The Layout

With the space, scale and prototype determined, it was time to put some thought toward my layout design. I had a number of considerations to work with:

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Givens:

• 12ft x 8ft shed
• Existing baseboards 48" high and 24" wide
• H0 scale
• Boston and Maine Railroad prototype
• Peco trackwork - the only type available locally

The wish list:

• Plenty of operating potential - a switching layout, ideally with some mainline running - staging?
• A junction or interchange for variation
• Passenger trains
• A "real" location
• Post-steam/early diesel era - say 1957
• Minimum visible radius of 30"
• Minimum Peco medium radius turnouts on mainline
• Space for more than just railroad - scenic opportunities as well

I posted on the Yahoo B&M Group asking for suggestions and among those that came up were Chelsea, East Lynn and, most popular, Keene on the Cheshire line to Bellows Falls. Keene had a great deal going for it - four freight trains daily, a junction for the Ashuelot branch, a small yard, a long passing siding, plenty of local industries and a passenger service that lasted through to 1958. SOLD!!

The problem now was how to squeeze it all into a 12 x 8 shed. This was never going to be a scale representation of the actual place but a wye-junction was a big challenge. By good fortune it was at this time that I picked up a copy of Iain Rice's "Small, Smart and Practical Layouts" which contains a number of ideas for such a shed. By co-incidence two of them were also B&M based and these proved that what I was aiming for was possible. It occurred to me that by modelling just two of the legs of the wye and imagining that trains used the third, I could just about get away with it!

This is the plan that eventually evolved.

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My final plan bears only a passing resemblance to the real Keene with the Bellows Fall line being represented by a short spur. Trains entering or leaving the town in that direction will do so by the Ashuelot line - I'll have to look the other way for a few moments. Also the passenger depot should have been off-stage but I have relocated it opposite the yard to create a bit more interest. Despite all the changes, I will be able to perform most of the operations that took place in Keene, NH in 1957.