jb2339

Not a perfect drawing of the layout but its close enough to get an idea of the layout.

So two years later .... After a break I have decided to get back at it. The layout design has had a little tweak. I've added a small board at right angles to extend the fiddle yard. I've also made the TMD bigger. So far I've fitted 8 Cobalt point motors only 5 to go! I have deciding to just control them through my Z21 / Ipad and it works great. Next step on the layout is to replace the Diamond crossing as I broke it trying to hide the dropper wires. (A pain but will look much better when the wires are underneath and not on the side)Once this is done the plan is to get the TMD laid and point motors fitted. As side project I am working on a Class 158 that I bought off Ebay a couple of years ago. The seller painted it in FGW colours but its a bit rough however once I have applied Decals it will look good enough for me. Last night I hard wired it for DCC which went smoother than I thought it would. The Bromsgrove Model guide for this is a great help. If people want to see it I will make and most an updated track plan. *Please ignore the mess around the layout!

Quick Update I’ve layed the track on the two station platforms up to the fiddle yard. Now in the process of fitting the DCC concept digital ip point motors. I’ve installed the first one and found it a bit niggly when using a Roco Z21. I’ve seen the posts about the +4 on the address but nothing seems to work. After button pressing for awhile it finally came to life. Does any one know how to program the points on the Roco Z21 app. When I’m in the editor bit to add points do I literally just change the address there and click save and come out of that screen? ( I do this with the dcc cobalt ip in set mode. When you assign 198 to cancel self centre does anything actually happen? How do you know it’s turned off?) Any help with assigning th address would be greatly appreciated. I’ve tried following YouTube videos but no luck. I think it’s just pure luck I’ve got one working. Jb

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately where the layout is situated in the room the fiddleyard is below the town scene and the walls of the room. So I don’t think I can use cassettes or a traverser. I am planning to lay track next week and I will play around with it to see if I can get maximise the station length and fiddle yardsize to get the optimum result.

Hello, This is my first ever time at trying to document a layout build so please bare with me. Background The inspiration for this layout is from growing up in the west country and spending the school holidays riding the beautiful branch lines that Devon and Cornwall has. My favourite traction has always been Class 153s and Class 150s. I have had a few layouts previously growing up, ranging from a two loop roundy on a board in my bedroom to a layout around the loft. Due to lack of experience, patiences, time and money they have never really been more that a bit of track on some wood. Now I have the space and bit more time I really want to create my first proper model railway. I have spent months looking through posts on here and watching brilliant content on youtube and I now think I am ready to get started. The Layout The size of the layout is 12ft by 18 inches. It's a standard end to end design with a hidden fiddle yard under a town scene. I am basing it on real location that is Goodrington but it is entirely fictious design. Using modellers licence I have decided to create an extension of the mainline to Goodrington. In real life I believe the mainline finishes at the sidings in Goodrington and the Dartmouth Steam Railway actually serves Goodrington. I chose this locations as it gives the layout a place that I can try and run prototypical traction. Plus I have added a small TMD that I treating as a Private Contractor that offers ad-hoc maintenance, train interior cleans and stabling. With the location at the end of Riveria Line services can stable here over night and provide a service back to Exeter/Exmouth in the morning without having to run empty back the night before to run empty back down in the morning. The idea that its a 3rd party contractor is so that I can in theory run any locomotive into the TMD without it being the wrong company. Here is the what I have decided on so far. Please excuse its not the prettiest as I have struggled with getting anything to look good on Xtrackcad. If you have any suggestions or ideas please let me know. Any help is really appreciated. Stock: Currently the stock consist of 7 Class 153s and the plan is to add a couple FGW/GWR class 150s when I can. Also looking to get various class 66s, Class 57s as money allows. Track: Peco code 75 all points are Medium or Large radius not the scenic section and small radius in the fiddle yard. Layout Operations: The layout will be powered by DCC. I am looking into getting an NCE Powercab. The points will be DCC Concepts Cobalt IP and the plan is to use the Alpha range to control them. Currently the baseboards have been built and painted with a base coat of brown for the ground and a light blue for the sky. The baseboards are from Model Railway Solutions which I found to be an excellent product. (Excuse the the brown on the backboards this won't be seen as it will be covered by the retaining wall. Thank you for taking the time to read this JB