Harlequin

It's not a good idea to use the turning route through a slip in a main running line - the radius through the Peco slips is a nominal 610mm (2ft) and so trains encounter quite a sharp turn.

Hi Dan,

You need to think about the scenery at the same time as the track plan because each will affect the other. On that point, check that the minimum radii in the scenic area are visually acceptable. Also note that wherever the track gets close to the back scene you need to think carefully about the scenic treatment.

The design also needs to allow for a method to get in and out of the operating well. If you have a section of baseboard that opens in one form or another then it should have minimal trackwork crossing it and it’s simplest for that section to be non scenic. That in turn means that it’s best located near the fiddle yard. But that all depends on the position of the door into the cabin and it might be quite difficult to arrange.

1 hour ago, Reorte said:

I don't like it at all personally (and got very annoyed when some *?!"@ at work decided that Firefox was to be removed from work machines and replaced by Edge), but as someone else has pointed out it's not Internet Explorer - by all accounts it's actually a decent browser, if you get along with the way it works.

 

What I really don't like about it is it being pretty much integrated in to the OS, and the pushing from Windows to use it. A browser is just another application, a very commonly used one admittedly, so I've no issue with bundling one in, but it shouldn't be integrated in to the OS at all.

3 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Why is Microsoft considered differently to Apple where Safari is built into iOS?

Lots of desktop applications need to be able to show web content and for them it's very useful that the core parts of a browser are built into the OS. Essentially, Edge is just a wrapper around the built-in browser components in Windows.

3 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

I do not understand why the RMweb software allows hotlinking of material from an https source, but does not allow hotlinking material from an http source.

 

2 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

Original RMweb hotlinking thread.

I don't know either but we are a decade on from that discussion and things have changed a lot since then!

One thing I've noticed is that hotlinked images in RMweb usually now also link back to the source page - a proper link to a meaningful page that contains all the detailed information. That overcomes most issues of attribution.

On the more general point: Having a secure connection to a website is what people expect these days. They've been told that secure is good and unsecure is bad and browsers reinforce that in their address bar displays and their response to http addresses.

11 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

RMweb member 'Harlequin' has produced an excellent, and accurate, illustrated guide to GWR lamp and bell codes from 1936 to the end of the company in 1947.   

From 1918 to 1947, in fact. You can download the PDFs from gwr.org,uk.

😃

1 hour ago, Miss Prism said:

 

I don't understand what you want.

I think the suggestion is to get a security certificate, attach it to the website and use it to serve end-to-end encrypted data through the https protocol rather than plain old http.

Search engines rank https sites higher than http because they are more trustworthy and browsers won't warn the reader that the site might be "unsafe" to visit.

https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/learning/ssl/what-is-an-ssl-certificate/

There's some more info here but it's a bit over the top for gwr.org,uk: https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/learning/security/how-to-secure-a-website/

There are different versions of Windows 11 and that probably explains why some people find it more intrusive than others.

I'm running Windows 11 Pro and my experience of it (after probably telling it once or twice not to do things) is serene and peaceful. I'm in charge and I never get interrupted or forced to submit to MS products. Even Edge and Bing sit around doing nothing.

I guess the "Pro" version is the key...

23 minutes ago, Cwmtwrch said:

I have used Windows from XP onwards, missing one or two versions on the way. I'm typing this on a machine running Win 10, and have another running Win 11 which is deliberately not internet connected, I am becoming more and more annoyed with Microsoft as they keep dumping stuff on my machine that I DO NOT want [and have absolutely no use for] but can't get rid of. They also managed, in a recent update, to completely block me from using a piece of non-commercial software I use. I did eventually find that there was a way to unblock it in the system, but it was very far from obvious. I feel that they are a) treating me like a captive user, b) acting as though they they think they know better than I do what I want, and c) doing a lot more than suggesting - they're pushing quite hard to get me to go in the direction they want, which is definitely not where I want to go.

Specifically what are MS forcing on you that you don’t want? (You need to accept security updates for your own good.)

MS are not forcing anyone to do anything they don't want to - they're just suggesting that their tools are best, as would any commercial organisation. There are plenty of alternative toolsets to Office365. (I don't use it, although my employers would probably like me to.)

I have observed over the years that if you don't like an operating system it will be uncooperative right back at you and the relationship will always be dysfunctional. I don't like Linux and it doesn't like me...

Previous versions of Windows had their foibles and annoyances but  Windows 11 is a really well sorted out system, IMHO. If you don't try to fight it, and you don't call it names behind its back, you shouldn't have much trouble with it.

😉

You could install Thunderbird if you really want something on your machine. It's not as slick as some email clients but it is free and it does talk to gmail and pretty any other mail service.

Sketchup is a very intuitive 3D package and there's a free web version: https://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-for-web

If you go up to the paid versions it's way more powerful than people think and there are innumerable plugins to extend its capabilities.

You can export STL files for 3D printing and there are tools to find and fix problems in the STL meshes.

You could expand your junction station idea a bit like this:

• The branch has its own run round loop. This was very common and means branch activities don't affect main line running.
• The loop is trapped at the country end by a stub siding (which could be longer if it had a useful purpose).
• The spur at the town end of the loop could be used for end loading?
• Two long goods sidings that both have useful vehicle access.
• Both platforms are lengthened by the area shown with dashed outlines.
• The station building has to move a bit closer to the road.
• Smooth curves in the branch line run into the bay platform and a nice gentle curve on the end of the platform itself.
• Extra spacing between branch line and main line.
• The signalbox is in a new suggested position.
• The pink section eases the setrack curve to bring the two main running lines closer together where they pass through the station. That helps make things look a bit better and makes the crossover shorter.

I think you’re getting advice about two things: how to make a good train set with play value and how to make a good model railway with some correct railway practices and features. The two things are somewhat conflicting and that’s why the design hasn’t resolved itself yet.

For longer trains you could isolate the pink section and feed it through your auto-reverser:

1 minute ago, Andy Keane said:

The nice things about the stench pipe are:

1) there really was one

2) not often seen on models (I don't ever recall seeing one but then maybe I have not noticed them before)

3) tiny foot-print so easy to add

 

I have no idea what a traditional farmed warren might even look like, but I do have a field above the station which current plans are just to be plain grass with a few cows. Do you have a photo?

happy new year!

Andy

You're going to need a DCC Stink Generator under the baseboard...

😆

2 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

Is that Tiverton or Tiverton Junction? There's also Maiden Newton, the run round was a gravity shunt move as per the Princetown branch at Yelverton.

 

 

I was thinking of Tiverton but of course Junction also has a bay platform for the branch.

Wellington (Salop) had a facing bay platform for the Much Wenlock branch with inclined kickback siding for gravity run round.

1 hour ago, GWRSwindon said:

I made this account several years ago, when I was still a GWR fanboy, and I'm now unable to change it.

I think the admins can change it if you ask them.

Whoops sorry, Welchester already said that - and he knows because he used to be a bishop!

2 hours ago, DCB said:

On the contrary,  a two platform station with no bay and a diverging branch is much more interesting to operate. Less interesting visually as you can't have branch and main line trains depart or arrive simultaneously, but a heck of a lot more interesting to operate. The Branch Auto has to vacate the platform to make room for the main line arrival and then return to pick up passengers, often lurking in a goods yard,  it's even more complicated when the loco needs to run round.  Totnes on the Dart Valley  and the Malmesbury branch junction (Little Somerford) were two.  Even two platform stations with a loop would have trains reverse, Cirencester MSWJR had several passenger trains reverse or arrive / Depart ECS back the way they came. Marlborough had most reverse (That's super weird) .   When I have a spare lifetime I will make a list but I have all 4 of the Historical Survey of GWR stations books and very  few have "Branch Bays" as in dead end, at the junction, fewer still have facing access for arriving trains.

Again pre 1900  arrival Bays needed a run round.    Railmotors and Auto trains led to some run round loops being taken out of use but usually the train arrived at a through platform, loco ran round and pushed the train into the bay ready to depart again, generally modellers have the auto train go straight into the dead end bay and then straight back out.  often on a timer!
 

Off the top of my head, mainline junction stations with branch bays:

• Didcot
• Newbury
• Exeter St. David's
• Whitland
• Tiverton
• Newton Abbot
• Bourne End
• Kemble

There are a lot more, I'm sure. It seems to be a common pattern and you can understand why - it avoids all the difficulties that you described above and allows branch trains to connect to main line trains without holding up operations.

Can I ask the OP, why is your user name @GWRSwindon when your focus has always been the GCR?

3 minutes ago, Andy Keane said:

Something like this? These are just spheres - how on earth I make cauliflowers I have no idea!

Exactly. That's probably good enough at 4mm scale!

28 minutes ago, Andy Keane said:

The photos of loading and unloading lead me to wondering how to model the very many crates that were used - no doubt pale wood with various shades of fluffy green visible between the slats. I don't know of any pre cast or printed items that would represent them.

Possibly silvery grey wood and fluffy green and cream visible between the slats.

I think I read somewhere that the Cornish called Cauliflowers "Broccoli" and the "broccoli traffic" was, in fact, cauliflowers being sent up to London... Or did I dream that?

Could CAD something up for printing...

4 hours ago, tom s said:

With the smorgasbord of TT120 offerings, if I had some stock to use and the models appealed to me, I would model a preservation era station. 
Almost anything goes, (even HSTs now,) cheery countryside modelling, a wealth of accurate photographs if you settle on a prototype. All it really needs if for Hornby to announce some BR standard classes and a charming tank engine.

The downsides, though, are that it's operationally very simple, there's no real reason to run goods services at all and the historical details only have to be as correct as the preservationists could get them.

A model of a preserved railway is almost a model of a model...

14 hours ago, Cliff M said:

Thanks all. I've just been able to upload my latest design. As Torper says it's not very prototypical but I just wanted a layout with plenty of interest and things to do and have some fun with it, thanks Torper.

Harlequin I've included 3 tries at using the SLE-87 both on the outer and the inner tracks but as you can see I run out of room to make a sharp enough turn as the radius is only 19 degrees. Am I missing something here? 

Dungrange if you now look at the latest layout I think I have addressed all the curve issues you have correctly raised as I have centered them all on the outside track and the middle track as the spacing is now dictated by the new points numbers 5,6,9,10. these points connect the outside track to the middle track which was the only thing missing as pointed out by ITG.

Any final comments are most welcome.

Is the inability to upload with error 200 something that happens regularly? 

The Error 200 thing was probably just a glitch with RMweb - I saw a few other people having different problems around the same time.

To use the curved turnout you have to make the inner track have the radius of the curved turnout minus your spacing so that it remains parallel. That does mean that both tracks curvature is opening up but that's not bad thing because it helps transition from straight to the very tight R2 and R3 curves. Then one more thing: because the radii have become greater the whole corner curve probably needs to move down but that should be fine because there's a bit of room around the 5/6 and 9/10 crossovers and they could both be smoother by having one end in the corner curves.

Note what folks are saying about track spacing: You need to use setrack spacing (67mm) in the corners to avoid bogie vehicles crashing into each other because of the outswing at the ends and the overhang in the middle. Setrack radii R2 and R3 are naturally 67mm apart. But that spacing looks a bit silly on the straights and won't help with your Streamline crossovers because Streamline's natural spacing is 51mm (2in). So you either have to use Setrack spacing everywhere or transition between the spacings as you approach and leave the corners.

2 hours ago, Cliff M said:

Could you tell me the Peco model number of the track shown 'Going one step further and using a Streamline curved left-hand turnout (right, green) gains a little bit more platform length'.

 

It's an SL-E87, which you already mentioned.