Introduction

INTRO

Welcome to my blog.  I aim to share as much info and doings on what progress is made on my layout Benidgo. I plan to post at least every two weeks. As many people do ive spents months trying to find a location to model on.  As space is not a real problem(thats a good thing about N scale), i always wanted to do a large depot.  I like the idea of having some people running trains run around out on the main line, while there are other people in the yards with yard pilots making up trains.

So i started to look at depots around victoria i knew i wanted to model around the 60's-70's. Web sites like victorianrailways.net make this an easy task. With so many diagrams of locations it was great to compare with.  I wanted a place that had double main line that either went into single line or had a branch line near by.  A good yard for shunting and loco yard. In the end it come down to a top three. Seymour, Marybough and Bendigo.

WHY I WENT FOR BENDIGO
All tho bendigo has the biggest yard out all of them, i like it because of the facitlies it has and all the different types of trains that went through.  From having large holding sidings, stock yards, engine repair shop, a large engine shed with turntable and goods shed, two platforms and docking platforms and going up to north bendigo workshop and a flour mill siding in the middle.  This all added up to having lots of trains running with lots of people or even just one person having fun. Another reason for doing bendigo is that i have family that have lived in the area for over 100 years so it just seem right to do it.

THE MASTER PLAN
Now with the location made, how was i going to go about it. This is going to be that one layout that i will build and run on for the rest of my life so i made the choice of doing it to scale (1:160).  As i plan to go from A box right through to D box it soon become a huge layout. It has worked out going from A box to the end of the platforms is just under 11 meters long.  C and D box will do a 180 and run the other way on the other wall.

The layout will be built in modules and will start at A box and go on from there.  Once the layout is in its final resting place i will extend the double line from A box towards melbourne and from D box the three single lines will be a reverse loop.

A and B box
Download from victorianrailways.net

  



C and D box
Download from victorianrailways.net


 

CONSTRUCTION

To me a good layout is not just having nice looking trains running around but having all the little extra things. I plan to have scenes all types found on the railways, working semaphore signals and wsa point levers and yard lights and houses and streets to tie it all togethere.  When it came to choose what track to use it got me thinking. I really dont like atlas or peco track its just too over scale.  I liked micro engineering track but the range of points is not very good. So it only left for only one thing and that was to hand lay the track.  Most people say its in the too hard basket but with the right tools and jigs its really not that hard.  In my next post i will go into how to do it and start will explain more on what is planned for bendigo A box.

There is a email address that if you have any questions, thoughts or even photos of bendigo please contact me at bendigonscale@live.com.au
cheers luke