wildrover

Hi everyone. Thanks for all your feedback - I certainly appreciate it! I'll try and answer all your questions. As someone that had basically no knowledge on this until I started reading this forum and a couple of guides about 4/5 months ago, please bear with me! @RobinofLoxley - I do see what you mean now about the turntable, but hopefully you can see from the signalling diagram that I'm at least trying to get it a little like the original. @Alan Kettlewell photos would be brilliant, thank you! And thanks for that plan @Zomboid - i'd nearly always be up there with friends and family as a rule, but i'm building in a contingency for that to lift up. Weirdly, we're also pretty happy crawling around. @Chris Turnbullthanks for all the advice, and the photos are fab. My main aim is to get it looking like Carnforth (more so the buildings) for family members that live near it, so when they see it they can instantly recognise it. I also had family members that worked at the station I believe in the 1930s/40s or possibly earlier. I'm not too fussed about the track plan being anything like Carnforth for now - it may be in 20 or so years to come when it moves out of the loft I concentrate on something more accurate. Regarding Lakeside, I go sailing right next to it so again it's more like the buildings, atmosphere etc of the layout are accurate than a perfect track plan itself (although I'd like to be closer with this than Carnforth)- I hope that makes sense! @DavidCBroad - that's a really good point. My previous life with Hornby stuff was indeed picking up one train and putting another down, (my brother seemed to run them and I picked up his derailments and played with track layouts!) and I appreciate your advice that doing it now would probably lead to breakages. I have two options for a fiddle yard one in the middle bit in between the two grey areas where I'll be stood, or there is a potential better space above the loop. Although given that I have precisely 0 DCC locomotives to put in any sort of fiddle yard at the moment, it may be a while before it gets used. I'm hoping some people will be able to give me some advice on what rolling stock to buy, but that's for another time... @Flyingpigthanks, that's helpful. Might even make a nice photo for the wall! @MyRule1hopefully we'll stay in this for a long time - we bought it a couple of years ago with the intention it's our family home (we have a 9 month old, which I think is why I got back into this!). Budget wise, I can afford to spend enough to get started now but then hopefully enough each month to keep my interest up - I do appreciate that this will run into the 1000's but the aim is that it's done over time and enjoy each stage of learning the new stuff like baseboards, wiring etc. Hopefully I've answered your questions about Carnforth/Lakeside above - trust me, I'm aware I could have picked easier places! Thanks again everyone

Hi all Really appreciate all your replies! Robin - you're correct it's an open loft space - it's currently insulated and has floorboards so I am just about to start with building the supports and baseboards. Hopefully the picture below sorts the headshunt issue out. The second line is a long siding - I got it from the signal diagram of Lakeside in this thread, but I'm not massively keen on it because of the need for it to be curved. I can't quite picture what you mean about the headshunt leading to the turntable, sorry, but I've tried to keep it as close to this signal diagram as I could. I aim to run max four carriage + tender engine length trains if possible Simmo, thanks for the info on that magazine, I've ordered it today. And it's helpful to think of it in two parts - I think I'll concentrate on modelling the lakeside end first and just see if my old DC and settrack stuff still runs as a separate effort for now on the loop bit, so I'll have something to play with! Chimer, that's really helpful - hopefully the efforts in the attached picture are an improvement. The grey bits are where I'll be standing and my 'route in' to the layout! Thanks again everyone

Hi everyone. First time I think I've ever posted on any forum, so any advice is welcome! I've always had a 00 gauge train set in the loft since I was about 10, but haven't looked at it for a number of years. Over the last couple of months I've started to have a bit of a play with AnyRail and had a few ideas about starting a layout from scratch. I'd love to learn all the skills that I've seen on here (some of the photos I've seen are incredible) and see it as a bit of a long-term project, completing things whenever I have the time. My aims for the layout are a sort of U/L-shape, with a double-track loop with a station at one end, with a branch line leading off to a hopefully interesting station, perhaps where I can do a shunting puzzle of some sort. The pictures might explain it better (I've had to split it into two parts for the maximum 50 pieces on AnyRail). I'm not too fussed (yet) about it being completely accurate, but I currently aim to model the branch station on Lakeside (from the Lakeside & Haverthwaite) in perhaps the late 1940's as the family have quite a lot of connections in that area and I think it would be an interesting model. For the station in the main loop, I don't have anywhere near enough space, but intend on making it look a bit like Carnforth as some family live near there - perhaps with the coal/ash towers, and I will hopefully be able to model the station front at some point! So family members might be able to look at it and it remind them of Carnforth is the main idea. For the track layout in the loop, I'm happy for it to work and perhaps be modelled on something suitable for the space I have. I'd like to try my hand at DCC, building my own baseboards and giving everything a good go. The layout will be in the loft, and the small darker bits on the photos are roof trusses which I obviously can't move! They'll get in the way a bit but I'm happy enough to do the layout in the loft - I've read on here about it and whilst it's not totally ideal it is the only space I have. The bigger dark bits are how I'll need to be accessing the layout. I quite like the idea of modelling based on something real life, and everything will be from scratch as all of my previous stuff is 20+years old and DC. I'd really appreciate any thoughts and advice you could give - I know basically nothing compared to everyone on here!