KingEdwardII

Ah! Now you're inspiring me to recreate the Orient Express on my layout, for a Poirot film shoot.

Good luck with that! Definitely more of an art than you would expect... Still got to add a shim to the one on the front of my King Edward II, since its drooping a bit too much. The Collett coaches were mostly an exercise in choosing the right length Kadee - #19 NEMs won in the end - the #18s made the buffers too close for some of my curves. Yours, Mike.

Looks great. What bogies are you using, since I think those were one of the poorest aspects of the Airfix Centenary models? I wish Hornby made their Collett bogies available as spares, since those look v good... Yours, Mike.

Model a preserved line...then you can model multiple eras on one layout. Some preserved lines have different stations on the line fitted out in different eras. Others have an eclectic mix of buildings both old and brand spanking new. The old ones might be examples carefully brought and rebuilt from elsewhere. The new ones, often those used for serious preservation work like maintenance and restoration, are often modern steel framed industrial buildings (go see the SVR carriage shed at Kidderminster - very modern and astoundingly large for a preserved line!). Equally, locos and rolling stock can be modelled from a wide range of eras - steam, diesels, pre-WWI, grouping, BR steam, BR green, BR blue... the world is your oyster. e.g. The GWS at Didcot now have an authentic pre-WWI train they can run using Edwardian coaches and the newly recreated 2999 'Lady of Legend' Saint class. The one thing that suffers in modelling a preserved line is freight. Preserved lines often have wonderful fleets of lovingly restored wagons of many kinds, and they create exhibition freight trains from them. However, they don't have real freight to carry in most cases*, so that (e.g.) a fully loaded coal train is not likely to be on the agenda. However, you are free to assemble a mix of a broad range of wagon styles. Yours, Mike. *There have been some instances of modern freight trains working over preserved line metals, but they are rare. I suppose another instance of modern meeting preserved is the contract that the Mid Norfolk Railway had with Greater Anglia for storing some of their new Stadler trains.

They are related by the huge sums of money involved. I'd be quite happy to have both electrification and HS2, but I find it very odd to have HS2 and half of the other lines limping along in the mid 20th century. Yours, Mike.

I make no such assumption - I asked the question to request the OP to be more specific. Working in the dark is tough. Yours, Mike.

I'm not sure what you mean by "power sections" - can you explain, please? Another question is whether you are going to use DCC and how many simultaneous locos you have in mind. Yours, Mike.

Yup, me too. The tale is the same as for many another a technology - there are multiple versions of these connectors and you need to choose the right one for the task in hand. This has an associated pleasurable effect of filling your bits drawers with lots of pretty colours, since they are colour coded for the sizes of wires that they are useful for. Put simply, the standard connectors are designed for specific ranges of wire diameters - if you go outside those diameters, things are not going to work well. I have found them very reliable for connecting to bus wires, where the joint is intended to be permanent. Where you want a connection that can be released as required, such as the case with dropper wires if you have a need to lift the track for some reason, then something like Wago connectors or Terminal strips are a good option.

I'm still of the opinion, long held, that the real crime was not to push on with major electrificiation of lines across the UK. While I'm not an opponent of HS2, I still find it galling to be putting so much money into that while major main lines across the UK are still not electrified. The UK is way, way behind compared with most other European countries. The latest hybrid diesel/electric trains are ingenious but really a sticking plaster covering the real problem of unelectrified main lines. I find it fascinating watching the government dodging this issue while blowing on windily about "net zero" - it seems that it is fine for other people to foot the bill for that, but they are most unwilling to stick their hands into their own pockets for such a lofty goal. Yours, Mike. PS. I still love steam locos - in the right place, on preserved lines. Magnificent beasts, but not modern transport.

I was surprised to see how far apart you have the two carriages in the photo. I have Kadee'd my Hornby Colletts and they are closer together than the two in the photo. Do you have some particularly sharp radii to negotiate? Yours, Mike.

Few here will laugh at any request for help. Trust me, most of us have been there at some time or other. Model railways today encompass such a wide range of topics and to be knowledgeable about all of them is near impossible. However, you can be confident that there will be an expert out there somewhere - and quite a few of them are happy to share their wisdom on the forum here. Or in my case, explain my stumbling attempts to deal with some of the topics Yours, Mike.

Yes, change over time. One case is the junction for the Heart of Wales line off the Welsh Marches line at Craven Arms. The Heart of Wales line is single track, while the Welsh Marches line is double track. The junction is a simple trailing turnout on the northbound track just south of the double platform station. Until 2018 or so, southbound trains heading for the Heart of Wales line had to use a facing crossover on the north side of Craven Arms station and run "wrong track" through the station to get to the junction. In 2018, the facing crossover was moved to the south side of Craven Arms station, immediately next to the junction. This removed the wrong track running through the station and the southbound trains all now stop at the platform on the southbound track. How much effect this change has on operations is unclear, since the number of trains per day over the Heart of Wales line is pretty small (4 per day each way on weekdays). Yours, Mike.

Measuring the voltage where, exactly? For a 0.3 amp current to cause a large voltage drop of this size implies a significant resistance somewhere in the circuit. You should try to find out where this is. I suggest that you check the voltage in multiple places like: o The point where the wires leave the controller o The track o The terminals on the point motor(s) I assume that the 0.3a current is not entirely down to the LEDs so is it correct that your point motors have a current draw when not operating? Yours, Mike.

I think that you should do everything possible to relax the radii of the two through lines as much as possible through the platforms. By contrast, the curves on the goods yard can be tightened as much as necessary. This gets you nearer to prototypes - I am minded that the passenger platforms at Winchester are dead straight, while the goods yard (long turned into a car park) use to involve 2 90 degree turns within the length of the platforms. One other idea is to flip the branch and main lines at the top left and bring the branch onto the outside of an island platform, rather than into a bay - you already have the makings of an island platform. Prototypes for this kind of arrangement are places like Dulverton on the Taunton - Barnstaple line and Bewdley on the Severn Valley line, although the organization of the junction(s) were a little different in both cases.

It isn't so much voltage spikes but rather shorts that need to be handled. Many controllers have a circuit breaker facility that will prevent damage to the controller - but if your controller does not, then you should consider adding a circuit breaker device between the controller and the bus wires. If your DCC controller is being used for both locos and for accessories, then you may want to consider two separate sets of bus wires - one for the track & locos, the other for the accessories. Then it is worth considering adding a circuit breaker for the track bus wires, but seperately route the accessory bus wires to the controller so that these continue to operate if there is a short on the track. e.g. This can allow turnouts to be switched via DCC command if they cause a short due to being set the wrong way for an approaching loco. Yours, Mike.

Very good. I wonder if a couple of changes would add some operational interest: Tweak the station on the lower side to have: - an island platform on two through tracks on the outer side, - lose the innermost platform and convert the innermost loop into a couple of terminating sidings to have some freight activity there Yours, Mike.

Well, blow me down - earlier on this thread I joked about someone asking for opening doors on mineral wagons - now there's a new thread started up on RM investigating that whole topic:

You certainly don't have to solder the droppers to the bus wires. There are alternative methods for connecting droppers and bus wires. My own favourite is a combination of screw terminal blocks and "Tap Splice Connectors" (Also called "Quick Splice Connector" or "ScotchLok"). These join the wires without the need to bare the bus wires and without any soldering - just a quick squeeze with a pair of pliers. The terminal blocks are used to enable the droppers to be detached from the bus wires in case the track needs to be lifted for any reason. Soldering underneath baseboards is definitely a bad idea, although if you can tip the boards onto their sides, it's not so bad. I'm also wary of baring sections of the bus wires for soldering in case the bared sections of the 2 bus wires come into contact and cause a short. As for bus wire sizes, it all depends on a) the size of the layout and b) the number of locos you want to run at the same time. The main factor is not so much the current, but rather the voltage drop from the controller to the point on the track where the locos are running. Bigger wires mean a lower voltage drop - longer wires increase the voltage drop. In terms of bus wires made from mains flex cable (as I use) then 1.5mm2 will suffice on many layouts, although I use 2.5mm2 to allow for more locos driven under computer control. This is probably over the top, although by using mains flex, the costs are not very different. It is important that the wires are colour coded - red/black; blue/brown etc - and that you make sure to consistently connect one side of your track to one colour and the other side to the other colour. The exact colours you use don't matter, just that they are different. Yours, Mike.

This takes me back to my cousins' layout, also in the early '60s. They had an 0 gauge 3-rail Hornby setup with a number of locos and plenty of rolling stock. Your Maldon track looks much more convincing than the original Hornby stuff. As others have commented, it is amazing what you can fit in to the space, although I agree with you that Harlequin's Coldean probably has too much in the top left corner, making it too long of a stretch from the central well. But I think Coldean assumes access to the top edge from the outside, for the fiddle yard. Your design rightly takes into account the division into moveable baseboards, simplifying the design to enable workable track joints. Yours, Mike.

Boo, hiss Now you're really treading into nostalgia territory - my first layout was a 4' x 6' 00 Hornby Dublo layout, 2 rail, circa 1964. All on one single baseboard, ready to be placed on floor or table for playing some serious trains. Of course, there is in reality a big difference between an 00 layout and the equivalent in 0 gauge - the layout gets bigger but you don't! The practical effect is that a central well is not really doable in 00 - and you can reach across to any point from the sides as long as the board ain't against a wall. In 0 gauge, the central well is pretty near mandatory. You're not going to be able to reach across 7' from the edges - and it's highly likely that some of the edges will be against a wall! So many designs in 00 aim to run a track around the outside and then make use of all that space in the centre. Not really possible in 0 gauge because of that need for the central well. I suppose that the basic design for you is a continuous loop - but do you want single track or double track? I am looking at my early 1960s Hornby Dublo track plans book as I write this, since your limitation to one fixed size for turnouts is perhaps more akin to those. They have some variations where all the significant trackwork is on one long side, representing a station, with the other long side simply plain running lines. One trick they use is that with their minimum size set-track radii of 15" and 17" (if I remember correctly) they are able to get a straight section into the 4' width and can then put turnouts into those straight sections to bring sidings into the area within the main loop. One question is whether you can tolerate such tight radii in your layout? Yours, Mike.

No, I've not missed that point at all. However, I don't see the benefit of "going back to the old way" - more connections are available by the trains all stopping at Ely as they do at present. I've done it "the old way" and spent some chilly hours on Peterborough station waiting for connections. I think the current approach is better. Yours, Mike.

Hmm, there are plenty of trains direct between Norwich and Peterborough. The fact that the vast majority go on beyond Peterborough to places like Liverpool doesn't stop them being a Norwich - Peterborough service. The fact that those trains currently all stop at Ely is a change from how things were done in the past. In previous times, the main service was between Norwich and Birmingham and those trains did not stop at Ely and did use the West Curve. I was often going from Brimingham to Cambridge and had to change at Peterborough. Any changes can now be done at Ely, although the main Birmingham service is now to Cambridge/Stanstead. But this also makes the West Curve somewhat redundant, at least for passenger trains. Yours, Mike.

Is the West Curve really used that much? Even the one Norwich - Peterborough passenger train per hour in each direction doesn't use it these days, since these call at Ely station. No other passenger trains that I am aware of. How many freight trains per day? The main freight route is up from Felixtowe via Peterborough and does not use the West Curve...

That is something I use when doing modelling work, especially under the baseboards. However, I don't find that useful when I'm operating the layout - for which there is a need for good lighting all across the top of the baseboards. Something like LED strip is good for that general broad lighting - avoiding hard shadows is a good idea and strips can address that. Yours, Mike.

LED strips. You can attach those to the ceiling since they are very lightweight.* The cabling for them is fairly lightweight as well since it is typically low voltage driven by a transformer. You just need to check the overall light output and the colour temperature, as with any LED lamp. There are many alternative versions available. Yours, Mike. * If the ceiling can't handle the weight of LED strips, I would not want to stand under it at any price - it means it would probably collapse all on its own.