StJamesStation Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Hi all, well after years of sitting back reading all of the layout blogs I have decided that it's time to get involved.This will track the development and progress of my new layout that I have started to build.It's a reincarnation of a previous layout I had in Perth, Western Australia last year. There are videos of that layout here on Youtube http://www.youtube.c...r?feature=watchWe moved to Sydney at the beginning of the year and have our own house now so I am now finally able to get to work on the layout. As the purchase of the house has left us tight with the money this is an exercise in recycling wherever possible. Austerity measures have been put in place by the Minister for Finance and she who must be obeyed will be very suspicious of any large purchases so one needs to be careful.Anyway the story so far..... I had a continuous run layout for the last couple of years which was great, but as we were only renting it was always going to need to come down when we moved. With this in mind the baseboards were made up of six 1200mm x 900mm 9mm ply with pine framing and legs. When we bought our new house there was a separate apartment area which I claimed for my own. Having secured a dedicated big boys room next to the garage I was able to make a few minor changes to open it up enough to be able to put a good size layout in.The new train room is 5.1m x 3.1m which gives a good area to work with. I have opted for a rectangular setup with an operating well in the middle. The basic dimensions of the baseboards once joined together create a 4.5m x 2.4m (14.7ft x 7.8ft) area on which to lay track. The photos below will show this quite nicely I think.The problem I have always found with the continuous runs is the same train appears every 30 to 40 seconds. My solution to this is a double loop underneath the main boards. The visible track has a run of approximately 8.6 metres (28ft) and with the layout sitting 1050mm from the floor this allows me plenty of room to run a second non scenic level of tracks underneath the main boards. This will give a total run of approximately 25.8 metres or 85ft. Anyway the baseboards are together and it's now time for some serious cutting as I begin to make the ramps to carry the track up and down. I'm only looking at a split of 100mm between top and bottom and am planning on a 1:40 ruling gradient. I'm hoping this works but feel that it will probably be a bit of trial and error getting a suitable gradient. The previous layout had a helix on it but it just didn't work. The locos would get halfway up and slip, so I'm doing straight ramps this time around.Of course it goes without saying that any advise, comments and suggestions will be gladly welcomed. Take a look at the videos if you get a chance as that's what I am hoping to recreate here on this project.Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Looking good so far. Wish I had that much space to play with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 So some more progress made today with the two end baseboards detached, the legs taken off and saw cuts made to the ply and the pine support structure. This is to give plenty of clearance when the ramps go in. The last thing I wanted to happen was find that the trains were clipping some part of the baseboard as they ran up and down between levels. Any supports for the ramps can be braced in across the legs of the boards or dropped down from the ply. Only one photo from todays work as how many pictures can you take of a hole in a piece of wood really. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 Looking good so far. Wish I had that much space to play with. Thanks ess. I am very lucky to have such a big room to work in now. I remember very clearly only a few years ago having a tiny layout that slid under the lounge because there was no room in the house to have a layout. So I am very thankful that I now have a room for all of my toys. Funny though, once the track and some buildings go down the layout seems to shrink. Sometimes I wish I had N gauge. Id fit so much more in, but I have way to much OO to ever change. I have a list on the wall of all the things i'd LIKE on the layout. Lets see how much makes it on. Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Well some more progress made this week, but that will be all for a week as i'll be away. After reading a few of the layout blogs, in particular the ones where layout plans had been posted and suggestions had been posted for better designs. I took a lot of what was said aboard and have changed the way I was planning my track plan to include long sweeping curves with flexi track instead of using 3rd radius set track, thereby minimizing the train set look. The original plan was to have the engine sheds on the outside of the curve but it is now on the inside allowing for a nice exit from the station area. The problem I am facing now though is creating access to a goods shed and yard. I am trying to mindful of the direction the points are facing in relation to the up/down lines. I would like to avoid having the entrance to the yard running in from the same direction as the traffic as that would create a major hazard should the point be set incorrectly and a through express went up the line. The other thing is I want the station and the goods shed to have road access. It has to make sense, if it's just stuck there then it will look illogical. I've done a rough sketch on windows paint, and am looking for comments or suggestions. Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 After a week away and plenty of time to ponder the future design of this layout I've made some changes. I've reversed the freight yard so it enters from the left hand side and engine sheds are next to those. I've moved the town to the other end of the layout leaving the left side for farming and the RAF airfield. The photos below should show it a lot better than my description. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 G'day Steve, First of all, welcome to RMweb from another Sydney-sider (Padstow). Some great progress on the layout and the changes you made since the post dated Dec 4 (track diagram) have made the layout much more operational. Just a few sugestions regarding the goods yard/sidings and shunting. I would suggest moving the goods shed down onto the end siding towards the engine sheds and place a siding between your loco sidings and the two station bay sidings. See pic below. You can see where I have made some sketched alterations to your pic. The drawn goods shed is in a position where the loco will not have to pass through the goods shed, (as per railway practise) and the extra siding alongside the loco road allows shunting of the original sidings alongside the original position of the goods shed (where you have it located currently), without running back onto the main line. Another thought (not drawn) is to replace the right hand point that leads into the station bay platform (siding where the 2 coaches are) with a sigle slip. This is to allow any required shunting off the two station bay platform roads. This would be useful if you are running a short branch line special, where the loco needs to be serviced and its coaches can be drawn back into the siding to release the loco, without running onto the main line. Anyhow, just a thought you may take into consideration, to allow easier running, without shunting limitations !! Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 G'day Gary. Thanks for the suggestions. I've been back out to the man cave and added a couple of things. I've put another siding in where you suggested for the shunting. NOt sure what you are getting at with the single slip for the station sidings though can you draw on the photo. Do you mean a headshunt of the first road? That would be easy enough to do if thats the case. I've changed the single road to a double road off the end of the freight shed. The freight shed will stay where it is though as the wagons would all be backed into those roads and a shunter wouldn't go through the shed in its current position. It is similar to the setup I had on my previous layout and worked quite nicely. I am also trying to be mindful of not having too much going on in that small space. The engine sheds are quite big, especially the double shed and by the time i put some coal staithes etc in there it's going to be quite full. The other reason I thought I'd leave the Freight depot at the station end is because it enables vehicles to come in and out of the town via one road to either the station or the goods yard. I'm trying to have a track plan that flows and scenery that works in harmony with it and is logical. Anyway here's a photo of the modifications. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Hi Steve, The pic below will show what I mean. How pictures can tell a thousand words ! Another question. What era or railway company are you modelling, SR, GWR, LMS, LNER ? Or are you going down the 'it's my layout and I'll run what I like' route ? I thought about this last night and I was thinking rather than a single slip, a double slip may be better for operations. Atleast with a double slip, you can shunt from both the two bay platform roads. Looking good. Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Hi Gary, Thanks for the reply. Yes your drawing is what I thought you meant. I'm using set track for the points so I'll put a right hand point in between the mainline and the first station siding. That will allow both station sidings to shunt out without infringing the mainline. I'll do that tomorrow I think. As for the era. Its early BR Southern region, that way I can have an airfield littered with Spits, Hurricanes and Lancs. All just waiting for Jerry to come over again for another beating. I have a huge collection of Southern Steam and a great collection of rolling stock. You can see the various locos and wagons in my youtube videos here... http://www.youtube.c...r?feature=watch Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed a/c Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Layout is looking nice, will follow along with interest. Looks like you have a nice amount of space to work with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Layout is looking nice, will follow along with interest. Looks like you have a nice amount of space to work with. G'day, yes I have a great size room, the trick is to not overdo it in terms of trying to cram too much in. I'm going for a rural style layout so nice open spaces are essential. All of my previous layouts have been built with the disappointing fact that they will one day need to be pulled apart when we moved house. But this one is permanently permanent and that is a really nice feeling. No work done on the layout today as I had to lay 80m of turf in the yard. I think I much prefer shaking a grassmaster than lifting rolls of turf to be honest. I may sneak in there now for a while though to think things through and see if I can improve the access to the goods yard / engine shed. Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Hi Steve, Good thing about those set track points is that they are small and easy to work with ! Not to mention that they are far cheaper than a single or double slip !! Glad you understood what I was trying to explain. Pictures do speak a 1000 words ! Anyway, I have to say that there is something about Southern steam... Nice videos on the link to youtube. If your former layout is anything to go by, the new layout will only be better ! Slowly I'm building up my collection of Southern stock, Q, N15, Schools, T9 and N. Waiting on the release of Bachmanns new Ivatt 2MT. Have recently ordered a Kernows Models Dapol 02 Class. This will all be used on the layout I'm planning now, Callington, ( http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65255-callington-branch/ ). You have a fantastic collection of stock. Like the video of the double heading Bullied Pacifics (spam cans). Nice ! Looking foward to more updates and pics. Hope you got your turf laid ok today, just keep the water up ! You should come out to where I work. I'm about to lay 400m+.... Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoovering_crompton Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I love what your doing here, and I too am envious of the space you have to play with. Just a thought about the space you have for your engine sheds, Have you considered something along the lines of a scaled down version of Guildfords turntable and roundhouse? Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 I love what your doing here, and I too am envious of the space you have to play with. Just a thought about the space you have for your engine sheds, Have you considered something along the lines of a scaled down version of Guildfords turntable and roundhouse? Dave G'day Dave, now that does sound interesting. The turntable was on the list of 'things to put on this layout' . I shall investigate further and report back. Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 I love what your doing here, and I too am envious of the space you have to play with. Just a thought about the space you have for your engine sheds, Have you considered something along the lines of a scaled down version of Guildfords turntable and roundhouse? Dave http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/number741.asp http://www.davidheyscollection.com/page56.htm http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/collections/getrecord/SHCOL_8052 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 Hi Steve, Good thing about those set track points is that they are small and easy to work with ! Not to mention that they are far cheaper than a single or double slip !! Glad you understood what I was trying to explain. Pictures do speak a 1000 words ! Anyway, I have to say that there is something about Southern steam... Nice videos on the link to youtube. If your former layout is anything to go by, the new layout will only be better ! Slowly I'm building up my collection of Southern stock, Q, N15, Schools, T9 and N. Waiting on the release of Bachmanns new Ivatt 2MT. Have recently ordered a Kernows Models Dapol 02 Class. This will all be used on the layout I'm planning now, Callington, ( http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65255-callington-branch/ ). You have a fantastic collection of stock. Like the video of the double heading Bullied Pacifics (spam cans). Nice ! Looking foward to more updates and pics. Hope you got your turf laid ok today, just keep the water up ! You should come out to where I work. I'm about to lay 400m+.... Cheers, Gary. G'day Gary, yes I got all the turf down yesterday and a new vege patch boxed up today. At least it was cool here so the grass didn't bake all day. It's got plenty of water down on it so the roots should be able to take hold in the soil. Where are you laying 400m of turf. That's a lot of grass. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 G'day Steve, I work in the dead centre of Sydney, Rookwood Cemetery ! Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 G'day Steve, I work in the dead centre of Sydney, Rookwood Cemetery ! Cheers, Gary. Right well that sort of explains the 400m of turf, but I thought normally you were digging the grass up rather than rolling it out. Anyway I shan't be laying anymore turf for a while. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 250m today, another 250 tomorrow ! I heard your an expert now... I don't suppose you'd give us a hand ?? Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 250m today, another 250 tomorrow ! I heard your an expert now... I don't suppose you'd give us a hand ?? Cheers, Gary. Well there are two chances of that. The first is buckleys and the other is not able to be typed here...... But thanks for the offer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Your plans and layout look great.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share Posted December 23, 2012 Your plans and layout look great.... THanks, I'm hoping to get some track cut and joined in the next week and then start running some trains around to see if the plans are good or not. I'll post updates as I go. Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Hi Steve, Hope you had a great christmas ! In regards to post no.16, the link to Guildford loco depot, (http://www.time-caps...e/number741.asp ) shows off the turntable used there. This turntable looks very similar to the kit Dapol produces. This kit makes a nice model, albeit with a few modifications, such as, decking the bridge with timber, extending the bridge from a square edge to a curved edge etc. The overal size of the turntable extends to approximately 315mm. Maybe a little big for your depot, but it's worth it, for under $20.00 plus the cost of mods, about $25.00 all up. Below is a pic of the one I put on my son's layout, although non powered. The bridge is powered so locos can run up, be turned and run off. Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Hi Steve, Hope you had a great christmas ! In regards to post no.16, the link to Guildford loco depot, (http://www.time-caps...e/number741.asp ) shows off the turntable used there. This turntable looks very similar to the kit Dapol produces. This kit makes a nice model, albeit with a few modifications, such as, decking the bridge with timber, extending the bridge from a square edge to a curved edge etc. The overal size of the turntable extends to approximately 315mm. Maybe a little big for your depot, but it's worth it, for under $20.00 plus the cost of mods, about $25.00 all up. Below is a pic of the one I put on my son's layout, although non powered. The bridge is powered so locos can run up, be turned and run o Cheers, Gary. Gday Gary, yes Christmas was good, thanks. Thanks for the photo of the turntable. I had a look at the Hattons website a few days ago and I can get a Dapol kit for 6 GBP or a peco turntable for about 30 GBP and a motor kit for another 12 GBP. Size will not be too much of an issue and I'll make a dummy one up out of cardboard to see how it will fit. Its roughly the same length as a short piece of Hornby settrack. I'm really glad you suggested it to me as I think it will fit in quite nicely. I managed to get a little bit of work done on the layout in between family commitments. I even put a couple of locos on the rolling road to show them how the digital chipsets work. I've got a lovely Black 5 which is sound chipped and lit, so i showed them that, and also a lit pullman. So I have cut and joined the flexi track at each end of the front boards and put trackpins in to hold them while I get the rest of the track design sorted. I have plenty of 3mm cork sheeting to lay under the track before it is permanently fixed down to the baseboards. I have also changed the high speed point that leads of the up line at the airfield end of the layout. It was a left hand point but is now a right hand point as it looks smoother out of the corner and after running some carriages around that part of the track it looks much better. I'm away from home for a few days so i'll sketch down a few ideas to take home with me. There's a great series on SBS Friday nights at the moment called 'How to Go to War'. Last night they were talking about the Royal Navy Cordite factory at Holton Heath. It was on the L&SWR and gave me a few ideas about traffic that i could run on my layout. Here are some links for the show and some photos I found online. Cheers Steve http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/12454467773/How-To-Go-To-War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Navy_Cordite_Factory,_Holton_Heath http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowlevelaerialphotography/8087483529/ http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/61212-Holton-Heath-Laboratorys-May-2011 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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