Return To OO From A Very Long Break.

[marcusd666]

Hi All, this is my first post and a return to model railways from a long long break and having the some space now I have decided to create a layout and get back in the game.

 

After months of planning and working out where the layout is going to located I settled on the the spare room along the back wall 9 foot x 2 foot.
The layout is a modified copy of RM Hopwood concept with a heritage centre / Depot added to it.

 

The track is going to be all new Peco code 100 with medium electrofrog points I have gone for them points as the look the most realistic and point motors to be decided on but after a lot of reading I think they will be Seep with switch included as they can switch polarity on the frog.

 

Control is going to be DC Gaugemaster Twin Track controller for the power to the track, point motors and lighting stuff.

 

The base board will have to be removable so I have put 2 splits in the boards 3' x 2' sections I have tried to position the points at the joints to make it easier for joining / un-joining.

 

 

This is my first time at a End to End layout so any help with the wiring would be really useful as this is a DC layout and the only wiring I have done on a double loop when I was about 10 so I want to do a more realistic layout with point motors, lights, signalling etc.

 

Most of my loco stock is from Hornby late 70s early 80s. with so new additions in the last 12 months.

 

Any advice and info is always welcome.

 

Cheers.

 

marcus

[Harlequin]

Hi Marcus,

Best not to have turnouts butting up against baseboard joints for three reasons: It’s a bit more difficult to align track across the join because you can’t use the fix and cut method, you can’t get such solid fixing at the edge ( such as copper clad or brass screws) without modifying the turnout and if the rail gets knocked or damaged you might have to replace the whole turnout rather than a simple bit of track. Having said that some people lay a turnout right across a joint and then cut it in half!
 

Could the two turnouts above the refuel point be replaced by a double slip? That would give the stabling area a direct connection to the main line.

 

What radius is the curve? It looks tight.

 

Do you need to get wagons in and out of the refuel point and engine shed areas? If so is the headshunt bottom left long enough?

[Dungrange]

My own opinion is that you have too much space allocated to simply displaying locomotives, which seems out of proportion to the rest of the layout.  This therefore limits operational potential in the space available.

 

For example, the only access to the locomotive stabling point, refuelling and maintenance area is via a headhunt with the goods shed adjacent to it.  That effectively makes the goods shed largely unusable as any wagons parked there will block access for locomotive movements to and from the depot.  Personally, I find shunting wagons from a goods train between two or three sidings and re-marshalling for the return service using a slightly different mix of wagons to be quite enjoyable, but you have no facilities to allow such freight train marshalling to take place.

 

In terms of plausibility, it's unlikely that the terminus of a single track branch line would ever have had such extensive locomotive facilities.   Most would have been operated from locomotives stabled at the mainline junction and where locomotive facilities were provided at a branch line terminus, they would only be large enough to accommodate the local station pilot / shunter with space to refuel inbound locomotives for their return journey later in the day.  I understand that this is to be a heritage line, but it still doesn't seem overly plausible.

 

With all layout plans, try to think your way through a potential timetable or operating sequence for the day.  What trains arrive and depart and what happens when they are in the visual area.  All I see you doing is bringing in a passenger train, running round and departing again with a lot of light engine movements.  If that's what you want, then fine.

 

I agree with the comment above about a double slip.  I'm assuming that the sharp curve at the right will be a Set-track second radius curve (438 mm - 17 1/4"), which is the recommended minimum for most new locomotives.  If it's not, it's probably best to try and use this as a minimum.

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, marcusd666 said:

any help with the wiring would be really useful as this is a DC layout

You will need three power feeds for DC.  One each where your blue L-shape crosses the main and goods lines and the third on the bottom line between the labels "Water Tower" and "Split Line"  

 

[Harlequin]

29 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

You will need three power feeds for DC.  One each where your blue L-shape crosses the main and goods lines and the third on the bottom line between the labels "Water Tower" and "Split Line"  

 

The three seperate baseboards mean that the tracks will require many more power feeds than those, I'm afraid. Almost as many as a best-practice DCC setup!

 

[Tallpaul69]

2 hours ago, marcusd666 said:

Hi All, this is my first post and a return to model railways from a long long break and having the some space now I have decided to create a layout and get back in the game.

 

After months of planning and working out where the layout is going to located I settled on the the spare room along the back wall 9 foot x 2 foot.
The layout is a modified copy of RM Hopwood concept with a heritage centre / Depot added to it.

 

The track is going to be all new Peco code 100 with medium electrofrog points I have gone for them points as the look the most realistic and point motors to be decided on but after a lot of reading I think they will be Seep with switch included as they can switch polarity on the frog.

 

Control is going to be DC Gaugemaster Twin Track controller for the power to the track, point motors and lighting stuff.

 

The base board will have to be removable so I have put 2 splits in the boards 3' x 2' sections I have tried to position the points at the joints to make it easier for joining / un-joining.

 

 

This is my first time at a End to End layout so any help with the wiring would be really useful as this is a DC layout and the only wiring I have done on a double loop when I was about 10 so I want to do a more realistic layout with point motors, lights, signalling etc.

 

Most of my loco stock is from Hornby late 70s early 80s. with so new additions in the last 12 months.

 

Any advice and info is always welcome.

 

Cheers.

 

marcus

Hi Marcus

I  agree with the other comments, with a few additional thoughts:-

If the blue L is the road access, how do vehicles access the goods shed? you might be better with the goods shed on the other side of the track so that you view the vehicle loading side and there is room for vehicles to turn round, back up etc.

If this is a heritage line it needs more coach storage, perhaps between the loco stabling/display and  the station loop?

But if it is a heritage line only, why the goods shed?

Before going any further, I suggest you decide on the heritage line's heritage!

So is it to have one of the Big 4, or BR 50s/60s as its main focus? What loco stock do you have?

Is the refuel point diesel or coal and how does the fuel get there? Do you need coal wagon or fuel tanker sidings? Few heritage lines are diesel only.

 

Hope this helps?

 

Cheers

Paul

 

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, Harlequin said:

The three seperate baseboards mean that the tracks will require many more power feeds than those, I'm afraid. Almost as many as a best-practice DCC setup!

 

It depends on how things are wired.  A simple plug-in choc-block connector will transfer power between cut rail ends and may mean a multitude of other feeds is not needed.

[marcusd666]

Hi All, Thanks for your comments and advice on my first proper layout I will try to answer some of the above questions.

 

1, Era of my stock is BR corporate blue and BR Green Stream (More diesel then steam).

2, The Right hand curve is based on Second radius curve.

3, Re-Fuel point is for the diesels

4, I have moved the goods shed to the left hand side to make it more relevant and the water tower to near the station.

 

 

5, I have also added the power connector where mentioned.

 

The main purpose of the layout is to try and get back into modelling the railways again many practising new skills and trying to get it looking as realistic as I can.

 

Cheers

Marcus 

[Gwiwer]

There is one power feed I have overlooked.  The loco spur / kickback off the platform end at the very top will need its own supply because it is isolated from any other.  That should be fed from the track alongside the platform.

[DCB]

23 hours ago, marcusd666 said:

Hi All, Thanks for your comments and advice on my first proper layout I will try to answer some of the above questions.

 

1, Era of my stock is BR corporate blue and BR Green Stream (More diesel then steam).

2, The Right hand curve is based on Second radius curve.

3, Re-Fuel point is for the diesels

4, I have moved the goods shed to the left hand side to make it more relevant and the water tower to near the station.

 

 

5, I have also added the power connector where mentioned.

 

The main purpose of the layout is to try and get back into modelling the railways again many practising new skills and trying to get it looking as realistic as I can.

 

Cheers

Marcus 

 

Its not something which has any realistic equivalent in full size practice  but it could be fun.   The big loco depot will give somewhere to display your models but so would a wall cabinet,  and if the loco storage is at the front of the layout there is a danger of knocking the locos off the track when attending to other parts of the layout.  The goods sidings are really too cramped for loading and unloading and the headshunt access is very inconvenient, I would access it with a double slip off the loop. The loop restricts trains to about 3 coaches or 10 wagons the headshunt to 6 wagons and a short shunting loco.

 

 

 

[Chimer]

On 26/01/2020 at 21:44, Gwiwer said:

There is one power feed I have overlooked.  The loco spur / kickback off the platform end at the very top will need its own supply because it is isolated from any other.  That should be fed from the track alongside the platform.

 

Also need feeds to the loco shed headshunt (bottom left), the platform road by the buffers and the middle of the run-round loop near the split line - all because there are IRJs needed on the frog rails of some of the electrofrog points, which will isolate track sections beyond them.  Specifically, the point allowing kick back to the loco shed; the one allowing engine release from the platform buffers; and the Y which leads to the headshunt at the right-hand end of the run-round.

 

You could probably also do with spreading out the sidings in what is now a 3 siding goods yard (I think?)  The 3 sidings gives you scope for puzzle shunting, to get specific wagons to specific places (coal wagons to coal staithes, vans to goods shed etc), but motor vehicles need to be able to get amongst the tracks in these places for unloading.

 

Hope this helps, best of luck.

[marcusd666]

Its been a while but have been busy on the layout over the last 12 months. It has been a good leaning experience and I have enjoyed it and found it quite relaxing in the most part.

 

The track plan has changed from the above picture as I found it to busy for the space I have removed 2 head shuts in front if the station which flows better.

 

I have fitted half of the point motors for the first time and had a go at ballasting for the first time here are a couple of pictures of the progress so far.

 

Thanks