possible BLT - Signal advice

[DCB]

Looks good.  I am not sure the kick back off the bay has any value.   They were handy to buffer an engine up to slip the wheels to pump the boiler full of water in the days before injectors (Pre 1880?) but its going to be an absolute sod to shunt, probably have to leave the train half way out of the tunnel to shunt it with the daily goods.

I would put the siding alongside the bay instead.

There probably isn't enough track to allow a passenger and goods in the station together unless the passenger is parked up in the bay while the branch loco takes the goods to the junction and back, even that is pushing it. The full size BLTs had run rounds for 40 wagons and quite extensive sidings and few had facilities for a  goods and a passenger at the same time.  I think Cinderford FoD did but that was terminus for two separate branches.

Best to arrange lightweight construction and don't leave the branch in place when not operating.  Packing away a couple of locos, 20 wagons and 3 coaches and then the baseboard before one can use the bed can be a real passion killer, as people who were students before covid -19 can attest. 

[Joseph_Pestell]

4 hours ago, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

i really should do some uni work. 

 

How does this plan look, ill look at signals later, this arrangement only loses one wagon per goods sidning so it isnt too much of a sacrifice. The bay can be parcels or used by single units/ railcars that dont need to runnaround. 

 

The 'Future Modules' section is to allow me to swap from having the storage board behind the layout and move it to the end, so the layout can go on a shelf. this might also be used to add a nother few feet of scenic section before the storage if this layout does end up as a shelf layout in a few years. another option is to leave this point out, and just relay the flexi track inside the tunnel in a few years to change the layout into an end to end run.

 

 

for those who havent seen my  planning thread for this layout, this is how it fits ontop of a single bed.

 

 

 

Sorry, I had missed that. The thread is growing quickly. It's a clever idea but I think that 6'3 length for a terminus and curve to fiddleyard is just too tight for 4mm scale (standard gauge).  It could work well in 009 with just a bit of 00 shunting at a transhipment wharf to the 009.

[Joseph_Pestell]

22 hours ago, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

Afternoon all,

You may have seen my home layout 'Coalorsdale - a Shropshire Branchline' but i am currently designing a new portable layout for Uni and beyond. I am currently in second year and already have a small shunting layout at uni but i never really use it, so ive designed this blt layout so that i can run the stock from my main layout.

 

This time I've learnt from my mistakes and im considering signalling before the baseboards are even made .

 

Ive put traps wherever wagons may be left, but im unsure where signals are required. the bay track leading to the cattle dock may take goods ( livestock) or a single coach / unit. 

 

This will be a Br(WR) layout with the same era as my main layout (roughly 1959-1964) .

 

 

 

If that bit of curved track (to the left of the LH curved point which are horrible) was a RH point, you could get rid of at least one of the 3-ways and get a longer loop. And, now that I realise that the operating well is not an operating well, you could curve the platform to gain more length, e.g. St Ives.

[RailWest]

1 hour ago, DavidCBroad said:

Packing away a couple of locos, 20 wagons and 3 coaches and then the baseboard before one can use the bed can be a real passion killer, as people who were students before covid -19 can attest......

....unless you went back to her place :-) Then it was usually just wall-to-wall soft toys.....

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

Hi all,

Now i've finished a lecture i can see that the thread has picked up some steam (no pun intended).

 

I'll go through some of the requirements again.

 

I am currently in my second year of an engineering Degree and im about to return back to my uni house ( iv'e been away since dec as lectures have been online) .  At uni at the moment I have a small shunting layout which is rareley used and i think id be able to get more enjopyment out of a blt.

 

 When I graduate I'm straight off to Dartmouth, after which I'll spend a few years without the time or space for a large layout so it'd be nice to have a small, reliable  layout I can setup wherever Ive got the space. the connection to future modules would be unused until i move house fter graduation so for now i think i will just lay a 2nd rad curve for the whole way around, this also avoids set track points , which are the only ones that fit on a 2nd rad curve.

 

At uni the space for setting up the layout is only the top of my bed, or perhaps in the kitchen or garden for short amounts of time. I'm therfore limited to 6 ft by 3ft.

 

Added to that, the boards are stored under the bed so the scenic section cant be any deeper than 18" so that when they sit next to eachother they only take up half of the room under the bed, leaving space for the rest of the things under there.

 

The storage boards should dissapear in the bottom of my wardrobe, or even on top of it. if im incredibly careful stock can stay on the station bopards under the bed ( it worked with the shunting layout) 

 

here is the room for those interested. (My computer and monitors take up all of the space on top of the desk and bookshelf)

 

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

1 hour ago, DavidCBroad said:

Packing away a couple of locos, 20 wagons and 3 coaches and then the baseboard before one can use the bed can be a real passion killer, as people who were students before covid -19 can attest. 

Im not sure my GF would approve if i ever needed to clear the bed in a hurry , she goes to uni at the other end of the country .

 

Nights out are a lot easier when there's no need to impress anyone, or buy strangers drinks. If i was single  i dont think id have a railway in my room at all.... id probably ditch the collection of Hornby magazines and military history books as well   Luckilly the other half Has almost grown to appreciate the hobby, in fact shes even started buying bits for the layout as presents.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Horsehay Railway Modeller

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

1 hour ago, DavidCBroad said:

Looks good.  I am not sure the kick back off the bay has any value.   They were handy to buffer an engine up to slip the wheels to pump the boiler full of water in the days before injectors (Pre 1880?) but its going to be an absolute sod to shunt, probably have to leave the train half way out of the tunnel to shunt it with the daily goods.

I would put the siding alongside the bay instead.

 

 

How does this look, also is it trapped correctly ?

 

[melmerby]

Prototype for everything:

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrbsh1155.htm

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrbsh1167.htm

3 way tandems, double slips etc, all on running lines, Snow Hill Birmingham had them all.

 

Pick what you want for your track layout to suit.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

crude mockup of current plan for any interested.

 

 

also is there a wy to move this thread to the Layout topics section, I dont want to start anothe thread when i begin building.

 

cheers,

David

[RailWest]

1 hour ago, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

 

How does this look, also is it trapped correctly ?

 

If the bay platform is still intended for passenger traffic, then the trap should be at the exit from the water/coal siding only.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

2 minutes ago, RailWest said:

If the bay platform is still intended for passenger traffic, then the trap should be at the exit from the water/coal siding only.

The bay may also take parcels vans.

[Harlequin]

The advantage of the kickback, in model terms, is that it makes use of extremely valuable baseboard space. When it serves the engine shed, there is no real shunting problem so long as the loco can get in and out when required.

 

[RailWest]

54 minutes ago, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

The bay may also take parcels vans.

I don't think that would matter as long as they were not going to be left there for long periods. 

[Nick C]

I think I'd drop the water/coal siding, it makes the back of the layout look very cramped, and would probably be too short to do anything useful with. 

[The Stationmaster]

20 hours ago, RailWest said:

I don't think that would matter as long as they were not going to be left there for long periods. 

An Inspecting Officer might well disagree witn that  .

 

The trapping of short bay platforms on the GWR o is something of a minefield to say the least but I think rule of thumb could be that they were trapped if they weren't used for passenger trains and might be trapped if they were short and were used for passenger trains.  So the short bay at Frome was trapped (it led directly onto a main running line and the same applied to both bays at Chippenham).  At Swindon the east end bays were trapped but the west end bays - which also led directly onto a running line - weren't trapped although they were trapped away from the Down & Up Main lines.  The bay at Bath, again leading directly onto a running line, wasn't trapped but had a 3 shot detonator placer instead (you definitely wouldn't find one of those at a branch terminus as they were sun bject to special consideration .

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

5 hours ago, Nick C said:

I think I'd drop the water/coal siding, it makes the back of the layout look very cramped, and would probably be too short to do anything useful with. 

Thanks for the advice, i think ill keep it as a spare siding, as according to my measurements it should take at least 4 wagons and may be usefull to hold empties etc.

 

@The Stationmaster

If the bay is used for passenger units and parcels, and the siding bove is goods only, do i need a trap at both the green and blue spots or just one of them ?

[Trainshed Terry]

1 hour ago, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

Thanks for the advice, i think ill keep it as a spare siding, as according to my measurements it should take at least 4 wagons and may be usefull to hold empties etc.

 

@The Stationmaster

If the bay is used for passenger units and parcels, and the siding bove is goods only, do i need a trap at both the green and blue spots or just one of them ?

 

No> you will only need a trap point in the blue area if yo are using the main line as a head shunt.

 

Terry.

[RailWest]

28 minutes ago, Trainshed Terry said:

 

No> you will only need a trap point in the blue area if yo are using the main line as a head shunt.

 

Terry.

Errr.....how you use the main line is irrelevant to whether or not a trap is needed in the blue area.

[Trainshed Terry]

5 minutes ago, RailWest said:

Errr.....how you use the main line is irrelevant to whether or not a trap is needed in the blue area.

 

 I need to see more of the track layout before I can answer that.

 

Terry.

[Grovenor]

Just look back up the thread, the track layout is all there.

[The Stationmaster]

19 hours ago, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

Thanks for the advice, i think ill keep it as a spare siding, as according to my measurements it should take at least 4 wagons and may be usefull to hold empties etc.

 

@The Stationmaster

If the bay is used for passenger units and parcels, and the siding bove is goods only, do i need a trap at both the green and blue spots or just one of them ?

If the bay is a  passenger line you don't need the trap at the blue location - but see what I wrote above as you're talking about a fairly short platform (although I doubt it would be trapped in this situation).  

You definitely need the green trap if the bay is a passenger line.  

If both lines are sidings you only need the blue trap

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

49 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

 (although I doubt it would be trapped in this situation).  

You definitely need the green trap if the bay is a passenger line.  

 

green trap it is then

[Chimer]

On 02/03/2021 at 17:46, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

also is there a way to move this thread to the Layout topics section, I don't want to start another thread when i begin building.

 

cheers,

David

 

If you click on the 3 dots top right of any post, you get an option to "report post", which is how anyone can bring a post to the moderators' attention.  And then you get a comment box where you can ask one of the mods to move the thread for you.  I think this is an approved method ....

Edited March 8, 2021 by Chimer

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

13 minutes ago, Chimer said:

 

If you click on the 3 dots top right of any post, you get an option to "report post", which is how anyone can bring a post to the moderators' attention.  And then you get a comment box where you can ask one of the mods to move the thread for you.  I think this is an approved method ....

Thank you very much, I've just started a new thread anyway so I think I shall leave this one here to talk about signals one day 

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

Turning my thoughts back to signalling. 

 

So far I have a starter for the platform and the bay. 

 

And shunt signals for the crossing and exits from the sidings. 

 

Am I safe to assume any signalling for entering the station is the other side of the short tunnel, and therefore off scene.