Harlequin

You're right, Lumens Per Metre is really the thing to look for when assessing LED tapes. And bad news: the brighter the LEDs (the more Lumens per metre), the hotter they run in general so some heat dissipation may be needed. Good grade tapes use a thicker copper substrate to help with this. Some sort of aluminium extrusion is the usual way to dissipate heat - either proprietary with the ability to fit a diffuser cover or just a bit of U channel from your local DIY shed.

Warm white == John Constable! Have you got a haywain in your spares box?

Sorry Antony, I hope you don't think I've gone too far. It's all just suggestions and ideas for you to use as you see fit.

Fiddle yard points fans: Yes, start them as soon as possible to make the fiddle roads as long as possible but there's a gotcha: A double-track roundy-round layout needs to be able to reverse trains and so they need to crossover from up to down, or vice versa, off-scene. So, to allow all storage roads to crossover if needed before re-appearing on scene the outermost element at both ends of the FY needs to be a crossover (and possibly two for maximum flexibility). One of them could usefully live on the lifting section as the Johnster suggested earlier. Minimum radii: 762mm in the corners of my drawing creates real problems for the fiddle yard - unless it's allowed to eat into the circulation space a bit more. Even then you have to push it uncomfortably close to the backscene. I'm not sure what limitation three-link or screw couplings would impose on radii. (And are they really practical for operation?) Maximising the scenic part and curved edges: Great idea: Panoramic! Traverser or Turntable: With these designs there are no permanent through lines and that means that when the traverser or turntable is moving, you have stop running through trains. You could try to slow them down and keep them running but it would be stressful to move the FY deck and get it re-aligned and re-connected before the through train arrives! Turning: You only really need to turn locos (and brake vans), not entire trains. The simplest way to do that without too much handling is to use loco lifts but a loco turntable could be incorporated into the off-scene or maybe even into the scenic area. FY capacity: On my drawing there's enough room for 12 roads at standard Peco Streamline spacing (51mm). In practice, that might be reduced a bit because you might want wider spacing. Not all of them could be full length and not all of them could be loops. (Personally, I don't see any problem with just using Code 75 trackwork throughout. It might depend on how it's fixed down, though.)

Lots of very good points there and, as you suggest, it's all about Antony making the compromises that suit him best. My drawing just illustrates where small radii would help make other elements longer and fit the layout into the room more easily - and that they can be disguised. BTW: I've laid 610mm radius Code 75 Flexitrack with no problem at all. I suspect Code 75 Bullhead would be fine at that radius too. It is even more delicate - but maybe that means it's less prone to spring away from the intended curve.

The goods yard could probably just be laid out as an Inglenook shunting puzzle in that space, depending on the lengths of the turnouts. Whatever the track plan, in reality a goods shed needs a bit of decent space around it for loading and so you might need to either suggest that space offscene, use low-relief techniques or maybe make the board a bit wider.

Now that we understand the room a bit better, here's my interpretation of @Chimer's suggestion: The scenic areas are on display from the two room entrances. Fiddle yard open to access from both sides (no backscene in the middle of the room). Access well in top left corner as per Chimer. Reduced width lifting section in non-scenic area carrying double track only. Rough guideline radii shown. Hidden small radius like Chimer suggested. Basically diagonal arrangement to keep scenic area flowing rather than getting "stuck" in a corner. (Door positions guessed!)

One of my cats thinks that glued-down trackwork is the best scratching surface she's ever been given!... She rips it up and I glue it back down again.

Hi Antony, You've got a great space there to do something really wonderful. Where is the door? Does the diagonal section have a backscene? Is it acceptable to have to duck under the main scenic area, where the baseboards might be quite wide? Your prototype inspiration sounds interesting. I didn't know that the Midland dabbled in broad gauge. Not sure about broad gauge track spacing and can't find anything online. As a first approximation you could guess that broad gauge vehicles had the same separation as narrow (standard) gauge do now. On that basis I make the broad gauge track centres ~56.5mm (assuming 45mm standard gauge centres) or ~62.5mm (assuming Streamline 51mm centres). But of course when you've got a wide trackbed there are any number of ways to position the new standard gauge tracks on it. I suspect the engineers would probably have used that freedom to set the new tracks at the standard spacing and improve the alignments. Where double track ran between platforms, assuming that the platforms weren't rebuilt at the time of gauge conversion, the new standard gauge track would be spaced to run alongside the platform edges, giving an even greater distance than simply maintaining the broad gauge track centres, of course!

<parody on> People post from mobs include no punctuation or capitols and wring worms are inserted by autocorrect usually they just asking basic question in bad grammer? tks <parody off> I find it mildly annoying to have to decipher this kind of post by mentally inserting punctuation and replacing words. Shouldn't the onus be on the OP to make his or her meaning clear rather than requiring mental gymnastics from the many readers?

I tried to fill a gap above some bi-fold doors a few years ago. The expansion was more than I expected (or the gap was smaller) and the stuff was dripping everywhere. I did my best to get rid of the excess before it set but annoyingly there are still bits stuck to the doors and to the clothes I was wearing to this day! The note above about plasterboard foam seems very useful and I suggest using it in layers to avoid over-expansion, reduce wastage and to reduce the amount of cutting back and sanding needed. Putting more little bits of plastic into the environment is not good! (I wonder if there's a some kind of organic expanding foam? Perhaps cellulose based?)

Hi Paul, Picking up from your DCC control topic, here's the sort of thing you could do to reduce stacking trains in the storage loops: It sacrifices some capacity in favour of flexibility and, hopefully, easier control. The new crossovers at G and H divide the loops into smaller sections and give all the storage sections direct access to the main running lines. The crossovers are set up so that stored trains can exit onto the main running lines easily but entering the forward sections requires that the rearward ones are empty. So some stacking and moving up would still be needed. There's nothing to prevent you from stacking within the smaller sections, or even allowing long trains to foul the crossover points. The exact formations could all be altered, of course. (And a three-way point in the centre would save some space.)

Sorry tiger but the computer is not going to put itself right no matter how long you wait. If you get someone to fix it then all the downloads and updates will work properly, nothing will get trashed or spontaneously installed and you'll be a much happier man!

tiger, Please take your computer to a professional and ask them to fix it for you.

Yes, but Paul, that was a small, very localised fault compared to the massive problems tiger is describing. No-one's saying the MS don't make mistakes but tiger's experience is completely abnormal and definitely caused by his machine's state (hardware/software/config). FWIW: My little Surface tablet upgraded to Windows 10 build 1809 yesterday. I left it to it and this morning it's all back and running completely normally - with no spontaneously installed games visible. tiger: Using your car analogy - you would have taken your car to a garage to get it fixed by now! P.S. MS are gradually rolling out Build 1903 at the moment.

FYI: There's more info about dual-white LED tapes here: https://www.instyleled.co.uk/dual-white-led-tapes-colour-temperature-changing/ I have no connection with them other than being a satisfied customer.

Hi Paul, It sounds like it is do-able but it would be simpler if the storage loops were redesigned so that you didn't have to do so much stacking. Or none at all if that were possible. I know that's difficult in the space available but it's worth thinking about it a bit. Regarding trains being out of position (that is, not where the automatic timetable expects them to be): This is bound to happen and you'd expect the software to do something to help. To get trains positioned correctly is a bit like a sliding-block puzzle. Either the software should be able to solve the puzzle by itself (would need some very clever programming) or at the very least it should be able to give you a clear display of which things are out of position, and what the expected position is to help you resolve the puzzle yourself. BTW: I hope these packages are smart enough to allow the temporary substitution of locos for those occasions when they have to be taken out of service for real or simulated overhauls.

Hi Dave, Warm Whites are like old tungsten bulbs, a little bit more yellow than sunlight but perfect if you're after a hazy summer's evening effect. Cool Whites are distinctly blue, like an old fluorescent tube. Too blue to create a natural sunlight effect. The ideal for typical daytime sunlight is somewhere between the two: You can get LED tapes now that have both Warm and Cool LEDs and they come with a controller that allows you to set the balance between warm and cool and also The overall brightness, which gives you lots of flexibility. The LED tapes sold in DIY stores are usually not very bright - the LEDs are not packed very densely along the tape. If you want reasonable brightness it might be worth looking for "architectural grade" tape.

I think Siberian's example of detection is different to the method I described. You wouldn't have both. Your last masking tape image looked good to me for either method of detection. Ground disc aligned with the tips of the point blades.

Independently, but the ground disc could only be pulled off when the points were set correctly. This would most likely be implemented by a plunger in the disc mechanism that hits a bar connected to the tie bar. When the points are "lying normal" the bar would prevent the plunger from moving. When set to crossover, the plunger would align with a slot in the bar and so the signal could move to the correct position. Image from gwr.org.uk. The chain from the balance arm runs around the pulley and connects to the signal wire. You can see the plunger also connected to the balance arm and the flat bar below it (slot not visible) with the adjustable connection to the points tie bar or stretcher bar.

Hi Chris, I don't know! This is beyond the limits of my knowledge, but: I think the rodding would curve along length C in the real world (where it would be longer). I wonder if compensation would be used for such a short distance? (The crossover in your earlier drawing was 108 yards long, so maybe an unrealistic example for demo purposes.) I think compensation would be in the run from the 'box to the first crank arm. P.S. Your last photo of a take-off / drop-off crank doesn't look very GWR to me.

The recipe for another of those spurious conspiracy theories: Start with an innocent question, add some humourous answers, stir in some concerns about new features and throw in a pinch of misunderstanding. Princess Diana and Neil Armstrong would be proud!

18:26 PM The fund is over £17,000 and still rising! Well done to the railway modelling community at large for coming together and supporting Market Deeping Model Railway Club.

Possibly some useful photos here: http://www.gwr.org.uk/pointrodding.html

Hi Allan, I've just looked out a set from my spares box but I don't have the original packaging and there's no branding on it, other than "pack no 23". It's possible this could come from another manufacturer (and the boards are shorter than 72mm). I really apologise if I've got my wires crossed and incorrectly maligned your product. I will edit my post above.