The Garage Railway

[Tom 71B]

Hi all,

 

I hope everyone is well during these crazy & unprecidented times.

 

If lockdown has taught me one thing over the last year, it's that we have the world's greatest hobby. Nothing comes close. And being an avid follower of layout topics in RMweb over the years, I thought it about time that I commit to detailing my 00 layout's progress. To date (March 2021) I have built the majority of the woodwork, and have laid & wired 70% of the track. My first foray into building my own, scenic layout (a small BLT) utilised code 100 Peco trackwork, with insulfrog points, and manual point operation, for the path of least resistance.

 

But this layout will take a different, more realistic and altogether better approach - Peco's (newish) Code 75 Bullhead track will be used for the entire scenic section, with DCC Concepts Cobalt iP motors, and Cobalt S-Levers. Operation is to be DCC (Gaugemaster Prodigy), with provision in the wiring for one of the main-lines (inner loop) to be switchable to DC allowing my non-DCC locos an opportunity to run whilst I am still chipping them up. Every piece of track will have it's own dropper wires soldered to the bottom of the rail (not the side) to negate the need to rely on the conduction of the tiny bullhead fishplates Peco. The fiddle yard will use Code 100, with insulfrog points, and no motors, which will both reduce cost and complexity. 

 

90% of my locomotives are steam, with the others being steam-era diesels. Some are BR late crest, the rest are grouping liveries. And pretty much all of them are either Southern or Western in origin. With no specific region or era, but a heavy preference for preserved locos (what I have grown up with) i think it's fair to say this is likley to turn out to be a preserved layout. Although, having said that, I do like the idea of switching just a few buildings around (station building, goods shed, signal box etc.) between operating sessions, and turning it from LBSCR into SDJR or GWR, for example.

 

 

 

THE PLAN:

 

Even before buying my first house last June, I had drawn up a track plan with dimensions resembling the size of a standard UK garage. This may have been somewhat presumptive, but once the ideal house was found, permission was granted by Domestic Authorities for me to move into the garage. This layout isn't intended to model a particular location, but instead take the feel of a typical junction through station, with suitable amenities, giving me the ability to just 'run trains', but also allow for shunting and branch-line operations.  A number of layout features were on my 'want' list, but I have tried to be careful not to 'over-crowd' the trackplan, and leave substantial space for scenery. The final design encompassed a double track main-line station allowing for 'roundy-roundy' operation, with a branch line spurring off from the station's bay platform. The trackplan also had provisions for an M.P.D. & goods yard. Moreover, with a growing market of 00-9 items, I also found myself justifying a simple station/yard being incorporated into the plan, with the potential for an interchange between standard gauge & narrow gauge.

 

Scenic features also played a part in the decision making process, as I felt that in order to make the railway as realistic as possible, I needed the scenery to feel like it was there first, and the railway was built around it. The main-line itself was to be positioned atop a man-made embankment (I've always loved the effect this gives) with the branch-line dropping down-grade as it leaves the junction. Bridges are another favourite feature of mine, with a road-under bridge planned just past the end of the platforms at both ends of the station, and a 3-arch vidauct on the branch line. 

 

My personal preference was to 'hide' the tighter curves on the mainline so as not to detract from the realism of the trackwork. I am using 3rd & 4th radius for this purpose, and these curves are tucked well into the corners of the garage to maximise space. The scenic section is one large, sweeping curve, which does not look 'too tight', and by pushing the tight corners of the circluar main-line into the corners of the garage allows this sweeping curve to be as long as possible. The result is a somewhat Jelly-Bean type shape when you look at the mainline track exclusively.

 

Further thought into the plan left me thinking that the branch line doesn't neccesarily need to 'disappear' into the fiddle yard (like the main-line will), but instead could work it's way to the operating-well-side of the fiddle yard and allow for more scenic work, with a short backscene separting the fiddle yard and the branch line, maximising the space available. This scenic section is only 20cm or so wide, and so reaching into the fiddle yard, over the short backscene, is not too much of a chore.

 

The baseboards were always planned to be wide, 3 foot plus in some places. Pendon is to blame for this i think... So, i'm going to have to be clever about where I start my scenery (i.e. in the furthest corners) and leave holes in the basebaords open-frame to allow access here. Lift out sections have also been planned, some in corners, and another by the main garage door (to allow access to those not able to climb underneath from inside the house).

 

Below are some of the initial drawings, to give a feel for what is to come in future posts. Next up is baseboard construction...

 

Also below, a photo from just the other day, giving an idea of where I am up to now.

 

 

 

 

[Philou]

Looks good and much better than my virtual one! I'm glad to see you did keep in mind the 'test stretch' as boards wider than 900mm usually end up with bad cases of the 'nudge'!

 

Good luck,

 

Philip

[Tom 71B]

2 minutes ago, Philou said:

Looks good and much better than my virtual one! I'm glad to see you did keep in mind the 'test stretch' as boards wider than 900mm usually end up with bad cases of the 'nudge'!

 

Good luck,

 

Philip

Thank you, Philip. The 'stretch test' is a very important methodology ! I will need to move the lever-boxes at some point, as these have indeed been nudged from time to time, but more often they snag on my jumper. The widest part of the layout is ~4 foot (at the station building) but this part is accessible from both sides thanks to the door going into the house (where picture no.3 was taken from).

 

Cheers,

 

Tom