The layout is set in a fictitious location in South London near the River Thames. When we acquired it there was a quayside and warehouses at one end and a goods depot and street scene at the other, and two separate storage yards at the rear of the layout. A single line track went the length of the layout at a higher level. It had two sidings behind a warehouse at one end and a station at the other. This line was worked by two trains alternately using a simple DC automatic shuttle module.

One of our members who is a keen modeller of London Transport railways realised that the high level shuttle line could be rebuilt as two separate lines, one for BR trains and a new one for LT trains which would rise up from the storage yard to join the BR line at a joint station. It was still intended to operate two trains alternately on the BR line. A crossover would be installed to enable stock changes to be made between the running lines and the storage yard. A temporary high level structure would be made for testing out this idea. The old high level structure was removed and the plasticard sheeting has bee re-used to clad new warehouses and office buildings.

It was intended to use two separate DC shuttle systems made by Heathcote electronics using infra-red sensors to detect the position of trains and operate signals and points. The initial results of testing with one train worked well, but when running different trains alternately it was found that the difference in speed characteristics between the various trains meant that when it was set up for one train there were difficulties in controlling the other train which resulted in trains overrunning the end point or stopping too short of it.

A new DCC system was set up using a Uhlenbrock Intellibox controller. Heathcote infra-red sensors would detect the position of the trains and activate feedback modules linked to the Intellibox and trigger the appropriate command via the Route Setting mode of the controller. After a considerable amount of time spent testing and eliminating problems this system is now working well, with all trains now operating at realistic speeds, and points and signals working automatically. The temporary structure has been dismantled and the tracks re-laid on arches made from wood and mdf and clad with Wills brickwork. New bridges over the lines to the storage yards have been made. Ballasting and fitting of the 3rd and 4th conductor rails are nearly complete. The station at the far end is still to be made.

Work is currently ongoing to fit the arches to the main baseboards and blend then in scenically and to re-model the street scene and parts of the goods depot.