Easingwold East

My post on York Show 2012 drew a question from Eric:

I have recently been kicking around the idea of a small 6' x ? layout of a typical small branchline terminus and then you posted the picture of Easingwold East, and I thought that is what I am looking for.

Something to build in OO that I can use out of the box points and build up towards making it by building the station buildings etc.

Any chance of a track plan and a few more details please.

Always happy to oblige. I should start by saying that the model railway layout Easingwold East is the creation of Dr. Peter Fletcher. He says the following in the York Programme:

The Easingwold Railway opened in July 1891, connecting the market town of its name to the main line of the North Eastern Railway at Alne only 2 1/4 miles away, and it remained an independent company until closure in 1957. In 1905, the North Eastern agreed to connect its steam lorry service from the surrounding villages with the Eastingwold terminus and so the layout assumes that a short extension of the line was built around the back of the town to connect with this traffic.

Basically, it's a short fictitious model intended to give a flavour of the railway in a small space. I liked the simple, clean look of the design and could well imagine producing a similar model with some Peco track (OK, probably SMP copper-clad stuff 'cos I'm a cheapskate) and kit buildings. The station especially looks like a Wills product could be used. If you are using the model at home. the Peco points don't even need motors as nothing is out of reach.

As far as rolling stock goes, if you aren't too fussy about the Northern roots, perhaps a Terrier as the main engine ? It needs to be a small tank of some kind and not a J69 or Pug please. Those are industrial engines unless you are modelling a preserved line. Kitbuilders have a much wider choice. Wills P Class springs to mind but there are plenty of options.

Mind you, with this plan, why not go preserved ? Done properly, not just pretending it's a preserved line to allow you to run anything, this would be a nice model. Perhaps some bunting for a gala day. That way you get to put some vintage vehicles in the car park for added fun.

Baseboards from plywood or even a ply top and softwood side combo shouldn't take up much space. On this layout the fiddle yard was a turntable affair but I reckon a 3-way point would be easier if a bit longer.

Basically, this IS what Eric is looking for. A small project that wouldn't take too much time to show results. With a bit of care and attention, the finished model could find a place on the show circuit if that's what you want, or provide a pleasant model for use at home with a small selection of stock pottering around.

Would I really build such a model ? Yes I would if I didn't have loads of other projects on the go. That's not to say I won't fancy a go in the future. In 3mm it would big quite tiny, or in Gauge 1, a bit bigger...