Blog- Gauging Interest @ RMWeb - The Peco Setrack N Gauge Planbook

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Bit of a departure from the usual 'I've got a big gob and I'm going to use it' approach this week, although more generalist 'stuff' is a feature of my Gauging Interest diary (I've reviewed one of this authors books before on my website) so it's not totally out of place. Sorry for the poor photos, they do the job though.

 

 

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Peco have continued the overhaul of their Setrack books with a totally revised version of the N scale edition, and once again they've drafted in fixed-track-geometry specialist Paul A Lunn for some creative thinking about how to get the most from the Peco range. Peco overhauled the OO gauge Setrack planbook with two editions inside two years (although the second version was more of an update than a complete re-write), and anyone who remembers the Peco planbooks of old will appreciate just how much of a leap forward these new publications are over the old versions. For years Peco turned out Setrack books that were firmly stuck in the trainset mindset, including figure of eights with flat crossovers and simple ovals with sidings, and the plans were decades behind current layout thinking. Fast forward to a couple of years ago and here's Paul Lunn, who brought together a combination of creative layout thinking and artistic representations of the finished layouts to produce some interesting concepts and a worthwhile publication in the OO trackplan book.

 

So having been treated to versions of the OO Setrack book in 2007 and 2008, this year we got a brand new N gauge version, and while a couple of the layouts have been recycled from the OO books there's plenty of new stuff on show here. The first 11 pages are given over to various aspects of layout building, such as the geometry of the Peco Setrack range, where to site the layout, baseboard construction, wiring, and so on. From page 12 onwards the book goes through 27 different plans, combining a track diagram (indicating the Setrack components required), a superb 'artists impression' of what the finished layout could look like, prototype photos, rolling stock suggestions, and box-outs giving details of other books, publications and locations to visit where further useful information can be gathered. Copyright forbids me from directly reproducing any of the plans here (and at just ??2.50 it seems churlish to take profit away from grandfather Peco by doing so), but here's a peek inside to see the sort of thing you get. Anyone familiar with the OO version of the book will feel right at home.

 

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One aspect that the book should be commended on is that it doesn't fall into the trap of assuming that the use of Setrack is restricted to trainsets and thus all that's required is to simply turn out page after page of ovals - while the first plan is indeed an oval, as soon as Plan 2 this concept is left behind and doesn't really return for the rest of the book. There's plenty of shunting layouts, end to end, freight only and terminus-to-fiddleyard plans.

 

But what are the plans actually like? On the whole I'd say acceptable, there's certainly a few in there that make creative use of space and introduce some new ideas, and there's no complete howlers. The Falmouth Docks plan neatly disguises the nature of the oval and has some interesting operating potential (although the use of radius 1 curves when a larger radius would have comfortably fitted and allowed a larger fiddleyard - and more realistic appearance - seems shortsighted). Brunel Station is another clever piece of thinking, the idea of just modelling the end of a station where locos uncouple and run round their trains being so obvious that you wonder why this isn't a more frequently used layout concept. Some of the smaller plans, such as the Cobra Railhead and Mells Road Sleeper Depot, would also make attractive layouts. The Oxcroft Coal Disposal Point is ideal for someone who likes scratchbuilding big industrial buildings, and on similar lines the Wirksworth Mineral Line would also make a fine model. Perhaps the most ingenious is Merry-go-round Coal Trains where the syncronisation of two seperate trains is performed to give the impression of wagons being emptied.

 

This last plan however does start to highlight some of the problems with the plans. The MGR Coal Trains layout is more suited to exhibition running (in order to syncronise the two trains you'd need to stand next to the fiddleyard, and yet the effect you're trying to achieve is only observable from the scenic side), and also requires scratchbuilding some fairly large and extensive industrial structures. Bearing this in mind, would a modeller contemplating this sort of layout use Setrack? This question has to be asked about most of the larger plans really - most of the plans I've highlighted above lean towards the smaller end as the larger plans don't seem to make as ingenious use of the space available and are frequently crying out for some sweeping flexitrack curves. The worst culprits? Probably Plan 6 where a space 8ft x 6ft only has one quarter of the baseboard employed for the scenic part of the layout, and Plan 12 which is specifically designed to incorporate a representation of the Ribblehead Viaduct - surely such a magnificant location demands a more realistic and sensitive approach than constant radius curves and short radius Setrack points? I must also mention Plans 18 and 19, both 40+ point behemoths, and at least 13ft x 8ft in size - these strike me as being multi-year projects more suited to an experienced modeller, incorporating turntables, reverse loop wiring, kit or scratchbuilding narrow gauge rolling stock on Z gauge track (!), and some fairly extensive scenic treatment. Yes Plan 19 suggests the layout could be built in stages, but who are these plans aimed at? They seem far too extensive for the beginner, and it seems unlikely that experienced modellers would use Setrack in these instances.

 

When the book sticks with the small and manageable though it does provide ideas for both beginners and experienced modellers, but overall I personally preferred the concepts on display in the OO version. Somehow these just seemed more thought out and creative and, for me personally, prompted me to nod my head more often and think 'I'd like to build that'. I think the size factor comes into play too - most of the OO plans were relatively small and really explored the limits of how limited spaces can be used. That just seemed to be missing with the N gauge version.

 

 

What I'd truly like to see is Paul Lunn let off the Setrack leash and allowed to design layouts without restrictions. In another publication it's stated that his main interest is in getting the most from sectional track, so perhaps it wouldn't be something that would interest him, but for me there is an unanswered question with Paul - if this is what he can manage with sectional track, just what might he be able to do with flexitrack and larger radius points?

 

Peco are still producing CJ Freezer's excellent '60 Plans for Small Railways' and 'Track Plans' books even after all these years, so there's every indication that a new, 'general' trackplans book would sell well. Antony New has attempted his own take on trackplans which personally I didn't think moved on a great deal from CJ Freezer's designs, and Iain Rice continues to plough his own furrow with his 'railway in a landscape' approach that is less about the trackplan and more about taking a wider view of the layout as a whole. That approach isn't for everyone, and with the unfortunate and untimely passing of CJ Freezer is there now a gap for Paul to fill? He tends to start with the Freezer-esque, 'operation is king' approach, dilutes this down to remove the less-diserable 'every piece of baseboard should have track on it' aspect of Freezer plans, adds in elements of Iain Rice's thinking about considering the layout as a whole, and then infuses the design with his own creative ideas. This usually consists of taking the best elements of traditional track design (the oval, the terminus to fiddleyard, and so on) and offering up a new twist on the theme. A new '60 Plans for Small Railways' edition featuring Paul as the designer? Yes please.

 

Is the Peco Setrack N Gauge Planbook worth your money? ??2.50 is such a small outlay that I'd have to say yes. It's not quite the tour-de-force of the OO version, but at the price even if you just get one or two ideas from it that has to be money well spent. Hit and miss definitely, but I'd recommend a click of the 'Add to basket' button.

 

 

 

Peco Setrack N Gauge Planbook

Peco Catalogue Number: IN-1

??2.50

Available directly from Peco (www.peco-uk.com) or from Peco Stockists.

 

 

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