Division Street and Judge Farm

Further to yesterday's note about the North Shore Train Show in Laval in October, I'll be building my first modules for the S Scale Workshop.

I have four months, and plans for two modules - each made up of several sections. That sounds like a lot to do in just four months, but my module designs are very simple.

The Workshop already has plenty of modules featuring towns, industries, passing sidings and so on. What's really needed is some open country running - to space out the more operationally-interesting areas.

Each module set will feature a single track mainline through a rural area bordered by pasture and meadow. No turnouts - no significant structures - just 20+ feet of additional room for my fellow Workshop members to show off their fine locomotives and rolling stock.

The first module - "Division Street" - will feature a level crossing with (you guessed it) Division Street. It'll look something like this:

(Click on the image for a larger view)

The second module - "Judge Farm" - will feature a cattle underpass between pastures located to either side of the track, as shown here:

(Click on the image for a larger view)

I chose the chevron shape to add visual interest - the curve on each module will be somewhere around 33-foot radius. But it will also make the modules more stable when they're set up. And unlike straight modules, two gentle curves will give the Workshop flexibility when designing layouts to fit a given exhibition space. They can be arranged to form a very long curve... an S curve... or a reverse S curve. They can be used together, or separated with other Workshop modules between them.

I've written more about my module plans on my personal blog - Port Rowan in 1:64. Enjoy if you visit!

- Trevor