Chilly

Apologies new to this forum good to know the ground rules. Thanks Chilly

The planning continues and so do the questions! This is the amended layout (below) the bottom part will be towards the wall in a bedroom, with hopefully a railway station either side. I have cut off the bottom pass. I agree with a wall/fence around the side edges and at the front to avoid accidents. The baseboard will be extended to 12.5ft x 4.5 ft to give a little leeway on the track placement. I have colour coded what appear to me to be 3 separate running tracks which look like they need 3 separate controllers if you agree. Where would the power for these be placed to make it work? What puzzles me on the electrics is the crossovers from track to track such as outside to inside /fiddle yard and vice versa; I assume that there needs some sort of isolation on those points, is this with plastic fish plates and where ? When a train traverses track it appears that another controller must take over from the other assuming that controller is set for the same direction of travel? When a train travels from out to in is it still possible for a train to travel the loop that the train is moving across the tracks on, say outer loop to fiddle but still operate a train on the inside track? Chimer mentioned above that where the points are set against the siding that siding will be isolated, this leads me to think that I could use a number of trains back and forward in the sidings as long as I don't live the track to another siding where a train is on? Oh one more thing if I use tracklay the sticky stuff how does it work on bends as it comes in straight lengths on a roll? At the outset the scenery will be basic but hopefully built up over time and is not representative of anything, just a fun thing really ! If I use the peco 24" tracksetta do I have to use the 21" for the inner bend or can I use that plastic track distance gadget placed on the outside bend to create the inner bend, or is this creating an overhang problem? So coaches for the outside track will be Gresham teaks and BR Mk 1 carriages maybe on the inside. Lots of questions I know but this is where the knowledge bank is Thanks Chilly This is the amended layout the bottom part will be towards the wall in a bedroon, with hopefully a railway station either side. I have cut off the bottom pass. I agree with a wall/fence around the side edges and at the front to avoid accidents. The baseboard will be extended to 12.5ft x 4.5 ft to give a little leeway on the track placement. I have colour coded what appear to me to be 3 separate running tracks which look like they need 3 separate controllers if you agree. Where would the power for these be placed to make it work? What puzzles me on the electrics is the crossovers from track to track such as outside to inside /fiddle yard and vice versa; I assume that there needs some sort of isolation on those points, is this with plastic fish plates and where ? When a train traverses track it appears that another controller must take over from the other assuming that controller is set for the same direction of travel? When a train travels from out to in is it still possible for a train to travel the loop that the train is moving across the tracks on, say outer loop to fiddle but still operate a train on the inside track? Chimer mentioned above that where the points are set against the siding that siding will be isolated, this leads me to think that I could use a number of trains back and forward in the sidings as long as I don't live the track to another siding where a train is on? Oh one more thing if I use tracklay the sticky stuff how does it work on bends as it comes in straight lengths on a roll? At the outset the scenery will be basic but hopefully built up over time and is not representative of anything, just a fun thing really ! Lots of questions I know but this is where the knowledge bank is

Hi David This is the amended layout the bottom part will be towards the wall in a bedroon, with hopefully a railway station either side. I have cut off the bottom pass. I agree with a wall/fence around the side edges and at the front to avoid accidents. The baseboard will be extended to 12.5ft x 4.5 ft to give a little leeway on the track placement. I have colour coded what appear to me to be 3 separate running tracks which look like they need 3 separate controllers if you agree. Where would the power for these be placed to make it work? What puzzles me on the electrics is the crossovers from track to track such as outside to inside /fiddle yard and vice versa; I assume that there needs some sort of isolation on those points, is this with plastic fish plates and where ? When a train traverses track it appears that another controller must take over from the other assuming that controller is set for the same direction of travel? When a train travels from out to in is it still possible for a train to travel the loop that the train is moving across the tracks on, say outer loop to fiddle but still operate a train on the inside track? Chimer mentioned above that where the points are set against the siding that siding will be isolated, this leads me to think that I could use a number of trains back and forward in the sidings as long as I don't live the track to another siding where a train is on? Oh one more thing if I use tracklay the sticky stuff how does it work on bends as it comes in straight lengths on a roll? At the outset the scenery will be basic but hopefully built up over time and is not representative of anything, just a fun thing really ! Lots of questions I know but this is where the knowledge bank is Thanks Chilly

Hi David I prefer your layout to mine and will adjust on Scarm , will I need more than 2 controllers to operate it. If so would you suggest Gaugemaster single or go for a 3-4 track controller? ITG and Zomboid thanks for your input. Thanks Chilly

Well after my previous attempt here is the revised one. Again this will be DC but I have no idea of the wiring for this now for traversing tracks etc and isolating and avoiding shorts. please ignore baseboard lines Thanks in advance Chilly

Hi ITG Yes I see what you mean re collision potential, I was trying to get away from straight up and down as far as possible. Your comments on the board size are gratefully accepted. The scarm program is addictive so I will have another play. I was not sure how to work with points connecting parallel tracks and the electric aspects of doing that etc so thought crossovers was a neat solution, perhaps not! Thanks Chilly

Sorry that other point on the inside at the bottom should not be blue!

Ah this is better as you can now see it !!

Hi I have used Scarm to map out a proposed layout - OMG Scarm is addictive I will be using Peco 75 flexi for track, crossovers and points. The track will be DC only and the trains will be steam only, no set period just what I have seen on NYMR, The layout is not based on anything apart from my limited imagination. The sidings are there to park the loco's, 10 in all and some carriages and rolling stock. The curves at the end are based on Rad 4 outer and Rad 3 inner albeit I have used the Hornby radius when planning this and substituted with flex, I needed to get the correct bend. Using Hornby radius appears to squeeze me into the 12ft by 4ft board. I will be using a Gaugemaster D twin controller for the layout and obviously just running 2 trains at a time, the base board will be 4mm hardwood plywood supported by an underframe. The points likely to be electrofrog will be manually changed initially until I get electrified. Layout possible.pdf Questions Will it work ! If I park a train in a siding and swap the point to another train in another siding (both on the same circuit) will that train move. Assuming all points set for one train only, will all other trains be effectively isolated on that circuit? Can you see any potential pitfalls arising, short circuits etc or indeed advice on improving this. Thanks in advance Chilly