Ex-gwr BLT. New uni layout?

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

Evening all, 

I'm really enjoying working on and running my main layout (coalorsdale/ a Shropshire branchline) but whilst I've enjoyed designing and constructing my uni layout (West canal sidings) I've not got much operational enjoyment out of it.

 

Im still very happy with west canal sidings however I've been Inspired by several threads on here, as well as a few books, to start considering a completely different mini layout to take to uni for my final year and then probably take with me to my first house to have as a table top layout.

 

I've been thinking of a modular BLT that would allow me to run a few passenger and goods trains about, but also let me have a play with full computer automation and signaling etc.  Probably something imaginary on the shropshire/ Welsh border with lots of gwr features but still set in the early sixties ish so I can use my current rolling stock. 

 

For now I'd be limited to the size of a single bed when I set it up in my uni house, but I could easily add other modules later on and grow the layout, or even have certain modules that i only set up when I have space. 

 

That gives me roughly an 18"x6ft scenic section to begin with and then probably a 1ft by 4ft off scene board in a horse shoe. 

 

Unfortunately the bed is my size limit and It can only comfortably fit a first radius curve so there will be restriction on locos and speed. 

 

Here is an incredibly rough sketch as I am away from my pc until the 3rd. If I can dig out a compass I might be able to do some more accurate drawings but this shows roughly how a first radius curve fits and the baseboard idea.

 

(ignore the track plan I just scribbled it down to fill space, however the first radius loop is roughly to scale) 

 

I'm not even sure if I will ever develop this idea but I thought I'd start a thread to snowball ideas and get advice as to whether to continue. 

 

I will be "finishing" West canal sidings as i am enjoying the modelling process however when I bring it back from uni in the summer it shall probably stay on a shelf in the garage as I haven't really run it too much whilst at uni. 

 

Thanks for looking, 

David

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

I forgot to mention above, one of my ideas is that it can be reconfigurable when I'm not at uni. 

I. E. It could easily change from a horseshoe to an L, based on room size etc. And I could easily expand both the storage tracks and scenic boards from the ends. 

 

David

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

Managed to borrow the girlfreinds laptop and have a play on scarm. 

 

Looks like I can indeed fit a cramped blt in. I'm Going to see if I can space it out a bit by starting on the curve. 

 

Here are some Initial sketches (00 with peco small streamline points) 

 

 

At the moment I like the second option, with a small goods yard at the bottom, a cattle dock at the top and an engine shed at the top right. 

 

All suggestions welcome and indeed wanted. 

 

David

Edited December 27, 2020 by Horsehay Railway Modeller

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

I've just thrown together a third option

[DCB]

Second option looks good to me. Bit short of siding area, the bay has to be kept clear for access to the loco shed, and generally kick back sidings are a PITA to shunt.   Don't like 3 platform s accessed off the sharper inside curve of a curved point, not ideal, potential derailment hot spot.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

5 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

Second option looks good to me. Bit short of siding area, the bay has to be kept clear for access to the loco shed, and generally kick back sidings are a PITA to shunt.

Thanks for the help, I shall have a look at playing around with option 2.

 

Unfortunately I don't think the shed can be moved, but I was thinking that there would only be one or two  panniers that could sneak out  in between the cattle trains. 

 

As for extra siding space I think I could add another siding down at the bottom in the goods yard 

[Zomboid]

You could put the point for the shed next to the 3 way (use a LH point), which makes the siding longer and allows engines to use the shed with a couple of wagons near the stop blocks.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

20 minutes ago, Zomboid said:

You could put the point for the shed next to the 3 way (use a LH point), which makes the siding longer and allows engines to use the shed with a couple of wagons near the stop blocks.

Good idea, I shall get the laptop out soon and have a look

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

I've edited the 2nd idea a little. 

 

Forst of all I've managed to squeeze in a second radius curve instead of a first and still have enough room in the runarround for two coaches. 

 

I've also moved the top point lower and swapped it for a left hand point so there is room for a loco to come out of the shed with a few wagons in the cattle dock. 

 

Finally I've added another point in at the bottom, giving me two goods sidings

[Dragonfly]

It's making progress.

Personally I'd second the previous suggestion of bringing the engine shed's point closer to the main line, to allow more space for the bay siding.

Secdonly, I'd swap the goods yard entry point for a right-hander, to avoid too many reverse curves.

[Zomboid]

I'm guessing that there's a baseboard join dictating the location of the points.

 

Though does reverting to R1 generate enough space that the shed and goods yard points can fit in the RH board?

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

2 hours ago, Dragonfly said:

It's making progress.

Personally I'd second the previous suggestion of bringing the engine shed's point closer to the main line, to allow more space for the bay siding.

Secdonly, I'd swap the goods yard entry point for a right-hander, to avoid too many reverse curves.

 

 

1 hour ago, Zomboid said:

I'm guessing that there's a baseboard join dictating the location of the points.

 

 

Hi guys, there is indeed a baseboard join as shown by the vertical line. 

 

I also don't want to push the shed too far to the right so I can leave room for some scenery. I'm thinking of a stream or road under a bridge. 

 

1 hour ago, Zomboid said:

Though does reverting to R1 generate enough space that the shed and goods yard points can fit in the RH board?

 

I don't think so, I think I tried that at some point in my efforts. 

[Zomboid]

Using R1 curves I can get this in on a 3' board:

 The short Y is a bit of a compromise and a normal point wouldn't fit there, but the engine shed connection definitely works.

 

Here's something else I doodled for my own amusement:

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

I'm pretty happy with the track plan now as it leaves enough room on the RH board for some decent scenery. 

And now I k ow it fits I quite like 2nd radius as most locos are manafacture to run on 2nd rad curves. 

 

Any advice as for signal box and signal positions please? 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Horsehay Railway Modeller

[Danemouth]

And you have a plan very similar to my layout Danemouth

 

 

The only thing I will say having shown it at a couple of exhibitions is that there are times I wish there was a third siding.

 

 

 

Dave

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

2 hours ago, Danemouth said:

 

The only thing I will say having shown it at a couple of exhibitions is that there are times I wish there was a third siding.

Thanks for the tip Dave. I'll be able to measure my stock up next week and check siding lengths etc. And I'll see what fits where and whether I can fit a third siding. 

 

I hadn't realised how similar it was. I've had a look before but I shall read through your thread again for inspiration. Excellent layout. 

[The Johnster]

I’d ditch the loco shed and replace it with something that generates traffic instead of simply being empty space for most of the working day as branch sheds largely were.  A supply of locos from a junction shed enables you to ring the changes rather than having an allocated dedicated branch loco.   Another idea is a kickback road off the main running line just to the right of the 3-way heading into the bottom right corner. It can serve an industry (some fairly left field geology on the Salop/Welsh border, Stiperstones/Long Mynd area, and limestone to the northern end, so maybe quarry) for now but, in keeping with the modular concept, could be the connection to another board in that direction should space ever be available. 

[Chimer]

Looking at the other end of the line, have you considered using cassettes instead of a fan of sidings, some of which are maybe a bit shorter than you might like?   This enables you to use more stock, reduces manual fiddling (a bit), and could also use less width, if you've got somewhere else to put the out of use cassettes.  Or perhaps keep most of the fan, but have one leg available for cassettes?

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

1 minute ago, Chimer said:

Looking at the other end of the line, have you considered using cassettes instead of a fan of sidings, some of which are maybe a bit shorter than you might like?   This enables you to use more stock, reduces manual fiddling (a bit), and could also use less width, if you've got somewhere else to put the out of use cassettes.  Or perhaps keep most of the fan, but have one leg available for cassettes?

it had crossed my mind, however i am hoping to experiment with automation , so cassettes wouldnt really work for fiddling ( with out an automated robot arm ). i could however leave one lane as a cassette to allow me to add and remove complete trains at once. food for thought.

 

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

I've just had a play with this design again. 

 

I realised I could extend the storage board and it would still fit on my bed. I've also designated a cassette section in the top siding. 

 

I've added another 3 way at the bottom as it makes the geometry better. This means ve moved the join in the boards so it sits just between the 3 way points ( I've not had any issues with a similar join in my current uni layout.) 

 

Finally I've added a set track point in the bottom right ( it's all that would fit on the second rad curve) and this allows access to another board which could be a quarry or anything else for future expansion as suggested. 

 

I think it Looks alot more organic now. 

[Zomboid]

You might do better putting the small curve next to the 3 way and then using a straight point. Even if you go with a curved one it won't get quite so perilously close to the edge.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

1 minute ago, Zomboid said:

You might do better putting the small curve next to the 3 way and then using a straight point. Even if you go with a curved one it won't get quite so perilously close to the edge.

i had tried, but i cant move the curve anymore if i want to retain 2nd radius, fit two coaches in the runnaround and fit it on a single bed. the point does look quite close so i will have a look at shifting the whole plan up a bit.

[Zomboid]

A set track point is R2, so one should slide into that curve anywhere. The set track curved points are also R2.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

ah i see what you mean now ill have a look

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

Got it now cheers.