DK123GWR

What is the angle of those R2s? A wye would be cheaper in real life and probably in model form if using Harlequin's design, and cost is a question they ask all the time. I also wanted to avoid committing to a turntable without evaluating other options. While a turntable may be easir to design, I imagine that it will be harder to install than anything I've done before, and I'm not neccesarily ready to do that on my current layout (If I'm lucky I could have another six decades 6.2 decades or more to change things around, so I'm sure I'll get around to it at some point). Edit: It's slightly odd (scary?) to think that 6.2 decades into the past there were still ten years of mainline steam left, and the world wide web was still over thirty years away. Who knows what the world and its railways will be like in 2082?

I hope not. Perpetual motion sounds like the recipe for a very nasty accident if another train gets in the way!

It would, but where would the fun be? I've gone back to the puzzle this evening and I've produced this. To cut down on the number of points, it would be possible to remove most of the left section of the loop and replace the bottom set with a 22.5 R2 curve. This would also allow the addition of a short straight onto the upper R1 curve on the left hand side, meaning that larger locos would fit properly (rather than just about squeezing the wheelbase in with large parts overhanging the end). The piece of flexitrack used could probably be subsituted for an R2 given the slight flexibilty of the track in real life, but if not the radius is still large enough for any loco to navigate. If anybody knows the name for this system, please tell me. At the moment I would describe it as either 'an unfolded turning star,' 'a cross between a turning star and a reversing loop,' or 'messy.' Also, feel free to improve on it if I've missed something obvious such as a way to eliminate another set of points. To clarify, the outer loop using R3 curves is not shown in this diagram.

Hello everybody. For context, my current layout consists of a loop of R2 track inside a loop of R3 track. The corners are 180 degrees separated by 670mm straights (equivalent to Hornby R603 straights. On the outside of the layout there is a terminus platform, and the layout fills the baseboard (which cannot be made larger). I have a siding layout which allows me to run locomotives around a rake of up to four coaches in the terminus. However, this only works for locos with a coupler on the front, so I am attempting to find a way to fit a turning wye-inspired system into the interior of the layout. I genuinely have no idea whether this is possible, or if it is possible whether it would be practical, but I do know that I can't design it (I've been trying for the past hour). In order to be ideal for my situation, there should be enough room for a 300mm A4 Pacific to negotiate it, and the minimum radius should be R1, or 438mm (I too was supprised when the A4 was able to navigate such tight corners). Even if it can't be made to fit such a large locomotive, it would be a remarkable piece of design even to turn a 0-6-0 tank engine in such a restrictes space. Any ideas for how this could be done?

Thanks! Some of the sources in there look like they wiil be very useful when I have a bit more time to dig through them (i.e. after I've slept).

This is a great start. Rough information on the distribution of locomotives should be a valuable starting point for any more detailed research required later. What is NERA? I'm sorry if that's a stupid question.

Hello everybody. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place since it isn't strictly a question about prototypes, but a question about where to find more information. I was wondering if anybody knew of a resource which had information on what locomotives (and possibly other rolling stock) ran on which routes and during what periods of time. I appreciate that this is a very broad area, and that not all of the information would be available. I'm also not especially hopeful since if such a useful resource did exist then I'd imagine that everybody would know about it and use it. However, it may be that there are some sources which, while far from comprehensive, provide such information for a specific region, route, or time period. I don't have any specific queries about particular points, hence my desire for a broader overview which may help me to discover information of this nature.