Cambrian and GWR 0 Gauge layout -Revised Plans

[Andrew P]

Hi Don, catching up again and although I have ticked Like above I have had second thoughts. Terminus to FY gives good operation BUT a roundy roundy will give the Locos and Stock a better run. Also there is nothing more relaxing that sitting there with a nice cup of tea / Cold Bear, (delete as appropriate) and watching a slow goods trundling through.

 

Andy .

[Donw]

Hi Don, catching up again and although I have ticked Like above I have had second thoughts. Terminus to FY gives good operation BUT a roundy roundy will give the Locos and Stock a better run. Also there is nothing more relaxing that sitting there with a nice cup of tea / Cold Bear, (delete as appropriate) and watching a slow goods trundling through.

 

Andy .

I think you may be right Andy. If I go for the through station the question is  do I just have a big FY or do I have the terminus (which really acts like a fy) and another fy. I would also like to find room for one of those Cambrian timber trestles possible on one of the end curves.

Don

[ChrisN]

Don,

This is where I hate commenting on plans as it is your layout.  I would go for the roundy roundy as you have the best of both worlds, i.e., you can run as if it is FY to terminus but also just let the trains run.  On the other hand if what drives you is lots of scenery or structures then it is less layout and more space.

 

As my old maths teacher used to say, 'You pays yer money and you takes yer choice.'

[Donw]

I have been podering over the question of whether I have put in too much track. I think what I have done is to allow the through station to sprawl rather like the real Dolgelley did. Cosequently there appears to be more station. However in terms of complexity there is about 8 points in the passing station and about the same or less in the terminus. Considering there is over 50ft of baseboard space that doesn't seem a lot compared to other layouts.

Don

[Sasquatch]

Hi Don.

Have just happened upon your thread and have looked at your space problem (we can never have enough). If there's enough room for a second full minimum radius curve I think there should be length enough to drop the fiddle yard under the terminus. This would require much in the way of gradients, all gentle of course and a traverser.

Open frame base boards will make this project turn out spectacular. It's not too hard to do just a lot of calculation. 

 

Something like this. I have flipped the through station in order to allow for longer grades. The through station now becomes a sort of junction station (pure chance). Edit: There's no reason why this station can not have an incline also.    

 

just a thought!

 

Regards Shaun.  

Edited January 23, 2014 by Sasquatch

[Andrew P]

Hi Don, catching up again and although I have ticked Like above I have had second thoughts. Terminus to FY gives good operation BUT a roundy roundy will give the Locos and Stock a better run. Also there is nothing more relaxing that sitting there with a nice cup of tea / Cold Bear, (delete as appropriate) and watching a slow goods trundling through.

 

Andy .

Yea O.K. Paul that should have read BERE,   hahhaa

 

And

[Donw]

A bit of an aside here in reference to a friend looking at the need to clear away modelling space.

 

The work tray is a piece of melamine with plywood sides and is sized to fit into an old brief case. The table is one of those TV dinner tables

 

Don

[ChrisN]

Brilliant Don!

I have a work desk but I have a cutting board on the main table where I do my main modelling.  My wife spends most of her spare time on the computer at the table so it means we sit together.  Before the extension was built and I had a tidy up I had three cutting boards all with different projects going on and they got moved to and from the work desk depending on what I was doing.

 

Very impressed that you keep it all together like that.

[Donw]

The painter has finished the railway room. All white it is so bright I need some of Andy's Shades

   

 

 

The next stage will be the carpeting (the floor not me) then it is a case of how nmany other jobs I have to do before I can get the trains out.

Don

Edited February 4, 2014 by Donw

[Donw]

Off topic post I just wanted to get this photo onto here

 

Don

[Stubby47]

Off topic post I just wanted to get this photo onto here

 

Bodmin.jpg

 

Don

I like the way you've photoshopped away all of the smoke and steam...

[Andrew P]

Yea O.K. Paul that should have read BERE,   hahhaa

 

And

Just re read this and it should have been BEER

 

bACK TO skool four mee

[Andrew P]

Hi Don, somehow I've missed the last few post's but I like the room, will you do a Wedgwood Blue Sky? hahha

 

Really neat, shame to mess it up with railway rubbish :nono: :nono: .

 

Bodge

[alant]

Hi Don,

 

Only just found this thread, looks exciting and will watch your progress with interest.

 

I used to have a U shaped layout with a radius of just under 4ft and I could run both a 4F and Jinty without any problem or buffer locking.

 

Alan.

[Donw]

The loco was doing a runaround move and had stopped ready to back onto the train. I had been taking photos of the Railmotor in the Shed to the right and thought I would take one of the loco as well.  The railmotor had to hide in the shed to clear the way for the train to arrive from boscarne run round and depart for Boscarne. Sadly the railmotor was going to go back to Parkway leaving me with no means of getting back to Dunsmere where the motorhome was pitched.

Don

[Donw]

I have been rather quiet on this thread. Although we have moved in after the builders doing a lot of work, it is surprising how many jobs there are for us to do plus a lot of gardening. Then there is going off in the motorhome which enable visit to the 16mm show at Peterborough and the ALSRM show at Reading. Plus there is a lot of stuff dumped in the only 'spare' space the railway room.

However it was suggested to me I should be getting on with the baseboards. One thing you really need to sort out before building baseboards is some idea of the planned scenic outline. Here I have hit on some issues;

1. The slope of the ceiling starts at about 9in above baseboard level. HAving anything on the backscene above that height would not work.

2. The prototype inspiration is Dolgelley which has a river alongside the railway. Somehow 20 odd feet of trees and bushes supposedly along a river bank doesn't seem to be very exciting.

3 The need to maximise the radius of the end curves means the tracks will be close to the back wall restricting scenic space

 

Do I dream up a fictitious scenic setting, Should I look for a flat setting to avoid trying to fit hills in a restricted height. Thoughts I am currently considering.

Don

[ChrisN]

Don,

I would like to say something full of insight and helpful, but I am not sure that I can.

 

Dolgelley has the advantage of two companies stock to run, two different types of station building to model, and I am sure there are others.  A fictitious place that is flat would probably be on the coast I assume and the stations tend to be long and thin.  I could happily fit Traeth Mawr in the space you have but I am working in 4mm.

 

Not a lot of help.  I wait to see what you come up with.

 

Also, hope the settling in keeps on going well.  It is amazing how long these things take and how much stuff accumulates in the 'railway room'.

[Donw]

Progress has been rather slow particularly with the nice weather which has seen us hard labouring in the garden. We have also managed a few trips off in the motorhome. However the is a needs to store some clothes in the train room so some hanging rails were obtained. Marion has now suggested it is about time I built the baseboards over the top of them to keep the clothes clean. You cannot argue with that (although she is also suggesting other jobs should be finished too) so I have had to make some descisions.

Firstly although running the track round the stairwell would possibly make a better layout a good part of it would be well above head height. I am 65 now and assuming I spend ten years or more building it. I have concerns whether I would be happy having to bring a ladder in to clean the track up there or re-rail stock. So I have decided to work along the lines of the first plan. This also allows me to place a workbench under the window which faces out to sea. It means it faces east so is less sunny during the afternoon and evenings which should be better for modelling.

Some ply and wood has been aquired and construction of baseboards initiated. I intend the terminus to be portable so with the addition of a fiddle yard it can be taken to exhibitions. Not that I intend to do a lot of exhibiting but it would be nice to do some local shows.

I am thinking of painting a sky seen onto the sloping ceiling as a backscene with distant hills etc. would look rather odd if the hills were leaning over the layout.

Don

[ChrisN]

Progress has been rather slow particularly with the nice weather which has seen us hard labouring in the garden. We have also managed a few trips off in the motorhome. However the is a needs to store some clothes in the train room so some hanging rails were obtained. Marion has now suggested it is about time I built the baseboards over the top of them to keep the clothes clean. You cannot argue with that (although she is also suggesting other jobs should be finished too) so I have had to make some descisions.

Firstly although running the track round the stairwell would possibly make a better layout a good part of it would be well above head height. I am 65 now and assuming I spend ten years or more building it. I have concerns whether I would be happy having to bring a ladder in to clean the track up there or re-rail stock. So I have decided to work along the lines of the first plan. This also allows me to place a workbench under the window which faces out to sea. It means it faces east so is less sunny during the afternoon and evenings which should be better for modelling.

Some ply and wood has been aquired and construction of baseboards initiated. I intend the terminus to be portable so with the addition of a fiddle yard it can be taken to exhibitions. Not that I intend to do a lot of exhibiting but it would be nice to do some local shows.

I am thinking of painting a sky seen onto the sloping ceiling as a backscene with distant hills etc. would look rather odd if the hills were leaning over the layout.

Don

 

Don,

This sounds eminently sensible.  It is nice when you get a push from your loved ones to do something that you want to do but in the scheme of things may not be as important as some others, but you really would like to do.

 

Hope all goes well.

[Donw]

As anyone who has follwed this thread so far will probably know in order to fit an oval into the loft sharp curves are needed. I though perhaps a check that something would be feasible would be worthwhile. Any pleasure in looking at the models is purely coincidental of course.

I cut some of the links between the sleepers on a couple of lengths of C+L track and pinned down a 1.2m curve and then firstly assembled a short train of mxed vehicles.

 

The GWR was noted for differing roof height this btween a Python and a D15 Bk third

As expected the Hudswell Clarke took it in its stride

The Bulldog too had no trouble

So was the Mogul

Unfortunately the Cambrian Beaconsfield was not happy. Possibly shorting on those neat little splasers on the bogie

 

Not too bad then

Don

[Jintyman]

It's always a worry if things are going to work, but the main thing I've read from the above pictures, is that a six coupled loco and a bogie coach will negotiate the radii, which in itself opens up so many more possibilities from just a four coupled loco!!!!! If the Mogul traverses it, most other six coupled can be made to do so (well apart from large GWR 4-6-0's)!!!

 

Good luck with this, it looks like you've got yourself a rather nice little railway room there, and plans afoot for a rather nice railway.

Well done.

 

Jinty ;-)

[ChrisN]

Don,

I love your Beaconsfield.  Even more impressive as it is obviously hand built.  (In case anyone thinks that is an insult it is only obvious as that is the only way to get one.)  Is it in black or invisible green?

 

Looks as though it will be possible.

[Stubby47]

Don,

 

Do you have any room to open the curve out a bit more ?  Pic #2 has the track centred on the baseboard, if you moved the cardboard box you'd have the ability to increase the radius (although this may then introduce a reverse curve in the long straight).

 

Stu 

[Andrew P]

Hi Don, looking really good mate, nice curves too.

 

Bodge

[georgeT]

Hello Don,  Just found your thread, what a lovely room you have there, looking forward to seeing you get some track down....

 

George