Halton Boy

Hello everyone Thank you all for your help. This is the plan: I like this plan. It is simple but interesting. The warehouse/goods yard would not need to be so complex. I could build it up as money allowed. June is happy with her layout. And I can make her a signal box diagram now. Thank you again for all your help. Ken

Hello everyone Have I got this correct now? I hope this is correct, please let me know. Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello everyone I have re made the plan inline with your advice. I am not sure where signal 1 should go. Another quick question. Would the warehouse points be operated from a ground frame as below, or by point levers by each point? Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello everyone I like June's railway plan, so I have made a plan that is based on hers. I did not like yard B so I have moved it. I have added a kick back siding to the warehouse area. This is my plan: Please could you tell me if I have got the signalling correct. Thank you for your help. Ken

Thank you Michael I will ask June if that is where she got the name from. Ken

Hello everyone Thank you Chris. Lever 12 would normally be set pulled in the frame, which would set the trap points. Here is a layout plan which shows the shunting of the coal yard: Can an engine take a full coal wagon from Union Mills to line A. Then back into the coal siding and pick up the empty coal wagon. The engine would reverse the wagons over point 12 and leave the empty wagon between point 12 and 10. The engine would back the full coal wagon into the coal yard. Then shunt the empty coal wagon to Union Mills. Does that sound correct? Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello everyone We have a name for the junction, Union Junction, and the warehouses Union Mills. I do not know why. I promised June that I would make a framed signal box diagram for her to put on the wall. Here is the latest plan: The layout is 00 gauge and the signal box is quite small. The idea is to place the signals correctly and produce a signal box diagram that is correct. Passenger trains from line A run into the halt at C. They then run out to line B. Passenger trains from line B run into the halt at C. They then run out to line A. There is a railcar for this. Goods trains run from line A to Union Mills. They also shunt the yard via point 12. Goods trains run from line B to Union Mills. They shunt the Mills then travel to line A. Line A connects to the main line. Line B is a branch terminus. I am not sure if the diagram is correct. Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello everyone I have re drawn the plan: On the layout the crossing gates are made of brass, but I think they are left open for the railway. Lever 22 should be brown. I have put in the lever frame. It looks like the numbering is wrong. There is a big gap between 4 and 14. Do I need to add a lever for each trap point? I like the idea of gluing bent rail to the sleepers to model a trap point. I think I am getting confused as I used Coombe Junction to work out where to put the signals. As far as I know this not Coombe Junction. The layout does not have a name. It looks a bit like it. I should number everything as per the plan and forget about Coombe Junction. Thank you for help. Ken

Hello everyone This is a lot of useful information. I will study what you have said. Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello everyone Thank you for your replies. The engines that he has in his collection are all steam GWR and LMS and one GWR railcar. There is no platform by the warehouses. Passenger services terminate at the halt. I assumed it was goods only from the bridge to the warehouses. The rest of the line is passenger trains. I thought that it was a ground frame but it may be a small signal box. The lady has two goods signals so I put them where I thought they would go. I think the reason there is no trap point is because of the curved rail. If there was more room it could be put into the middle of the curve. I have remade the plan inline with your answers: I have added the trap points to the plan, but we cannot change the track. June wants yard B to be a small local coal yard. Shunting yard B will be awkward. Would the train travel to the warehouses, run around the wagons , then go back up the track and reverse into the yard? I do not know if the numbering of the signals and points are correct? Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello Everyone Here is more information on the layout: My friend lives in Birmingham so I do not have any photos of the layout. The track is complete with ballast and the buildings are complete. There is no static grass or trees etc. The roads, bridge and yard are in place. The signals will not be operational. The lady wants to fit the painted signals in place and complete all the scenic work. Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello everyone I am helping my friend June with her late husbands layout. The layout in the garage is mostly complete except for the signals which he made from brass and are unpainted. Here is a plan of the layout: The other night I was watching a You Tube video of a drivers eye view of the Looe to Coombe Junction line. The layout above looks very similar. I have added signals to the plan based on the diagram for Coombe Junction. On the plan 4 and 18 are detection bars. Signals 1 and 21 are goods siding signals. We have two of them. We have more signals than needed to signal the layout based on the plan above. The problem is at position A, point number 17 and yard position B. How would this point be signaled and operated. Thank you for your help. Ken

Thank you for your reply. As you say if done correctly a shed can work well. Security is an issue in rural Oxfordshire. I will need to address that. I would have to keep anything of value in the house. Ken

Thank you Andrew Ken

Hello everyone I understand what you are saying. The shed has to be done correctly. I am not a carpenter so I will need to purchase a building that is suitable. I realise now that it will be expensive for the base and the building. I can wire the shed and do the insulation myself. It was not until I asked the question on here that I realised all that was required. I will price everything up and consider other options like extending the garage. Thank you all for your help. Ken

Hi everyone I only read part of the post on log cabins as I did not think this was about sheds. I have looked at more sheds and information. I think that a large shed would need a concrete base. One of my near neighbours runs a concrete pumping company. The roof needs to have a stronger covering than roof felt. Insulation, heating and ventilation would be needed. I am an electrician so the mains supply would not be a problem. O gauge is a pain because of the size required. Maybe a shed for the fiddle yard with a garden railway is the answer. I have a tool shed by Tiger Sheds and it is only small with no windows. I partly insulated it with kingspan. Everything has stayed dry and not rusty. I will keep looking, but when you buy a shed with all the things you need then the price soon goes up. There is also the question of security. Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello everyone I have been looking at using a garden shed to house a model railway. To fall under the rule of permitted development the shed must not be more than 3mtrs x 5mtrs (9.8' x 16'). The height must not be greater than 2.5mtrs (8'). The shed must not cover more than half the garden which includes any existing outdoor buildings. 3mtrs x 5mtrs is not that big for an O gauge layout. Will a garden shed be suitable for a model railway in this country? Will damp be a problem? The only company that I can find that supplies sheds for model railways is Crane Garden Buildings. A large shed is very expensive so I would like to know if it would be suitable. I have seen people on you tube saying that sheds are not suitable for workshops because everything will go rusty unless there is full time heating and ventilation. Does anyone have experience of using a shed for a railway? Thank you for your help Ken

Hi John Thank you for telling me about evergreen. I have found suppliers of evergreen in the UK. I will be watching lots of You Tube video's on building with styrene. Ken

Hi John I think I will purchase one Skytrex building without side walls and roof. I will use this as a pattern to make the other buildings. I am thinking of using 5mm thick foam board and Plastikard. The foam board will be covered by plastikard. I spoke to Plastikard who where very helpful. They told me to use Plastruct for all the gutters etc. The other option is to use LCut parts braced inside with wood. I could use Plastruct for the gutters and door entrance. Thank you for your help. Ken

Hi John I have just priced up the Skytrex buildings and they will work out expensive. I do not have a printer that would print downloaded buildings. I know some people will say that it is best to make your own from foam board and Plastikard. I will keep looking to see what I can find. Ken

Hello everyone I am a bit wary of Fair Price Models as their web site is down and they are only available in small numbers on e bay. If there is a problem with a kit this may be difficult to resolve. I cannot find a suitable building in the Lcut range. Scalescenes do a warehouse T027 but that will be too tall. Skytrex looks like the best option, but the most expensive. There is a company called Purple Bob's that have a factory in card which is 300 × 229 × 6.5 mm and the price is £18.95. The kit is sent by post and not a download. Has anyone used this supplier? I am building a layout made from three 1200 x 400mm plywood baseboards. Then I will add three 900 x 200mm homemade baseboards for the scenic part. The total width of the layout will then be 600mm. These scenic sections will locate on the sides of the baseboards. Once I have added the buildings they will look like this: This means I can have different back scenes with the same track layout by building more scenic boards. The whole layout will be easy to take down and move/store. I can work on the scenic boards without leaning across the layout. I am not going to fit lighting inside the buildings, so do I need to model or stick a picture of the interior on the backboard, in buildings with windows facing forwards? Do I need to brace the buildings on the backboard, by putting packing fitted to the backboard, inside the building ? I may add lights to the outside of the buildings above doorways. Than you for your help. Ken

Hi everyone I am building three different back scenes. This Skytrex gable end is perfect for one of the back scenes. I would need six to model a site that I know. The other two back scenes just need a warehouse and or factory back drop. Scale Model Scenery do a 1930's factory for £45.99 but this is too tall at 274mm. Fair Price Models do a warehouse/factory for £14.99. It is Length 395mm x Width 60mm x Height 190mm They also make a archway warehouse which I could use as a lorry entrance. It is Length 430mm x Width 75mm x Height 240mm but this taller than the other unit above. This is £14.39. They make a shop warehouse kit; The warehouse is 220mm Width x 67mm Depth x 175mm height. The shop is 112mm Width x 77mm Depth x 115mm height. Together they are £13.99. All of these kits are a basic shell. LCut do a B 70-02 O gauge lineside warehouse low relief version which is 128mm deep. I do not have the time or skill to scratch build these buildings. They are all too deep as well. I may have to increase the scenic space from 150mm deep to 200mm deep. Has anyone used Fair Price Models? Thank you for your help. Ken

Hello everyone I am building a O gauge layout and have a question regarding the use of Skytrex low relief buildings I have seen a number of layouts where people have fixed the low relief buildings to the backboard using just the front of the buildings. The low relief buildings with end panels and roof panels are 61mm (2.5") deep. As I want them to be about 20 to 25mm deep I would have to cut away a lot of the end panel and roof panels. On a row of buildings this would only mean two end panels which is not too bad. The roof panels come with the ridge, gutter and drain pipe. I do not see how I can avoid buying the roof panels as I need the ridge, gutter and drain pipe. I think I will need to add packing inside the buildings so that they can be glued to the backboard. Any ideas are welcome. Ken

I think it is best if I start a need post in general baseboards Ken

Hi everyone I am now sure of the plans. I have decided to build three different layouts by using different scenic boards. I have a question about using Skytrex low relief buildings. With the roof sections added the buildings would be 61mm (2.5") deep. This is deeper than I would like them to be. I could cut the roof sections in half and make a new fillet piece. That way I would only need to purchase half the number of roof sections and some drain pipe. Could you recommend a packing material that I could mount each low relief building to so that I can stick them to the back board instead of using the roof sections. 15mm material would be good. I would be using a row of these low relief gable ends. Thank you for your help Ken