Journeyman
Established Member
- Joined
- 16 Apr 2014
- Messages
- 6,295
So...I've been thinking about building a layout for ages, and having had some time recently (haha!) I've come up with some ideas and themes.
I've always been a fan of the BR blue era, and I also love an air of dereliction and decay. I know a lot of enthusiasts prefer their railways bustling and pristine, but I've long fancied the idea of building a layout based on a line in its final days. I've spotted some fantastic pictures of the Elmers End to Sanderstead line recently, which was very lightly used, and the peak hours only service ceased in 1983 - part of the route was later reused by Tramlink. Anyway - besides the stations being pretty atmospheric, the line was operated by 2-EPBs, which are of course made by Bachmann.
So! My inspiration is a run-down suburban station with a 2-EPB shuttle service, and perhaps a siding or two for parcels or freight (there was an oil terminal at Selsdon that provides inspiration for this). I was also reading about the proposed Southern Heights line that was planned to run between Orpington and Sanderstead. It was planned in the twenties and thirties and would have been electrified from the start. It was intended to attract building and investment into the fairly rural area it was going to serve, but post-war it was greenbelt land and so remained pretty quiet. If built, I can easily imagine it would have been somewhat underused and potentially a candidate for closure in BR's more cash-strapped times.
A small-ish station and a few sidings won't take up too much space in OO, I reckon. I'd quite like to do it as an oval so I can run trains continuously - never been much of a fan of end-to-end or terminus layouts. Anyone got any pointers for inspirational layouts and track plans? I might actually end up building this thing...
I've always been a fan of the BR blue era, and I also love an air of dereliction and decay. I know a lot of enthusiasts prefer their railways bustling and pristine, but I've long fancied the idea of building a layout based on a line in its final days. I've spotted some fantastic pictures of the Elmers End to Sanderstead line recently, which was very lightly used, and the peak hours only service ceased in 1983 - part of the route was later reused by Tramlink. Anyway - besides the stations being pretty atmospheric, the line was operated by 2-EPBs, which are of course made by Bachmann.
So! My inspiration is a run-down suburban station with a 2-EPB shuttle service, and perhaps a siding or two for parcels or freight (there was an oil terminal at Selsdon that provides inspiration for this). I was also reading about the proposed Southern Heights line that was planned to run between Orpington and Sanderstead. It was planned in the twenties and thirties and would have been electrified from the start. It was intended to attract building and investment into the fairly rural area it was going to serve, but post-war it was greenbelt land and so remained pretty quiet. If built, I can easily imagine it would have been somewhat underused and potentially a candidate for closure in BR's more cash-strapped times.
A small-ish station and a few sidings won't take up too much space in OO, I reckon. I'd quite like to do it as an oval so I can run trains continuously - never been much of a fan of end-to-end or terminus layouts. Anyone got any pointers for inspirational layouts and track plans? I might actually end up building this thing...