Moving the engine shed...

The advantages of not starting with weathering the rails and ballasting are that I could run a few trains for fun and experience the layout in "operation mode". The VT 98 DMU arrived and departed with commuters, sometimes taking a freight car with it and spotting it at the freight shed. The daily freight service brought cars in and picked up others. I experimented with mixed passenger and freight services. All great fun and in general prove that the track plan works.

Still some things kept nagging me.. Like the situation at the end of the layout where everything seems a bit too crammed. I had thought that the engine shed at the end of the line was a good idea, something special. There are a couple of prototype examples, and showing such a special situation on my layout seemed a nice change to ordinary terminus plans. Also, it would help block the view to the short end of the layout.

The "old" situation with the engine shed at the end of the line.The platform in front of the station building long enough for a 2-car DMU. Not uninteresting, but overall too crammed for my taste. The freight shed by the way is a placeholder only. As described in a previous I have already built a smaller version of it.

I simply do not have enough length in my layout room. The platform became too short and required an awkward extension over the run-around switches. Even with my plan to only run DMU's in passenger service and a 2 car VT 98 fitting just, it looked too crammed.

So yesterday evening - after having freed my mind at the Karate training - I picked up the engine shed, lifting it from its current position and putting it down at the other end, the station entrance. This will require the addition of a switch for a new engine shed track between the raised platform and the main line.

In its new position, the engine shed provides nice backdrop to incoming trains. Views to the long loading platform are still possible. I even like the fact that it is a bit hidden. I took a few snapshots which I show here. Though they do in no way justice to the look & feel which is in reality much better.

The passenger platform on the other end is now long enough (ca. 65 cm) for a short line station. Another benefit is that I can extend the track of the freight shed to hold 2 cars. This makes it also look less crammed and adds another position for cars to be spotted to.

There is now more room in front of the station building. Mind the gap!: the two parts of the station building are not connected yet, therefore the ugly gap..

The middle section of the station. The BR 333 is pulling in a string of cars in the sugar beet season.

The new freight shed. The track will be extended to hold two cars instead of one.

The new area at the entrance of the station. The track into the shed with a nice, wide curve leading into the building.

Overview of the far end of the station. Imagine tall trees framing the buildings and a busy team track in front of the nearest track.