The beginnings of a plan!

[derangedlemming]

Hi all,

 

After getting back into model railways during lockdown I've been trying to come up with a plan for a small layout. I don't have a ton of space so want something compact that can be packed away when not in use. My plan is to build it over two baseboards that can be stored out of the way at the bottom of a cupboard. The baseboards can be a bit deeper then in the plan so I am thinking of extending it and adding a raised street running along the back of the bay platform. 

 

I thinking of a having a traverser for the fiddleyard, although I've been playing around with the idea of splitting the fiddleyard board so that the front half is a scenic area with the fiddle hidden at the back. The main thing putting me off this this approach is that I would only be able to fit about two sidings in the fiddleyard.

 

Any advice or ideas would be appreciated!

 

[Flying Pig]

This is a good start and a very typical model BLT! A few thoughts:

 

- can you swap the loop and bay points to lengthen the loop?  It looks very short as drawn.

 

- the bay also needs to be a bit further back to allow a slightly wider platform.

 

- note that to shunt the kickback siding you will first have to pull all the wagons out of the front siding, so you can use it as a headshunt.  This is either a point of interest or a pain in the neck, depending on how you see it.

[derangedlemming]

Thanks, they're all good ideas, when I get home I'm going to have a play around at rearranging  things. Extending the loop would reduce the length of the kickback siding, I'm thinking maybe I remove it or have it go to an engine shed that could help block the view of the line out to the fiddleyard.

[Geep7]

I'm assuming that your run-round loop is long enough for 2 standard 64'5 length coaches (it looks about 600mm, so 2 x Mk1's or equivalent?), in which case, swapping the 2 points around for the bay and loop wouldn't gain you much, maybe the length of an extra 4-wheel parcel van. You don't mention what era or region you're modelling, so this could have a bearing on whether this would be worth doing.

Also to point out (excuse the pun), that if you did swap the points around, it would reduce the length of the bay platform. What kind of traffic did you envisage using the bay? Parcels stock, multiple unit / push-pull train?

[Nick Holliday]

A few random thoughts:

Does the station have to run parallel to the front?  Putting it on a slant might create more space for the goods yard, fiddle yard or engine shed.  Gives you a variety of view points, as not everything is side on.

Consider using  cassettes for the fiddle yard.  Takes up less space and gives you, potentially, lots of sidings, if you can arrange storage for the unused cassettes, perhaps on brackets behind the backscene.

What about a three-way point at the station entrance.? Not unknown, and would increase the length of the run-round and maintain the bay platform length.

[derangedlemming]

Thanks for all the ideas, gives me lots to think about! I'm basing the layout in the late 50's/early 60's, to be honest I hadn't even considered a region.

The run-around loop is designed for two Mk1's so you're right that moving the points around wouldn't make much difference, a three way point could be interesting (are they much more complicated to wire up than a standard point?). My thinking is the bay platform would be used for multiple units.

I like the idea of rotating the station a bit, I wasn't overly happy with how everything was parallel (hence the weird curved siding!), hopefully I will have a bit of time tonight to play around with the layout.

Using cassettes is a good idea, I guess I would still need an extra baseboard to support the cassettes and then have a scenic section at the front. I'm thinking maybe I can move the entrance to the cassette towards the edge of the board so its not wasting space.