Advice for storage/fiddle yard on a double track WCML layout 17' x 6'

[AMac]

Hi, I am planning a layout which is inspired by Lancaster station. I really like the APT so somewhere on the WCML in the late 70's/early 80's was required (I also liked class 50's but that's a problem for another day!). I'm after ideas or a cunning plan for storage/ a fiddle yard. Things I really wanted on the layout were:

• A through station
• A roundy roundy type so I could have longer trains (and just see them go round if I felt like it)
• A decent section of run so I could run the APT at a bit of speed and and see it tilt around the curves (that's the point isn't it?)
• keep the min. radius to 24"

 

I can squeeze in a layout of 5.2 - 5.3m x 1.8 m (close to 17' x 6'). I also can have room for a depot/storage of 2.3m x 0.75m as an L shaped layout. See my current design using Scarm below/attached. BTW, it will be a DCC layout.

I've squeezed the station shorter, took away the through Up line and added a double slip so a can access the depot/storage area. Normally you could use the back for hidden fiddle yard but this is where I like to see the APT a bit at speed (I know it's not long but I want to try!). I looked at stations like Oxenholme and Penrith but wanted the feel of a bigger station and I liked the bay platforms.

 

Happy for suggestions.

 

Many thanks in advance.

[ITG]

A similar space to which I’m still wrestling with! How about making your circuit a looped 8, so that your fiddle/storage yard is either below (watch gradients) or behind the main line stretch? This way the FY/SY could be either open either end, or a fan of dead end sidings.

Or add some kind of ‘branch’ which drops below the main line to be a dead end yard?

Ian

[RobinofLoxley]

Could be an idea to move this to the layout section

[RobinofLoxley]

1 minute ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Could be an idea to move this to the layout section

whoops. Looks quite well thought out, the 6' dimension is tricky, not much room inside. The two crossovers would be considered the wrong way round by some as they are all facing points. Might derail the APT actually.

 

Its always nice when the platforms are longer than the trains

[DCB]

Come off it.  You aren't that thin, 12" access slot.  I don't think so. Time for rethink

Edited January 29, 2023 by DCB

[AMac]

15 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Could be an idea to move this to the layout section

Hi, yes I saw the Layout section just after I posted. I think you're right but it's here now. Happy to shift though.

 

14 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Looks quite well thought out, the 6' dimension is tricky, not much room inside. The two crossovers would be considered the wrong way round by some as they are all facing points. Might derail the APT actually.

The reason for the top LH facing points is for the DMU's to go from the inner loop into the platform bays. How did the DMU's etc get into the bay platforms operate at Lancaster?

The curved points crossover on the bottom RH were to give the outer loop access to the inner most platform. I note in the actual (current at least) track there is both non-facing and facing crossovers leading in from the London side. Again - I'm keen for knowledge on how these operate. I'm from NZ and haven't lived near railway lines so lacking in knowledge here.

Edited January 29, 2023 by AMac
fixed a couple of typos

[AMac]

21 hours ago, DCB said:

Come off it.  You aren't that thin, 12" access slot.  I don't think so. Time for rethink

 I think you'll find the central "gap" is around 8"!

 

This was going to be a clean 2' gap for the whole length of the inner access slot then I added a scenic section for the town. I am thinking about this - either a removable/hinged section or go back to the original 2' clear access.

 

Cheers

Edited January 29, 2023 by AMac
changed 2" gap to 2' gap!

[RobinofLoxley]

11 hours ago, AMac said:

Hi, yes I saw the Layout section just after I posted. I think you're right but it's here now. Happy to shift though.

 

The reason for the top LH facing points is for the DMU's to go from the inner loop into the platform bays. How did the DMU's etc get into the bay platforms operate at Lancaster?

The curved points crossover on the bottom RH were to give the outer loop access to the inner most platform. I note in the actual (current at least) track there is both non-facing and facing crossovers leading in from the London side. Again - I'm keen for knowledge on how these operate. I'm from NZ and haven't lived near railway lines so lacking in knowledge here.

I completely understood why those pairs of points were there. If you look up

 

https://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php#

 

you can see the approaches to the station do indeed have facing points, its out in the countryside they would be undesirable, and you can also appreciate the real railway has a lot more space to streamline the station approaches. In my own under construction layout I had to position a pair of cross-over turnouts undesirably far from the station. Any how I had a go at the basic plan and have a couple of suggestions . No sooner have I mentioned facing points but I have added two - if you have the possibility to have a yard in the position shown thats very fortunate in modellers terms and you could make use of that to turn stock. Some of it such as the DMU's mentioned dont need to be turned but there's now scope for more operations than originally envisaged I think.

[AMac]

22 hours ago, DCB said:

Time for rethink

Hi DCB - thanks for the mark ups. Looks so simple! I'll start playing around with my layout plan using this as a base. The layout was going to be semi-portable until I worked out I would probably need a lower level for a place to store trains. Your plan of how to get down there gets that and I can still see a train along most of the length along the back.

[AMac]

9 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

I completely understood why those pairs of points were there. If you look up

 

https://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php#

Thanks for the link - I hadn't seen that site before. Really useful!

[AMac]

9 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

you can see the approaches to the station do indeed have facing points, its out in the countryside they would be undesirable,

 Hi RobinofLoxley, thanks again for your comments. Yes the facing points at the top LH corner were quite a way from the station. As I think you realised, I put them there to get the station platform as long as I could but maybe I could shift the the platform a bit the right and shorten it . The Other thouigh I had was start off with my one then get some confidence and build may own bespoke curved points to suit the radii i have (using Templot for the design).

 

 

9 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Any how I had a go at the basic plan and have a couple of suggestions . No sooner have I mentioned facing points but I have added two - if you have the possibility to have a yard in the position shown thats very fortunate in modellers terms and you could make use of that to turn stock. Some of it such as the DMU's mentioned dont need to be turned but there's now scope for more operations than originally envisaged I think.

Thanks that looks really good and I'll give this a go (along similar lines to DCB's marshalling area etc). I though I might end up with a wye eventually. 

[RobinofLoxley]

Personally I would leave the top of the layout open as a 2 track mainline through either countryside or urban (approach to Lancaster) so your Hst has something to run through as you said originally. Plenty of storage room on the RHS and what's more you seem to have easy access to it as well. If you look on the Historical LNWR page you can see there were goods yards either north on a branch or south of the main station so the yard has a real basis. It's very easy to over complicate with track planning software, we've all done it!!