Some layouts are the result of careful planning, others just emerge.. somehow.

I brought an oval of set track on eBay so that I could test the models I am building. Every time I wanted to test something I had to get the track out, assemble it and wire up the controller before I could start.

I decided to put the oval track on a baseboard so that it was available instantly. A quick rummage in the garage and I found some thin plywood for the base and a length of 25 x 32mm pine for the frame. These were ideal and a simple 78 x 58 cm baseboard was quickly created.

When I stood back to admire my work  and I realised that I have seen whole 009 layouts of this size.

Perhaps I could be a bit more ambitious and create a small layout on this board?

That’s when the fun started. Out came some track, points and I created paper templates for the curves. What emerged was a simple oval track plan with a country station featuring a passing loop, a goods siding and a loco siding. It seems to fit (!) and will be a much more interesting than the simple oval test track.

Now all I need to do is build it.