Portable home layout an option???

[5BarVT]

I’ll add my tuppenceworth too, along very similar lines. 

You can see photos on my thread (see signature below or search on “Heath Town”).

I always use seperable boards as I like to be able to turn them over for working on wiring etc, I went off upside down soldering a very long time ago.  For boards that are infrequently separated I have used just Rail joiners in the past but it doesn’t give much protection and it’s easy to damage track. 

My current boards are ply based with spring catches to hold together and DCC concepts alignment dowels. Even with my woodworking skills I’ve found them easy to fit. 12-15mm thickness works best (I pack out my 9mm locally) as it minimises error from drilling that isn’t perfectly square.

Paul.

[Traintresta]

So I have come up with a track plan, I drew it on CAD as I had it open and was messing around.

 

• It's 8'x3', nearest track to the backscene is 6" so I only have a maximum reach of 30", which, I find can be accommodated.
• Two 4' long boards, the left one will be 28" wide but I think I might make the right side into two boards for ease of movement, longitudinal split would probably be inline with the platform so I could hide the join more easily.
• Red tracks are LMS (ex-L&Y), green tracks are LNER (ex-GCR).
• There is an engine shed (36D Barnsley) at the rear right, exchange station in front of this with it's back to the viewer/operator to hide the two-track transfer table that will remove the need for a run-around loop.
• Exchange junction to the left of the station in the middle of the layout, LMS tracks at the back will run to cradles (stored underneath), GCR tracks from the junction and yard run onto a sector plate representing destinations towards Manchester via Woodhead.
• GCR goods yard at the front with coal drops to the left in front of a tree line, hiding a sector plate, main tracks to the right including the goods shed which is situated roughly where the LMS goods shed should be but space is tight so the LMS goods yard has been omitted, as has Eldon Street/Eldon Street North, which runs downhill to the left between the two yards.

 

Operation will be LMS passenger turns from the back left (Wakefield/Leeds) into the station and back out towards Wakefield/Leeds (this was an end-on junction).  As the LMS goods yard is not modelled there will likely be no LMS freight, but I might squeeze in one more siding to the rear for a coal yard, which appeared a bit later on, when the shed was nearing the end of it's life.

GCR trains from Sheffield to Exchange station cannot be modelled as this is off-scene to the right, but the runs to Penistone and on to Manchester can be simulated using the sector plate through exchange junction.  Freight trains will also run in from the sector plate to the goods yard where two loco's will be needed to do the shunting (this is a prototypical feature which is a great excuse for extra loco's!).  So a train loco will bring it into the yard, once it is released from the train it will traverse to the shed to allow the shunters to do their work.  Obviously the return will be required to remove the train from the scene onto the sector plate but the extra loco move will add to the fun.

 

EDIT: I have just realised I omitted the cross-over from the LMS running line to the left, to access the single platform.  I can either add this in, or represent it off-stage by running trains in on the correct line?

 

Any thoughts welcomed.

Edited July 6, 2019 by Traintresta