Lyneworth Phase 2

[Newbie2020]

Hi Again!

 

So here is my latest effort. Taken some time but work and life get in the way! (Lockdown did have some advantages!)

So I have Lyneworth Station at the top with up and down mainlines. Scenic area to the right (Garage door end) - possible new home for Lyneworth  Archers and the Canal idea I've sort of got hooked on after visiting Tonys' Trains in Rugby and ending up sitting drinking beer alongside the Canal there !! (other model railway shops are available!).

There is a branch line coming out of Lyneworth which will take the "commuter shuttle" (Bachmann Class 150) around to Millhampton. This branch line will (hopefully ) gently rise to arrive at Millhampton  station which is raised at the bottom left. Works out at about 2.5% a little steep for prototype but the loco manages it with ease ( I tested it up to 14% incline before it struggled!). Also out of Lyneworth there will be some light industrial/goods yards for shunting things around.

 

The mainline goes around through the tunnel in the lower right and on to the lower level of Millhampton which will have the TMD with a diesel fuelling point and also a coaling and water point (got to keep the Steam going!).

 

The mainline then goes around pass the door with minimal scenics and an opening section (I'm too old to limbo) and back into Lyneworth.

 

Any thoughts, criticisms (polite ones!) etc ????

 

Clive

Edited September 7, 2021 by Newbie2020

[RobinofLoxley]

This looks pretty good. Millhampton station is going to be a bit of a reach, even slightly elevated.

 

Will you be able to deal with a derail in the tunnel - it will lift off or something?

 

 

[Smardale]

Good stuff!

 

I'd probably make the corners more gradual on the right side as you have the space to.

[Newbie2020]

3 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

This looks pretty good. Millhampton station is going to be a bit of a reach, even slightly elevated.

 

Will you be able to deal with a derail in the tunnel - it will lift off or something?

 

 

Thanks. Yes the tunnel top comes off (or will!) it's relatively short too.  I'm Hoping Millhampton won't be a trouble spot! The reach is just 800mm so doable with care!

 

[Newbie2020]

1 hour ago, Smardale said:

Good stuff!

 

I'd probably make the corners more gradual on the right side as you have the space to.

Thanks. Yes I though that too, just struggling a little bit to get the hand of the finer details of AnyRail!

 

[Smardale]

1 hour ago, Newbie2020 said:

Thanks. Yes I though that too, just struggling a little bit to get the hand of the finer details of AnyRail!

 

Let me see if I can help! It's late so if this makes no sense then I'm sorry! 

Also I have no idea how computer literate you are! So please don't be offended if you already know about keyboard shortcuts.

So this is how I do corners with flex track. Drag a piece into your project then move the little plus arrows. This will alter the angle at the end of the section. Click them with the left mouse button, and then drag them around - whilst still holding the left mouse button down.



You can right click the flexi rail and select 'cut flex here' to alter the length. OR you can drag the end of the pieces by clicking and holding them much like with the plus icons. Up to you!



Once you're happy with the radius of your track then make sure it's highlighted and then on the top bar click 'Smooth flex' first (optional - but it does a good job!) and then click add parallel flex. Type in the distance you require.  


Now that you've got a double track curve, highlight one of the track pieces and then press 'CTRL' and 'C' on your keyboard at the same time. This will copy the track. Then press 'CTRL' and 'V' on your keyboard at the same time. This will duplicate (paste) the piece of track you have selected.

(Another handy shortcut is 'CTRL' and 'Z' which undos the last thing that you did. Handy if you can't see the tiny track icons and you've dragged the wrong piece into your project. Hit CTRL & Z and it vanishes. Easy!)



Drag and 'Snap' the new track piece onto the bottom of your bend and then adjust as you see fit using the +.



Highlight the newest track piece - click 'smooth flex' first (if you want) and then 'Add parallel flex' as before. Then all you need to do is to snap the new curve that you've just created below the top piece as shown below.



That's how I do it anyway! Alternatively you could create a huge curve (far too long for any piece of flexi track), duplicate it using the 'add parallel track' option and then right click in turn on both pieces and select 'cut flex here' from the drop down menu to create reasonable lengths. It's quicker but I like using the maximum length of flex track possible - especially as it's always a struggle to keep under AnyRail's 50 piece free limit! 



I hope that helped!

- James

[Harlequin]

Hi Clive,

The rightmost crossover at lynemouth would make more sense outside the branch loop so that clockwise trains could set back directly into the loop.

 

The goods/light industrial sidings look a bit short, a bit randomly laid out and really difficult to shunt, especially if the goods train is any decent length (because you'd have to use the branch line to break it down to smaller sections). If the goods sidings were connected at the left hand end of the loop, with a simple trailing connection, they would be longer and easier to use.

 

What’s the relationship of the light industry to the railway? Why is it associated with the goods yard?

 

The branch line seems a bit awkward in many ways. It obscures a fair distance of the mainline while it rises in front of it. The gradient will limit the stock that can climb it. The branch line doesn’t cross the mainline while it is in its tunnel, which would be more natural. The branch station has no operating possibilities at all. Will the shuttle service, driving the one DMU that will climb the gradient, sustain your interest?

How does the geography of the tunnel work and how does it relate to the branch line in front of it? You've got the tunnel portals right up against the backscene so how do they work scenically?

 

It’s difficult to tell if the TMD layout is reasonable without knowing where the infrastructure is placed; sheds, ash pits, coal stages, water columns, fuelling points, etc. Locos can’t haul their rolling stock into the TMD so is there room for the stock to be stored somewhere while locos are in the TMD?

 

With no fiddle yard you will be lifting stock on and off the track a lot. Is that OK? Will it detract from operations? For instance, a train slows down and comes to a stand at the stop signal in the station, the loco carefully uncouples and heads off to the TMD. All very realistic so far but then some giant hands descend from the sky and lift the coaches off the track… Less realistic. If that has to happen then why bother driving the loco to the TMD? Why bother stopping in the station? You see, the whole artifice starts to break down.

 

Sorry but it seems to me that the design needs a lot more thought!

Edited September 8, 2021 by Harlequin

[DavidB-AU]

10 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

This looks pretty good. Millhampton station is going to be a bit of a reach, even slightly elevated.

 

I'd agree with this. This is a very quick and dirty idea of something that might work so everything remains within reach. Think of a viaduct like Moorswater.

 

 

 

[Newbie2020]

4 hours ago, Harlequin said:

Hi Clive,

The rightmost crossover at lynemouth would make more sense outside the branch loop so that clockwise trains could set back directly into the loop.

 

The goods/light industrial sidings look a bit short, a bit randomly laid out and really difficult to shunt, especially if the goods train is any decent length (because you'd have to use the branch line to break it down to smaller sections). If the goods sidings were connected at the left hand end of the loop, with a simple trailing connection, they would be longer and easier to use.

 

What’s the relationship of the light industry to the railway? Why is it associated with the goods yard?

 

The branch line seems a bit awkward in many ways. It obscures a fair distance of the mainline while it rises in front of it. The gradient will limit the stock that can climb it. The branch line doesn’t cross the mainline while it is in its tunnel, which would be more natural. The branch station has no operating possibilities at all. Will the shuttle service, driving the one DMU that will climb the gradient, sustain your interest?

How does the geography of the tunnel work and how does it relate to the branch line in front of it? You've got the tunnel portals right up against the backscene so how do they work scenically?

 

It’s difficult to tell if the TMD layout is reasonable without knowing where the infrastructure is placed; sheds, ash pits, coal stages, water columns, fuelling points, etc. Locos can’t haul their rolling stock into the TMD so is there room for the stock to be stored somewhere while locos are in the TMD?

 

With no fiddle yard you will be lifting stock on and off the track a lot. Is that OK? Will it detract from operations? For instance, a train slows down and comes to a stand at the stop signal in the station, the loco carefully uncouples and heads off to the TMD. All very realistic so far but then some giant hands descend from the sky and lift the coaches off the track… Less realistic. If that has to happen then why bother driving the loco to the TMD? Why bother stopping in the station? You see, the whole artifice starts to break down.

 

Sorry but it seems to me that the design needs a lot more thought!

 

Thanks Phil. All pretty fair points there! This is still very much a work in progress so still a fair bit of tinkering to be done!

 

[Newbie2020]

1 hour ago, DavidB-AU said:

 

I'd agree with this. This is a very quick and dirty idea of something that might work so everything remains within reach. Think of a viaduct like Moorswater.

 

 

 

Thanks for that. I don't dislike that idea at all. I was just about to reply tto part of Harlequins comment that I could put a stock holding area where youve put the Millhampton Low level station!

 

And I thought having more space would make things easier!!! LOL!!

 

Clive

[Newbie2020]

7 hours ago, Smardale said:

Let me see if I can help! It's late so if this makes no sense then I'm sorry! 

Also I have no idea how computer literate you are! So please don't be offended if you already know about keyboard shortcuts.

So this is how I do corners with flex track. Drag a piece into your project then move the little plus arrows. This will alter the angle at the end of the section. Click them with the left mouse button, and then drag them around - whilst still holding the left mouse button down.



You can right click the flexi rail and select 'cut flex here' to alter the length. OR you can drag the end of the pieces by clicking and holding them much like with the plus icons. Up to you!



Once you're happy with the radius of your track then make sure it's highlighted and then on the top bar click 'Smooth flex' first (optional - but it does a good job!) and then click add parallel flex. Type in the distance you require.  


Now that you've got a double track curve, highlight one of the track pieces and then press 'CTRL' and 'C' on your keyboard at the same time. This will copy the track. Then press 'CTRL' and 'V' on your keyboard at the same time. This will duplicate (paste) the piece of track you have selected.

(Another handy shortcut is 'CTRL' and 'Z' which undos the last thing that you did. Handy if you can't see the tiny track icons and you've dragged the wrong piece into your project. Hit CTRL & Z and it vanishes. Easy!)



Drag and 'Snap' the new track piece onto the bottom of your bend and then adjust as you see fit using the +.



Highlight the newest track piece - click 'smooth flex' first (if you want) and then 'Add parallel flex' as before. Then all you need to do is to snap the new curve that you've just created below the top piece as shown below.



That's how I do it anyway! Alternatively you could create a huge curve (far too long for any piece of flexi track), duplicate it using the 'add parallel track' option and then right click in turn on both pieces and select 'cut flex here' from the drop down menu to create reasonable lengths. It's quicker but I like using the maximum length of flex track possible - especially as it's always a struggle to keep under AnyRail's 50 piece free limit! 



I hope that helped!

- James

Thanks James I'll have a look at that later this afternoon.

 

 

[Titanius Anglesmith]

12 hours ago, Harlequin said:

 

What’s the relationship of the light industry to the railway? Why is it associated with the goods yard?

Not sure where you’re going with this, but I thought I’d point out the situation at my local station in case it is relevant. 
 

There was a brewery built alongside the goods yard that was entirely on private land, but the stores building was up against the boundary of the yard. A dedicated siding was then built in the goods yard alongside the stores building, but entirely on railway land. So it was a public siding in reality, but possibly worked a bit like a private siding. 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Titanius Anglesmith

[Harlequin]

3 minutes ago, Titanius Anglesmith said:

Not sure where you’re going with this, but I thought I’d point out the situation at my local station in case it is relevant. 
 

There was a brewery built alongside the goods yard that was entirely on private land, but the stores building was up against the boundary of the yard. A dedicated siding was then built in the goods yard alongside the stores building, but entirely on railway land. So it was a public siding in reality, but possibly worked a bit like a private siding. 

Yes, in hindsight I'm not sure where I was going with that comment either!

 

There are lots of cases where small industry was alongside a goods yard and a siding served it in one way or another.

 

Sorry everyone.

[Harlequin]

Idea:

 

If the branch line leaves the main line station on the outside as DavidB suggests then it could circle the outside of the room 1.5 times at a reasonable rising gradient (a big helix) and end at a high level Millhampton terminus. Millhampton can then have some interesting features like a run round and maybe a goods yard of its own and branch line services have a more purposeful journey that takes some time.

 

The branch could be hidden where it passes behind Lyneworth to avoid visual confusion and maybe going through tunnels to hide the nearby tracks on different levels in other places.

 

Millhampton would then be elevated enough to sit on top of a fiddle yard below, inserted into the main double track loop. The fiddle yard, being non-scenic, would be the "tunnel" part of the main line so no need for any others.

 

The tracks crossing the doorway would thus be on two levels and so a gate type opening would be a better way to carry them. This type of movable section is more common in the States and Oz than here in the UK but it is fairly easy to make.

 

Then the "TMD" could perhaps be close to Lyneworth station somehow (although I'm a bit hazy about how that might fit.)

 

Thinking about it, maybe flipping things north to south might suit that plan better - Lyneworth & TMD on the south side of the plan, Millhampton and fiddle yard on the north.

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Harlequin

[Newbie2020]

2 hours ago, Harlequin said:

The tracks crossing the doorway would thus be on two levels and so a gate type opening would be a better way to carry them. This type of movable section is more common in the States and Oz than here in the UK but it is fairly easy to make.

 

Had to google this!! A gate may be beyond my joinery skills, but I have a friend who may have the necessary skills! I'll have a chat with him. Not sure about a big helix, but maybe I could run the branch line back to Lyneworth around the left side? This would allow more variation and other locos to use the branch line (I hate to see steam pushing rather than pulling!)

 

The Micro Brewery idea is sounding very good - who doesn't like a beer whilst modelling!

 

Absolutely no reason why the TMD can't be at Lyneworth .

 

Clive

[Newbie2020]

3 hours ago, Titanius Anglesmith said:

Not sure where you’re going with this, but I thought I’d point out the situation at my local station in case it is relevant. 
 

There was a brewery built alongside the goods yard that was entirely on private land, but the stores building was up against the boundary of the yard. A dedicated siding was then built in the goods yard alongside the stores building, but entirely on railway land. So it was a public siding in reality, but possibly worked a bit like a private siding. 

Nice idea! Who doesn't love a brewery!!!

 

Clive

 

[Newbie2020]

Ok, It's late and still not tried to change the branch line to the background but few other changes made!

[DCB]

The lack of off scene stock storage may well be  problem with this layout.  Getting trains on to and off the outer main line will be challenging, as will shunting the TMD.   I  liked post 1 better,   The latest TMD position is in the way and a nightmare to shunt any loco from the shed to the main line as there would be so many other locos in the way and no shunting neck to use.  The O.P with a few main line loops for storage and a few tweaks I reckon would work well.

Edited September 9, 2021 by DCB

[Newbie2020]

Version 2.3 !

[Newbie2020]

On 08/09/2021 at 01:28, Smardale said:

Let me see if I can help! It's late so if this makes no sense then I'm sorry! 

Also I have no idea how computer literate you are! So please don't be offended if you already know about keyboard shortcuts.

So this is how I do corners with flex track. Drag a piece into your project then move the little plus arrows. This will alter the angle at the end of the section. Click them with the left mouse button, and then drag them around - whilst still holding the left mouse button down.



You can right click the flexi rail and select 'cut flex here' to alter the length. OR you can drag the end of the pieces by clicking and holding them much like with the plus icons. Up to you!



Once you're happy with the radius of your track then make sure it's highlighted and then on the top bar click 'Smooth flex' first (optional - but it does a good job!) and then click add parallel flex. Type in the distance you require.  


Now that you've got a double track curve, highlight one of the track pieces and then press 'CTRL' and 'C' on your keyboard at the same time. This will copy the track. Then press 'CTRL' and 'V' on your keyboard at the same time. This will duplicate (paste) the piece of track you have selected.

(Another handy shortcut is 'CTRL' and 'Z' which undos the last thing that you did. Handy if you can't see the tiny track icons and you've dragged the wrong piece into your project. Hit CTRL & Z and it vanishes. Easy!)



Drag and 'Snap' the new track piece onto the bottom of your bend and then adjust as you see fit using the +.



Highlight the newest track piece - click 'smooth flex' first (if you want) and then 'Add parallel flex' as before. Then all you need to do is to snap the new curve that you've just created below the top piece as shown below.



That's how I do it anyway! Alternatively you could create a huge curve (far too long for any piece of flexi track), duplicate it using the 'add parallel track' option and then right click in turn on both pieces and select 'cut flex here' from the drop down menu to create reasonable lengths. It's quicker but I like using the maximum length of flex track possible - especially as it's always a struggle to keep under AnyRail's 50 piece free limit! 



I hope that helped!

- James

James, Thanks for this it has definitley helped!! Still not an expert but the latest attempts look a lot better.

 

Cheers

 

Clive

[RobinofLoxley]

The important thing about drafting a layout in anyrail is not how precise the rendering is but to use it to design the structure. Then you have a drawing you can use to determine how you will operate it. You can post it so others can see any snags, as you have done. In the latest version its hard to see what your intentions are. The branch line which was imho  a good original feature doesnt exist any more. I cant understand what you will use the TMD for, how you will get locos into train hauling positions from the TMD. The first plan was better by a long shot.

 

Just suppose the operating day starts with a loco in the TMD and coaches in a rolling stock siding. Look how many movements are needed to pick up the rake of coaches. Then how do you get it onto the outer, clockwise loop? (Loco first)

[Newbie2020]

1 hour ago, RobinofLoxley said:

The important thing about drafting a layout in anyrail is not how precise the rendering is but to use it to design the structure. Then you have a drawing you can use to determine how you will operate it. You can post it so others can see any snags, as you have done. In the latest version its hard to see what your intentions are. The branch line which was imho  a good original feature doesnt exist any more. I cant understand what you will use the TMD for, how you will get locos into train hauling positions from the TMD. The first plan was better by a long shot.

 

Just suppose the operating day starts with a loco in the TMD and coaches in a rolling stock siding. Look how many movements are needed to pick up the rake of coaches. Then how do you get it onto the outer, clockwise loop? (Loco first)

Hmmmm

 

Think I'm trying to "get things in " without the thought on the operation. Thats where my inexperience is obviously showing

 

Still a work in progress!!

 

Clive

[RobinofLoxley]

I hope i didnt come across as too critical but I have noticed on a few occasions that Anyrail as an application works like a magnet for track - you just fit in more and more, regardless of whether it will be functional.

 

there is a software called trainplayer that is available as a demo version, and you can import an anyrail file into it or build a layout in it (more difficult). Once you have done that you can run trains round the layout and see what happens (or doesn't). I found it helpful, personally.

[Newbie2020]

37 minutes ago, RobinofLoxley said:

I hope i didnt come across as too critical but I have noticed on a few occasions that Anyrail as an application works like a magnet for track - you just fit in more and more, regardless of whether it will be functional.

 

there is a software called trainplayer that is available as a demo version, and you can import an anyrail file into it or build a layout in it (more difficult). Once you have done that you can run trains round the layout and see what happens (or doesn't). I found it helpful, personally.

interesting! I'll try it out

[Newbie2020]

1 hour ago, RobinofLoxley said:

I hope i didnt come across as too critical but I have noticed on a few occasions that Anyrail as an application works like a magnet for track - you just fit in more and more, regardless of whether it will be functional.

 

there is a software called trainplayer that is available as a demo version, and you can import an anyrail file into it or build a layout in it (more difficult). Once you have done that you can run trains round the layout and see what happens (or doesn't). I found it helpful, personally.

Well TrainPlayer is fun!! Maybe I don't need to build a layout after all !!!! LOL