Wycliffe to Comberland Road - Moving to OO

[pirouets]

So the time has come that I am thinking of a new layout. At the same time I am also looking at moving from N gauge as my eyes and fingers are struggling to cope so moving from the planning stage will take some time.

 

Firstly the main reason for a change is that my current layout whilst about 80% complete I have realised is no fun to run and I missing operations such as shunting rather than trains just running through a piece of country side. I have learnt loads whilst building the layout such as use of static grass, making trees, use of bridges, etc and all of this will be put to good use in the change.

 

So what do I want from this new layout

 

1. To shunt stuff.

2. The ability for slower trains to be put in a siding whilst a faster train over takes.

3. Possibly multi era and definitely be able to swap regions.

4. Part of a station.

5. Minories for the passenger stock to run to & from.

6. Simple fiddle yard for freight. thinking 3 tracks per side plus a couple of spurs for DMUs/short steam passenger.

7. Basic townscene around the through line

8. Maintain a reasonable space for the operating area

9. Get the kids involved.

10. Working signals?

11. Max length of 5 coaches running round the main line. ( Does get me thinking about the fiddle yard space still)

 

So we all know where minories comes from, but the other idea is a slight compression from Shadbolts lock which was in Railway Modeller in Nov 2003.

 

My first attempt has been done using the free version of Anyrail with the 50 item rule. I then moved it to ppt to create JPG and add a couple of other details.

 

Wycliffe is the through station and Cumberland road would be the terminus. I have not got the Minories side right yet in terms of radius leading in to it and need to make sure the design can have a 4 coach plus loco train, which given I have around an 8ft section to put it in should not be a problem. Also the Through station & fiddle yard would need to be laid and fully operational to prove I had the space for minories. If I find there is not then the fiddle yard design would be larger.

 

Time wise given the amount sorting in the shed and disposal of the n gauge stuff means it could well be mid summer before the boards are built but that might be a good thing to plan this slowly.

[Crewlisle]

A couple of questions:

 

1. What is the overall size?

2. How wide are the top & bottom baseboards?

3. What size is the operating well?

4. Are the bottom baseboards the high level to accommodate the fiddle yard?

[DCB]

I don't like the way the sidings at the through station kick back off a short dead end road, It will be very frustrating to operate.   Having the sidings fan out in the opposite direction would be more prototypical. Also having lay byes where trains reverse back rather than loops is more typical for steam days

Do you want a goods yard where goods os unloaded or sorting sidings where trains are marshaled and re-marshaled?  Many modelers get the two confused, marshaling siding are usually close together with just room for shunters to move alongside wagons,  Goods yard will have widely spaced roads with room to get carts ad lorries alongside

 

Minories is designed as an inner suburban terrninus, cramped among urban buildings, it doesn't work on a singe line approach   I would suggest Fort William prototype either old or new s a better track plan  for a rural branch line solution.

 

I think you will find the 00 couplers a nightmare after N gauge, I use Peco / H/D types on one layout and Tension Lock outside and on my Triang floor layout and I really hate Tension lock.  I often wondered about using N gauge couplers in 00 if I was starting again

[Chimer]

I can't see how you are going to get access to actually fiddle with things with the FY behind the branch terminus - if it's just loops to hold trains OK, otherwise perhaps move the terminus behind the FY and maybe a couple of inches higher so you can pretend not to see the FY when looking at the terminus?  This would also give you more length for the terminus area as you could go right into the bottom left corner.

 

Agree with DCB that the Minories layout doesn't work with a single track approach - the short passing loops on the approach don't have any function that I can see.  I would go for just one platform and more goods facilities - you can get your shunting kicks here rather than at the through station maybe?

 

Also agree about the difficulties of shunting Wycliffe with that layout.

 

I take it the right hand side is all hidden and you are just modelling the ends of the Wycliffe platforms?

 

Does the third track on the left hand side go round to the FY, or is it a siding?

 

More questions than answers, sorry!

[pirouets]

Thanks for the question. Time for a bit more pondering me thinks. Answers that I can think of off the top of my head.

 

1. I probably do plan to go back to steam as the primary era but will go and look at the siding thoughts that have been posted. 2 of my favourite loco's are the Praries from GWR and a simple 4F on a freight. Don't think I would have dual running on the line though so would need to decide whether to go midland or western

 

2. In the mean time the shed is 12*6 so knock of 4 inches due to the batons that hold the shed up. As far as board side the main station was 21 inches and the back board probably planned for 24. I have some set track and need to play with how many tracks go in to 12 inches. I suspect its between 5 & 6 max looking at what I can squeeze in to n gauge in the same space.

 

3. Fiddle yard will be loops to hold trains and does identify on problem that has been knawing at me. If I ran a train from the terminus how might it be reversed so it can go back.

 

4. Finally in the minories piece, the single line approach would be out of the scene. Should have added some lines to show the edge round that.

[pirouets]

So having though some more, read various articles I have come up with something new. I was thinking of going with an old plan of mine and then adding in something I saw in railway modeller in the shape of Ting Tong yard but then saw something else that gave me an idea. A while hack there was a layout call Anderstaff Yard which I liked and I was reminded of something StuartM is doing in 2mm finescale so I have sketched that out for now. This gives a raised 2 track main line for running trains and then a lower level yard.

 

I downloaded the fee version of Anyrail and came up with this. Not sure its right yet. One thought is whether I would model about 2 ft of a station on the curve. The other is whether I build a full fiddle yard or have 2 lines to allow circular running and then use cassettes for the stock. This would mean I have a decent space in the shed still. Longest train I can see on the main line would be a loco plus 5 coaches.

 

In the mean time it will be a while before anything happens as the existing layout needs to go, stock be sold give the shed a real tidy up as its 10 years old now so I should take the opportunity to give it a thorough check plus re-treat it on the outside.

[pirouets]

So the great shed clear out is well underway. The old n gauge stock is boxed up and now needs to be catalogued, the old layout has gone and I am now sorting out the junk I allowed to end up in the railway room.

 

I am still working through the design for the new layout but I have been thinking about the fiddle yard and how to have space to stand in/work in and am coming to the conclusion the new layout will use cassettes which can be put on a shelf when not needed. In doing this I suddenly realised as well as a space save, it may just be a cost saver. My old layout had some traimes replicated on either side of the fiddle yard and then each slot was filled, so I ended up with 18 trains in the yard.

 

With the cassettes, lets say I want a class 24 and some ballast wagons to trundle one way, just plonk the cassette down and off I go, and when i need it to go the other way, simply lift and turn rather than doubling up.

 

The fiddle yard will still be designed thpugh to have 2 through lines for being able to just run something in circles and the question is whether I have space for a cassette on either line, or a single point to feed the layout from the cassette with points on to the track at either end.

 

My other question is have I crammed to much in. I looked back at Stuarts layout and confirmed he built the yard area in 5ft by 18 inches whereas when scaled to N, I will have about 12ft by 24 inches. Think i'll have to have a bit of a play with some templates once the boards are built which might be bank holiday weekend, other jobs permitting.

[pirouets]

So it begins. I have not got round to completing the list of N gauge stock to dispose of, but I had a large amount of wood so bough 4 tops and constructed the 1st boards. This allows me to build the scenic area round to its fiddle yard area. The plan is to focus on this first and slowly think about finishing the "roundy roundy" element of the layout later on.

 

As I started laying I decided to cut down the trackwork slightly, so there is 1 less siding by the warehouse for now alongside the line that will go in to the building itself. I have run that 2nd line past the end of the scenic area so I have the choice of lifting wagons as they are shunted in shoudl I choose to, or simply the effect of the wagons going in should I not.

 

I've also added but not fixed in where the higher level line will be. The sacrifice here is that it will have to be arches down to the yard area rather than a weedy bank but I can live with that.

 

 

 

Since taking the above, where the yard exits under the main line has been change so it flows better with the curve of the main line when it goes under. I don't have enough board to finish the higher level line for now.

 

Next step is to wire it up and check it all runs but I do need to get 1 more pack of insulating fishplates first. This will also mean I can think about the control panel for the yard.

 

The other question am I wondering about is whether once its all tested is to lift the track and put cork under it before I ballast but that is a question for another day.

 

[pirouets]

Hmm, Need to move this to layout topics. Just realised where I started this thread.