A plan, A scheme

So, I've been spending idle moments running the idea for the next 7 day model railroad through my mind. Looking though all my plan books and photo albums for inspiration. Not really finding anything that grabbed my attention. My wife had given me an Athearn Genesis SD70ACe in UP Stars and Stripes livery to mark my gaining US citizenship, but even that failed to ignite my creative juices. I've got lots of large 6 axle diesel models that have little place on my small layouts. 

"Perhaps some model of a railroad workshop to display them all". I thought. 

But I am a small layout fan and I have definite ideas about my small layouts and what they really need is some kind of working feature. I haven't yet worked out what kind of working feature such a layout would have so that's on the back burner for the moment. 

Then I looked in the stock drawer that holds the English outline 00 scale stock that I have been accumulating randomly over the years. I found a couple of shunters (switchers) lots of coal wagons and hoppers. I could see some sort of trend here... 

Almost immediately I recalled a plan in the excellent book "Model Railway Planning and Design Handbook" Published by Santona Publications of the British Oak Coal plant in Yorkshire. A compact plan some 4' x 16" or so in size. This is a quite well known subject in British railway modelling circles due to its compact plan and capability to be worked quite intensively loading coal wagons at the unique loading screens. (There's my working feature)

Curiousity awakened. I looked in my track box. Would you believe it? I have all the turnouts needed to produce the trackplan as featured in the book, so why would I need to come up with my own scheme? I'm so used to coming up with my own ideas, this would be a real change of track (pun intended) for me, working from another persons previously published (and probably copied by others) scheme. That of course gives me my opportunity to put my stamp of individuality on the idea. I've found some good pictures of the loading screens and am looking for something a bit different to the loco shed depicted in the sketch.
I also have the baseboard sorted which will be something different and is a subject for another blog post another day...