OhOh

I agree, although that'd probably preclude the tunnel that @Reg81 was wanting. It's fun (well, to me at least ) to see how things can be moved and re-jigged to fit within the limited space. The terminus with industry sidings and out-and-back could make a really interesting layout to operate. Gra

Things tend to get a little messy when I fiddle with Streamline, but I can just about get a loop by juggling Setrack R2 (there's 1 R3) and bits of flexi. But then I lost either the factory or loco sidings due lack of space, and things do get rather close to the edges of the board. Points are SLE91's and 92's and an SLE97 Y. Anyway, for what it's worth, here it is: Gra

Thanks v much. Everything is R2. I've had another play-around and come-up with these which move the passing loop nearer to where you'll be operating from and so would allow the tunnel you mentioned. One has a single line entry/exit from./to the terminal station, the other is with the entry/exit on separate lines - clearer in the pic than in words One also uses R3 on the platform loop which should help looks-wise. Gra

Here are my efforts at getting a longer passing loop, and also making "out-and-back" possible:

I've recently found some eBay sellers going way OTT with their packaging, almost to the point that I've worried I risk damaging the item while trying to get to it. One example being a single Hornby wagon that turned-up swathed in a couple of yards of kitchen roll, two lots of bubble wrap secured with a lot of clear tape, surrounded by polystyrene pellets, all in a thick cardboard box totally encased in a couple of layers of Gorilla Tape!

All looking good, especially your most recent one. I'm a total novice when it comes to carriage painting, so will probably attempt something a little less tricky first. But having very recently adopted the LNER as my railway of choice, I'll no doubt have to try at some point. Off to read your blog now. Gra

Wondering earlier today if I might be brave enough to attempt painting my Hornby GWR 4 wheelers into something hopefully looking like LNER teak, I stumbled across this info courtesy of Phoenix Paints. If you've not already seen it, I hope it might be of interest/help. Gra

I think there's a difference between the divergence at the heel vs the radius overall of the curved point. It was the latter that I was trying to calculate in order to work how to complete a 180 degree turn. Sorry @Newbie2020 if I've inadvertently taken your thread off at an odd angle Gra.

I did quickly try the 8/20 degrees in Anyrail by reducing the SL100 curves by 1 degree, but then found that any subsequently attached straight track started heading off towards the edge of the baseboard. In reality, I doubt that 1 degree +/- would make a huge difference so long as at least one of the entry/exit points of the turn are aligned correctly to begin with. Any small discrepancy would hardy be noticeable by using less (or no) ST and a longer length of SL100 within the turn. Gra.

Thanks. It was looking for, but not being able to find that info that set me off on the exercise in the first place. That and the fact that similar to the OP, I may include some SL points into my otherwise ST designed future layout. Gra.

Just did a little exercise combining an SLE-87 curved point with r3 Setrack in order to see what length and radius of SL-100 would be needed to complete a 180 degree turn. While the tracks diverge at 12 degrees, the radius (if my calculations are correct) of each is 7 degrees outer and 19 degrees inner. That might already be obvious to some here, but I often like to take the long route to finding things out, hence the illustration below. Gra.

Probably already discussed elsewhere, but the Hornby diamonds are 'handed' with the diagonal being something like 18cm while the horizontal is the same as both legs of a Peco diamond at 16.8cm. I wonder if that's always been the case, or did one or the other make a change somewhere along the line?

I'm starting to get a bit confused with it all now, so may leave any further re-hashes to those with more knowledge than me. Regards the inserts of flex track attached to the double slip, they are 7.5 and 15cm, so not too fiddly really. The 15cm piece has a very slight curve, hardly noticeable at radius 1579cm although could probably be straightened if I had a tad more patience. I agree though that the different crossing angles do look a little odd. A nicely aligned set of tracks can be quite pleasing to the eye, especially to someone like me who thinks the world would be a much better place if everything was either horizontal, vertical or at a 45degree angle, all other angles being superfluous, but that's just me

Haha, now that you mention it, it seems obvious However, now thanks to @Chimer and @AndyB I've updated it with the correct dimensions and swapped the diamond for a double slip. Hope @Newbie2020 doesn't mind all this rehashing of the original plans. Gra.

It'd need a bit of jiggling to incorporate into the setrack geometry. Might also (although I don't know much on this subject) complicate the electrics. To my mind, it'd be quite a bit of effort for not much gain. Gra.

Another tweak just to give a little extra room for the mill/industry.

Oh yes @RJS1977 and @DavidCBroad I see what you mean. Here's the updated version, with a 2nd diamond for the return into the station, rather than going through 4 points. As well as doing away with the crossover at bottom left as you show, the top right one can also go. I've been using Peco, but found that their ST250 diamond put the tracks slightly out of alignment whereas the Hornby R615's maintain the geometry. Gra.

Can I cheekily offer-up this version? I think it has all your current elements, just rearranged a little. Outer circuit is r3, inner r2. I've used flex track in several places as I'm limited to 50 pieces, which is also why the mill/industry isn't shown. This offers you the option of 2 x 30inch diameter operating wells, although the one on the right would seem superfluous really. The one on the left puts you handily within reach of the mill/industry sidings, which should make shunting easier and could be expanded as shown, although that reduces the scenic possibilities. You also get a siding to store a pilot loco, which could, if you wanted, be extended further to the right to become a carriage siding. Hope it's of interest. Gra.

Possibly not my earliest railway memory, but certainly one of my most vivid - 1965/66'ish - Dad and I were going to our first ever model railway exhibition, at Central Hall Westminster I think. Being 5 or 6 years old it was possibly the most excited I'd ever been in my life up to that point. We'd travelled in from Metroland, changed trains somewhere and boarded what Dad told me was the Circle Line. I was fascinated and as happy as a happy young boy on a day out with his dad could ever be, overjoyed to hear that a real railway went round and round just like my own train set at home. Somewhere in the deep, dark, noisy gloom between 2 stations was when Dad, with his somewhat evil sense of humour, thought it'd be funny to tell me that he'd lost my ticket and that therefore I would have to stay on the train going round and round, all alone, while he went to the exhibition. EAR-SHATTERING SCREAMS filled the carriage, tears rolled down my reddening cheeks and snot flowed uncontrollably from my nose as I went into total melt-down, unable to draw breath or see or hear Dad as he frantically tried to calm me down and reassure me it was all a joke. I can't recall if it was more the terror at the thought of being left on the train or upset at not being able to go to the show, probably both, but he obviously did manage to calm me somehow and we made it to the show where my eyes just grew wider and wider at the sight of so many "trainsets" - more than I imagined there ever could be. Probably scarred me for life And I'll never know quite what the other passengers made of the little boy repeatedly asking "Dad, have you got my ticket?" inbetween every station on the train ride home - probably found me rather annoying.

Well that's been an absorbing and entertaining read while I'm sneezing and sniffling on a cold and wet Saturday afternoon. An absolutely brilliant layout, from concept through construction to running, thanks v much for sharing. I'm off to myafk now

Enjoyable and informative, the perfect mix for a TV prog for me …. and to find that the real railways are now using plastic sleepers …. what next, tension lock couplings?!

Maybe before you start spending on books, have a look at this video and some of the others on that site. These guys have built quite a few smallish layouts so you'll get a clearer idea of what might fit in your space. This one as well.

A great little layout! I especially like the scenic treatment and, as said above, the hand-built points are very impressive. Makes me wish my eyes were 2mm equiped

Others here are much better informed than me when it comes to designing an effective track layout, so I won't comment on that. But for software, I suggest you look at Anyrail which is free and easy to use.

Well, I think having 'the look' in mind is half the battle won already, but it's probably wise to bear in mind that things may change as the build progresses. I started a little micro layout thinking that I knew exactly how it was going to look and what was going to go where. But a little bit in and I've realised that things won't quite fit as I had planned, so a mental revision has, I hope, set me back on track to getting-on with the build.