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Getting back in the game


Alex.
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Hi All,

 

Apart from dabbling in a bit of T Gauge I've not had a layout for nearly 20 years but as a bedroom is becoming free I'm wanting to get back into modelling.
This time I'll be going for N Gauge having previously done OO.

 

I've been using AnyRail to get a plan going and just looking for feedback/thoughts and if there's any potential issues I might have missed.

 

855571065_Mikesmodulev3.jpg.74ae84d4e5a3c2b25596424226f3afea.jpg

 

The baseboard sizes are a bit odd but leaves room for expansion later.

 

Thanks,
Alex.

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Those points look like set track points. If you do use these be aware that there are quite a few locos (mainly steam outline) that are not designed to run on track that is less than 2nd radius. Set track points are 1st radius. The latest mk2 coaches area also designed for 2nd radius and above. These will not go round 1str radius curves without modification.  

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52 minutes ago, Aire Head said:

What period and region are you planning on modelling or is it just to run trains?

 

no wrong answer it just changes what feedback could be given :)

 

This one is for a friend so he can run trains, mostly modern era, no particular region.

He's got a GWR Azuma and waiting on the LNER Azuma too :D plus a steam loco and coaches to represent a heritage tour. 

The plan is to have a J shaped layout with another one using code 55 that will join to this. 

 

27 minutes ago, Kris said:

Those points look like set track points. If you do use these be aware that there are quite a few locos (mainly steam outline) that are not designed to run on track that is less than 2nd radius. Set track points are 1st radius. The latest mk2 coaches area also designed for 2nd radius and above. These will not go round 1str radius curves without modification.  

 

I did try to avoid the setrack points but they do allow a bit more in the space available. 

I've got 3rd and 4th radius at the ends apart from the curved points due to them being 2nd/3rd.

 

We tried the new Azuma and it seems to navigate them OK on a little test track. A steam loco we tried would derail running tender first though.

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Is it, as seems, almost a metre wide? Not easy to reach across, either when building or accessing for derailments etc. Not impossible but could make life difficult.

Overall layout? Depends what you wish to achieve . As it stands, it looks like a train set assembled from set track. Nothing wrong if the user wishes to “play trains “ but if you wish to get close to prototypical operation, then features such as facing crossovers might need rethinking. Actually, there is a lot of crossovers.

What are the sidings for? Carriage storage? Goods? 

re points, are these to be electrically operated? If so, you have some directly over a batten , which may limit under board motors.

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On 24/05/2021 at 19:15, ITG said:

Is it, as seems, almost a metre wide? Not easy to reach across, either when building or accessing for derailments etc. Not impossible but could make life difficult.

Overall layout? Depends what you wish to achieve . As it stands, it looks like a train set assembled from set track. Nothing wrong if the user wishes to “play trains “ but if you wish to get close to prototypical operation, then features such as facing crossovers might need rethinking. Actually, there is a lot of crossovers.

What are the sidings for? Carriage storage? Goods? 

re points, are these to be electrically operated? If so, you have some directly over a batten , which may limit under board motors.

 

I'm hoping access wont be to hard. The right side will be where the bedroom door opens too so I'll be able to get more access behind from that side.

 

I've used setrack for ease (and we were given a load of points already) to get a workable layout going.
This one is for a friend who's more interested in being able to run trains than things looking prototypical.

 

Sidings are just to add a bit of variety, unlikely he'll want to do any shunting but they'll provide some space for some abandoned wagons :)

 

I'm thinking of using 63mm x 38mm timber with 9mm Ply.
If it's glued and screwed I don't think the Ply will sag.

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On 24/05/2021 at 18:25, Kris said:

Those points look like set track points. If you do use these be aware that there are quite a few locos (mainly steam outline) that are not designed to run on track that is less than 2nd radius. Set track points are 1st radius. The latest mk2 coaches area also designed for 2nd radius and above. These will not go round 1str radius curves without modification.  

Agreed. I have a 4-6-2 locomotive that is only 'rated' for R2 and above but she will happily negotiate a single turnout. She is not so happy with two back to back however.

 

I would also advise against trying to access across the the full width of the board. My board is 2.1 x 1.5 metres and I found accessing my central section to be awkward and tiring. There is a big difference between 'I can reach it' and 'I can stand there for ten minutes fiddling with another *censored* fishplate'.

 

I like the layout. It's neat and packs a lot of interest in. The only thing I'd change (and it's strictly personal) are the dead-end sidings. I have two staging yards where I keep my rolling stock. They work but mean that in order to 'just have a play for half an hour' I have to first carefully reverse a train out onto the mainline. It doesn't take long but I've noticed that it detracts slightly from the experience. My next layout is going to be ready to run. I still have (larger) staging areas but they are double ended so all I'll have to do is set the turnouts and hit the Go! button :)

Edited by AndrueC
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31 minutes ago, AndrueC said:

Agreed. I have a 4-6-2 locomotive that is only 'rated' for R2 and above but she will happily negotiate a single turnout. She is not so happy with two back to back however.

 

I would also advise against trying to access across the the full width of the board. My board is 2.1 x 1.5 metres and I found accessing my central section to be awkward and tiring. There is a big difference between 'I can reach it' and 'I can stand there for ten minutes fiddling with another *censored* fishplate'.

 

I like the layout. It's neat and packs a lot of interest in. The only thing I'd change (and it's strictly personal) are the dead-end sidings. I have two staging yards where I keep my rolling stock. They work but mean that in order to 'just have a play for half an hour' I have to first carefully reverse a train out onto the mainline. It doesn't take long but I've noticed that it detracts slightly from the experience. My next layout is going to be ready to run. I still have (larger) staging areas but they are double ended so all I'll have to do is set the turnouts and hit the Go! button :)

 

Thanks, I forgot to mention some ambitious future plans so it currently looks like there's more sidings.
It will require making some custom turnouts but I'd like to join the 4 lines on the lower left to complete the loop and diverge off to another future layout.

 

image.png.4e40302101059590bf15401bc27592f0.png

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3 hours ago, Alex. said:

 

Thanks, I forgot to mention some ambitious future plans so it currently looks like there's more sidings.
It will require making some custom turnouts but I'd like to join the 4 lines on the lower left to complete the loop and diverge off to another future layout.

 

image.png.4e40302101059590bf15401bc27592f0.png

That would be a real horror to build.

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The fiddle yard is heavily biased towards operation on the inner circuit; I can see that there are crossovers of curved points that allow access from the outer circuit to all the fiddle yard roads but only the outer one is accessible from it without blocking traffic on the inner circuit.  This will limit operation a bit.

 

Facing crossovers are fine for modern operation but were not common in steam days; I suspect this does not matter to you, but might in future.  Like ITG, I worry about the width and reaching across, but of course if there is access all round, with the layout in the centre of the room and not backed up to any walls, this will not be a problem, and even if the layout adjoins a wall at one of the ends access will be fine.

 

Azumas have 75 foot coaches, so if you are running the two sets one on each circuit, you may find that clearances on the end curves are tight.  The coaches will overhang at the ends and 'underhang' in the centres, so the overhanging ends of the train on the inner circuit will come very close to the the underhanging centres of the train on the outer circuit if they are passing on the curves, a point to watch out for.

 

That custom designed triangular junction is very ambitious!

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On 26/05/2021 at 13:45, Alex. said:

You're not wrong ;) I was just throwing some ideas about and as it's on a non scenic part wouldn't have to look pretty.

This might be more achievable, one up one down and one bi directional platform, like Carlisle had at some points in history, red crossovers would make operation simpler and reduce conflicts between movements.

Screenshot (358).png

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16 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

This might be more achievable, one up one down and one bi directional platform, like Carlisle had at some points in history, red crossovers would make operation simpler and reduce conflicts between movements.

Screenshot (358).png

 

I like the left bit, is a lot simpler than I came up with :good:
 

A double crossover would have been nice but I'm limited by setrack with it's angles.

The left bit on the grey is somewhat temporary so we've got a layout we can run until another one is done and they can be joined.
Tweaked it to get 4  lines from the fiddle yard.

image.png.10f6eda830162fdb13fa7d7225b58de8.png

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I think I would go for a double junction in the right hand throat and four platform roads, with the two resulting double tracks not linked at all at the left hand end.  And trailing crossovers each end of the upper platform roads to allow reversals there ..... giving the basic station layout like this, add sidings to taste:

666506709_Alexgif.gif.02aaf3f88b8e7627e7a1d98181061e82.gif

Using Streamline it would be neater to omit the right hand crossover and retain the functionality by replacing the diamond with a single slip, but that's not a goer with SetTrack. 

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