KING'S COMPTON

The brief for our second layout was as follows:
1. We wanted a dual-track continuous run plus small goods yard and reasonable fiddle space.
2. We wanted a castle.
3. The layout had to fit on a hollow-core door.
4. We wanted to give Kato Unitrack a try (very impressed so far - electrically far superior to Peco IMO).
5. The layout had to be able to handle a loco plus minimum 5 coaches.
What we came up with was a track plan and surroundings very loosely based on the preserved station at Corfe in Dorset (on one of our favourite preserved lines, the Swanage Railway). The track plan is almost identical to the original except that we've skipped the passing loop, turning the station into double-track main line. We've also re-located it somewhat with the theory that it's on the main line to a major coastal terminus - this gives us an excuse run main-line expresses and a mixture of stock from the Southern and Western regions. Most importantly, I can also get away with running my beloved 9Fs ;-)

Track laying

We started off with a bunch of Woodland Scenics risers to use as the track base. Track is Kato Unitrack, which, whilst it has the disadvantage of not being flexible, it offers far superior electrical reliability to the Peco track we used on our last layout and, once ballasted, looks pretty good too

As I write this, we've got track laid, trains running very happily, platforms installed and the beginnings of scenery. I've begun ballasting, but it's a long way from being complete. Here's a few photos of current progress:

Overview of the current state of play - lots of work to do on the scenery.

OCT 2007: It's been a while since I updated here. Mainly because work on the railway has been slow - actually, 'intermittent' is closer to the mark. Anyhow, a lot of work has gone in to some not very visible areas and we're just in the process of producing the contours for the scenery, and planning out the village (although this layout is loosely based on the Corfe track plan, the village bears very little relationship, being much smaller).

Anyhow, below is the current state of play. Buildings placed in position while we work out some of the gradients. Roadway outside the station and around the goods yard surfaced, but not yet painted. The beginnings of Castle Hill now ready for some plaster bandage...

Christmas 2007: Progress is slow, but continues. Castle Hill is now ready for painting/flock/whatever, the embankment to the road is about half complete and the village has been pretty much planned out, with the exception of the approach to the church, which is still bugging me, and the possibility of extra buildings in the station area. This is slightly complicated by the fact that we've decided to use the rather underscale SD mouldings buildings in the background with a handful of Lyddle End buildings in the foreground station area - this should help with a sense of depth to the layout, but we can't mix and match - there needs to be some physical separation or the SD Mouldings buildings (pretty as they are) just look way too small.

August 2008: Well, we’ve not had much time to develop the model much further, but it’s still crawling slowly forward. Castle is now present on castle hill, and the grass has been started. The village is finalised (although not glued down yet), the road has been laid and the station area is taking shape. Trains have also been known to run from time to time ;-) Here’s a couple of photos of castle hill & the viaduct. Still lots of foliage to add to the hill...