Joe61264

Well, another 6+ weeks have passed and no notable construction progress has occurred. The good news is that the accumulation of stock has continued, along with a fresh package of goodies from Ron at Maldon towards the published trackplan! When Hornby revived the BL brand some years ago I remember looking at the catalogue longingly and dreaming of the N Class on offer. Proof that dreams come true is 31816 on a set of GWR 6W coaches, soon to be supplemented by a 6W Milk Van. And before someone points it out, the ‘box is switched out, not a wrong side failure…. Rest assured that ‘testing’ has been intensively underway in between domestic duties and once I can get the carpentry gear in a decent space we will see notable progress in a more permanent form.

A nice pile of wood is currently sat awaiting cutting, however as ever life has got in the way somewhat - including a prolonged and unexpected spell away from home. I’m expecting to be back in the coming two or three weeks, which should see the first document worthy progress occur!

As construction is looming and progress seems imminent, I have started a new thread in Layout Topics on the below link: Hope to see folk there!

As I’ve started purchasing parts, and working out baseboard designs I thought it time to migrate to this part of the forum for the build. Discussions in the Layout Design section lead to the confirmation that the spare room was indeed of a suitable size (225cm x 255cm) to have an O Gauge layout in, and lots of people gave very helpful input to finish with the below track plan: A minimum radius of 27” is in use on the main line and station loop, with the station to feature top left. Operation will be short steam era passenger trains, with no particular region or company in mind as a theme. The first pieces of rolling stock (SECR Non Corridor Coaches) have arrived and are sitting proudly until I start board construction, along with a circle of Maldon Track. Next stage is to finalise Baseboard designs and buy some wood!

SECR indeed. I’ve got my eye on one of the terriers to match, as well as keeping an eye on Ace’s website for news of the E and D classes. The other missing link is a controller. The Gaugemaster Large Scale unit is one option, but I seem to recall suggestion of using a ‘generic’ piece of electronics equipment of which the name escapes me. Is anyone able to offer thoughts? Cheers, Joe

The operating info is fantastic and got me scribbling out more than a few ideas of how to run the yet-to-be-named layout. Today was a treat in more than one way; firstly going to the pub with friends again, secondly the first pieces of rolling stock arrived, and thirdly the fact I’d bought 5 not 3 coaches! I should have checked the eBay listing more carefully but it was a very pleasant surprise. An order for a 27” loop has gone in with Ron at Maldon so hopefully they won’t be confined to boxes for too long.

Something that had crossed my mind too, and I do like the idea of the trains coming and going from ‘somewhere’. That tiny terminus has encouraged me to explore the idea even more, and of course as it would have to be portable it opens up the prospect of taking it to visit/exhibit! it’s a very slippery slope mind, as that terminus would end somewhere by the doorway for the second bedroom...bit of an empire forming here. I’ll come up with a plan for the hallway Terminus, but it will I think be a bolt-on addition once the core layout is built

Tail traffic added into that suggestion sounds good, Milk Tankers, Goods Vans or Parcels Vans could always be kept in the goods facilities until they’re to be attached. I think we’re onto a winner here!

My mind is now turning to how the layout would operate beyond the Clockwise passenger and Anti-clockwise Freight. I’m a fan of running things to a sequence/timetable, and am thinking it is well suited to this with a bit of imagination in use, for instance the Station and Yard representing several different locations on a train’s journey. They both start and finish with a loco on the MPD, and set of vehicles on the bottom yard/sidings, go pick up their trains then work as required for a few laps each. Too give the freight ‘activities’ a waybill type system springs to mind, but I’m wondering what to do with the passenger diagram beyond just cycling and stopping at stations on the way. One option is that it stops and runs round at some point, but I’m drawing a bit of a blank otherwise. Does the collective have any suggestions? The idea of leaving the door open permanently is very tempting, and I could always hang a curtain across the doorway for a bit of heat retention

I will certainly have a seat in the room for when trains are circulating, but am happy to stand for shunting if it proves too far. I’m fairly tall with long(ish) arms so there shouldn’t be any trouble reaching across for the goods line or passenger line. In terms of the 1 or 2 line goods yard I may leave that to experiment with once the rest of the layout is in place, and I can use trial and error to decide.

I suspected I was going a bit more ‘train set’ with the extra sidings. In emergency access terms I’ve designed it with the idea that the door is open for when I’m running trains, so any assistance need only lift the bottom RH curve out to get in although the stable door is a clever solution! I got round to measuring the hallway which comes out at 119cm from the inside wall of the bedroom to the skirting board across from the door. Is this enough space to do something with or not really worth bothering (thinking about the Ironing Board style FY mentioned earlier on)? On the new sketch I’ve kept a few of the ‘extras’ but hopefully nothing too excessive. The main one for me being the ability to stable both the freight and passenger locos in the Depot for the start of operating sessions. The other one that was kept is the bottom LH kickback; either curved or straight which I don’t think would look too crowded? Provision for the LH crossover has been kept as a ‘just in case’ should I decide it worthwhile at a later stage and the ‘Bottom Yard’ and its’ Headshunt are dashed-in both to show the changes and that the option for future installation is there. I’ve re-drawn in light pencil the Station Goods Siding/Yard and wondered if it would again be too much to split that into two sidings and keep it going round to the straight section at the top. It fits the space certainly. V3 below:

Some time sketching and checking my measurements has given two versions of @Nearholmer’s original suggestion with a couple of tweaks I checked the numbers I had, which have been done from the skirting boards and these were still correct. That should give a (small!) amount of wiggle room in design and making sure I’ve not overdone it. I’ve used 24” on a couple of sidings but the running line is a 27” minimum radius. Version one just adds a crossover in the station area. This doesn’t seem to compromise on space and gives a little more flexibility. Version two I like but am not sure about how the end result would look. Two roads on the Loco Shed provide a stabling point for the passenger and freight locos, and a yard has been added in bottom left (kickback off the Carriage Sdg/FY Rd) for the goods to start and finish its day at, or simply to store stock not being run. My concern is whether I’ve fallen down the hole of cramming things in, but as it does fit the space it may work with clever view blockers. Re-hanging the door is not an option. I could take it off completely but as it stands I don’t see a huge issue with the sections across its travel being removable. The idea of the portable Fiddle Yard into the hallway is a good one, and would make it more engaging for when guests visit but I see that for the time being as a ‘bolt-on’ project for later down the line. Its been fun getting the pencils and paper out again after several years of AnyRail! Cheers all, Joe

Lots of good points made, I’ll do a proper drawing of the room, try some of the suggestions and reply in full once those have been done! cheers, Joe

This is fantastic, thanks so much for taking the time to do it. I’m a big fan of it, and already have ideas forming in my head of how to break it up into scenes. The R27 curves don’t look at all out of place in your photo, no worse certainly than the radii that would end up being used in that space for 4mm! In terms of trains, I had in my mind exactly the kind of trains that you mention with perhaps the very occasional 3 coach set purely for ‘playing’ and a bit of chance for shunting. Having a bit more time to measure the room properly gives the following drawing with the main notable difference from estimates of 217cm across vice 225 and the inclusion of the door. The window has (despite my artistic addition) only got a toplight that can actually be opened. Your sketch’s chair looks to be similar in size to my currently unused IKEA one and I hadn’t thought to use it for this, instead thinking of standing for most of the sessions. Thanks to all for your wisdom and guidance, it’s allowed leaps and bounds in ideas and planning instead of just mulling over it all for many many months and still getting it wrong! Joe

Hi all, I'm looking for a bit of guidance on design. I've been following the 'Deliberately Old Fashioned O' and 'Coarse O' threads for some time now, thoroughly enjoying them and want to investigate whether I have space for anything worthwhile in that style having realised (and proven through failed layouts!) that traditional 'scenic/scale' modelling is not for me. I'm now living somewhere with a basement which is big but needs a lot of work to be useable, and is unlikely to get done anytime soon. My alternatives are the 2 smaller upstairs rooms (approximate dimensions): Option 1 : 275cm x 205cm Option 2 : 255cm x 225cm I'm thinking something around the edge of either room, continuous run with operational interest. What I suppose I'd like to have some words of wisdom on is what I could reasonably expect to fit in besides the continuous run itself, and which of the two I'd be better off using. I'm thinking of going with Maldon Track, but yet to press the big 'spend money' button in the event I'm being overambitious! Thanks in advance for any guidance, it'll all be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Joe

Thanks for that, I hadn't spotted it when I did a search! Very helpful. The comments about damp are duly noted too. Cheers! Joe

Hi all, I'm currently house hunting and have come across a property that has a cellar/basement which is rather an exciting prospect for the sake of building a decent sized layout. What I'm hoping the collective knowledge of this forum will be able to help with is some experience from those who've built layouts in such spaces and common pitfalls (or things you wished you'd thought about before setting out!). Obviously I'll be looking at things like temperature, how dry it is, lighting and power supplies but I'm sure there are things I haven't thought of to check. Thanks for guidance in advance, Joe

Hi all, broadly tend to be lurker on here, but thought in this case it worth adding that the RSSB Rulebook, on the matter of clearing points, currently states 440yds for a Semaphore Distant Signal, and 200yds for a Colour Light Distant Signal - I'm not sure when this came into being but perhaps worth looking into if consideration for these is being taken in the interlocking design. Best, Joe

Fantastic to see the layout coming on so well (and the sheer scale of it!). Perhaps the 'testing' could be an ideal opportunity to work out some running times between locations to aid drawing up a running schedule/timetable? Or some other similar excuse I'm intrigued by the freight generation system and how it works. Is it something that could be done 'on-the-go' during an operating session or would it be better done in advance then allocated to locations at the start of play?

Presumably verbally by the Signalman - the signal to the right of the train is the starter from said siding and there isn't a disc. The driver was clearly aware of the signal in question being at danger, hence the long whistle as the loco heads past.

That was at Quorn & Woodhouse in 2013 during a gala. A TPO Set and Ivatt 2MT were recessed in a siding at the Leicester end of the station. I seem to remember the cause being the train authorised past a starter without checking the points. Captured on video below - There is somewhere also a set of photos of a Jinty in the dirt at Highley in preservation; perhaps that would explain the overcautious padlocking of points mentioned previously!

Following feedback (and many thanks for it!) I've revised the plan as attached. By compromising a Fiddle Yard road, I was able to keep the Carriage Sidings (on the level) which ultimately add more than the additional FY road would have, and mean that my stock gets a place on stage when not in use, rather than sitting out the back. In reply to 'south_tyne' I considered goods facilities; but they would end up taking up more space, more time and by extension (that ever precious resource..) money. The other factor being that whilst I have a sensible sized collection of goods vehicles, passenger stock vastly outnumbers this so it would be logical to allow for tail traffic rather than add goods-only facilities. I'm not ruling out the addition in time of a goods yard module, but that needs to stay on the backburner until the main parts of the layout are sorted. Best to all, Joe

Good point about the point in Column 5, I've had a play and it looks far better. The box on the diagram is a crude representation of the traverser, in reality it will slide under the carriage sidings at the bottom, and out beyond the edge of the board at the top of the fiddle yard. I've had a play with that on the diagram too to make it slightly clearer Many thanks, Joe

And so it begins.... Having had a 'train set' for the last 15 years and only finishing one layout (a 009 shelf affair) I'm finally getting my act together and building something I can call my own. Definitely guilty of being a lurker on here for a couple of years although slowly getting more active of late; I suppose I better make some content of my own for everyone else to offer helpful advice on! I've moved around a fair bit recently but am now in the position to think longer term (both financially and space wise). Being very wary of starting a huge layout on my own and never finishing it or being happy with it, I've opted for a 12ft variation on the well thrashed out CJF Minories design. This includes some raised level carriage sidings, a line 'to the depot' (a cassette or loco lift off the scenic area) and a loco release crossover between Platforms 1 & 2. At it's core it is still as per his excellent design of decades ago. I did consider adding extra lines from the Up and Down lines to the Platform roads but concluded that it wouldn't add anything when both the station and FY need to be run by a single person, so multiple parallel arrivals/departures only cause chaos rather than adding to the scene! One huge draw to this design is that the capacity it offers vastly outstrips what I could possibly operate at home, and even if it were to be incorporated into a larger scheme later on the previous statement applies; 'Big Railway' style capacity studies for it having been a good way to pass down time at work over the last few months! Attached is a proposed trackplan (with apologies and thanks to Harlequin of this parish, without whose design sketches using Peco Streamline I'd have continued trying to cram Setrack into a pint pot!) for refinement. The grey box will be a traverser Fiddle Yard, Boards will be Tim Horn laser cut, and the current intention is for Cab Control linked to a Gaugemaster 'D' Unit I have from the 009 build. In terms of planned locos and stock, it will mostly consist of N2s, N7s and L1s on Suburban stock with the odd corridor semi-fast. I'll update this thread when progress occurs, which I can't promise will be rapid... all the best, Joe

Perhaps a train to Afonwen via the North Wales Coast? Serving lots of local stations as far as Bangor then the LMS route across to connect with a Cambrian Pwhelli service at Afonwen. Love the layout and look forward to seeing many more photos and videos!