BR era 1948 -
The final pages on my website are of my own layout, which is being constructed in 4mm scale. The main station is Barmouth Junction, with other scenic sections of Dolgelley goods yard (not the station), Penmaenpool (the last stage not built yet) and a long scenic section with river bridge.
There are three storage yards for the layout, which are now all finished. These are Barmouth, Machynlleth and Ruabon. The panels are only temporary at present, until everything works OK, then new final ones will be built. The whole layout is DCC controlled using the Lenz system and various decoders have been used, some with sound decoders in the loco’s. Sound will eventually be fitted to all loco’s, as it is most enjoyable to drive them and hear the clanking and hissing.
The track is SMP and the points on the scenic sections have been made by my friend, John Bailey, who has also done a lot of wiring and various other bits. Without him, the layout would not have progressed so quickly. Signals are gradually appearing and they are being made by another friend, Tony Geary. One other signal has been made by Tony Gee. Ballasting has been started and the tracks have been done on the branch lines at Barmouth Junction.
Barmouth Junction
This is the main part of the railway, so I have given it lots of space. Being a junction, it will be a busy station with trains arriving and departing on four platforms. After leaving each station, the line is single track, so operating should be interesting, as each operator will have to check the route is clear to proceed. This is probably going to be colour LED lights on each panel, but haven’t decided exactly how I will be working it yet. A timetable will be used and it will be more of a sequence, which should take some time to get through.
I have set the period modelled in the BR era of 1948-
Scenery has been started and hopefully it will compliment the lovely backscene, which has been professionally painted by Sara. (See her page, Backscenes).
Dolgelley goods yard
I’m only modelling the goods yard and not the station here. The end of the scenic section is the road bridge, which goes over the tracks and the river. At present, only the track is laid, with a lot more to do, such as the scenery, structures and of course, the backscene, which will be painted by Sara.
Penmaenpool station
This will be modelled at a later stage, as I need the space for my commissions. For running purposes, I have put down tracks and a passing loop, complete with a two road loco shed and siding. This enables me to operate the whole layout as intended. The actual station was in a beautiful location, so hopefully, my model of it will do it justice when built.
Magnificent view of Barmouth estuary
All that is left of Barmouth Junction today