"Modified" Arne Wharf

[Ross Chapman]

I am just starting to build my layout at the moment and I wanted to get people's opinion on my idea for my slightly odd plan. Just so people have an idea - the line is meant to be in the Caribbean so I am looking at suitable industries I could include.

I was going to "modify" the trackplan for Arne Wharf as I have an area of 5ft x 2ft. My idea is this (assume you are looking at the layout from the front of the scenic side) - turn the long wharf spur into a station platform track. The loco shed line becomes the other loop track and passes through the station building with the return curve running through a square outside the station.

The line that was the loop track becomes a kick-back siding to serve a few industries (I was thinking a residential gas plant and maybe a Mahogany mill?). The other spur is shortened slightly and serves a small rum manufacturers or sugar plant.

I am also going to open the 180 degree bends to 9" radius (they look to be tighter on the full size overhard view I have printed out of Arne Wharf) and possibly add a storage loop at the back plus have the spur that kicks off into the fiddle yard for Arne Wharf run onto a shelf alongside the layout where I will have some cassettes to allow me to change trains / locos.

[tedp]

Seems like an interesting project. Arne Wharf is a nice plan. I think a typical industry for the Caribbean would be a sugar mill. Note that in the tropics, and certainly 50 years ago or more, all cooking was done on a wood-burning stove or even an open fire.

Since you think of big locomotives, are you planning to have a continuous run? 9" radius is possible (I do so all the time) but you need to doctor all your locomotives and these curves should be out of sight to prevent them looking a bit funny.

An alternative might be to have a reversing spur on the left behind the backscene and run the fiddle yard from there, as a kick-back. The spur doesn't need to be on the layout proper - it can be a separate unit shaped like a trough, attached to the side of the layout.

Just some thoughts.

[Ross Chapman]

I wanted a couple of industries to allow me to have a variety of freight stock, I was thinking as its meant to be the primary transport of the island I would need to have something more than just sugar but I suppose I could have just that?

It is meant to be one of the terminals of the line but as its going to be my starter layout I was thinking of having it as a roundy-roundy, but my OO layout was an end-to-end so I don't have a preference really.

I didn't think about running big locomotives! I don't mind having to modify them slightly to go around the 9" radius. I was thinking of having one curve out and failry obvious but that would be cutting through a cobbled / paved market square area so the track would be a little bit disguised.

I could run a hidden track down the back of the layout onto a trough mounted onto the wall alongside the layout, that will give me more space in which to have layout and scenery especially if I do it as an end-to-end.

Thanks Ted I hadn't even considered some of those suggestions!

[Ross Chapman]

I have started work on this now, I split the Arne Wharf plan from front to back in the centre of the loop so i will end up with a bigger loop in my area allowing me to run slightly bigger trains.

Got my sub-base glued down and just starting work on working out my track plan. I will get some pics up tonight of how far I have got to see if there are any suggestions as to how and where I could improve it.