New England in Thailand

[garethashenden]

Your F3 is the odd one out. The rest were used in both commuter and branchline freight. Have a look at some of the smaller branches, Hillsborough, Peterborough, Central Mass, etc.
I've found this website useful in the past: http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/
Peterborough, for example, could make a very nice little layout. There's a station, a couple of industries, and a turntable. Quite simple operation for both freight and passenger. Although squeezing it into 1m might be hard.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

There was a nice branch through Wayland, and Sudbury but not much traffic. I wish that I had brought more books on B&M.

Both rural countryside and winter in the city appeal to me as they would be perfect contrast to the Thai countryside.

[jpec]

Daniel,
Check out the Small Layout Design group in Yahoo Groups. They have lots of files of ideas and some very helpful folks on there as well.

As for your retirement plan, sounds like a good one. My friend in currently in Bali with his wife, who is a native,  and he sent me a photo of what he called "Indonesian Seaside Cafe - seating for 4" - it was a chap on the beach with a small grill and 4 drywall buckets to sit on next to a beautiful ocean. I asked him why the hell was he even considering coming back here...

Jeff

[garethashenden]

There was a nice branch through Wayland, and Sudbury but not much traffic. I wish that I had brought more books on B&M.

Both rural countryside and winter in the city appeal to me as they would be perfect contrast to the Thai countryside.

That's the Central Mass Branch. It was built as a third east-west mainline across Massachusetts but never really amounted to anything. By the late '40s it was pretty much commuter trains only, B15 class 2-6-0 and two coaches. It's a nice picturesque line but it's probably not the best choice for your limited space.

[Bsklarski]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/191219115412?lpid=82

I grabbed the first link I saw. This Book came out back in 2005? It was expanded on to include the end of the branch before it was shut down. Its a darn good book.