EasternO

I hope none of the DMU passengers are nursing a hot cup of tea in their laps!

Yes, my logic. Or I'm missing a stroke /. I meant power / trailer. I've scrapped the idea as I'd need a new roof which I can't buy.

Thanks. I'd love a Wickham! I doubt they'd be produced RTR though. I had a look at the Bachmann Spares website to cost getting a couple chassis and bodies. Quite expensive. I would still end up with the problem of having a roof exhaust in a trailer roof though. Thinking this through a bit more, I have two power chassis, a body with correct roof and a body with incorrect roof. I'm not sure if it's possible to easily replace roofs on the bodies, I've not looked yet. It would be ideal if they were screwed, but I suspect not. If it were possible, I would need 2 trailer chassis, a power body and trailer body, plus a replacement trailer roof. Roofs are not available separately, however. It may be simpler to sell this one and buy two appropriate models.

I didn't know which section to write this and guesses this would be the best section. I bought by mistake a Midland Region Bachmann 105 DMU. As I model the ER, I didn't know at the time that they didn't have any power twins - they were exclusively power trailer DMUs. My question is, could I make a couple power trailers from the power twin? What would I need?

Wanted: A blue with yellow ends Bachmann Class 105 2-car DMU suitable for the ER please. I don't necessarily need it to be boxed, but it's a bonus if it is. What's more important is that it's complete, working and undamaged.

Space would be the primary reason. Having a 7mm circuit in my loft was not advisable. I like building models and at that stage I just wanted somewhere to test them and simply sit and watch them go round. Then I thought about building to a new standard gauge scale, exactly between 4mm and 7mm, but despite loving building things, this would have taken me years to get anything built because absolutely nothing currently exists. I dropped that idea and plumped for 4mm. Now I don't have to build anything but the layout - after I've thrown the junk out!

I can't help you with anything as I'm a noob myself, but looks like a great project. I've gone the other way to you - from 7mm plans to 4mm.

Indeed! Fabulous work. That would have taken me a month to do. I'm torn between 1 and 2, although the number of turnouts in 3 makes my mouth water and my wallet shiver! I shall mull over these plans for a day or two, but thank you again! Fabulous work.

Thanks Paul, not sure if you saw my replies to your questions. I skimmed through your thread of trials and tribulations tonight - an interesting read. You didn't talk much of TrainController, and as this is what I've been looking at using, I'd really appreciate your thoughts on it. I'd probably plump for the bronze version. If you have any design suggestions or alterations I'd be very happy to hear them. Thanks, John

Exactly. I don't know how to use any but I'll look into it when I finish my next shift block, next week sometime. Thanks.

Thanks Paul, I appreciate your input, experience and your layout picture. I shall go through your thread over the next few days. I'm back on a block shift for a week so, but I can follow it through in chunks. I've not heard of XtrackCad so I'll take a look next week, thanks for the heads up. To answer your questions in order: No, there's no rhyme or reason for the plan or position of elements, other than this is my effort to provide a start and stop location and to avoid as much as possible the loft hatch and back wall. They don't need to be stations, but I thought they may as well be. One could be a yard/TMD area. This particular layout will have the barest minimum of scenery. Low relief structures mainly, with suggestions of platforms. Certainly no significant structures. The alcove station is a replica of the other one. This Minories scheme allows a busy station without too much effort on behalf of the operator or scheduling computer. I am open to any suggestions or changes. I really appreciate your offer and interest. John

Hello Ian, thank you very much for your input. Apart from the freight, all trains are 2, 3 and 4-car DMUs. The double-slips are for space saving reasons for the Minories station scheme, and will allow simultaneous arriving and departing trains from certain platforms. Yes, all trackwork between any diverging or crossing track is blocked with sensors, with the lower single track is a little over one 4-car DMU in length. When I have some time free I'll have a look at some design software with actual track pieces to see if I can produce this design in off the shelf pieces - turnouts, slips and crossovers specifically. I'm not sure when I'll get to do this as I work shifts and from tomorrow and on a solid block for several days. Cheers.

I think I'm fairly close to a final plan, which you can see in this post below. If you have any advice and suggestions on the layout itself I'd be very happy to hear them. My thread in the design section has a very low level of interaction. Thanks.

I know this layout is not everybody's cup of tea, and I fully appreciate that. To reiterate, this is a layout to test block control, signalling and operations/schedules on an automated system that I plan to build in the future when we move. I've only a vague idea of what I'm doing but I know what I want and this is my way of achieving that. Advice and suggestions are always appreciated. With that said, I've been thinking and planning, and I think I'm fairly close to a final scheme. If I've done something wrong, please let me know. Here are two Minories stations linked by a loop. A train will leave one station, travel around the loop and arrive at the destination station. Meanwhile, a small freight train will continuously circle to loop to make scheduling and signalling a little more complicated. Added to that complication, a portion of the track is single line - perhaps over a bridge or viaduct. My questions are Does this work - have I made a mistake I haven't thought about? Can this be achieved using off the shelf Peco track (I'm not fussed about Code at this stage)? Thanks very much.

That is exactly what I shall do. Thank you for the advice. The two signal manufacturers you mentioned are pretty much what I was expecting, so thank you for that also.

I don't know much about model railways and even less about signalling, so please forgive me. I'm currently planning a test layout in preparation for a grander layout in 10 years or so, but I'd like to organise things like this in advance to avoid problems in planning and block control later. The layout will be set in East Anglia with two terminus stations - both 3-bay for DMUs with no freight facility. Two DMUs will be 2-car locals and the other a 4-car semi-fast. I've no idea if this makes a difference. I will run two eras on the layout - one in the early 60s and one in the early 80s. It's possible I will make one of the stations with more platforms, but at this stage I'd like to get the basics sorted. 1) Is it feasible that these two eras used the same signals? Most importantly, did they look the same? 2a) What would they look like for entry and exit from these two stations? 2b) What would they look like along the route between blocks and at junctions? 3) Would I be able to buy these off the shelf for 4mm scale? I've searched various terms to see pictures but they are all confusing and extremely complex, plus pictures don't really tell me anything without knowing what I'm looking at. Thanks for any help you can give.

While laying in bed thinking about this last night I realised this layout will not actually work as intended. The problem is I only have one terminus, and for a shuttle service I need two. I don't want to stop trains on the track and then reverse them back into the station. I'll need to rethink this design to add another terminus. Perhaps the alcove area will come in handy after all. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I think I'm making some progress. I'm still stuck on how I get trains on the middle and lower platforms onto the correct track when leaving the station. Any help would be appreciated.

Having dwelled on it for a while I realise that this plan is both boring and underachieving. There's no layout in my layout and I'm still in test track mode. What I want is a station with a roundy attached. Plus I wanted to use that dead space in the alcove. I had another go. The bit at the top is meant to be a Minories-inspired station, but I fell short with my limited experience. I'm pretty sure I can't get all trains onto all platforms. As I'll be using DMUs I don't need runarounds or a pilot for loco releases, which makes the Minories plan a bit simpler in my version. I'll also not include freight. Does this work?

I've managed to cobble together a rough plan and a variant for later. I'm not sure if this will work with available track parts, but I've drawn it anyway. This will get me up and running fairly quickly. It will be wired to experiment in block detection and signalling at a future date when expanded. A mid-way evolution to better test electronic train detection and operation. Trains will be 2-4 unit DMUs and one or two short freights. When we finally move house and I get a bigger space I can use all that I've learnt here to make a P4 Minories-style layout with automation. I'm hoping that this automated part will be in a cutting while above it and across it I can trundle freight trains and express passenger services. The above plans are not set in stone, they are just the simplest layouts I can come up with in my space. I'm very keen to see alternatives. I have move space to the top and right than I do to the left and bottom. The left bottom corner is very restricted.

That's a great view. I've been told that if I build the long-planned shed/summerhouse I can then remodel the loft by taking down the partition walls. There will then be more space. The shed/summerhouse is quite substantial - around 5m x 3m so it will take me a while to design, prepare and put together. I'm thinking a couple years. This will give me plenty of time to get more of an idea about a permanent layout and what gauge to plump for, but in the meantime creating something temporary in the space I have available so I can play while I'm working up there. So, to avoid having multiple projects on the go at once (I'm buying the foundation framing for the shed/summerhouse on Tuesday) let's go with using exactly the space as described without cutting doors or creating moveable sections. At this stage I'm not worried about the baseboard height. If I get time over the weekend I'll see if I can come up with a track plan to last me a couple of years or so.

I've measured the waist of the room, where the slant of the roof and wall join. It's exactly 1 metre from the floor. I really appreciate you putting this together. It's a great resource being able to visualise something in this detail before committing.

That's brilliant! Well done. I'm just off to a pub quiz and dinner but I'll measure them tomorrow. I've bought a few lengths of Code 100 flexi track in preparation. I've also had a delivery of a small fleet of locos. I'm starting to get a little excited!

I've just come down from the loft and have semi-good news. The front door, as your plan, has a top frame 120cm from the floor, but the rear door has a top frame of only 92cm from the floor. The slope of the roof is only on the long sides, the short sides are straight up - this probably doesn't make much of a difference. I have more space on the right side, as I've drawn, than the left because there's no chimney tower on that side. At least 30cm, likely 40cm+ of free space. I'm also fairly free at the top end with the same or slightly more space to play with. I'm wondering if a U shape would be easier to achieve in the short term, with a single track loop extension later?

I will have to have word with the better half. As you've drawn it, the door in front of me is a narrow space where we keep Christmas decorations and the tree. It's quite confined, being approx 40cm deep but the width of the house. The door behind me has much more space and currently stores my daughter's old dance trophies - she has hundreds! It is possible to move the decorations to the larger storage space, so that can avoid the use of one door. Cutting the usable door down could be possible, but not without consultation with the Works Forewoman... Thanks very much for your input, it's very constructive. Sorry, forgot to answer your question. No, I don't mind at all being able to see the parked trains. This sort of thing doesn't bother me in the slightest. We'll almost certainly move in 10-15 years and I'll have more space available I imagine.

Wow! Yes. That's great!