JMJR1000

Just been having a look at this branch you suggested, certainly quite a fascinating line I must say, thanks for the suggestion. Certainly gives me some ideas, for sure.

Hello all, it's been sometime since I last seemed advice and discussion on here, as I had previously considered going for 009. Problem with me of course, is I'm not the best at settling on one idea and sticking with it, so I ended up backing away from 009 and a model railway in general as I just couldn't decide. Recently however I had something of a revelation, which came in the form of a certain Hornby Peckett, a model which I just loved from the get go and subsequently noticed there were a few similar small yet great looking models that are good runners to boot coming out. And this was when my revelation took form. See up till now, my problem was my ideas for a model railway were always too ambitious for their own good. What were these ideas? I'll lay them out for you. 1. Have an end on end layout based on a fictional heritage railway, with at least 3 stations, with the possibility of integrating a way to make it a full loop for occasion usage at a later point. 2. Have a decent length of track between each station, so that they have a good run without having to stop literally a couple seconds later until they have to stop at the next station. 3. Have passenger rakes up to 4 or 5 carriages in length, to give a good impression of a decent sized train. Now these 3 objectives, while not bad as such, we're a touch too unrealistic as few if any rooms in a typical british house can really accommodate such a thing. Another problem too was over the years I had bought many locomotives and a few carriages from the Big 4 companies (LNER, LMS, GWR & SR), but at some point I realise this collection was just too big for me to realistically make use of and care for when running them. So I was somewhat stuck with a collection of models and no means to create a layout sufficiently big enough to make use of them. This was why for a time I was looking into smaller gauges like 009 or N gauge, but I was never too happy with those ideas as they just seemed too small and fiddly for my liking. Seeing the the Peckett, followed by similar great looking small engines like Hatton's Andrew Barclay and P class, along Dapol's B4, they all made me realise my original plan was doable, it just needed to be downscaled not by gauge, but simply the models themselves. Instead of big pacifics and heavy freight engines, I go for small tank engines like the Peckett, or smaller tender engines like the T9. No longer will I go for 4 to 5 coach rakes but 2 to 3, and even then I'd fancy making use of much smaller 4 wheel carriages then the much longer bogie carriages. Finally intend to sell most of my collection, but retain all my Southern Railway stock as that company and it's rolling stock is my favourite of the lot, with perhaps a couple LNER locos retained as I just can't bear to part with those gorgeous Gresley suburban carriages. This all together should make my eventual plan for a layout out much more manageable to attain for, and I really feel a solid plan is developing in my head, one I'm feeling pretty confident I'll be sticking to. I just need advice on working out certain issue I'm not so sure how to go about dealing with them, and I'd prefer to deal with these now to prevent expensive hassles coming about later. One big issue I'm considering is with the smaller locos like the Pecketts, Andrew Barclays, Terrier and other alike in size. I'm aware having such small wheelbases, ensuring they run smoothly is tricky at times, certainly if you got a few points. So if I'm going to use these and other similar small engines, both tank and tender engines, would it be recommended I use DCC on my eventual layout? I know with DCC it's advised generally to make use of electro frog points, and I'd figure using those would be a big plus for smaller locos alone. If anyone can give me pointers and advice over this proposed idea I got in mind now, I'd be delighted to hear them, as they'll be a big help come the time of building such a layout in the future. Sorry if this is a bit of mouthful of a thread to start by the way, just had a lot I wanted to get out so as to give context to my questions and seeking of general advice.