Hornby R9057 trakmat

[Berryman]

Hello everyone,
Thank you very much for adding as a new member. I'm a big fan of Hornby (00) and Jouef (H0).
I want to build a small layout using the track plan of the famous Hornby R9057 trakmat. It will be a little bit downsized (1.27m x 1.00m) because I don't have enought room for the full version (and not enought money). Did someone already build this layout ? Many thanks in advance for your advices.

 

 

[The Johnster]

Well, it'll work fine.  My criticism is that it looks a bit trainsetty, and if if were me I'd improve with a bit of pruning.  Unless you insist on having two trains running at the same time, in which case you won't be able to shunt the sidings without fouling the inner circuit, I'd dispense with the inner circuit's R605 curves at the left hand end of the plan.  

 

This gives a feasible single track with a goods yard/private sidings/factory off it.  You can use the money you've saved on the R605s towards another crossover so that you can run around a train to change direction.  At the top right of the inner circuit, replace the R605 with R604 and R641, to connect to the right handed version of R641 (R640? R642?) coming off the top straight on the outer circuit, where you replace the R601 with R600 and the right hand turnout. 

 

Now you have a layout on which you can operate 2 trains, though not simultaneously, prototypically holding one in the passing/run around loop you've just created while the other runs around the circuit, or alternatively leaving one running continuously while shunting out the yard.  

 

There is scope, if you are building this on a rectangular board, for short sidings off the outside of the circuit into the corners; if you have one in each direction this means more running round to access them, and more operations to perform; it's potentially an interesting little layout to work.  It's possible to replace the 'upper' crossover with curved points on the right hand curve, but I'm reluctant to recommend this as they can lead to problems because of the long dead insulated frogs, especially with the smaller locos you'll likely by using.

 

The layout can be expanded by the outside sidings already suggested, and there is room for a short siding off the inner circuit/loop at the bottom straight R600, but this might make things look a bit crowded in there.  Turnouts off the outer curcuit//'main line' to the edge of the board can connect to further baseboards if room ever becomes available, to be used as fiddle yards or extensions to the layout.

 

My proposed run around loop at the right hand curve can be incorporated in to the double track plan if you wish; it's worth doing IMHO as it's make for more realistic running round instead of uncoupling the loco from the train and then running it around the circuit to couple to the other end...

 

Welcome to the madness, I mean website, Berryman, and good luck!

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by The Johnster