Shillingworth Mills

This morning I began laying track for the Railway station and goods yard for my unwind project over the winter. I am hoping that Shillingworth Mills, based very loosely on a mainline station and branchline junction where I spent many hours as a youngster will provide a few hours escape from the hurley burley and bustle that is work.

The initial track layout uses a loop to allow through trains to simulate runs of north and southbound traffic on the mainline. Pointwork to the north and south of the station hopefully will create a mainline feel within the ficticious Shillingworth station itself. The station is intended to have 3 platforms, one of which as an Island will serve northbound traffic on the mainline, while the other will recieve passengers and some goods services from the local branchline while also servicing for the timebeing a small goods yard. To the north and south of the station are to be two stone bridges, and adjacent to the southern bridge a small steam shed, which may yet straddle a colliery spur.

The station on which Shillingworth is based, had a Turntable to the North between the Mainline and the Branchline spur, with its Steam shed on the branchline side of the Island platform. I want to add this to the model the branchline perhaps as a short end to end section with access to run some mainline services. Perhaps downsizing the shed to fit within the branchline spur. The goods yard that actually lies to the south of the station, now largely handles coal for a local merchant. As I play with my prototype over the coming months some rearrangement of the Layout is likely to take place, with perhaps a little more poetic licence being used to place the goods yard behind the station with coal sidings fed from the colliery spur sitting behind the bridge.

I want to be able to run a number of different locomotives from and through the station. As a mainline station if I give the layout and Shillingworth a fifties/sixties feel this should allow me to run some of my childhood favourites from the days of diesel alongside some of my fathers from the age of steam Running tankies along the branch and coal spur, alongside DMUs, with a 37, 31 or 40 running freight, while on the mainline it will be great to be able to run deltics, peaks or 40's alongside pacifics and BR standards. Oh and who's that on the end of the platform, shivering and damp, waiting for the mail as the ballast train thunders south.

Image: Island platform for Shillingworth takes shape. SDMills 08