Was it really nearly a year ago that I reported on my sort-of Minories?  I seem to have been totally diverted onto other things over 2023.  But before we get back to that….

I recently posted an idea for end loops with storage for the clubs NCI modules…..

I played around a bit, and came up with the double track version.  I might prefer this, as if nothing else, it’s easier to wire the diamond on the junction.  Any two of the three loops can be accessed from the double track line.

It would be possible to just make this a double junction, with the same layout of pointwork on the single track branch.  However, I think that this is less interesting as a scenic module.  Note that the junction as drawn on both these modules meet the old Board of Trade rules for junctions – a crossing was required for both single and double track junctions, rather than a crossover between lines and a single point as often used today.

Back to my Minories.  As usual with my layouts and modules, I became unhappy with the design.  I hadn’t built the baseboard that well, and I disliked the extension to the layout.  This also held the control panel, but the whole hidden area was too difficult to work on.  And my next job was wiring, and there seemed just too much of this!

I became interested in lightweight baseboards, and using the IKEA Lack shelves.  So I wondered whether joining an 1100mm Lack to a 300mm Lack would produce a viable layout.  Playing around with the track layout, I seem to have come back to almost exactly the layout that I was building, but with all of it visible!  It must have had something going for it!!!

However, I still seem to always end up simplifying my layouts, and I do rather like Ian Futers’ urban layouts such as Victoria Park.  Only a single track entry to the station, but loads of compact atmosphere.  And the fiddle yard becomes a lot simpler, with no traverser or cassettes needed.  I then came across Albion Yard’s ‘Shelfie3’ video, that I posted recently.  A simple design, but very attractive and good for operation (not that I do a lot of that.)

Back to the drawing board, and a single Lack 1100mm board.  Here’s the end result.

With a nice simple fiddle yard….

I still see this as a station on raised brick arches, as my original Minories design.  There is a catch here that it isn’t easy to fit point motors between the shelf and the embankment track bed.  However, I have left an open strip behind the backscene that can hold the point motors and main wiring.  Mechanical connections to the points themselves should be entirely reliable, even if hidden.  The fiddle yard has plenty of room at the front for controllers and switches.

I’ll take this away now, and think about the construction and details of the scenery.  It may even get built.  I’ve no doubt that I can modify the existing Minories board into something completely different!