HereticUK

Ooof, any of those models would be absolutely wonderful!

I can confirm that, if it was brought to O gauge, I would most likely make a purchase of such a pretty little engine.

@goldfish Thank you for the information.

I have another question if I may regarding my lack of experience and knowledge: I saw that some people have said that ACE ETS trains are reasonably compatible with Peco track; does this mean that ETS track is compatible with Peco track? For example, would it be feasible to use ETS points combined with Peco set-track pieces?

It's been more than a few months since I made an entry into this "diary" of sorts; a place for my thoughts on modelling in general. Some progress has been made in regards to what I am buying and when. My partner gave me the gift of permission to spend some money on a couple of purchases, one of which is a DCC controller and the other is a locomotive. However, I think that I will be putting off the locomotive purchase for now and instead concentrating on expanding the available stock and track. For now, while I am still dreaming planning, I can use the track like an old-style "train set" and mix it up every "play session". This way I will be able to experiment with various layouts and plans on the fly.

Well, you say that, but my experience of it being a "simple plug-in job" is that it's never so simple, and I actually managed to stop a loco from working when plugging in a DCC chip. I don't have enough confidence in my own capabilities in this regard to even dare to try it myself again now.

Hello everyone! I am thinking about purchasing the new Dapol O gauge GWR 58xx class and installing DCC sound on it. I have a choice of 5 different sources that I can see: Legomanbiffo, YouChoos, Digitrains, Howes, and SWD. I can find some certain samples of the sound, but I would like to hear some opinions from people who have bought and used sound from all these different sources. Can anyone recommend any of these sound files? Of course, I could get the DCC Sound version from Dapol and save myself some money, but I heard the sound sample from this and I am not really that impressed about it. Thank you for your help and advice.

Thank you for the words of advice! Yeah for 7mm scale it's gonna be one hell of an ordeal. The plan I currently have is to be only a single station in this whole exercise to design a complete railway line with multiple stations. The real line that I am basing this whole thing on has far too many stations to copy in reality, but I can at least copy the most important/interesting.

An update to the previous post already: I have moved a few things around in order to extend the length of the run-around part. I have also added a few buildings to help with the imagination of placement.

I agree that I need to think about what it is that I will enjoy the most. I think that I would mostly enjoy the shunting and breaking-up aspect of operation more than simply watching trains go by (although sometimes this is nice too). I think that the end-goal will be one day to make a layout where I can get the best of both worlds.

I like unusual things, so this sounds right up my alley! Thank you for the information.

I have some updates on my venture into railway modelling. I have recently been looking into designing a new railway company and region based around the area where I currently live. There are many interesting stations in Russia, serving both small towns and several factories at the same time. One of which is called "Gavrilov-Yam", which roughly translates to "The town around the new post office in the name of Gavrila". Looking into the history of this place, it turns out that such small towns were constructed to provide shelter for travellers and workers between the post offices around the region. The word "yam" comes from the old word "yamschik", which basically means "courier". So, I have taken this station into my railway company and renamed it in a British fashion to "Courier's Hearth". The station is used very seldom these days, since one of the factories that it served has long since closed (or transferred the majority of its remaining traffic to the roads), but I am going to breathe some life into it. The station will be a single platform, with siding for a goods shed. On the other side of the station will be a linen factory and warehouse with a few sidings. To the left of the layout will be the exit to the traverser, which will be covered by the second factory - a scrapyard/foundry. The track will be PECO Code 124 Bullhead. My major concern (as always) is operational interest. I have divided the layout into three stages of construction, but I am not so sure about this. I have some other plans in mind, which I will be placing here in the future. Any comments/thoughts/improvements will be taken to heart and greatly appreciated.

I would say that this is my main problem at the moment. I have lots of ideas, but when I think about operational potential, I immediately lose all confidence that I would be creating something enjoyable. "Getting the layout right" seems to be the name of the game. I would be interested to know how people came up with their "perfect" layout.

I have reworked the plan a little more. Instead of a bay platform, I have added a goods shed and simplified some of the turnouts. I have also split the layout into 3 stages: stage 1 is the basic platform with run-round facilities, coaling and watering for the locos and a goods shed; stage 2 expands with the linen factory and warehouse; stage 3 adds the foundry and the final location for the 2-track traverser. I would appreciate any comments, positive or critical.

Third version with AnyRail 6 and some C+L turnouts, plus some of the Peco set track has been replaced with varying lengths of flexi-track. It's certainly more compact than it was. Any thoughts?

The track is Peco Code 124 Bullhead Rail. The only option is to use the Peco set-track options, since custom track configurations are only possible in the fully licensed version of SCARM (I am using the free version). Maybe I should try my luck on Anyrail and see how that program suits me. Since this is a country backwater, I see no problem with it taking only 5 or 6 wagons. The prototype I am imitating is actually a Russian station, and according to the track plan, the first thing a train comes across are the points leading to the factory (a la my first version).

Here's an updated plan with the foundry moved to the left side of the layout, providing a cover for the fiddle yard area. Overall, since my first draft (not posted here) I have reduced the length by a total of 3 feet (about 90 cm).

I thought about the sidings, I could make them a little longer, but I didn't want any single element to become too overbearing and envelope the other elements. A potential change is to move the foundry to the left side of the board and have the off-scene storage behind it in order to save some space. It would mean that not only will the sidings be a bit longer, but also there would eb more action spread across the layout.

I have gone back and created my plan proper, including a test inside SCARM (didn't realise you could do that) and I have come up with the following plan. I would very much like some feedback. The station is to be called "Courier's Hearth". It is based around the trackplan for the town "Gavrilov-Yam" which is not far from Yaroslavl (where I live). I translated the idea behind the name - 'Gavrilov' comes from the name 'Gavrila', I assume that this is just some kind of local hero when the town was founded. 'Yam' is from the word 'yamshik' which is an old word for a courier. Such towns where built around post offices and factories for the workers to have somewhere to live, hence the name "Courier's Hearth". I would also like to add that I am still getting used to this program and its nuances, so the plan is a bit straighter than I would like in reality.

It's a nice idea, and I believe that I have seen this thread before, but I am a stickler for accuracy in terms of plans. I would like to try to keep to the original plan as much as possible. I think that I will have another look at the plan I have made and try to eliminate some unnecessary things from it.

Okay, here it goes: I have been doing a lot of looking around at different prototypes (I guessed that it would be easier to copy than to innovate), but I have been unable to find anything to suit my personal taste. Although I am a GWR man at heart (born and raised in the Golden Valley around Stroud), I have a love of locomotives from all companies both pre- and post-grouping, so I wanted something where I could run basically anything that I want. That's where I got the idea of inventing my own railway company and, perhaps, even my own country (although it would still be British in nature). I currently live in the Central regions of Russia, and having looked around the area, I have found that there are a lot of interesting stations etc. For example, a station close to the city where I live (it seems to be rarely used for passengers, despite having a platform) seems to serve a linen factory and a scrapyard/foundry. My plan is to run small/mid-sized tank engines, with one bogie coach or a couple of short 4-wheeled coaches plus a couple of vans or a mail van. The factory and foundry would both be shunted by a small tank engine, with deliveries of flax and scrap coming and prepared linen and steel leaving.

As they say: misery loves company, and so it's somewhat comforting to read that I am not alone in this. Perhaps I should explain my specific problem in a little more detail in order to get some advice, if I may. I have always been interested in larger scales. My grandfather started me with HO (Fleischmann) and OO (Bachmann and Hornby), but I was always fascinated with O. Recently, I decided to realise my dream and get into O gauge. I bought the Gaugemaster Brighton Works Starter Set, and then a Dapol brake van, some more track and a Minerva Victory. Basically, I broke the (seemingly) cardinal rule of modelling - eyes wider than your stomach. I bought first and started planning afterwards. Now that I have these plans in my mind (I am rather pleased with the overall idea that I have), I realise that O gauge is far too big for what I actually want to do. If I went to OO, I could have everything I wanted. In other words, I am starting to feel like I regret being so hasty and wasting so much money... I promised my partner that I would do something with these things (before I made the purchases), and I feel like I am breaking my promise to her with all these thoughts.

Hello everyone. I have a somewhat serious topic, I am afraid... How often do you come up with a grand plan for something (for example, a layout) and then suddenly lose all confidence that you have got the right idea? I have a plan for something that I want to do with my recent renewed motivation for model railways, but every time I sit and think about it, or make a plan for it, it always seems that I am wasting my time or that I am being an idiot and that my plan is stupid. I worry that my plan isn't interesting enough for me and that any way to make my plan more interesting would require a room the size of Wales (a slight exaggeration, but you understand what I mean). Yesterday I spent the evening reading and making plans and I felt really good about it. this morning, I made the plan in SCARM and it's about 6 metres long and feels too basic for me. Am I alone in this feeling or does this happen to everyone?

Thank you very much everyone! I have a lot to think about.

Is there anywhere I can find details of these various plans?