Outer Melbourne

Outer Melbourne is a T Scale (1:450) model of a fictitious station on the edge of the Melbourne suburban network around 1980.  It is my second layout to use linear motor drives, and in addition to the trains it has working roads and a level crossing, with the road vehicles stopping and giving way to the trains.  The layout is 48" x 17" in size and is the end of my little excursion into Australian modelling - back to UK prototypes from now on!

The track plan is just three ovals, single track for the rail and two traffic lanes for road, meeting at a level crossing in the centre of the layout.  The layout can handle as many trains as can fit in the half of the track behind the backscene, and the automation feeds them through one at a time in one direction or the other.  While it is operated as a point-to-point shuttle, having a continuous loop makes better use of space and allows more variety in operation.  The actual sequence is 3 trains clockwise followed by 2 anti-clockwise, which ensures that all trains cycle through eventually and that you never see the same train more than twice in a row.

All the stock and buildings are 3D printed, with the full exhibition complement of Tait, Harris, Hitachi and Parcels sets completed just in time for Caulfield 2019.