Cregwir, Island of Sodor Branchline Exhibition Layout in 4mm
Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2020 7:12 pm
Evening Guys, alongside my main layout, viewtopic.php?f=22&t=50911 I have recently bought, along with my partner, a small 7.5ft x 2ft layout which is destined to be an Exhibition Layout. This is destined to be a Sodor inspired layout, based on the tv series of Thomas. There aren't many layouts on the show circuit that are what I would call serious Thomas, you get the ones that have three circles of track with a have a go driving Thomas, Percy, James etc but I've opted for a more realistic approach. Cregwir is a small branchline terminus located on the northern side of the Island of Sodor, the railway served the nearby Cregwir Stone Quarry, joining the Harwick Branch (which in turn joined onto the Arlesburgh branch (aka Ducks Branchline) There was also a small spur off to Ballaswein, the most northerly station on the Island. Sadly with an increase in road traffic to the Quarry, the line fell into disrepair, it was ripped up during the Second World War. However fast forward to the 1980s, Sir Topham Hat, has seen that the traffic to Cregwir Quarry is too much for the roads to the north of the Island, so decides to reopen the branchline now that the Harwick branch has been upgraded and reopened.
The stations along the route, including Ballaswein, were reopened and the quarry line was reinstated. The line is operated by engines on the smaller side, especially engines used on Ducks Branchline, Duck, Oliver, Donald, Douglas feature a lot, but it isn't uncommon to find the likes of Thomas, Percy, Toby, Diesel, Daisy etc to put in the effort too.
Now away from the history, the actual layout is a while away from being at shows. This is how we bought it:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
The fiddle yard is a tad on the small side for what we want so that's being chopped off and having a new one built, this will also act as a break so we can transport the layout easily in two halves.
I had a play around to make sure a small tender engine would fit nicely in the headshunt of the station, the bufferstops will need cutting back but otherwise quite happy with that. So with my only Thomas Character so far being a test dummy, I posed a few shots with the buildings that came with it in place to show what it will look like when running.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
Douglas prepares to depart with a train for Harwick and Tidmouth.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
Douglas arrives with a mixed goods into the run round loop
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
Douglas shunts his wagons away
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
And finally back on shed after a busy day, the coal stage, water tower and grounded coach body have been added from the other layout for measuring up.
First job on the list will be to add point motors and wire up the track, we plan to add a cattle dock beside the goods shed and theres a possibility of having a narrow gauge transfer siding too but thats still just a little idea for now.
Thanks for looking in
Kenny
The stations along the route, including Ballaswein, were reopened and the quarry line was reinstated. The line is operated by engines on the smaller side, especially engines used on Ducks Branchline, Duck, Oliver, Donald, Douglas feature a lot, but it isn't uncommon to find the likes of Thomas, Percy, Toby, Diesel, Daisy etc to put in the effort too.
Now away from the history, the actual layout is a while away from being at shows. This is how we bought it:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
The fiddle yard is a tad on the small side for what we want so that's being chopped off and having a new one built, this will also act as a break so we can transport the layout easily in two halves.
I had a play around to make sure a small tender engine would fit nicely in the headshunt of the station, the bufferstops will need cutting back but otherwise quite happy with that. So with my only Thomas Character so far being a test dummy, I posed a few shots with the buildings that came with it in place to show what it will look like when running.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
Douglas prepares to depart with a train for Harwick and Tidmouth.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
Douglas arrives with a mixed goods into the run round loop
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
Douglas shunts his wagons away
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89242397@ ... ed-public/
And finally back on shed after a busy day, the coal stage, water tower and grounded coach body have been added from the other layout for measuring up.
First job on the list will be to add point motors and wire up the track, we plan to add a cattle dock beside the goods shed and theres a possibility of having a narrow gauge transfer siding too but thats still just a little idea for now.
Thanks for looking in
Kenny