RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted July 31, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2016 I would suggest putting buildings where you would like them to be and then laying a railroad to connect them all taking into account how much traffic there could be at each building/space. Not that my suggestion has lots of merit I still haven't settled on a baseboard yet. In the longer term I will build a 12x12 shed and put a circular layout in it. With the number of attempts you have made and been unhappy with maybe you should do a 'Larry' and put the curves outside the shed? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 i'm glad I don't have the space you do, i would be doing the same, and your always tempted to add to much track, some time less space focuses you mind ,I've 12x2 to work with, (always wished I had a foot more), but I do have an 8' wall which means four x 12x2 layouts!! Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 maybe you should do a 'Larry' and put the curves outside the shed? If only I could, unfortunately one end wall is right up against the neighbour's fence and the other end is only 1.5 m from the other half's shed, just enough space to open the door and get in! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted July 31, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) If only I could, unfortunately one end wall is right up against the neighbour's fence and the other end is only 1.5 m from the other half's shed, just enough space to open the door and get in! Any space to move in the garden? Or a detachable Larry only in place when operating and the other half isn't in her shed..... Edited July 31, 2016 by skipepsi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 (edited) BLT Breakout I just have to get this out of my system. The track plan owes more than a passing nod to Thurso, mirrored and minus a couple of sidings. Setting and era are unknown as yet, although top favourites are pre-war, a smidge of LNER and GWR perhaps... or banger blue Scotland, to remind me of childhood holidays? eh, yes... don't ask too much at this stage I've got to extend the board a little to accommodate the mileage sidings. And get some baby Sulzers, this has a definite 1970s north of Inverness vibe... Edited August 6, 2016 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted August 6, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2016 Good luck with this one! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Good grief That's a helluva itch that needs scratching... Given the almost inevitability of you eventually pining for the US stuff, how about a North American yard along the other side of the shed? This then acts as the fiddle yard for the Far North line and vice versa. Someone had done this in RM a year or two back; a novel idea, sort of two layouts in one. Only other comment is that, whereas many US yards are arrow straight in orientation, the Scottish Highlands are not renowned for such features(!) Yes, many termini themselves are straight, but I wonder if you can introduce a slight curve, maybe at the non-buffer stop end, which then changes hand to become the inevitable 180deg 'U' at the far end. Oban springs to mind - it exits the scene on a left hander and disappears from view through quite a spectacular rock cutting with a bridge over the top (handy for placing buses), so you could hide the start of the U completely in that case? As an alternative, have the main axis of the terminus at an angle to the wall - just something to make it look a bit 'different' from your US layouts Looking forward to updates with intrigue... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 I've got everything wired up and working, and installed the baseboard extension this afternoon. So here is a quick tour of the line. A nice spacious staging yard, the three tracks on the right are the branch, the four on the left are the Main. One more #8 and several yards of plan track needed to finish... Looking the other way showing the separate branch and main lines Moving round to the scenic half, the two lines exit the staging area through a pair of single track over bridges. The headshunt is on the left. Moving round further, the headshunt is at left, allowing direct access to the goods sidings. The branch and main converge, allowing access to the main and bay platforms. This is somewhat similar to the arrangement at WIck, when the branch to Lybster was open. A view from the platform - when I build it that is. The starter signals for the bay and main I found in a junk box, must have built them nearly thirty years ago.... The extension board for the goods yard under construction. Also my beloved bass in shot. Still play most days... Extension board in place, and with a first pass at surface finishing. More to do. This gives room for a pair of mileage sidings to curve their way around the goods shed and leave enough room for vehicles to access the goods shed and either side of the mileage sidings. All good fun, and a refreshing change from my US ISLs.... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) Yes, a Thunder 1A bought in 1983... for most of my student grant as I recall! I'm not sure about a new thread - I might get beaten up by all the knowledgeable types as I brazenly break all the rules. I could be tempted, since it really doesn't belong here... Edited August 9, 2016 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 I realised when I checked against a plan of the real Thurso that I had misinterpreted the goods sidings, so after fettling and finishing the goods yard extension board I altered the sidings to more closely match (albeit mirrored) the arrangement at Thurso... I need yet another #8 turnout to complete the fan. I'm using an old Jouef SNCF station as a stand in for the moment. Looking back down towards length of the station from the buffer stops, I think I am getting somewhere close to the sprawl of a branch terminus. The silos are just parked there for now, and won't be staying. There will be a small road over-bridge over the throat, just as at Thurso. Suitable kits or kit bashing options for the various buildings, signal box and bridges are being explored. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 Getting somewhere close to the ambiance I am after... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Watching the new Thread for this layout to see how long it takes for our "UK-Only" Brethren to notice/comment on the 'wrong' track. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Watching the new Thread for this layout to see how long it takes for our "UK-Only" Brethren to notice/comment on the 'wrong' track. You could say the same about our US brethren when we use code 100 for US layouts! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 If you want Suzler power you need this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted August 17, 2016 Author Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) I won't be excommunicated from this forum will I? I'm only resting my US interests for a bit.... Here are some other Sulzer powered goodies, Espees 'Popsicles'. Edited August 17, 2016 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Perfectly acceptable for S scale... S0d that, Jordan, there are more fundamental issues in play: it's the wrong gauge for the scale. (And why would "UK-Only" Brethren even be in this forum?) They won't bd in this Section; Dr G-F has started a new & seperate Thread in another Section of RMweb, where the Railway Xenophobic may reside.Search for "Dr G-F's BLT". Nowt wrong with Code 100 for O, either although I got some strange looks from the C&L Stand when I asked if they did 32mm track gauges to suit it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 OK, so after a slight hiatus and a diversion into a Scottish BLT, a looming social engagement Chez Gerbil-Fritters persuaded me to get something up and running to entertain the non-gardeners. I plonked some buildings, then laid some spurs, then connected the whole thing into a roundy-roundy. It's so temporary I didn't even fix the track down! Some switching can be carried out, but mostly it's designed to let trains do some work and clock up some mileage. As well as the usual suspects, (GP38s, SD38s etc) some oddities will be allowed out to play... Anyhoo, it should provide a decent afternoon's entertainment before I decide which direction to go in next. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 (edited) This may be an indicator of things to come. Given the space I have, and desiring something a little more charismatic and interesting than a contemporary ISL, I am mulling a proto-freeelanced transition era shortline. This would have something of the flavour of lines such as Jack Burgess's Yosemite Valley, the Gainesville Midland, perhaps a touch of the Buffalo Creek and Gauley, and even a nod to a favourite of mine when I first became interested in American outline modelling in the early 90s, Jim Providenza's Santa Cruz Northern. To that end, I've finally got hold of a Bachmann 'Russian' decapod from the USA. I've liked the look of these sporty dragsters since I saw one in an early Continental Modeller, on Bill Laine's Detroit, Lackawanna and Midwestern RR. I was particularly pleased to find it performs as good as it looks, smooth, controllable and good slow speed. Here it is dropping a couple of boxcars and then running a caboose hop - yes, I need to find a more suitable wooden cab really. Some transition era stock is required. My shortline may haul gravel rather than coal, but it will have a quirky combine, plus some general merchandise stock. An end on junction with a class A railroad will also feature. Really what it will attempt to do is achieve more atmosphere in a small space. The sad fact of the modern era I have been modelling is that the sort of railroading I can manage in my space is very end of the spur, ratty, down at heel. And I get enough of that in my real life, so I wanted a bit of unashamed escapism back to some sort of mythical golden age, with a staffed depot, characterful engines, caboose, combine and so on. The proto-freelancing plays a part in this, as having reflected on my interests over the past year while the ISL had stalled, I fondly rediscovered some of the greats from my early years - John Armstrong's Canandaigua Southern, Tony Koester's Allegheny Midland, and W. Allen McClelland's Virginian and Ohio. They were all freelanced, but they had bags of atmosphere, looked and ran prototypically and so felt real, to me. In the meantime, the roundy-roundy is functioning well and giving plenty of mindless entertainment. One of things I really like about modelling American outline is that the coupler/truck/track interaction is an accurate replication of the real thing. Witness this little escapade. Having picked the switch at low speed, a loaded coil car decided to take a small diversion onto a parallel track. Cue emergency brake application, and some head scratching from the recovery crew. Through it all, the couplers did the job they're designed for and the train stayed intact and mostly upright. I find this strangely pleasing. Edited July 4, 2017 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Derailments are a prototypical part of the real railway, especially on some of that rough American short line track, even if they aren't meant to happen so I sometimes wonder why modellers get all worked up about it when they happen in miniature. Or maybe it's just me.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted July 4, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 4, 2017 Very envious of the Decapod, even if it's just a bit big for my line. Sorry to hear of the "ratty and down at heel in real life" bit. The article about the Bill Lane layout (HO) in the CM I remember, I think it was in Model Railways, as well, and seeing that could well have been a big factor helping to push me towards the American scene. It was a fairly straightforward lift of John Armstrongs design St.Clair Southwestern in "Track Planning for realistic operation" a Kalmbach book first printed in 1963, and materialised in his Canadaigua Southern (O) We had a bogie bolster do just the same as your coil wagon at A.D. Junc. Newport, way back. It didn't tilt, though, just stayed level. I think some of the wheels came off the road, so we had to crane one end sideways to line it back up, you couldn't just pull it backwards to where it came off, which would have been nice. Anyway, good luck with your endeavours. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 The Dec is actually surprisingly small - certainly smaller than a USRA mike... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 Musing over roster... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Not much call for coal traffic?(!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 No, a single 34 foot hopper - my guess is for locomotive coal. But imagine,I could own an entire Railroad's rolling stock! Six locomotives seems a lot, but I like collecting locomotives. My little shortline would probably like another Dec or two and then one of these for the passenger: 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 ... or one of these, perchance? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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