TechnicArrow

For the first layout I'm building from scratch, I thought I'd try a shoebox or two. There's a few reasons; I'm a University student with very limited space and budget, and I've got no experience of building baseboards. The plan is to get it (mainly) done over the holidays, so I can take it with me when I start back in late September. I devised the layout plan, as all good ideas are, in the shower. The intention is to represent a small, urban wagon works. Stock will be what I currently own, so a GWR pannier or BR class 04, plus suitable wagons. The larger middle box serves as the yard, with trains entering from the "fiddle yard", i.e. its lid. The second, smaller box is going to be a two-road work shed with the lid turned into a removable roof, where the front can fold down to provide a third siding in front. Thus the "layout" can be operated in an inglenook shunting puzzle style. Hopefully. I raided the garage collection for some suitable boxes, hunted for some track, and this is what I came up with: I should point out I'll be using a spare length of flexible track for the most part, I just used these bits to give an idea without cutting holes yet. I also hope to salvage the old points, but I'm not sure how usable they are. They're not very good electrically, but I might bypass the contacts as there's only ever going to be one loco operating, so they don't need to isolate. They'll also need a trim to fit neatly in one box, so it doesn't matter they're both missing some sleepers. Should I persevere with these, or just ditch them and buy some new ones? I'd rather not spend too much or cut new points, but the better running quality might be worth it. I'm not sure. I'm also not sure what to do with the bit where the front siding leaves the main box. The shed idea came about as a way of disguising the fact it's all in boxes, but it breaks down a bit here. Perhaps a lean-to shelter? I was thinking a footbridge, but where from/to? We'll have to see. And, of course, it needs a name. I've not got any ideas at the moment, so all are welcome! Thanks for looking. -TA

Thanks again for the welcome everybody. Thank you, and it's funny you should mention that! This project started when I dropped a length of track on the stairs as I was moving around, and thought "hmm...", which resulted in the following prototype: It consisted of said length of track, taped to some cardboard, with some crude platforms and a Hornby 4-wheeled coach opened up to 45o winched up and down by a motor. It only went up 3 steps though. Oh, and that picture was far quicker to upload - thanks DaveF.

Thanks both. As a test of picture uploading, here's "Cliff". That seems to work. It took a little while to upload though; perhaps I should reduce future pictures before uploading. Does anyone have a recommended size?

Hello! I've had an account and been lurking here for some months, but I seem to have missed posting here. I'm a (nearly) 19-year old student, currently at home after passing my first year of Civil Engineering at Uni. My dad got me into model railways about 10 year ago, with the traditional circle of track on the table. That soon expanded to a permanent layout, set on the old kitchen units and bay windowsill of the dining room. It's nearly finished (if it ever can be!). I should probably post it here, but it's not particularly good modelling (all learnt as I went along, with some 'interesting' decisions made). More recently, we started a side project nicknamed "Cliff"; an arduino-controlled freelance funicular railway. It has been exhibited once, where it ran perfectly; as soon as we got it home it broke down, and wasn't really repaired as I went off to Uni. I am intending on sharing this one at some point, but it's difficult to photograph. (On that note, can pictures be directly uploaded to this forum, or should they be hosted elsewhere and embedded?) On these boards I'm mainly lurking in the Boxfiles & Micro layouts threads, because as a student that's what my first attempt at a layout on my own will probably be. I've already planned some ideas. Overall, I look forward to being a little more involved here.

Well, this is an interesting thread, as I've just started at Swansea Uni. I've have been trying to uncover and spot its railway heritage, and then I find it all laid out here! Excellent work. I knew it had more railways than looking at the place today reveals, but didn't realise quite how many. Much of it has been changed drastically, except for the Waterfront Museum in one of the old warehouses that has laid out the course of the old lines in paving. Even though it's a long way off, I'm looking forward to the layout, I'll have to keep more of an eye in here!

First of all, I know this is an older thread, but I think re-using it is better than starting yet another one for the same topic. I bought a second-hand 04 on Thursday. It was demonstrated in the shop as working, albeit stiff and needing a little running-in after sitting on the shelf for months. I got it home, and it shunted my yard as expected; not excellently, but good enough for my needs. Friday morning I gave it a proper running-in on my loop, and it's performance deteriorated until it didn't start at all. I proceeded to dismantle it and checked the mechanics, and all seems well. I next tested all the electrical paths with a multi-meter; again, all fine. When on tracks, power is always present across the motor. However, it still won't move. I know this is an old, unreliable model, but I would like to get it moving again. I can see two options for this; try and source a replacement motor, in which case where from (I haven't seen any yet), or replace the chassis entirely. I have seen others here use the Branchlines metal 04 chassis, and am interested in trying it; however, I have never built such a kit before. Is it a good idea to try it? Is it even still available? Thank you for reading my small spiel, I would be grateful to hear any advice. I don't need to be told how bad the model is, reading retrospectively I can see that. I want to get it usable, and would like to know what the best method is to explore. (Side note: why didn't this come to light when I was researching the model before purchase? All reviews seem to indicate it's a good model, not one mention of being poor until you search 'Bachmann 04 repairs', at which point all seems lost...)