In recent years, I have started to take more notice of the current railway scene. This seemed out of character to some people who knew me, as my previous layouts had all been steam-based, but the idea of a modern image layout with diesel and electric traction was beginning to appeal to me.
A lot of time was spent considering what type of layout it should be – fictitious or prototype. Also, I had to consider its size, portability, features, operation and a name.
I had originally thought of basing the model on Ely, only to find a layout of that name already existed and was also modelled in N gauge. The name came about by adding Wood to Ely and changing Ely to Eli, Eli Wood being a favoured comedian from the past.
Laying foundations
The existing fiddleyard that I already had consisted of three boards across the back and two end boards.
