Southern Electric layout design advice

[Alex TM]

Hi folks,

 

Once again, thanks for the contributions.  I think there are enough ideas here to keep me going for a decade or two!

 

Jon, thanks for the plans and the 3D images.  I particularly like the last one as it allows me, as you said, to display the units, as well as having some shunting to do.  Although you haven't put sizes on it, the plan looks to be around 8'x1' - would that be right?

 

Once more, thanks for the help.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[jon_1066]

No, both plans are 6' by 1' as requested.

[TonyMay]

 

Design Parameters:

1.  Space available 6' x 1' self-contained (although I am trying to find space to add another 2' to this to add a separate fiddle yard/sector plate))

2.  Gauge = 00

3.  Southern region - late 1950s

4.  Suburban electrics with a small amount of local freight

5.  Maximum train length = 2'

 

 

 

 

 

I particularly like the last one as it allows me, as you said, to display the units, as well as having some shunting to do.  Although you haven't put sizes on it, the plan looks to be around 8'x1' - would that be right?

 

 

Stealing an extra 2' even for a fiddle yard would improve things immensely, even if it is only erected when you have a session   I assume from the lack of depth, you are operating it at home from the front.  It illustrates how display considerations change due to the operating position between layouts operated at home (where you have less space and operate from the front), and for exhibition (where you have more space and can operate from the back).  You want to be sure you want to be leaning over scenery to the fiddle yard at the back to change stock.

 

Also never particularly been a fan of the scenery-in-front of the fiddle yard to hide the fiddle yard and off-stage to on-stage entrance and exit tracks where the layout is so narrow.  With a deeper baseboard you can build a believable industrial building with reasonable depth, but what do you have room for here?  A wall.  Why is that there?

 

A terminus is also probably better, as illustrated above where you had 2/3 of the length taken up by two separate fiddleyards when one should suffice.  There's a reason why BLTs are popular.

[TonyMay]

Also, working with micros, you need to work down to the nearest millimetres as that will determine what you can and can't get into the space.  Inches simply aren't precise enough.

 

Here's one idea:

 

 

 

The red is the running line (electrified), yellow are the carriage sidings (electrified), the green is the loop (non-electrified) and the wagon sidings are non-electrified too.

 

Putting the on the R/H side of the layout with the cassettes to the left means that the trains run maximum length of the layout, as opposed to making a token appearance at one end.  Operations are in and out again, and in and into the carriage sidings, and out and back again).  Shunting operations are a bit more complicated.

 

Also built in is a 3 road inglenook, but the shunting engine will have to get out of the way when passenger trains are due.

 

The track in the centre is interlaced, i.e. you will have to cut the ends off with a circular saw and patch it back together again, unless you fancy an attempt at hand-building the track.  I think I've got the catch point correct, as that will protect the passenger lines, but one is not needed to protect the loop.

 

 

The loop is closed using the cassette.  One of the previously suggested plans closed the loop on the board but really's there's not much room so save yourself the cost of installing two points.

[Alex TM]

Hi folks,

 

Once more thanks for all the input, especially the graphics as they have given me, literally, a much better picture of what I could or could not do.  At the moment there are still problems with trying to get an extra couple of feet.  I must admit that I agree with the comment about hiding fiddle yards behind buildings; I find that on narrow layouts that they do not always seem to work as well in practice as they do in theory.

 

Again, many thanks.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[jon_1066]

Can you set it up such that you can get access to the last two feet even if you can't take full possession of it?  That would either allow you to have removable cassettes that overhang the end or at least slide in and out from that end.

[The Bigbee Line]

  I think I've got the catch point correct, as that will protect the passenger lines, but one is not needed to protect the loop.

 

 

Is there any trapping for something running away from the carriage sidings?

[TonyMay]

Is there any trapping for something running away from the carriage sidings?

 

The catch/trap point is the furthest yellow track to the right and and protects the main line from the carriage sidings.  I haven't put a corresponding one in for the loop as I'm pretending that there's a catch/trap or headshunt protecting the main line at the end of the loop on the left, and I don't think a non-passenger carrying loop needs to be protected.  

[Alex TM]

Hi folks,

 

First, many thanks to all who shared their ideas and wisdom on this thread; it is appreciated.

 

As play stands at the moment there are too many restrictions on my own time and space for me to take this idea any further for the time being.  The one advantage of this will be that it will give me more of an opportunity to read through books and look at pictures of the real thing prior to building anything.

 

Once more, many thanks.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.