Big jim's (now dismantled) 12 x 6 shed layout

[brittannia]

I used thin card ,cut to width of the polystyrene risers, and glued the track and ballast onto the card and have had no problems with running a diverse set of continental steam and diesel locomotives with their loads.

[Guest 7007GreatWestern]

Hello Jim,

 

Only just found your layout. A great read! You've shared with us every triumph and setback and I for on have learned a lot from you. Thanks.

 

A quick question: I can't see any mention of the dimensions of the shed or the layout. I guess the layout is somewhat smaller than the shed because of the insulation?

 

Great layout and I hope you persevere with it.

 

7007.

[LongRail]

Jim I haveva section of track on polystyrene risers these have 3mm cork on top then the track in pinned down.

This includes a curve section.

Suggest using some coaching stock and push slowly along to identify initial,problems worth getting the track right even if you have to,us pin and realign a few times. Suggest If problems persist check the bogies on the loco's are free to move ok and then drive train as slows possible over the section a few times to see if you can identify what is going wrong. May be usefull to get help with the last one.

 

If you can look along the track at low level this may help identify any issues.

 

Worth spending time getting the alignment correct

[Alister_G]

Hi Jim,

 

The best tool for investigating track and derailment issues that I have found is a video camera!

 

Now you've got your Go-Pro, use it to video your stock at normal speeds, from as near to track level as you can get it, and then you can replay the video at slower speed or even frame-by-frame, it's amazing what it shows up.

 

All the best,

 

Al.

[big jim]

Good idea about the go pro

 

To be honest I can see exactly where they are coming off by eye on one of the inclines, I'm going to try and get in there in a bit with the handheld vac and lift the loose ballast (and maybe the track) to try and rectify the problems

[big jim]

dammit, had to go into work early so thats it for another week til i can do a bit more on the layout

[Danielson's shay no 3]

Hi Jim was wondering if you could do me a favour and next time your out on 60s could you possibly take a nice clear photo of the marking on the cab door side that says about the loco being maintained by total lubricants it's in a white square with red.

 

Many thanks Jim

 

Dan

Edited October 27, 2016 by Danielson's shay no 3

[big jim]

still undecided on what to do with the layout, ive got plenty of ideas in my head that i could see transferred to the shed but i think i'd be struggling for space to see them through, i'm thinking if i rebuild the mainline would just be on one (raised from the baseboard) level with a single line junction dropping away to baseboard height

 

ideally i'd like to lose the removable section but i'd struggle to get a pair of turn back "loops" either side of the shed and still leave enough room to get in through the door,  even if i staggered them and made curved edge baseboards i'd be struggling!

 

decisions decisions

Edited November 6, 2016 by big jim

[Boco_D1]

Maybe I'm playing devils advocate here (and I do like your layout) but what about changing to n gauge? Your shed is a perfect size for it and you may be able to create a horseshoe layout so that you can get in through the door.

[big jim]

I've got too much OO stuff to consider doing that, admittedly it did cross my mind but I've ruled it out

[LongRail]

Jim,

As you are undecided I wouldn't start on anything new just yet

 

If I was you I would stick with what you have got and just play around with it and experiment with different details.

 

over time you may either decide the layout is what you want or that you get more clarity as to what you would like, there was a layout on here (cant find it at the moment) which used an enclosed shelf structure externally at the end of the shed where the track went out the rough the end wall curved around and came back in again, this allowed a longer straight section within the shed itself and gained more space without requiring a larger shed. If you could construct something like would it help?

[Zomboid]

If I were you I would simplify the lift out bridge as much as possible. Try to eliminate points and gradients, and if you need two levels build two bridges. I wouldn't have it scenic either, just a basic bit of track to facilitate completing the circuit.

 

I'd aim for something like this: lancemindheim.com/about-us/removable-bridge

[chris p bacon]

 there was a layout on here (cant find it at the moment) which used an enclosed shelf structure externally at the end of the shed where the track went out the rough the end wall curved around and came back in again, this allowed a longer straight section within the shed itself and gained more space without requiring a larger shed. If you could construct something like would it help?

Coachmans "Oswestry" in OO now in O gauge utilises an outside shelf.

 

Edit....or it did the last time I looked, but as he changes it every 5 minutes that could have changed.

Edited November 7, 2016 by chris p bacon

[Gilbert]

 

If you can look along the track at low level this may help identify any issues.

 

 

Use a small mirror at track level - I have a 6" x6" mirror tile I use - stops you needing to be a contortionist....

Chris

[shanks522]

An outside section could be great if space allows, mainline down one side with freight facility's, a triangular junction then terminus on the other side.

 

Graham.

[big jim]

If I were you I would simplify the lift out bridge as much as possible. Try to eliminate points and gradients, and if you need two levels build two bridges. I wouldn't have it scenic either, just a basic bit of track to facilitate completing the circuit.

I'd aim for something like this: lancemindheim.com/about-us/removable-bridge

crazy thing is the complicated lift out section isnt causing problems now its all soldered up properly, its the shoddy trackwork on the risers, or more the transisions between the flat and incline

 

An outside section could be great if space allows, mainline down one side with freight facility's, a triangular junction then terminus on the other side.

Graham.

outside section is a definate no no unfortunatly or it would be off round the borders in the garden!

 

Jim,

As you are undecided I wouldn't start on anything new just yet

 

If I was you I would stick with what you have got and just play around with it and experiment with different details.

 

over time you may either decide the layout is what you want or that you get more clarity as to what you would like

the layout is "what i want" ie a roundy roundy with plenty of length to give the locos a good workout and not just appear through the station with every circuit, and thats the problem, if i did decide to rebuild it id probably still end up going down the figure of 8 route and im worried i'll be in the same situation as im in now a few years down the line

 

the saving grace is ive not done too much in the way of scenics on it and what i have done has come adrif in places, ie retaining walls come away from the risers, ballast not sticking down properly so it wont be a hassle to lift what i have done, obviously the ready to plant buildings can be re-used etc, all i'll really lose is the bits of scenics ive done with metcalfe brick paper etc

 

i'm feeling 99.9% that ripping it up (carefully) and starting afresh is going to be the way forward, right the way down to new baseboards (keeping the existing frames)

 

another reason i feel like a change is when i started this layout i worked for chiltern so had a lot of passenger stock, units, coaches etc so i concentrated on making a decent sized station, now since colas i have a lot of freight stock, IM trains etc so im thinking of making the yard bigger (ie longer sidings) and having a small 2 or 3 car station that the likes of the 'wag' passing through and having just units stop there, as ive said previously a junction dropping to a lower level appeals to me

 

at the minute the biggest inspiration in getting is chris leigh's harbour layout as featured in this months model rail, the railway running on a bridge high up over a townscape appeals to me, whether i could pull it off is another matter!

[big jim]

you know what, ive been sitting here thinking i've had enough, im going to start again, rip it out etc but ive missed the most obvious way of rectifying the problems i've been having witht the layout and the fix won't involve having to start afresh and i'll still have what i want from the layout!

 

quite simply the main issue is the track condition leading to the hidden area from the inclines causing derailments in the hidden part of the layout, simple(ish) solution, transpose the station side of the layout, turn it on its head as it were and put the station area on the lower baseboard and have the high level part a simple 2 track "shelf" along the side wall of the shed, ie the lines running atop a retaining wall/viaduct behind the now exposed lower section

 

that way i will be able to keep the side of the layout ive already sceniced up (while tidying up the trackwork)

 

feel so much more positive about it now 

[big jim]

While the mojo was there I quickly made a start on the above plan

 

Cleared the buildings off the station side

 

And 1/2 hour later.....

 

No turning back now!!

 

Next job is to remove the high level boards, simple job only a few screws, then renew the lower boards as i have cut holes in it to retrieve derailments so they are not reuseable

 

Hopefully I'll get a bit more done over the weekend

[CovDriver]

Good luck on the rebuild Jim I'll be watching with great interest as I have a cunning plan for sometime next year that may involve a new garden shed

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Colin

[5BarVT]

It feels to me like you're going the right way. If everything is accessible, then you have more chance of getting it right first time and it's easier to fix if anything does go wrong. All the best for version 2.

 

Paul.

[big jim]

more destruction, sorry, progress earlier....

 

lifted the top boards

 

this is one of the points causing problems...

 

which i can now get rid of and keep the mainline as plain rail by slewing the track over slightly

 

if i keep the high level tracks as close as possible when i refit them i will be able to have the mainline running in front of the "shelf/wall" and the new line from the yard will have to go into a scenic tunnel for a short section below the high level tracks, in case of derailments i'll fix the retaining wall in place with magnetic tape as i did with the town area so i can simply pull it away if i need to

 

took all the low level track out too

 

and the points off the removable section as they wont be needed any more

 

to get a rough idea of what i want to do i placed a couple of lengths of track on the removable section

 

and slewed the track below

 

then using some card i thought i'd see how it would look as an enclosed area again, this time a lot shorter than before

 

the wood along the front will be shortened to about where the card ends

 

and looking the other way

 

as you can see with the amount of holes in the bottom boards i will need to replace the lot, i did consider simply fitting thinner ply over the top of the existing boards but the time it will take to do that i may as well just put new down, may have a go at removing them tomorrow, again a simple job, the most time consuming part is going to be getting the new boards from B&Q and getting them cut down

Edited November 12, 2016 by big jim

[ess1uk]

That was fast work.

Hope this works for you as it looks like it should be easier to use now.

Looking forward to seeing the revised scenics.

[lmsforever]

Good progress Jim the new design looks good  hope it all goes well what are the locos on the window shelf they look interesting?

[big jim]

Good progress Jim the new design looks good hope it all goes well what are the locos on the window shelf they look interesting?

Those are the kids play engines, a Hornby virgin 06 shunter and a 'super S' 0-4-0 from the 70s

 

I've had a couple of additions to the fleet this week, first up Hornby NMT powercars courtesy of eBay for a shade over £90 which I'm well pleased with

 

the Hornby coaches are like rocking horse doings now so I may well go down the Electra graphics route and vinyl up some standard MK3s to suit or possibly if I'm feeling brave get the phdesigns NMT coach etches and respray some myself

 

Then today I got this from the hobby goblin in burslem, totally out of era but it's so nice and quite hard to come by I decided to have it anyway, an absolute bargain at £85 DCC chipped and beautifully weathered with etched plates etc

 

 

Had I been 10 minutes earlier I'd have probably ended up with a couple more locos the bloke in front bought!!

[d winpenny]

Some nice additions theire Jim 58 looks lovely good find

 

David