johnsmithuk

Thank you for the input. As I said above, I measured my boards wrong, hence the change of track plan. The track has arrived, so will be experimenting over the next few days in-between nightshifts. I have a preliminary design for the control panel for the points and lighting, and have been researching stay-alive modules that are small in size, but pack enough punch to get a class 06 and/or 08 across the points if problems persist.

Pulled the trigger on ordering the track pieces I don't have for the above track plan. It is a little bit real now.

Slight amendments made.

All of my wagons are 4 wheel small ones.

Firstly, I put my hand up to misreading some measurements. My baseboard is a little thinner than I read, and was my error. The theme will be unchanged, but the track plan has changed a bit to compensate. I wanted to put everything on a slant, but it was a stretch too far, so have stayed parallel to the board. I have gone to town with the points to try and make it look like there was a lot more trackwork there in the past. In doing so, I appear to have made a double inglenook. That makes shunting puzzles to a whole new level. The yellow wall is the exterior fence of the works, a dirt road joins the building, and loading dock area (orange block) to the outside world through the red gate. A similar gate separates the private works to the main Network Rail owned line. The orange block has potential for a loading bay to unload trucks, a crane, other scrap left everywhere etc. Pictures below. As always comments/suggestions/flaming/improvements are welcome.

Ok, the as yet unnamed wagon works may be inching forward. I now have the wagon works building in the top left corner, with a storage siding running down the side of it. This is currently a twin road building, it may turn into a three road building to cover the siding, turning it into more works space. Near centre-right houses storage sidings that also encompass an inglenook shunting puzzle area. Far right has space to build a scenic break, a bridge or other building to hide the exit away from the main board to a fiddle cassette/stick. Back centre has space, along with behind the wagon works and near right to build the surrounding area up to the boundary I set for the works. I am assuming that the works was a lot bigger in the past, and has sold off land that other local industry has taken over.

Wow. My mind is blown. So obvious I never even thought if it. Time to get thinking again. Thank you for more inspiration.

Thanks for the comments. 1. My thoughts are an old factory, repurposed to a more modern usage, so allows a mix of old and new hardware to go be used as I feel fit. The part backing on to the rails to be a loading dock, but much disused. 2. That makes sense, and I am trying a few more variations to see if something looks more organic/disorganised. 3. Rolling stock is a pair of beaten up 08's. If I can convert an 06 I was given to DCC that will be used as well. The inglenook is pretty much a deal breaker, as I want some operational interest as well as something to model. Thanks again for showing an interest.

Hello everyone, I have been interested in this hobby for a long time, and decided after a few false starts to make a serious go of a layout of my own. The plan is to use ready made baseboard sections from Scale Model Scenery, 2x ends, and 2x centre pieces. This will give a working area approx 1600mm x 400mm, 5 feet x 1 1/3 feet roughly. Control will be DCC, and a fiddle stuck will be added to one or both sides, depending on final layout. The first idea for the track layout is below. The baseboard sections are on order, as space is a premium, and is as large as I realistically can go. The intended theme is intended to be industrial, and close to modern day, somewhere between 90's and now, possibly a mix up throughout the range. I am using Rule 1 liberally. Comments and hint welcome.

I believe this is a Rule Number 1 scenario.

You could sell many of those, looks very professional.

That car primer from the pound shop is great, I use it myself.

Hi Luke, sorry for dragging up an old post, but I have a question. I have an old class 08 that it looks like the pick up has pretty much disintegrated. Is the wire bent, and then glued to provide some tension on the wheels to maintain contact? I have been searching for a week to find this post again after it sitting in my memory that I had seen it done.

Thanks for the reply, seems so obvious now.

Sorry for the newbie style question, but what is the purpose of having the terminal block exposed on your control panel? Thanks.

I like the idea of changing the backdrop to change the time of day.

Dare I throw an idea at you? How about an angled mirror on the bottom of the shelf above the layout, so that seated viewers get a sort of bird's eye view of the layout?

I have no connection to Homebase, but found this whilst browsing, very similar and £6 cost. Homebase Crate

Catzilla is waaaaaaay too cute.

Lazarus Lane?

This may seem like a very silly question, but how do you distribute the power from your controller to the track. Is it a single feed into something like a terminal block to then spread it to each section? How do you construct the switches for the isolations? Sorry for the newbie style questions.

Space solution is easy, all you need is a sledgehammer and a sympathetic landlord.

Love the making the crane moving.

That is some dedication to getting the walls looking great.

Yes, sorry it is a bit rough and ready.