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Modular System - West Sussex Area Group of the N Gauge Society


GRC

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One of the constraints mentioned in the last blog was the alignmenet with the Modular system used by the West Sussex Area Group (WSNG) of the N Gauge Society. Link Below

 

http://www.wsng.co.uk/

 

The Modular system has some basic principles which I think are broadly aligned across the N Gauge Society but I'll just highlight the WSNG features. The first one is the the front 6 inches of the layout belongs to the club when connected. Tracks are laid at 2 inches, 3 and 5 from the front of the board. Tracks 1 and 2 from the front are only connected to the modules to the left and right, When the Modualr system is deployed either as a square or ene to end these connect through other modules to the club fiddleyards. The 3rd track can be connected to the owners module but has to be electrically isolated and switchable to prevent electrical challenges with the main supply.

 

When running, the normal operation is to have a non stopping up and down service on tracks 1 and 2 and a stopping service on track 3 where the trains on this line can be swapped out with tracks from the owners module.

 

The key benefits of a modular approach are that the different modules can be joined as required for each exhibition and the size of the layout can be modified for the venue. Each module is 4 Feet long but many people and this will include Crawley Yard exhibit as a pair creating an 8 foot long module. With the Modules all owned by individuals this can create an interesting effect with Japanese modules next to Swiss and then the UK and the scenary moving from summer to Winter and City to Countryside. This seems to work well for many visitors with lots of different scenes to look at and none so short that it becomes too overwhelming. What this does mean for Crawley Yard is that when being exhibited the trains running on the main London to Brighton line at the front (Tracks 1 and 2 ) will be an eclectic mix.

 

For Crawley Yard I wanted something that I could use at home, as a standalone and also something to exhibit with the club so I have made some compromises, The design is based on 2 4Feet Boards which are 24 Inches wide plus two additional front boards of 6 Inches giving a total size of 8ft by 30 inches I wanted a fiddle yard and a continuous run so that meant that each end of the board needed a return and have managed 11inch or so diameter curves on the main board. The fiddle yard has 6 roads built using the new 3 way points from Peco. The main line on the board takes feeds from Track 3 and also feeds an inner line which services the Aggregate sidings. I'll post a track plan in a later posting to make this clearer

 

Anyone interested in the module design or finding out about the club please ask

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