PETER BAKER - BLACKGANG

Welcome to Blackgang, an Isle of Wight inspired shelf layout which is still work in progress. It is amazing how long it takes to build such a small layout as I started the layout in May. So far I am pleased to say that I have not spent any money on the layout, having made use of items and materials that I already posses. The baseboard is a piece of wayrock salvaged from a built in wardrobe and cut down to the correct size of 60cm x 23.5cm. In order to provide space underneath for point control etc I mounted the board on a shallow frame of wood 2.5cm x 1.5cm wooden battons. The backscene is painted by me onto hardboard left over from that used for the backscene of my main layout "Sandown". All the track comprises off cuts of flexitrack and the 2 peco Y points are salvaged from a previous layout and are operated with coathanger wire attached via choc blocks to strong paper clip wire underneath the baseboard. The buildings are a mixture of kitbashed and scratchbuilt using existing supplies. Likewise all trees and other landscaping have been constructed with materials I already had in stock. I am intending to use rolling stock that I already own which includes a pair of IW 4 wheel coaches and an Adams O2 which determined the platform length and runround loop. Goods wise, I have unearthed a box van, cattle truck and a short brake van. The turntable, which will be manually operated with wire levers, is inspired by the one at Bembridge and one originally used at Ventnor Town to allow locos to access the runround loop due to a lack of room for a point and headshunt. Such turntables were not used for turning the train around, but merely to save on space. IW Locomotive always pointed their boilers south except in exceptional circumstances. So this layout, Blackgang, is inspired by Ventnor Town where the railway emerges through a tunnel portal in the chalk cliff face of the down and where the station space is limited high above the town and sea. Ofcourse there was never a station at Blackgang. Such a station would have been nonsensical partly due to the unstable nature of the terrain as well as it having been a ridiculous undertaking to have tunnelled through St. Catherine's Down when a much easier and flatter route could have followed the Medina valley from Newport via Merstone Junction down to Chale where a short walk, with albeit a steep ascent, would have led to the visitors to Blackgang Chine. But why let logistics get in the way? Why not pretend that such a major tourist attraction as Blackgang Chine would not merit a railway station. Looking ahead, I am yet to finish the turntable and I intend to construct a 2 lane traverser fiddleyard on a board of 60 cm in length. The question is, can I construct one without buying drawer runners? The layout is DC powered from a single input in the fiddle yard under the tunnel entrance and has a separate feed to the turntable. The switching of the points allows for isolated sections to hold a second loco. Currently I am using a mainland Adams 02 which is awaiting an IW body transplant and DCC decoder when it will join its sister locos on my main layout, so I shall need to find an alternative loco from somewhere