Last Saturday we had an opportunity to visit and operate Darren's layout, Wattle Flat.
After a brief run-down of the layout, we were grouped into pairs for two-man operation and I joined Geoff as his driver.
We were tasked with train no. 15 (I think it was) which departed the main station of North Gulgong.
We took 60 mins to run train No. 15 from the junction to the branch terminus of Wattle Flat, do some shunting, and return to staging via North Gulgong with a lovely 44 class Alco for motive power. The sound from the 44 class was very authentic and added another dimension to operations.
About 50 mins was spent shunting the five or six industries at Wattle Flat.
There were more than enough industries on the layout and plenty of points to operate to accommodate for all the shunting movements at each of the towns.
Once this run was completed, we all had a break.
There were no derailments or any other mishaps like engines falling off the layout. The construction and track lying was done to a very high standard.
I think Darren has achieved what he wants from his model railway, with plenty of industries on the branch line and more than enough points to be thrown, all adding to maximise operational potential.
Overall a very good time was had. However a suggestion would be to replace the couplers to something of a higher standard, like Kadees. It was frustrating to uncouple with the with imitation kadee couplers on the rolling-stock.
It will be really good to see Darren slowly add scenery and other details to his layout. I think once this is done, the layout will look incredible.
Unfortunately the battery indicator on my camera started blinking and I was low on juice so I could only grab a few shots.
