Documentation in the planning of a railway layout

[whart57]

My first reaction was not for me and I still think that for a home layout. However as a way of keeping the building of a club layout on track a more formal approach might be useful

[Bittern]

I agree - that level of documentation is excessive for my own needs, though I do keep notes of requirements, designs and why I did or didn't like them, and so on, since it would be useful if I ever wrote up a project and it give me a reminder of what I was thinking when I start the next project (which helps avoid making a mistake I avoided in the past).  I also make detailed construction documentation (wiring diagrams etc.), links to or copies of photos used as references, and so on. 

 

Even for a club layout, where writing out documentation in full is more useful, I think AyJay's example went a bit far stating the obvious, though I suspect that's partly just the natural result of filling out a template without a real project to provide some content.

[DCB]

It looks like a good template for a third party to construct a layout from, stating the obvious is an essential in any planning for third parties because the ability of the human being to get the wrong idea is almost limitless.  Equally the deviousness of Loyers (Cotswold dialect for Liars and Lawyers) is bottomless .

I would suggest however that the planning doesn't seem to have started far enough back.  What is the layout for?  There are about 9 of the locos, 6 ex GWR and 3 ex LMS which could have been seen in the same place, Bristol Temple Meads, One not normally seen south of Preston, Two not normally seen North of Waterloo.   A massive bias towards express locos,  There is no generic location you could expect to see that lot unless you go for post WW2 modernist generic BR "Lackof" style with non regional specific colour light signals.  Then again the track layout should come before the baseboard planning to keep the baseboard frames away from the point motors so you can optimise the track layout, not the other way around, obviously if its a modular layout a la USA where everyone's modules are standard so you can mx and match this doesn't apply.
If the plan is to run the collections of locos one at a time and have them on display on the layout when not pulling trains the planning makes sense, but it won't be very railway like.  There is usually at least a 1 to 1 ratio of local passenger trains to expresses.   Locals stop at small stations, expresses don't,   

My suggested scenario is a station on the outskirts of a town with a terminus, the terminus loco depot is by the small station (like Monument Lane Birmingam was for New Street I know New Street isn't a Terminus)  so the express locos come and go to the hidden sidings and run non stop trains on the visible bit. The smaller 4-6-0s can operate the locals, but there seems to be a dearth of the small 0-6-0s and the like (0-6-0 tanks on the WR) which ran pick up goods etc.  But at the end of the day its personal choice. 

[The Stationmaster]

It's always easy for a more accomplished modeller or someone with a good knowledge of real railways to criticise the starting point of a model as being - 'whatever'.  The difference we need to recognise is that not all railway modellers are creating a model of a railway but are, quite simply, developing a model railway and the two are not necessarily the same thing.

 

If you start with an interest in railways, perhaps some knowledge of railway history, maybe an interest in na particular part of the country, or even an interest in particular locos and items of rolling stock, your approach to railway modelling might well derive from those influences.  But equally I don't doubt that plenty of folk start with models they acquired because they like them, or were given them as gifts, and build a railway to run them on.  Both approaches are right if whichever of them happens to suits what you intend to do for yourself.

 

There are a number of things in the document which I could criticise - starting with several in the glossary - but that doesn't matter because if the person who wrote the document understands what they have written that is what counts for their use of it.

[Bernard Lamb]

On 07/10/2022 at 07:51, AyJay said:

 

 

I can recall things that I did 50 years ago like they were yesterday. But sometimes, I don't know what I did last week, so I often rely on notes to self.

It's called getting old.😀

At times I cannot remember what I did five seconds ago.

There is a note on the floor by the front door that says "lead".

The meaning still escapes me even though I wrote it down.🙄

Bernard

[KeithMacdonald]

4 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

It's called getting old.😀 At times I cannot remember what I did five seconds ago. There is a note on the floor by the front door that says "lead".

The meaning still escapes me even though I wrote it down.🙄

Bernard

 

@AyJay - Thanks to @Bernard Lamb for making perhaps the most powerful and simple case for documenting what we do (or did, or intend doing).

 

Especially important for any of us that have worked on so many projects over so many years that we need prompts to nudge the memory. Also very useful for when there's a project team and one needs evidence that anything was done (or not)!

 

Folks here might offer feedback and suggestions about chosen methodologies and levels of detail, but the purpose and intent is clearly good.

Keep at it! 🙂

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

There is a note on the floor by the front door that says "lead".

The meaning still escapes me even though I wrote it down.

It's fine to help you remember the lead but not if you forget the dog.

[KingEdwardII]

8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

not if you forget the dog

Usually, picking up the lead results in the dog frisking around you expecting to be taken for walkies - not so easy to forget that...

[Bernard Lamb]

Ayjay.

I would have liked to have seen how you arrived at the decision to use Peco code 75 track.

Why did you reject bull head when your locomotives are mainly from steam days?

What about other types of track?

To me you have started half way through the process.

But then I am the opposite of you. I cannot abide writing procedures yet at work given a crisis when everything had gone pear shaped I was the one who could be relied on to sort things out. I loved a crisis when the rule book had to be thrown out of the window.

Bernard

[AyJay]

Well this is turning out to be a stimulating discussion and, typically, subject to some scope creep. 
I’m pleased that Mike ‘Stationmaster’ put his bit in, for that’s where I am.  I never set out to model a railway, for if I had, then I would need a timetable, roster, bell codes and who knows what else???

No, I just love running engines, especially big express engines and I have built a picture frame to show them in. As has been pointed out, each of the big 4 is represented; I don’t care, I bought whatever appeals to me. The only constraint, they must have the BR totem; except for one carriage which is from Hogwarts, keep that one to yourself 😉

I wrote this for me; but please adapt and use as you wish.

[DCB]

On 09/10/2022 at 18:36, Bernard Lamb said:

It's called getting old.😀

At times I cannot remember what I did five seconds ago.

There is a note on the floor by the front door that says "lead".

The meaning still escapes me even though I wrote it down.🙄

Bernard

 

We were going up the A417 towards Harebushes at about 70MPH when my wife said, "Oh we forgot the car...." 
 

On 11/10/2022 at 19:29, AyJay said:

Well this is turning out to be a stimulating discussion and, typically, subject to some scope creep. 
I’m pleased that Mike ‘Stationmaster’ put his bit in, for that’s where I am.  I never set out to model a railway, for if I had, then I would need a timetable, roster, bell codes and who knows what else???

No, I just love running engines, especially big express engines and I have built a picture frame to show them in. As has been pointed out, each of the big 4 is represented; I don’t care, I bought whatever appeals to me. The only constraint, they must have the BR totem; except for one carriage which is from Hogwarts, keep that one to yourself 😉

I wrote this for me; but please adapt and use as you wish.

"I love running engines, especially big express engines and I intend to build a picture frame to show them in. Each of the big 4 Railways is represented  as is British Railways. The only constraint, they must have the BR totem; except for one carriage which is from Hogwarts,"       Is probably what should have been the first line of the mission statement.      I have long experience of people who won't state what is obvious (to them) and so they can't work out why other people don't understand their point of view.  My Piece de resistance was the Pub who wanted an extension till 2 am when the local stable had a winner at Cheltenham.  And that's what they got  An extension  till 2 AM when the local stable had a winner at Cheltenham.They actually wanted an extension till 2AM every day but that was not what they asked for!

 

A layout to showcase one's loco's  is quite a common requirement, admittedly some others only want to showcase their scenic skills and then they run any old tat, others want a model of a railway which has somewhere for trains to go from and go to (quite often terminus to Fiddle Yard.) and can be operated like a full size railway (The Rev W Awdrys layouts did this extremely well)  but others build a model of an entire railway, the Madder Valley being an outstanding and very early example. My point is people have different ideas of the norm.  A lot of modelers get sucked in to copying other people's efforts without thinking things through.  Exhibition layouts tend to need small baseboards which can be assembled quickly and fit easily into a three wheeled Reliant van or similar yet a lot of layouts for home use still start with modules designed to fit in Reliant or  Morris Minor vans, One question which seemingly never gets asked is   do you need trains to run both ways?   Engine changing takes a lot less room if it only happens at one end of a station, saves 5 to 15 feet station length.   My test track originally storage for a never finished loft layout, only runs clockwise..     I just think the planning needs to start further back and a decision on what you do want and what you don't need is something which should be documented  to help third parties understand your choices.
 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by DCB

[AndyB]

TBH this level and formality of documentation would be a bit too much for me. 

 

However, that's not to say I don't document clear objectives for my layouts; for example within a layout's thread. And plenty of others do, too; albeit after the fact. How often have we seen:

 

"We made the baseboards lightweight...none of us in the club were getting any younger..."

 

"The baseboards could be no longer than 3"6' to fit into my hatchback..."

 

"Control was to be DC  as well as DCC to allow all club members to run their trains.. "

 

"It has to be continuous run to keep my grandchildren happy..."

 

"It had to be GWR as family holidays were always in Devon..."

 

Many of these decisions are evidently engraved in peoples' minds and they don't need to write them down. 

 

BUT here's a thing. What about layout disposal? When we sell a car how much more is it worth with FSH. 

 

So, an owners manual detailing wiring etc might be very handy for when repairs are needed. 

 

Equally for, say, a club layout that uses some of the more advanced automation techniques full documentation might be advisable rather than it being in one person's head?

Edited October 13, 2022 by AndyB