Callington Branch Layout: Luckett Station

I grew up in East Cornwall near Callington, so have always thought about creating a layout based on the old Callington Branch, either in the PD&SWJR, post-grouping Southern or early British Railways era. I know of at least one other railway modeller who has worked on creating a OO layout based on Callington Station:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65255-callington-branch/

...but I've always thought the line would be perfect for an N gauge approach, given the scenic potential of large sections of the route.

My original idea was to create an N gauge layout based on Luckett Station, also at various times known as Monks Cross Depot and Stoke Climsland. This station is in walking distance of my family home and I often stood on the over bridge and looked down on the station buildings, thinking about how best to create a model railway layout to capture the scene. You can read about the station here:

http://great-devon-railway.uk/bere%20alston%20%26%20callington%20railway/luckett.html

 http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/sr/cal-stn.html#LUCK

It is a very simple station, consisting of a passing loop, a platform with a waiting shelter and a station house, the original depot building for the East Cornwall Mineral Railway of 1872. There was originally another siding and signal cabin but these were later dismantled. This basic plan would be a bit boring were it not for the location, with the line curving round a steep slope from which there is a panoramic view of the western edge of Dartmoor.

However, my layout would have the line viewed from the opposite direction, with the slope of Kit Hill rising as a back drop to the station and the length of line heading to the level crossing at Latchley to the East. The overbridge at the Western end of the station would be the scenic break leading to a fiddle yard, with a second fiddle yard at the opposite end masked by trees and the house next to the level crossing at Latchley. This length of line would be condensed to fit a 10' x 2' baseboard or thereabouts, so very much a scenic design.

The ideal timeframe for the layout would be the early 60's, as this would allow me to use ready to run locomotives including a couple of Dapol Ivatt Class 2MT's and a Class 22 diesel. Ideally, I'd also have N gauge versions of the PD&SWJR locomotives, Earl of Mount Edgecombe and A.S.Harris, or an ex-Southern O2 Class, but these only exist in OO at the moment. I could also run a DMU if I extended the layout post-Beeching but that's another story.

The station itself was pretty run down as I remember it in the 1980's but it has since been renovated and turned into a very expensive private residence, complete with swimming pool and all mod cons. The station shelter has also been reconstructed, although not to the original design, which is a bit of a shame, although the track bed is now a very nice lawn and garden. You can still trace the line as it curves around the hillside, so it's easy to imagine how it would look as a layout.

I will probably never get round to it but....who knows?