Boxhill Micro-Layout

Having seen the growth in many micro and boxfile layouts I thought that it would be an excellent way of having a layout to play with. Quite a few sites have sprung up and in my opinion the premium one is still Carl Arendt's. There is so much content to help you think, plan and visualise concepts. But one of my favourite sites is a 2mmFS members blog which has given me the inspiration for my micro layout, well allowed me to take and change the idea into some thing of my own. Originally I had decided that I would do a boxfile layout but the more I thought about it, the more I felt for me it was too constricting and that there had to be some operational interest with being able to shunt wagons around which is what I like..

In another thread on rmweb, the name was provided for the boxfile, of originally "Boxhill" so that has stuck and although the plan has changed some the name will remain the same! As a bit of background, Boxhill is set in mid E.Sussex somewhere and although there is a real Boxhill in Surrey that's where the similarity ends.. The time is near future and there has been an increase in rail traffic, more so in commuting passengers than in freight. The local economies have seen a growth because of economic downturns making more people buy produce and goods nationally and locally due to ever escalating transport and fuel costs. The TOC companies have benefited from this by a new government promoting public transport and freight traffic, which has invested large sums to enable this to happen. A small local TOC has sprung up to move freight and marshall trains for mainline operators from the expanding food producting economies, and there is talk of extending the line on from Boxhill, but this is proving to be difficult due to stockbroker belt nimbyism. Occasionally in Summer there are steam excursions that are hauled by a loco preserved by local business and volunteers, with the occasional foreign visitor interloping.

At the moment the track plan is fairly simple with a platform road, run round loop, a storage siding and unloading siding. I am going to see how much space I have before I commit to structures and bays etc. But I think there should be enough space.. OK on with more planning and drawing up a stock list. I deliberately want to keep it small with a couple of DMU's and a few 66's and an 08. main freight wagons will be container and box vans with the occasional flat car and tankers. More to follow.