So I’ve finally made a start at a model railway, or at least trying. Big plans of having most buildings light up, and having as much as possible “functioning” (read: moving) is one thing, but first and foremost I’d just like to build an idyllic railway that one could mistake for perhaps being Irish. I’ll try my best, and due to budget and availability of kits and time, I will be using kits of structures that would be at home in different parts of the world, but I’m going to try and make them feel as much at home on my layout. My first problem though, I’m technically inclined.. not historically, so I have no idea what kind of a trackplan would suit!
So I asked for help on the Irish Railway Modeller forum, and a user by the name of Glenderg drew a plan that immediately captured my imagination. I had a plan for a station platform before, but his drawing instantly formed a 3D rendition in my head, and I could see my platform idea fitting in somehow as well, so.. bingo! Brilliant!
The idea formed on a drive on the Wild Atlantic Way, specifically the area around Connemera and the Cliffs of Dunneen. The roads and houses are kinda sloped in those areas, each building kind of has its own terrace. I wondered what it’d be like for a railway to be built in such areas, and with some bits and pieces I had that I’d hope to include somewhere, this idea formed. Having to carve out a straight section through a steep enough slope to suit the tracks with the station building above it leading passengers straight to the footbridge. Not wheelchair accessible maybe, but I’ll be going for early 1950’s, and I have a feeling I can get away with it.
with the grander feel of the first one.
Now Glendergs trackplan was drawn for a Harbour scene, as I want to have a harbour (I wonder if the Wild Atlantic Way inspiration gave it away?). And I feel like this platform would fit in nice enough. My mind travels back to a trip to Portree on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and thinking back to the harbour there. Having the tracks a bit higher will protect the tracks from particularly high swells, and it will allow me to let the road that crosses the track to come down (even steeply) to the right of it, going undernearth the tracks. Which hits another thing I’d like to see on my layout: a couple of bridges!
So next steps: Figure out what kind of signals make sense to include in this platform scene, and transcribe Glendergs wonderful trackplan into tracks on the board, and see which buildings will go where.