Longhaireddavid

I have a simple rule. Only buy what is necessary. When I designed the layout - an 8' long GWR branch terminus - I worked out what I needed and that is what I have. I will not buy anything more for the layout unless the new Accurascale Pannier proves to be a better fit than the Bachmann small prairie - which seems to have glossy wheels and slips at the slightest excuse. However, I will wait until they are out and see the reviews before I move - as I did with the Accurascale Manor and the Rapido 15XX.

Woodland Scenics are gone in the local Ipswich/Martlesham store. The space has been taken by a range of Wargames scenic stuff.

Big display of Airfix kits on display at the Ipswich/Martlesham Hobbycraft today. Prices not reduced in their Black Friday sales.

So I am looking at the map and there is a train with a code 4L38. Any idea how these are created (the head code I mean) or what they mean?

That's the one. Many thanks.

Some time ago, I was using a web site that let me watch the trains going in and out of Felixstowe docks. I can't remember the name. I have found realtimetrains.co.uk but that just gives me the names and departures/destinations. The site I used to watch shows the actual trains moving along the track. Can anyone help me finding this again?

Sorry. Of course you are right. I meant to say that I run AnyRail on the Mac not JMRI - and I am sure that TrainController and so on would all work fine under Parallels.

I only have a Mac mini but I use software called Parallels and run Windows 11 ARM version on that MacMini. I run JMRI quite happily connected to my Digitrax so software not being Mac compatible is fixable.

I was told by Accurascale at the Milton Keynes show that they were due that week so I should click on the "tell me when it is in stock" button. I did and they contacted me a few days later and my Iford Manor arrived a couple of days ago. Great service.

Early 1970s my sister-in-law lived in Shildon, County Durham. We were visiting. At the time I had a nice Volvo 245 (new). Went out to take some railway shots around with my Minolta SRT100 wearing a nice leather jacket. Felt the need for a pint so went in a local pub. The whole pub fell silent as I walked in. They had clocked the car before I even got in. Leather jacket, expensive car, flash camera! One quick pint and out!

Well, things have moved on but not for the better. For the first time, in all my time using 5mm foam core, the baseboard side girders have given way and need fixing. The only way out, without dismantling the whole this, would be to put some 2x1" along the sides to fix it. However, I have bigger problems than that. I have decided to take it all down - I have the track laid and all the electrics and points sorted - and rebuild it in a more traditional way using plywood tops and 3x1 supports underneath (3x1 rather than 2x1 as the DCC point motors are longer than 2". But... Before I do, I want to resolve some issues that I have with the track layout. Here is the current layout (not fully accurate) from Anyrail. The problem is the creamery. My plan is to have a morning auto train bring in either 2 x milk wagons or 1 x Syphon G and have them go out later (or vice versa - go out in the morning and come back at night). Shunting the auto train to get this to happen is a nightmare, even if there is a station pilot to help. My wife keeps repeating - "keep it simple" so, help please. I am limited to 2 boards 4' x 2" as above with the fiddle yard as a simple single track that can be connected and disconnected easily. I envisage something like: 3 auto trains a day in and out 1 in with milk, one out with milk. 2 goods trains a day 1 coal and one mixed 1 Saturday train with something like a Hall on the front of 2 coaches. I have a small prairie, a 64xx, and auto coach, 20 or so goods wagons most un-fitted. Potentially, another 64XX or similar as the local shunter which lives in the engine shed. Potentially, a Bachmann Hall or similar with a couple of coaches. I am retired on a tight budget. Down to you lot.

The siding to the left is for the creamery. I moved that so that the loading side of the building could be seen from the front. The siding below the goods shed is for the coal staithes (and coal dumps) and the mileage traffic whilst the bottom siding is for storage. I did drop the engine shed.

Well, here was are. Boards made and track down. Careful use of the buildings to make sure that there was clearance where needed. Had to move the Goods Shed track to give adequate clearance but all seems OK now. Next step is to turn it over and wire up the DCC bus. The fit the point motors. I bought them during the chip shortage so could only get analog DCC Concepts IPs. They need more wiring than the digital ones (I have one) but I know what to do now so that should be a doddle. More main bus wire coming tomorrow so onwards and up!

I haven't been in the UK outline market as I have always built US outline where Bachmann is just another manufacturer amongst many. However, I have recently started to build a GWR branchline and have leaned heavily on my local model shop Orwell Model Railways. Without trying, my new stock is almost exclusively Bachmann with Dapol coming in from eBay purchases. I don't have any Hornby. That must mean something? Also, I did fancy going to TT 120 but Hornby are only building large express locos and, even in 120, I don't have room for anything like that so I didn't go that way,

I already have some staithes so I might as well use them. The second line was supposedly for storage but, I agree, I think I can do without it. That cuts down my costs as well as I only need to buy one point! I think the kick back for the creamery is OK as there is plenty of space for a loco and a couple of milk tanks or a single Siphon before encroaching on the coal area.

I have been reviewing the last suggestion and come upon a few problems. 1. I was having to buy small radius points and having medium ones left over - so I have rationalised it to reduce any unnecessary expense. 2. My wife wanted to see the station platform (she likes little people) so I have reversed the whole thing putting the station at the back. This also removes one of the recent objections regarding stretching over to uncouple goods wagons. 3. I checked the clearance for the goods shed. Currently, I have a Metcalfe one and it didn't fit into the current layout so I checked the proposed one and found the same. I have stretched the interconnecting tracks a bit so now there is room for the goods shed and a small road along the front. 4. I have moved the creamery so that, again, the wagons are at the front making it better to see and easier to shunt. I have just noticed that the coal stithies may be too close to the edge so I could move them to the other side of those two tracks. I think that I am happy with this. It might not suit others but remember "Rule 1". I am off to my LHS tomorrow to buy the extra track I need.

OK so I have had one more go. I have used a couple of small radius points to get it all to fit. The plan shows the engine shed just coming over onto the fiddle stick. That will have to be sorted. I think that I am happy with this one so time to start tearing the last one down.

Can't have the fiddle stick anywhere else. I will have a look at flipping the plan. In the meantime, I have been messing around with the layout with the idea to a) simplify and b) get a creamery in. The main platform will be adjusted to the length of whatever train I end up with. Here goes. Comments please.

Oh my. Too much to think about. It is easier in US outline as you can just freelance your own railroad and no-one can tell you that you are wrong - there appears to be a precedent for everything over there. I am stuck with my current two locos. I have the budget for another loco and two coaches (c £270 shall we say). After that I am on a monthly spend of around £70. Thank you to everyone for your detailed comments but I think that I am going to have to leap out into fairy land and work with what I have which means a lot of unrealistic operation but there's not much I can do about that. In reality I am more bothered about the workability of the track plan rather than its closeness to reality. The pseudo-Ashburton that I layed the track for was never going to work so I want to avoid that mistake again. Summary Forget the Manor for now. Get a 14xx for the auto train. Get a couple of normal coaches (??) to go with the 64XX. Adjust the timetable according to advice above. Turn the station into a semi-Ashburton with one platform and the other with a cattle dock and parcels. Keep the engine shed but only intra-day use. I haven't found where to put the creamery which I must have as I have two milk tanks. Not sure how to sort out the station building as I have one built but for Ashburton - which means single story with the land all up to platform height. I can shorten it and make some steps I would think. I have more to consider but this is all I can come up with for now.

The main board is still 188cm. The layout will be up against the display cabinets so operating from the front.

Last auto train in at night. first one out in the morning I should think. Loco is a 64XX so a "modern" pannier should be OK

Hi everyone. When I stopped my HO US outline layout I charged into a plan to build a pseudo-Ashburton - i.e. like but not accurate. Now that I have the track laid out and a few of the buildings built, I have realised that I didn't make the board anywhere near large enough. I have to negotiate space in the living room with one end laying on my nice 2m x 1m height adjustable desk. What this means is that the current layout is 188cm long and the last 45cm sits on my desk. I then have a removable fiddle yard one track wide coming off. This fits on the rest of the desk as and when. This can be seen in my image "desk 2.jpg" I haven't build a British layout for years - well actually ever as I have always build US outline. In fact the final project for my OU degree was a program to manage freight car routing on a US outline layout! This what I have for my failed Ashburton. Check out image "actual desk.jpg" My wife has pointed out that, not only did I mess up the space for an Ashburton type train shed but also for a goods shed. Plus the reverse siding looping back from the goods shed was hard to use as the head shunt into the goods shed was too short. What she wants (and she is authorising the acres of land required by the GWR) is some houses and gardens plus a realistic station with cars and buses plus people and lights. The attached file called new one.jpg is my attempt on Anyrail. The large black areas to the left denote where the narrow support for the fiddle track comes off. There plan is as follows: Train 1 - auto train Panner 6421 with one auto coach - comes back and forth on a regular schedule. Train 2 - Small Prairie 4562 brings a short goods train 3 - 4 times a day Train 3 - auto train once a day with either 2 x 6-wheel milk or 1 x Siphon G for a creamery (not on plan) Train 4 - once a week - GWR/BR Manor with 2 x coaches for holiday makers. Comes in and goes out again. As and when I can get more locos this could be extended in loco variety. I have an engine shed on e layout for a station pilot (which would ease the need for the Manor to do its own shunting). Not sure what to get for this role. An older pannier or something else - my GWR knowledge is very limited. The fiddle board shows a point stretching over the join with the main board. This is obviously not going to work. In reality, there fidlle board will be extended so that it looks like double track into the station but will become single track neatly on the fiddle board. For your information, the layout will be DCC with DCC Concepts point motors running through ESU Switch Pilot accessory controllers. The DCC is Digitrax. I am electrically, electronically and generally modelling capable. Because I am disabled (not able to walk too far or stand up for anything more than around 2 minutes, I build the layout from 5mm foam core (as I have done for years). It is structurally sound but very light so that I can lift the layout up and over to wire etc. without any real effort. I would appreciate any comments so long as they are kind (unlike some I get on the US forums). I need ideas for the layout - corrections, amendments, etc. - and for the proposed traffic. I am electrically, electronically and generally modelling capable. Please note that I am on a limited pensioner budget so some things may not be possible - for instance the Manor could be out of budget unless I can get a ring field motor one running under DCC.

Check out Charlie - Chadwick

Surely one Arduino could control a few servo/ signals with a bounce for each arm built it?

Well, the Kato layout went to Rails of Sheffield as did all my US outline N scale and all of the Marklin/Piko/Roco stuff that I had left. SWMBO agreed to a 1.8m x .35m switching layout which I managed to build a running layout. That was as far as it got because I got fed up with the cost of US outline stuff. I have packed all that away to await my hobby room coming back and some (hopefully) injection of funds down the line. I really like my local hobby shop which comprise Orwell Model Railways and Coastal DCC. Who can complain when Kevin works 5 minutes away! I decided that I would make everything simple and build a nice little GWR branch terminus using (Oh No not again!) Ashburton as the model. Having moaned about the cost of US stuff, I now had to convince SWMBO that £600 as a budget for a new railway was reasonable! Orwells and Coastal will get as much of my spending as possible. The board has grown to 1.9x .45m. The track is Peco code 100. All the points are medium radius. The points will be switched using DCC Concepts Cobalt motors. Unfortunately, when I wanted to buy them, the digital motors were unavailable due to chip shortages so I had to buy the Analog ones. I did get one digital so 5 points will be driven by the Cobalt analog motors through Switch Pilots whilst the last one will be driven off the DCC bus, as usual. I have decided on a layout. I have bought a 64XX and a 45XX plus some wagons and an Auto-Trailer. I have some Milk tanks on order so I can service a creamery. This will be fun as these wagons are for Express train use and thus can only be used on fitted freights so they will come in and out on the back of the 64XX and the auto-trailer. Great fun. I have recovered the base of my board (all built of 5mm foam core). I have extended it to the new size and replaced the surface with new board. The track is down and I am in the process of wiring it up. More soon. P.S. You can follow my model railway progress from about 2007 upto date at Gentle Model Railways