Great Western Railway Layout Ideas

[Ben Tolman]

I've built a 12ft x 4ft board in my garage and was wondering on if people could help me out designing a layout. It doesn't have to be related to real life at all, I just want it to be in the western era maybe early BR. 

 

Things to include: 

Loop ( for continuous running e.g expresses)

Yard ( shunting ) ideally containing 3 or 4 sidings and a turntable

 

If people could help by designing a track plan, it would be greatly appreciated. 

 

I have a few ideas in mind but I would like to see what other people could come up with to help with the layout.

 

Thanks, Ben

 

 

 

[Aire Head]

Are you planning to use one side of the layout as a fiddle yard?

 

Given the width of the boards the curves on the main lines are going to be quite tight, you could disguise them however this will only leave you with about an 8' scenic section of you include a fiddle yard.

 

How long do you want the trains to be?

 

Do you want to shunt the yard while leaving the main lines running?

 

Sorry if it seems like a lot of questions but it all helps to find out what you would want.

[Ben Tolman]

One of my ideas was to have a fiddle yard within a looped express line. But the back half of the express line would be hidden, so the main focus is on the yard. 

i would like to run express trains of up to 6 coaches, maybe 7. Then another in the opposite direction of either another express or a stopping passenger service of 4 coaches. Then sometimes, mixing it up with express freight max of 12 wagons and then mixed freight. 

Yes i would like to have the possibility to have live main lines whilst having a shunt in the yard. However, if its not possible then, I don't mind either having a fiddle yard or a scenic express layout.

 

Don't worry, the more questions asked will help to gauge an idea of what's possible and what's not.

 

[mdvle]

Might have more success in the Layout & Track Design section of RMweb

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/forum/66-layout-track-design/

 

[Aire Head]

If you can live with unprototypically tight radius curves on view that will provide more space however it does run thebl risk of making the layout look more like a "trainset" for lack of a better phrase.

 

I will see if I can knock something up tonight 

[Siberian Snooper]

What scale/gauge are you using?

 

 

[Aire Head]

33 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

What scale/gauge are you using?

 

 

The question we all should have asked!

[DavidB-AU]

I would strongly recommend not making a solid 12x4 layout. In area that's larger than a double bed. When you take into account you need 2' of access space around all sides, that's effectively a 16x8 layout.

 

I would actually recommend you  cut the board up like this and put the access space inside the layout. It is truly portable and only needs to be set up for operation, then can be packed away in a much smaller space. It will give much gentler curves, a greater run of "main" line and scope for realistic operation.

 

As far as a track plan goes, follow the prototype. If you only want single track operation, you could look at secondary lines such as the West Somerset, Heart of Wales, Cambrian or Conwy Valley, or if you want semi-urban scenery you could look at the Marlow line.

 

Cheers

David

[The Johnster]

I agree with David; if you can build around the walls of the garage so that the layout is effectively on a 2' wide shelf you will be able to ease the very tight curves at the ends, and include them in the scenically treated part of the layout.  I'd suggest a single track main line with a passing loop at the station on the scenic area; this will make operating more interesting than trains tail chasing on a double track, but the double track option will be fine if you just want to watch trains passing while you shunt the yard.  Much will depend on what trains and locos you want to run, of course, but even Kings were used on the single track Kingswear branch.  You can still tail chase with a single track, but only one train at a time.

 

This assumes that you do not need to store the car in the garage.  A 12'x4' board with models on top is both delicate and heavy, so it sounds as if you are planning a permanent or at least semi permanent erection (stop that sniggering at the back of the class) and that the car is going to live outside.  That won't do it any harm and there is a body of opinion that wet cars dry quicker outside and develop less rust in consequence, but there may be implications to your car insurance premiums or bonuses.  If you think you are going to fold the layout against the wall so the car can be accommodated, remember that it is heavy and awkward and all the stock, along with anything else not fixed down, has to be taken off every time you want to garage the car, and set back out when you want to operate the layout.  Every time.  

 

I had a garage layout that folded against the wall as a child, built by my father (and if you think I'm a bodger, you shoulda seen 'im!).  I was allowed to use it in the summer but the car took priority in winter. The layout suffered damage caused by expansion and contraction as there was no form of heating in the garage which was literally freezing in winter, and was moved to the attic where matters were worse and it ripped itself to pieces; summer temperatures were oven-like.

 

The trick to shunting a yard while the trains are passing by on the main is the 'headshunt'.  Where the yard exits on to the running lines, a point leads to a siding alongside them, where a shunting loco can pull wagons clear of the sidings' points rather than using the running line, so that the running line is left clear for traffic and the shunting can take place without interruption.

 

A yard with a turntable suggests a loco shed rather than a goods shunting yard, but there were locations where the two 'overlapped' a bit.  I think Peco still sell Cyril Freezer's '60 plans for medium size layouts', which might give you some inspiration as to actual track plans.  Keep points trailing rather than facing on running lines except where absolutely necessary, as this is what real railways did in those days, and make sure your longest vehicles can pass on the tightest curves without fouling, and you should be ok.  

 

A tip to avoid the fouling problem is to lightly temporarily lay the track, pinned in position, and sellotape felt tip pens to the centre point of the sides and different coloured ones to the end corners of your longest coach so that the tips rest on the baseboard.  Then push the coach gently around the layout, so that the pens draw lines on the baseboards.  Where any of these lines intersect you are going to have fouling problems and the stock will hit stock on the other line.  You will also be able to see where the fouling positions at turnouts and crossings are.  Relay the track so that everything clears; you will have a safety margin of half the diameter of the pens to cope with any wobbling at speed; you can now permanently fix the track in it's final position.

 

My advice if you are going to have curves of less than about 2' radius is to use setrack, as forcing flexi into such contortions is difficult to do accurately as it tends to go into a transition curve form with the middle portion of the curved section being very very sharp, to the extent that in extreme cases the rail is pulled out of gauge.  This advice also goes for sharply curved industrial or dockside layouts.

[Neal Ball]

Hi Ben, welcome to RMWeb. There are a good many GWR layouts here on RMWeb, one of us will have the inspiration / ideas etc. you are after.

 

Assuming its OO, can you add 2 ft (minimum) and have a 2ft board; 2ft space and the 2ft board? Even then its a bit tight - but if you dont have the corners on show no-one will know!

 

One idea is that the station could be split in two by a road bridge (there are plenty of examples), with the curves starting straight after the bridge, therefore getting maximum operational area in the main space.

 

Good luck with the project, let us know how you get on.

 

Regards, Neal.

[DavidB-AU]

11 hours ago, The Johnster said:

This assumes that you do not need to store the car in the garage.

 

Even if you do need to store the car in the garage, the HOGRR idea works well because it is truly portable and can be packed away.

 

Cheers
David