Layout Thoughts

Over the years I have accumulated a vast amount of both Swiss and British N-gauge rolling stock.

Much of the Swiss outline stock from the likes of Fleischmann, Minitrix and Kato is still light years ahead in both detail and running quality compared with the available British outline equipment, even with Bachmann revamping and retooling their range. But with the amount of time I've spent researching operations in Devon and Cornwall, including several holiday's worth of site visits, there's no way I can abandon Britain completely, model-wise.

The problem is, though, in a relatively small house, I only really have room for one layout. I've toyed with having multiple portable layouts sharing components such as fiddle yards, but such things increase the complexity of construction.

So I'm intrigued by the idea of the layout "Doppelbahn" in this month's N Gauge Society Journal. The concept behind this layout is to have the trackwork and basic landscape capable of representing either a British or (in this case) German prototype, then have two sets of buildings which can be swapped over. I also realised that in both the Swiss Alps and in Cornwall, the predominant rock is granite, so dual-use scenery might be feasible with a bit of thought.

It's in the details where the problems start coming out. I have managed to come up with a trackplan, which, while it doesn't resemble any specific place in either Cornwall or Switzerland, doesn't look ridiculously wrong for either. But I realise that the complete station platform have to be swappable, since a compromise height between high British platforms and much lower Swiss ones will only succeed in looking wrong for both. Not only that, but I'll also have to work out a way to make the Swiss-style overhead catenery removable, and the same for the WR lower-quadrant signalling.

Doesn't make the plan a complete non-starter; if I spend my modelling time making the buildings, the effort won't be wasted if those buildings ultimately end up on separate layouts.