Hi everyone, today I want to talk a little bit about the setting for the layout, where it will be roughly based and what time period. It won’t be a replica of any particular lines, stations but it will have heavy inspiration from some places.
Location
I have seen countless layouts in my lifetime from compact city layouts to sparce, rolling hills of the countryside. All have a different level of appeal to them but based on what I want to achieve I have chosen this location carefully.
With me wanting to crack out some modules quickly and cheaply to create as big a layout as possible, I decided on a 2 track mainline through the countryside as my main setting. This will enable me to make some ‘cheap and cheerful’ modules that can be used to lengthen the layout quickly with just a few fields and the track.
The majority of the inspiration will come from the west coast mainline north of Preston where it is just 2 tracks, my day job as a delivery driver takes me around this area a lot up and down the A6 near Garstang where the main line is very visible from many of the roads. I always love seeing the Avanti Pendo’s racing across the fields without much in way of buildings as a backdrop which is something id like to try and recreate.
Time Period
I think from the previous section it must be obvious now about what time period I am after. I aim to try and model a present day layout however given the location it will give me the opportunity to model older buildings and scenes as a lot of these countryside towns are like a window into the past sometimes.
In terms of rolling stock, the majority of my passenger trains will be comprised of DMUs, EMUs and HSTs that are seen all over todays railway network, with some full size freight trains coming through too. These will all be from the model railway eras 9-11 to cover old stock that might still be serving all the way up to brand new stock.
However, I also do love the odd steam loco, mainly the larger mainline passenger trains so included in my future plans is to have a heritage station that will house and be the HQ of some older railway stock. This heritage station will be home of days out up and down this stretch of the mainline for railway enthusiasts and be an anchor in giving an excuse to have older stock on my modern image layout.
Points of Interest
As much as I love to build and model, I don’t have much in way of a creative bone when it comes to my own ideas. This brings me to my points of interest.
Outside of the basic idea of 2 tracks running through countless hills and fields, I want to include many small towns, villages, farms and other such settlements along the track and so for this I want to draw from my own experiences. My dad being a signaller for my entire life I have grown up around railways and so have a lot of ideas on what to ‘copy’.
A lot of my buildings and scenes will not be an exact copy of, but will be heavily inspired on real life locations either important to me, in my life or that I have visited/ seen at some point in my life. My first one being the closest station to me growing up but one that I have never actually visited in my life (wasn’t a very well used station). I will talk more about this when we get to that module.
Next thing will be about my baseboard choice and how I will make sure that the connections will be spotless and secure.
