa. It would destroy the illusion of the model to have an out of scale hand move potato loads in and out of the wagons. To that end I extended one of the sidings off stage behind the farmhouse so they could be loaded/unloaded out of sight, an idea I've used before.

Concept 2

I'm still not happy. These schemes are immensely flat and lacking depth. Everything is layered and parallel to the baseboard edges. This doesn't appeal to me at all.

Holmes Hall an old concept for a Gn15 layout.

The sketch above illustrates something I've wanted to develop for a few years. Being able to watch trains run towards you. In this "Holmes Hall" concept the trains run towards you at the right hand side before swinging around a sharp curve into the yard. This was envisioned as a triangular layout, not unlike the Crowsnest tramway. How plausible this would be in 1/32 scale I'm unsure yet. But I would certainly seek to incorporate the idea on any layout.

Wraggmarsh Farm. (line map from Stewart Squires Potato railways book
overlaid on Google maps)

Wraggmarsh Farm (or house) on the Fens, near Spalding had an extensive railway system serving the potato fields and had its own private dock on the river Welland so produce and supplies came in and went out on boats. It has some interesting elements in it. The loading dock for example, but as basis for a layout that would be little more than the old "fox, chicken and bag of corn" shunting puzzle. It would be great for me but not so for a viewing public. Could I fit something like that into a Holmes Hall continuous run concept? We'll have to see.