Another South West Layout

  Hi all, following on from Cris' recent post, I thought I'd put up a first post about what I'm working on.. 

A bit of background, alot of time in my earlier years was spent riding around on HVR tours either on the train, or in the support vehicle which used to carry the steps for the passengers to have easier access to the train. As such, a great chunk of this time was on Dwellingup trips, as well as various other locations, mostly on the South West Mainline. 

My first introduction to S scale was the sight of the combined S scale layout of Serpentine and Swanview at the claremont showgrounds as a kid. I resolved even then that at some stage down the track (parden the pun) I would build my own layout with the intention of exhibiting it, if only once. Fast forward 30 odd years and after a few false starts, I'm finally making some slow progress. 

So, onto the layout then.. overall size is 5 x 1.8m with intent of expansion to 8x1.8 at exhibition (more on that later). Track plan is unashamedly "based on" Dwellingup, but I have taken a few liberties. The aim is to create something that captures the feel and the memories of my trips "up the hill", but with some modellers license invoked to give some freedom as to train ops. Like Cris, bluemetal ballast will be used, rather than gravel, under the premice that the line was retained for both heritage use & access to Boddington mine site and the GSR wheat growing areas. Flight of fancy yes, but always remember rule #1, it's my model railway hahaha. This also means therefore my chosen modelling era is basically anything post 1985, ie the things i have seen, experienced and have memories of.

Track is all Micro Engineering Code 83 with shortened sleepers, and Peco code 83 points. 

Minimum mainline Radius is 700mm on the return loops at each end.  

So far track laying is essentially complete on 3 modules, with another three to go. Module frames are all aluminum tube framed, with plywood tops and mdf girder panels for added stiffness. Currently they rest on Ikea Bookcases, but will all be lifted to approx 1200mm rail height in due course. 

View of the Station Modules

So, there it is.. Progress is slow as free time is thin on the ground but I'd like to see trains run early next year if possible, we shall see.