An aerial view of the layout, with Blue Era well to the fore. Note the scratch-built Pacer
Exeter Central was initially inspired by the Peco "Larger Layouts" booklet, but like so many model projects, it rather escalated over time. We revised the trackplan more closely to match the prototype, not quite in its heyday, but before the worst ravages of "modernisation". Since our planning started in the 1980s, most of the infrastructure still existed, and there were four tracks through the station.
Please be gentle with the attached images, since at the time of building this layout, Peco's best offering was Code 80, Dapol's N offerings were twenty years away, digital cameras were unheard of, and none of us had tried a prototype-based layout before!
Happily, after many year's faithful service, Exeter Central was sold to a private modeller in East Anglia, where we trust it gave many more years of enjoyment.
The layout served us well for many years, both building our skills, giving us a lot of fun, and enabling us to gain exhibition experience. Some of the lessons we learnt on "the circuit" include:
1) Keep each circuit separate, so problems on one route don't impact another
2) Don't include gradients of 1 in 36!
3) Don't have multi-level fiddle yards
4) Don't try to maximise space by using curved storage roads
Despite the photos below, and the Gallery, most of the time Exeter Central was operated with steam era BR(S) stock, but sometimes even we get flexible....
An aerial view of the layout, with Blue Era well to the fore. Note the scratch-built Pacer
The prototype had a 1 in 36 slope up from Exeter St Davids on the Western.
So we thought we'd have one too. Tough for 73 on diesel power....
A selection of images is attached as a Gallery. This will open in a new window, and requires Flash software to be installed on your computer. We recommend access for broadband users only.
