Do it... Jump!

Here is a further development of last Fridays design. Something that I am rather excited by. I'm getting a feel from this design that I didn't quite get from the previous one.

This design is pulling together some of the scenic ideas from the larger Saltfleet haven designs into something half the size that will still be interesting to operate and will give the viewer plenty to look at.

The most obvious feature lifted from previous Haven designs is the inclusion of the river and its bridges. Now two rail bridges rather than a rail bridge and road bridge (I always felt there was something awkward about that arrangement anyway). The anonymous structure front left acting as a view block could well turn out to be the tin fishermans chapel mentioned in earlier versions.

The Inglenook arrangement that forms the main part of the layout illustrates something about layout operation that I wish more people would pay attention to. That concerns the "unloading" of wagons. Unloading is a bit of a misnomer really as model railway wagons aren't unloaded per se; as 4mm scale working people haven't been perfected yet that could unload a van. So we have to resort to subterfuge that suggests these things happen. With vans its easy, they can be unloaded in the goods shed so you can't see that nothing actually happens. Likewise with the warehouse. At the outside loading dock you can't see that the doors of the van aren't being opened because it's happening out of your view. The problem comes with open wagons such as coal wagons at a coal yard. Unloading of those takes place in the open. So in this case the cheat is to tuck the coal yard out of the way around the corner of the warehouse so that you can see the coal staithes but you won't be able to see me reach in there and by some secret method yet to be devised (but will probably include magnets) remove the load. It's only a little matter but its one that has bugged me for a long time. This is my way around it, not perfect but at least a full wagon is delivered to the coal yard and an empty one collected.

So will this be the final design? You know I can't promise that. A lot depends on how I can arrange the buildings on the model. One thing that could change is that it could be built as a mirror image as this design is drawn with two LH turnouts whereas I have two RH. With, at last count, 10 4mm scale wagons and a class 08 I only need to buy track components, wheels, buffers and couplings I will certainly make up a shopping list for it.