The announcement of the Scalefour Society’s Jubilee Layout Challenge presented an interesting opportunity for playing around with layout design with the main rules being:
- Scenic parts to have a footprint no larger than 18.83sqft.
- Built to P4, P87 or equivalent standards.
- Portable and capable of being transported by a single car or similar size vehicle.
- Contain at least three working turnouts.
There are other specifications but the above were deemed the key ones for designing and the rest can be figured out later.
Initial thoughts were to model a real location and make use of existing stock (early/mid-50s Western Region) and so Abermule was in squeezed into roughly 12’x3’. The idea was trains could casually trundle through with the Kerry branch and goods yard adding some variation. The issue was, even compressed, it was too much track and I suspect also too similar to most layouts; even with the unusual boards it was just another long rectangle and probably wouldn’t stand out (no matter how attractive a prototype).

Instead, I tried other shapes, what does 18.83 sq.ft look like as a hexagon, a triangle, a circle? I liked the idea of a junction converging and the depth a circle (4’10” diameter) offered would, I think, give the appearance of a railway in a landscape rather than a landscape clinging to the edge of a railway. I liked the look of a drawn-out Z and started adding to it, a small colliery would form one end leading down to a loop/exchange siding which would then in turn lead to a single-track branch trundling up the valley. Add a channelised stream, a workman’s platform, and a narrow road winding through the scene and it seemed to be coming together. The layout would be in the cameo-layout style but would be viewable from both sides to allow for different viewpoints across the valley scene

One problem with the circle was that it meant any trains on the layout would only be visible in their entirety for a very brief period and even then, would need to be very short. A suggestion was put forward to elongate the layout, an oval wouldn’t quite fit, but an ellipse would allow for greater length and maintain some of the width to give the layout some depth and keep the feel of a railway line in the landscape.

The location is proposed to be an extension of the Brecon & Merthyr Rhymney branch, rejoining the mainline at Dowlais Top and so as a minor backwater is only single track. The period will be flexible to make use of other stock held by the club/members and so should cover from pre-grouping through to late-BR and the few buildings on the layout will make the transitions between periods easier. Trains will include empties to the colliery and full out down the valley with a shunter shuffling the wagons about, the mainline at the front will have a mix of passenger and freight passing through the scene so there is always something moving
14th May 2024
The track plan was laid out on the floor of the clubrooms for thoughts on train movements. Using strips of paper with photocopied wagons and lumps of wood to represent the engine and brake van, we simulated a train of empties arriving at the colliery and being exchange for a train of empties. It would take little while and allow probably two trains to traverse the ‘main line’ to keep the action going.

10 November 2024
Design of the baseboard has advanced

From this drawing cutting plans were extracted for laser cutting in ply for the support structure..





It is proposed that the track and river beds be cut by jigsaw.
A one-fifth scale model has been made in card to check fit.
The working title of the layout seems to have changed from Waunhirgron to Cwm Carno, reflecting its supposed location.
