As for the corners.

Are you having a back board/side boards?

If so, the rear corners can be absorbed into a backscene eg, as @Newportnobby says, with hills rising up from track level.

The front corners could be eg a town park with stone walls, fencing or hedges separating the park from the tracks.

A warehouse, with its leading edge at the front of the base board would work ok in the other corner.

Just a few ideas.....the world is your oyster.

Have fun.

Cheers
Martin

Thanks all for the quick and constructive suggestions; I love this forum 



The 35mm width platform I bought in an eBay job lot with many of the other buildings. There are no manufacturer markings or even initials on them. They appear to be complete items rather than a kit. I can always adapt to a standard available size, but shame to waste stuff and it fits very well with my layout!




Very rough layout of the cricket pitch illustrated and I thought it was roughly to scale at 6cm legnth of the square.

I was very wrong - a full size cricket square is 20.12m legnth, which at 1:160 scale is 12.6cm long or 13.6cm at 1:148 scale! I guess I could squeeze that down to 10cm and still make it seem realistic.

For info there is a useful scale calculator here: https://scale-calculator.com/

If you're modelling just for fun and not trying to be prototypically correct, I suggest you just run imaginary (or real) trains round your track plan to see if they do what you want them to do. This helps you locate points where they are meaningful rather than just for the heck of it. With tunnels, make sure they're long enough to hide your longest train (no nose and tails poking out here, doncha know). As for the corners, just use them to create scenic hills, perhaps with a ruined castle sat on top.
If you're running purely DCC it doesn't matter if you drive a train into a dead end siding as you can run a loco onto the other end and haul the train out. Not so easy with DC but it can be done.
Just have fun!

@bwj  so the platform you wish to extend is/was a plastic kit?  Any branding on the underside? 

Graham Farish and Minitrix used to offer platform pieces in plastic.  Several European manufacturers also offer platforms as plastic kits but they tend to be a different style and lower than UK N.

More recently there have been platform segments in moulded resin.

Post a photo and someone may recognise your platform's origins and where you might find more?

Agree with Martin on the cricket


Maybe a small stream or house with a garden pond.


https://osbornsmodels.com/osbfn065-n-gauge-cricket-match-painted-51559-p.asp
Cricket figures

https://www.trainshop.co.uk/scenery-n-/13997-cricket-sight-board-and-portable-score-board-n-scale-1148th.html

That all looks interesting.

My only comment would be around the cricket pitch and where that is going.
If you think that the batting strip is 22yards (roughly the length of a carriage), I'm not sure where you are going to squeeze it in.

Good luck with the build though.
Cheers
Martin

LAYOUT ADVICE SOUGHT

So I'd welcome any constructive criticism and advice of my "final" layout plan illustrated, before tacking down the track and ballasting! Or any general advice on just how to make it more interesting!

I'm trying to incorporate three loops including one using the girder bridges illustrated. I'm not trying to model for realistic accuracy, just for interesting features like the overhead line and a tunnel. I have a mixture of DCC stock (A1 Pacific/Eurostar/Orange TGV/Percy & Thomas (for the granchildren  ; who aren't yet born so really for me) )/Pendolino/2 Voyagers/Class 150/Class 350/Class 58 and freight cars).

The layout draft features a small village with shops, church, vicarage, cricket pitch & pavillion (from an old damaged station card kit). Two sets of sidings for passenger trains and a goods yard. One main station on the far wall incorportaing a background scene for the station building.

Eventually I'll incorporate some signalling and street lighting too.

Questions I have at the moment are:

- I'm currently painting a long platform 2 (30mm width) so not shown. My platform 1 is 35m width. I'd like to extend it (and could make out of card if it came to it) but can't find this width in plastic kits anywhere. They must have existed once?!

- Any suggestions for the dead space in each of the four corners eg is there space for a water feature even if it's just a duck pond?

- Anybody found N gauge cricketers and equipment like a scoreboard?

Quote from: Bigmac on August 25, 2025, 07:58:26 PMapologies they are sideways

Usually I'd edit and rotate etc. before uploading.  However you can do it to your uploaded image.

Find the image in your gallery.  Edit it, then use the Customise Image "Add effects/Crop image" link and that will open a new window where you'll find there's a "Transform" button and then a "Rotate" button. Rotate the image then "Apply" and "Save" it. 

I just tried it on one of my images and it worked


1: Edit the existing image


2: Add effects


3: Transform


4: Rotate


5: Apply


6: Save


7: Done!

i'm hoping to load pics of a couple of green Jubilees i bought --very reasonably--on ebay. Both were "non runners"--but luckily they run fine. I can only think the sellers didnt realise the locos and tenders must be clipped together to work !






apologies they are sideways--but i must applaud the talented modellers who painted and lined them.  Was it anyone on here ?

Quote from: ntpntpntp on August 25, 2025, 02:46:39 PM

Quote from: Bigmac on August 25, 2025, 02:31:17 PMmy main concern is fitting the worm at the correct distance on the shaft.

I guess it depends how the kit deals with this part of the process?  Do you get a new worm to fit or do you have to remove and re-use the old worm? Does it use a shaft adapter sleeve? 

Just go slowly and gradually tap/press the worm onto the shaft a fraction at a time, keep re-checking until it's in the correct position.

Quotethe only coreless conversion ive done is the TFK one to a minitrix dock tank--i fitted the worm too low i think and although smooth and quiet in forward--it hops up leans over and grinds along in reverse. Looks ridiculous.

Too low as in it's catching the rail tops or something? Or is the motor not fitted centrally?  The old Minitrix dock Tank / T3 mechanism was known for the axle bearings wearing to the point where the gear meshing became sloppy and the rear axle became wobbly, this was especially noticeable in reverse.

Too much free play in the motor output shaft between it and the worm  . No idea where the worm needs to fit so I guessed it .. wrong