Swallow's End, like a lot of small terminus stations I suspect, has a cattle dock. The problem I had was what to do about it. The Ratio one, while very nice, is a bit on the same old same old as it is one of the best kits around I feel. I have one on St Alban's Priory for example. The appeal of scratch building one was high but I lacked inspiration. Enter fellow 2mm Association member Julia "Missy" Adams. She constructed one for her layout "Highclere" - photos and discussion found here. I thought it particularly good and decided that if imitation was the sincerest form of flattery I should copy hers!
I have used some Ratio platform edging for the sides and scrap piece of the flag stones from the same supplier. To work out the height, I put a wagon on the layout where the cattle dock is going and used that! Effort shown at the bottom of this post. The ramp is at 1:4 - this is following the discussion on the 2mmVAG and talks with a couple of cattle producers here in Outback Queensland.
I haven't started on a fence - been mulling over what to do. Missy's is very good and I suspect I will do something similar for the robustness and uniqueness. I had thought of robbing the unopened Ratio kit Amity has in her UFO box but decided against it. There will only be one pen - the overall dimensions of the pad scale out to 5 yards x 7 but allowing for a couple of flags being on the loading side of the fence (the ruler side on in the photos) I suspect I will end up with something around the 28 sq yd area - which is enough for 10 head apparently allowing for movement. At any rate, the pen will hold what a wagon will hold and that is enough for this sleepy little back water.
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