Foxdale planning session

Planning proper has now begun on Foxdale. When the Parker's build layouts, that means taking some point plans and scattering these over the board until we like what we see.

The station features and interesting bit of pointwork with four turnouts facing each other to preform the same role as a double-slip would do on a main line model. It's this that really got us interested in the station. To aid construction, the plans for this central section have been laid out and stuck to a sheet of paper. This is them plonked on the board to give us something to work around.

Other aids to planning are the flat stock mentioned on Tuesday, and a mock-up of the station building. It's the only one we have a plan for and since there are only three structures on the model, we had better get it right.

The photo also shows a couple of plans from books that only slightly contradict each other and every photo I could find on the web.

From all this we have worked out that it is possible to build the model in the space available. This is determined by the size of board that will fit in the back of the Berlingo without splitting the model into several boards. The overall plan is for a letterbox style model with integral lighting. It's not going to be perfect, the length will be condensed to get it to fit, but we are looking for a pleasing representation. Go somewhere else if you want a perfect model.

One happy surprise is that this will be an interesting model to operate. Sidings pointing in both directions proliferate, not something you find elsewhere on the Isle of Man. Despite out condensing, sensible trains can operate - choosing the Manx Northern helps a lot in this respect as the longest passenger service is likely to be the railcars which as two units with a van in the middle. 2 coach trains or 4 wagon freights will be OK and possibly a little longer once we get building.

Some work will be required on ground contours. There is a huge pile of rubble at the back and the line to the mines needs to rise up by a centimetre or more. That doesn't sound too scary through so things are looking good. Stay tuned for more updates as they say !