chaplin

That makes sense, thanks for that. I was thinking I will need a cross-over in the fiddle yard so will remove these and use the points there instead.

Do you mean the crossover in the middle? It's to get from the clockwise line into the goods yard. I was thinking a shunter would be in the headshunt which would take the train apart while the engine that brought it would go off to the shed. Alterations will not be that messy as it's only track on the cork at the moment.

Thanks for that. I'm modelling vaguely around Bradford/Shipley to Leeds in the 60's.

Hi I'm in the process of testing all my tracks and points and starting to look at signaling my layout. I have a vague idea of what's required except when it comes to points and sidings and then I get lost. I have attached a plan of my layout taken from itrain. Ignore everything to the right of the green line as that's the fiddle yard. The sidings to the north will be an engine shed. I have 2 mainlines with goods to the bottom and a dmu platform at the top which also gives access to the shed area. I get the signals on each platform but coming from the left towards the station there will also be a left point to the DMU platform and a right point which will cross the other line to go into the goods area. I was thinking of just 3 signals on one tower but which will be lower the left or right? Does it matter? Will there be any other indicator to say the right point goes only to the goods area and not to the other platform? Also, when departing from the DMU platform, will there be a different signal to show you are going out the mainline and not into the shed area? And another needed to cross the mainline and head back on the far track? I take it the ground signals are just at every point? I hope it makes sense.

Thanks for all the replies. I am using iTrain for the points and control of everything. I may get a handheld in the future. I have bitten the bullet and bought the Roco booster so will hopefully solve the issue of constantly changing points when there is a short and also give me more leeway in terms of accessories. Regards

Thanks, I did look at that but was put off with the fact the power supply is sold separately and is £80 which seems a bit steep. I am a tight Yorkshireman after all. I'll look into that. Would it be possible to boost both feeds separately if required later? I don't want to paint myself into a corner as I add more electronics. Regards

So I have been slowly building my layout and have a circular plan in the loft. It has twin tracks around with a fiddle yard at one end and goods yards plus an engine shed on another. There are around 30 points and Dapol DCC signals. It will also have lights at some point. I have used MP1 servos for all points controlled by Yamorc units and Digikeijs RBus occupancy sensors. I'm in the process of testing all the tracks with a variety of locos but it has become apparent I have issues with the way it is wired. At the moment everything comes from the Z21 with no booster. All units take both power and data from the main DCC bus that goes to the tracks and everything else. Whenever I get a short from a derailment or something else, the z21 switches off everything. Next, I reconnect and all the points move about to their default positions. This means going around setting them all again. If you miss one then the frog is wrong, you get another short and need to do it all again. sometimes it shorts for not apparent reason for a split second and the points suddenly all move which causes a full short when a loco gets to a wrong frog. I seem to be spending all my time resetting points. I'm thinking I need to either add a booster or separate the accessories or both. I'll now wire an accessory bus and take all the power from that. My question is, what do I power this accessory bus with? Do I need something that will speak to the Z21 or can I just wire in a switched power supply? The MP1 points have 3 power wires )1 red 2 black) from the Yamorc unit and then a track power from the DCC bus and track plus the frog wire. Do I wire the accessory bus to the Yamorc and leave the track power to the switch connections? Also, would I need a booster if I have a separate accessory bus? If so do I need the Roco one to work well with the Z21 or is there a cheaper option? Appreciate any help. this constant shorting and switching of frogs is getting annoying.

Some infrastructure projects are financed this way. I believe the new Silvertown tunnel was financed by the contractor in return for running the toll for a number of years to be paid back. It's not without an element of risk, however. Most of these large projects are built by JV's and if one or more should go belly up then it can end in tears. What is really needed is a better tendering process that is not largely based on awarding the job to the cheapest. This is mainly driven by the media whipping up a storm with high total costs. Take HS2 for example, years ago it was all about spending £52b to save 15 minutes and that became the slogan of those against it. This leads to a drive to save money and jobs are then awarded to the cheapest. As we usually see, however, the cheapest bid is usually a contractor 'buying' the job by going in too cheap with the aim to claim as many extra costs as possible during construction to make up the profit. Margins are very slim in this game for the main contractors and it's a case of claim claim claim to make any profit at all. Much better would be to award based on using UK subcontractors and suppliers, UK staff, and incorporating training schemes for locally unemployed etc. Most people would be happy to spend £62bn rather than £52bn if it meant more of that money was staying in the country and coming straight back in various taxation. By constantly talking about these large figures however, we then get politicians and civil servants just demanding cuts rather than opportunities and much of it goes abroad and to foreign workers, who can survive on much lower rates than those from the UK with families to support.

TBM's are stored to be sold and reused all the time. Stopping them in the ground can be problematic, especially in London clay where the face will need shuttering but on the surface, it's not a problem. I can assure you that's not the case. With most of these large projects, delays to the program are the biggest cost by quite a margin. Things can be done which seem to make no sense but they are generally done to make the program work.

Right, I think I've just about got a layout I'm happy with. The left-hand end will be hinged to fold down so it doesn't interfere with the garage door. The other end will have a lift-up section at the back door. There is no turn-off to Redhill but apart from that it's kind of similar to Tonbridge West. I should be able to just about reach the top right corner. I'll certainly be able to reach the points.

Thanks for that. Some great ideas there. I can see a new plan forming now If you do manage to find it, that sounds like an interesting idea. Thanks

I think you're right. Im going to go with the second option. I just need to find or come up with a layout that works. My old one was very parallel with the boards and felt very boring. I want a mix of mainline and yard like at Tonbridge so with have a look through my track plan books

Yes I have been looking at that. Its a great layout. The mix of locos in the yard and mainline traffic is what I want to achieve. This is supposed to represent where the real line goes off towards Redhill and I thought I could have a DMU running from there to the hidden siding round the back. Not really, I need a gap at the main garage door end for it to open without hitting the layout which doesn't give much more to play with.

Currently operating. Although with freight that gives lots of scope with diesels. The garage is 4400 x 2400. I probably can use 4000 to still have the main door opening ok, with a lift-up section for the back door. I did have a large U shape layout I built in the loft but I always end up with a fairly boring track layout. It was also designed as a small steam era branch line. I really need to re-look at that as it's all straights. Onece I get it down from the loft and set it up I will get some photos. Only part has scenery so far so I can change it.

The alternative could be something like the below image. This will have a lift-up section at the back door and a swinging section at the garage door end to allow for a full run-around. This would be much easier to construct it also would allow me to reuse some of my loft layout and was my initial plan which I may go back to after looking into the complexities of helix's and the reach issues above.

Hi With the space I have the alternative is a small to non-existent fiddle yard or an end-to-end with some sort of traversing system. Neither of which I really want. The other main driver of the helix is that I can run longer through trains on the mainline part while having diesels and RHTT etc in the yard like at Tonbridge. The gradients are 2.5% and 2.2% I have attached the baseboard layout I have done in Fusion360 which isn't finished yet. You are right about reaching in the fiddle yard and I am looking at having the top either slidable or hinged so it can be lifted. This layout is designed to be modular so it can easily be packed away in 3 separate parts if needed to transport. Also if I decide to change in the future then the helix and fiddle yard parts can be easily reused and only the top will need to change.

The helix boards are 1300x1300. The centre board is 1700 wide by 1300 deep. The top centre board will slide forward and legs come down at the front so I can get to it. I will probably also have an opening inside the helix.

After trying to create a layout in the loft, dealing with temperature changes, low sloping ceiling, and bad knees, I've finally finished a project in the garage and now have access to that. I'm looking forward to being able to model standing up and having height to play with on the layout. I have decided to start from scratch and will be creating a modern image layout based on Tonbridge West. I've been playing with Anyrail and come up with a layout that I think will work for me but would be grateful for any input as my railway operation knowledge is limited. I need a throughway from the garage door to a door in the back of the garage so it will need to go along one wall rather than around. This means I'd like to have a fiddle yarn underneath and twin helix's to get between the levels. I'll be creating a model of the baseboards in Fusion 360 before cutting any wood. Lower Level Fiddle Yard Upper Level Track Layout Scenic Layout

Hi I'm currently building a steam/early diesel era layout based in Kent somewhere around Ashford. I've been reading about the locos built at Ashford and keep seeing references to locos being part built in one place and finished in another. I'm thinking this might make an interesting thing to model, has anyone any info on how these part built loco's were moved about and even better, any photos? Regards

Great stuff. I used to go on this all the time when I was young. as I grew up just up the road. I can still hear the whirring noise it makes. I remember getting on once with a friend and his expensive new mountain bike. The bike was sideways with both wheels sticking out. When we reached the concrete platforms it bent both wheels into L shapes. The guys at the railway ended up hammering them both back into shape.

Thanks, will give the wheels and track a good clean and keep trying.

Hi So I'm just getting back into the hobby and have a few old Hornby and Lima locos bought from exhibitions etc. years ago I've converted a couple to DCC and they run ok. I decided however to by a brand new Bachmann Fairburn as a test loco for my new layout. I wanted a brand new one that I knew was running perfect so I could tell for definite that any issues were down to my track laying and not the old locos. The Fairburn turned up and it looks great. It runs well when it's going but a lot of the time it doesn't start when I increase the power and needs a nudge to get moving. Once it's moving it's fine and will run slow but when it stops it needs a nudge about 50% of the time. Having never bought a brand new loco i'm wondering whether this is just down to the fact that it's new and needs running in. Is this the case? If so what is the best way to do that? My layout is end to end and all track pieces are wired separately. My old Lima Deltic runs great everywhere and the electrofrog points are all wired correctly so it's down to the loco. Also, one of the windows was out in the box. Whats the best glue to stick these back in? Regards

It seems Cobalt. Tortoise and the MP1 point motors are all unavailable. I may look at servo operated ones again. The Z21 however has been ordered and is on it's way.

What would be a good point motor to use with the Z21? I have seen the cobalt ones but nobody has them in stock or any idea when they might be coming in. What other alternatives are there? Regards

You may have sold me on the Z21. Just watching youtube reviews now but the Digikeijs seems to have some reliability issues.