8x8 OO plan

[barney121e]

Hi folks

 

Had someone draw me a plan but had to reduce size a little, wondering if the attached would work. The two lines on the right would act as a fiddle yard area.

 

Any advice much appreciated.

 

 

[imt]

Well, a few thoughts for starters.  Firstly there are all sorts of red warning tags from AnyRail to indicate curves are too tight, pieces don't join etc.- not important as you plan things out but you need to keep in mind that this is a rough sketch produced on a computer and not an accurate plan.  Some of the lines are too close together as well.

 

How big is the space around this layout - can you reach bits - such as the fiddle yard from the outside?  Usually the advice is never to have a board more than 2 feet deep unless you have all round access.

 

What are the other features?  A station? A goods yard? A quarry?  Why are they there, what traffic do you see your railway carrying?  What era is it set in - 1930's steam, modern, something in between?

 

There is lots of other advice on this forum about planning a layout and what to think about.  I would suggest you list your objectives and decide your must have's so you can ensure that your layout meets your expectations.  If this isn't drawn from your ideas, but just a quick plan from a friend then you may find you get tired of it pretty quickly.

[imt]

Two threads that might get you started are:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/101522-how-much-oo-gauge-can-i-fit-into-12x8/

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/105163-rmw-layout-track-design-worked/

[barney121e]

Well, a few thoughts for starters.  Firstly there are all sorts of red warning tags from AnyRail to indicate curves are too tight, pieces don't join etc.- not important as you plan things out but you need to keep in mind that this is a rough sketch produced on a computer and not an accurate plan.  Some of the lines are too close together as well.

 

How big is the space around this layout - can you reach bits - such as the fiddle yard from the outside?  Usually the advice is never to have a board more than 2 feet deep unless you have all round access.

 

What are the other features?  A station? A goods yard? A quarry?  Why are they there, what traffic do you see your railway carrying?  What era is it set in - 1930's steam, modern, something in between?

 

There is lots of other advice on this forum about planning a layout and what to think about.  I would suggest you list your objectives and decide your must have's so you can ensure that your layout meets your expectations.  If this isn't drawn from your ideas, but just a quick plan from a friend then you may find you get tired of it pretty quickly.

 

I'm not too great with Anyrail or Scarm, so this is best I can do. I hope the red tags are just my poor use of the software.

 

Have access all round the 4 ft area so that should be ok.

 

The area on the left and in the middle are stations, with sidings for engine shed/good shed etc. Not got an era, will just run what I like more like a heritage line but with current trains too. Hope to have a mix of small passenger and freight trains.

 

The plan actually comes from the Peco Compendium of track plans for layouts to suit all locations. It is plan 17, Poppy Hollow, but we have tried to add in a fiddle yard area, hence the two lines on the right.

 

There is also another plan I like in the same book, Plan 30 which is an end to end plan but not sure about station area. If anyone knows the book, any ideas what could be changed in the station area? This is what It looks like now.

 

[DCB]

I'm not too great with Anyrail or Scarm, so this is best I can do. I hope the red tags are just my poor use of the software.

 

Have access all round the 4 ft area so that should be ok.

 

The area on the left and in the middle are stations, with sidings for engine shed/good shed etc. Not got an era, will just run what I like more like a heritage line but with current trains too. Hope to have a mix of small passenger and freight trains.

 

The plan actually comes from the Peco Compendium of track plans for layouts to suit all locations. It is plan 17, Poppy Hollow, but we have tried to add in a fiddle yard area, hence the two lines on the right.

 

There is also another plan I like in the same book, Plan 30 which is an end to end plan but not sure about station area. If anyone knows the book, any ideas what could be changed in the station area? This is what It looks like now.

 

terminuslayout.png

Its not your unfamiliarity with the software but your failure to realise the track formation won't fit the space. The left bottom pointwork needs at least another 6" sideways  Ok I could make it fit with soldering iron, solvent, hacksaw and severely distorted points but its not worth the hassle.   Much of the plan is pretty un operable the facing sidings at top left and middle sidings off the short headshunt are awkward.   I would get CJ Freezers 60 plans for small Layouts and expand one of his 6X4 layouts to fit your space as this layout looks like providing hours of derailments and general frustration and makes very poor use of your space.

[imt]

Its not your unfamiliarity with the software but your failure to realise the track formation won't fit the space. The left bottom pointwork needs at least another 6" sideways  Ok I could make it fit with soldering iron, solvent, hacksaw and severely distorted points but its not worth the hassle.   Much of the plan is pretty un operable the facing sidings at top left and middle sidings off the short headshunt are awkward.   I would get CJ Freezers 60 plans for small Layouts and expand one of his 6X4 layouts to fit your space as this layout looks like providing hours of derailments and general frustration and makes very poor use of your space.

 

David is not known for his diplomacy on this site - that's all rather brutal but true.  I really would advise you look at other sources of plans before you go further.  You have a goodly amount of space with which to play (pun intended) and you need to think out what you want to do much more clearly.

 

For starters, a fiddle yard needs to be proportionate to the traffic you are going to run, so I'd think you would want at least a loop on each side of the the through tracks - gives you an ability to store/build one train whilst another comes in/out.

 

Another is that sidings generally need headshunts - if there is room.  I would think you have room.  you also need to think where the flows of traffic will be coming from/going to so you can align your track plan to those directions.  Railway tracks tend to be laid that way for a purpose.

 

I don't know the track plan you refer to, but trying to be polite, you are off again: moving to a new plan without thinking "what do I want my railway to do, where is it, etc. There are lots good plan books about which should help in getting good ideas.  Honestly, as many of us have learned from bitter experience, rather like woodwork - measure twice cut once - you need to think twice and build once!

[barney121e]

Thanks for the replies. Now this is where I get very confused. Both layout plans from the book I mention have been built in the past and run successfully but maybe the changes made to them is the problem. Will do both the continuous and terminus to fiddle yard in anyrail as a starting point and work from there. Sadly the CJ Freezer plans in the 60 plans for small locations just don't excite me, and have been told in the past that they are not always accurate as well.

 

What am I after? Well mainly the layout is set in a rural or small village/town location. Single or double line I don't mind, although would expect a single line for the location. Will be running what I like, mainly diesels, dmu's and emu's and they wont be big, 3 coaches at maximum.  A little freight would be nice too. 

[barney121e]

Here is original plan. It is 8x7 in the book. What the other plan was trying to do was add a couple of storage loops, and amend the sidings but not sure if they need amending. Any help much appreciated.

 

[barney121e]

And here is plan for terminus, i like it but not sure on the sidings, Sure they could be improved somehow.

 

[sigtech]

Here is original plan. It is 8x7 in the book. What the other plan was trying to do was add a couple of storage loops, and amend the sidings but not sure if they need amending. Any help much appreciated.

 

Poporig.png

This  I think looks like the same trackplan as John Flanns layout of a small GWR branch line, called "Poppy Hollow and Barley Dean" from either the Railway Modeller or  Model Railway News of many years ago (early 70's).

 

Regards

SIGTECH

(Steve).

[barney121e]

This  I think looks like the same trackplan as John Flanns layout of a small GWR branch line, called "Poppy Hollow and Barley Dean" from either the Railway Modeller or  Model Railway News of many years ago (early 70's).

 

Regards

SIGTECH

(Steve).

 

Yes, it is the track plan for Poppy Hollow.

[barney121e]

Here is another plan i like, 8 by 6ft 6 so can extend it. Anything wrong with plan, it is a CJ Freezer one.

 

[imt]

Here is another plan i like, 8 by 6ft 6 so can extend it. Anything wrong with plan, it is a CJ Freezer one.

 

buchan.png

 

Yes there are lots of plans I like too - but haven't built.  Sorry for repeating myself - but are any of these plans what YOU want.  What objectives do you have in building a layout.  Some people don't like passenger trains so build marshalling yards or diesel depots or similar, others want several stations because they like to run timetables, some like scheduling goods trains using load cards. There are hundreds of ways to scratch your itch.  In the end it is no good just looking at somebody elses's plans.  Nobody can decide what YOU want for you.

 

By all means randomly pick a plan and build it.  I can almost guarantee that halfway through you'll want to change it, and then that won't work, then you'll get frustrated and give up after an expensive dive in and out of this hobby.  If you really don't know what you want maybe buy some set track and play with it for a while whilst you work out whether you like this hobby at all.

[barney121e]

What scratches my itch is watching trains run thru scenery, be it green fields or a town area. Mainly passenger but a little freight traffic thrown in. All 3 plans i have posted i could make do this.Ok, the terminus not so much but both continuous plans i could work with. The reason i posted them was to firstly ensure that the plan runs properly and if so if it could be improved upon. So the first plan, Poppy, could i somehow add a passing loop or two and if so where? The last plan i posted was more of a general view to see if plan could be improved somehow.

As previously mentioned i will run trains i like but appreciate they with have to be small trains due to size.

[Nearholmer]

Your first plan is a definite "no, no", because the fiddle tracks are so far from the operating position ........ you would need huge tentacles, so unless you are so blessed .....

 

But, panic ye not, the space you have is enough for quite an interesting layout, if you stick to small engines and short trains. My strong recommendation would be too look at the Ffarquhar thread here, because that layout uses a very good plan, which in its original form, had an operating well in the centre, like yours.

 

The plan is in Freezer's "60 Plans", too. It is SP29, and squished into 4ft x 6ft, in the 2009 edition, but it is in other editions, in other forms, too. It originated in the late 1940s with a chap called Maurice Dean(e) IIRC.

 

Freezer gives another good one for your space as TP1, in the "Track Plans for Various Locations", but it's one that needs a bit of woodworking skill ..... if you have such skill, it is well worth looking at.

 

Both the ones I mention have a circuit, a terminus, and a fiddle-yard, and I think that is the key to operational happiness, because it allows you to represent all of the basic operations of the traditional railway.

 

If you follow the link to my thread, you'll see what I'm doing in 0 in c16ft x 10ft, which is, proportionately, smaller than the space you have.

 

Kevin

[barney121e]

Your first plan is a definite "no, no", because the fiddle tracks are so far from the operating position ........ you would need huge tentacles, so unless you are so blessed .....

 

But, panic ye not, the space you have is enough for quite an interesting layout, if you stick to small engines and short trains. My strong recommendation would be too look at the Ffarquhar thread here, because that layout uses a very good plan, which in its original form, had an operating well in the centre, like yours.

 

The plan is in Freezer's "60 Plans", too. It is SP29, and squished into 4ft x 6ft, in the 2009 edition, but it is in other editions, in other forms, too. It originated in the late 1940s with a chap called Maurice Dean(e) IIRC.

 

Freezer gives another good one for your space as TP1, in the "Track Plans for Various Locations", but it's one that needs a bit of woodworking skill ..... if you have such skill, it is well worth looking at.

 

Both the ones I mention have a circuit, a terminus, and a fiddle-yard, and I think that is the key to operational happiness, because it allows you to represent all of the basic operations of the traditional railway.

 

If you follow the link to my thread, you'll see what I'm doing in 0 in c16ft x 10ft, which is, proportionately, smaller than the space you have.

 

Kevin

 

Thanks for the reply. With the first plan I have access to both sides of layout so I wouldn't need tentacles to reach it.

 

The two Freezer plans you mention are beyond my current skill set, looking for a flatish plan. Plan SP28 in the 60 plans book interested me without the turntable, do you think it has the basic operations of plan SP29. Ffarquhar is very nice, and is similar to the feeling I want for my layout.

[Nearholmer]

SP29 is better operationally, IMHO, and it doesn't need much carpentry. It's a flat baseboard, with a scenic divider.

 

Personally, I think SP28 is a bit boring operationally, but if you like to have a lot of stock, and aren't too into operation, there is nothing wrong with it.

 

K

 

PS: I hope to goodness we have the same edition of the booklet, cos if we don't, we could seriously confuse one another!!

[barney121e]

SP29 is better operationally, IMHO, and it doesn't need much carpentry. It's a flat baseboard, with a scenic divider.

 

Personally, I think SP28 is a bit boring operationally, but if you like to have a lot of stock, and aren't too into operation, there is nothing wrong with it.

 

K

 

But doesn't plan SP29 have a line which runs under the station? Or are you thinking of a station over the line?

[Nearholmer]

Aaah ..... what date is your edition?

 

The one I'm looking at is 2009.

 

The numbers stay the same, but the layouts change, between editions!!

[Nearholmer]

Here is the plan I'm thinking of, but without an operating well http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/110663-the-ffarquhar-branch/

[barney121e]

Aaah ..... what date is your edition?

 

The one I'm looking at is 2009.

 

The numbers stay the same, but the layouts change, between editions!!

 

Looks like 2005, are you able to pm me a pic of the plan?

[Nearholmer]

See the link I just gave - the guy is building it, but without the operating well, as in this version.

 

Just make it bigger, and put a well in the centre.

[barney121e]

ok, will try and draw it in anyrail, will post on here if your around later to confirm it looks ok.

[Nearholmer]

Being an old plan, it uses very tight, probably 15" radius, points, so you will probably need to fiddle about a bit to get it to work with whatever points you propose ....... if Peco, their medium radius will look very good with the sort of small trains involved.

 

Good luck!

 

Kevin

[barney121e]

Being an old plan, it uses very tight, probably 15" radius, points, so you will probably need to fiddle about a bit to get it to work with whatever points you propose ....... if Peco, their medium radius will look very good with the sort of small trains involved.

 

Good luck!

 

Kevin

 

Only roughly done, but is this essence of the plan?