The Lakeside Railway

[47137]

I have got my old railway layout out and I thought a posting might be of interest as the model is a 'Deane style fiddle yard' and this arrangement does not appear much in the forums ...

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/309/entry-3870-whatever-happened-to-the-deane-fiddleyard/

 

The model measures 5 feet by 3 feet 6 inches and hangs on the living room wall ... it has been unused for 6+ years and I expect I will sell it on in the new year, so I am taking the opportunity to post a few photos in case anyone is interested in discussing it while I still have it. The plan is lifted from the third edition of '60 Plans for Small Railways' (plan S36). I like this arrangement for a home railway, but I guess we don't see many more because the scheme does not suit an exhibition setting.

 

 

 

[JORGE2209]

Hello. This is a pretty neat model railway. Im currently in between layouts right now and would love to build a compact layout as this. What kind of points have you used?

 

Thanks,

Jorge

[47137]

Hi Jorge,

 

This is my first (and only) N gauge layout and I used Peco points throughout. The layout is in two parts: a 'railway' and (at the right-hand end on the pictures) a 'tramway'.

 

The 'railway' uses universal (code 80) points, large and medium radius, with live frogs. I built the layout to run some Fleischmann stock I bought second-hand and my local hobby shop recommended I use code 80, and not the better-looking code 55, to make sure everything would run. (This was in about 2001). The Peco points rely on the point blades to set the polarity of the frog. This does not cause 'problems', but I would wire the frogs via a changeover switch (linked to the point mechanism) if I ever use them again ... it is too easy for a bit of dirt to stop a point blade making a good electrical contact.

 

The 'tramway' uses Peco Setrack points which have dead frogs. I will not choose these again, except perhaps in a fiddle yard and for trains with lots of pickups. If you run 4-wheel trams (or locos), the combined dead section of crossing gap plus plastic frog is too large to give predicable slow running.

 

You need to be careful to place section breaks in precise locations - at least, more careful than me. I have a beautiful Kato 4-wheel tram which cannot run on the tramway because a rail break (with its associated 1mm gap) is exactly the wheelbase of the tram away from the frog of one of the points, causing a stall every time ...

 

The access well is about 23 inches wide at its widest point ... this is bearable, but I wish I had made the model three or even six inces wider. I like 'compact' layouts, but this is a bit cramped.

[Black Sheep]

The scenic work around the tunnel and bridge is fantastic, any more pictures of other parts of the layout?

[JORGE2209]

WOW!!! Thats N Gauge! I too model in N Gauge but would like to upgrade to HO/OO because of my eyesight and that layout would be great for me to build in HO/OO Gauge. Richard it would be great to see any more pics you might have!

[47137]

Hi,

I got my camera out this evening and took a dozen or so pictures of the layout. You will see I never ballasted much of the track ... this was from fears of bits clogging up the trains. I think its absence is less obvious in when I look at the real model.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sammyboy]

This layout reminds me of a plan very similar to yours in a book I own, one of many planning books written by the legendary late C.J. Freezer.

And also it surprised me that the layout was built to N Gauge, when I thought it was OO when I first saw the photos and I'm a fellow N gauge modeller!