Callington Branch Colour Photos

 

Mainline 56XX British Railways Black

Another Mainline 56xx from eBay in excellent nick, this time in early British Railways livery, ideal for my proposed branch line engine shed layout. These old Mainline models are a bit noisy but nicely detailed and inexpensive, which means I can afford to weather them up without worrying about over cooking the final finish. 

Branch Line Engine Shed Ideas

 

I've been sketching out some ideas for a compact branch line Engine Shed layout, with the idea being to run my expanding stable of GWR and early BR locomotives. It will also have some limited shunting to supply coal to the coaling stage. To keep things simple I'll use set track as most of it will be buried up to sleeper level, so it won't look too unrealistic. The engine shed will probably be scratch built or adapted from a kit. I'll have to plan it out properly but I think this will work well.

Mainline 43xx

 

The latest addition to the GWR locomotive stable is a very nice Mainline 43xx, which I've been after for ages and which cost me just over £25 on eBay. It's in immaculate condition and runs smoothly too, so I'm very happy. I now have a fairly impressive line up of locomotives, so a compact, engine shed shelf sized layout is looking like a really good idea, possibly in addition to a shunting yard, wharf or quarry layout for goods traffic. 

Callington Branch Layout Plans

 

The latest edition of Model Rail has not one but two track plans for a Callington Branch layout, one modelling the whole line from Bere Alston and the other a section from Callington to Chilsworthy Halt. I don't have space or time to build either but a smaller shunting layout based on the Hingston Down  part of the plan or a through and through based on the Chilsworthy Halt section would be workable. It's a short article but well worth a look.

Another Bachmann 45XX

 

I've been after Great Western locomotives in early British Railways livery but, somehow, I have ended up with a second, second hand 45XX. Luckily, this one has a different number to the first one I acquired, although I do fancy getting hold of some etched brass plates to soup it up with. It's lovely model without any tinkering and runs smoothly in both directions, so a very good and not expensive addition to the stable.

British Railways Mainline Dean Goods

 

I've expanded my locomotive collection into the early 1950's with a lovely Mainline Dean Goods in early British Railways livery. It's in as new condition and runs pretty well for a model that must be forty years or so old. I'm now looking for at least one more ex-GWR locomotive, most likely a pannier tank, so that I can run them on either a shunting puzzle layout or an engine shed layout, as a variation on the earlier period. Very nice!