Newmodeller96

I’m not 100% sure what you mean? Would that balloon loop be beneath the board?

So @Chimeri have changed the small station so that there are now 2 platforms on both sides of the track, so it can be reached from all platforms. What have I missed about “wrong line”? Trains come out of the emu depot in the top left and onto platforms 3,4 or 5 as I wanted and from those they can then get onto either line. trains from both the depot at the bottom and the emu depot at the top can get onto both the inside and outside line. I’m not sure what else I’m meant to add so that the trains can get onto either line? I’m sorry that someone newer to the hobby than yourself doesn’t immediately understand an issue when we are just thrown terminology that we might not necessarily understand instantly. A bit of help is sometimes easier than just random comments and emojis that don’t help us enjoy the hobby and put more people off wanting to “model”.

Thank you @Mike Storey and @RobinofLoxley I have been sitting with my design today and also some paper track diagrams and seeing what I can do to simplify the design! I have put robins design into mine and been playing around but I just can’t seem to make it flow how I want it to in my head and am not getting back to not being sure where to head next!

Thanks for this @BusDriverMan and @RobinofLoxleythe main reason I have gone with this track work is that it was the track work I got off a map of Orpington station and what track work is there now hence the plan. I have simplified some of it but the main part of point work at the station is the cross over into the storage lines.

Hi All, loved looking at these photos, I am hoping to model a simplified version of Orpington in this period and was wondering if anyone has any more pictures of the tracks especially towards the engine shed? Thanks

Thanks @RobinofLoxleyfor getting me thinking. Have decided to add a small suburban station opposite the diesel/loco yard with a terminus platform and a through platform. The station also has a storage siding for a loco. just want to work out how to link it all scenically at the right hand side of the plan now but think I have an idea.

Well here is an update, I’ve added 2 lines to the fiddle yard, and a way for tracks 4&5 to get to the inside line. I will have a think about a small through station @RobinofLoxley.

@Mike Storeythank you for this information. It puts much more into perspective. I have put some thought into the plan, I know that the main yard is still to complex, I was just seeing what I could include. I also need to add some space between tracks 2&3 to create that platform. In doing this it will widen the gap between the shed and the head shunt at the station. The next job is making the basic fiddle yard. Thanks H

Thanks for these comments @RobinofLoxley I mentioned further up in the thread about the complex track work at the station about having it bespoke made to make it fit into the space and have had no comments on it until yours, It is a stretch to make that piece work but I think possible if made bespoke. In terms of platform spacing I new it would tweaking but it was more just the ideas on page than the final diagram, etc. @Mike StoreyRamsgate was were my original ideas were formed before looking at a station closer to home with Orpington. Orpington is where my godfather worked in the 80s aswell as being my fathers home town which is why I wanted to model it like this, hence the point work and platform layout. I agree about removing the cross over between 2&3. I’m sorry that all the headshunt stuff kinda goes over my head as I always seem to get confused when people start using “jargon” to describe movements but that’s my lack of knowledge to that side of things. And yes I agree to a continuous run as with everyone and will definitely be adding it. @RobinofLoxleyi would prefer to use streamline on all the track as you have in your design but I have a significant amount of set track and cannot afford to be getting rid of it all and buying new streamline which is why I have used a mixture of the 2 as I can then use what I have on some of the layout and then buy new streamline for the specific areas (the station) that I could use it. I do like the idea of the split depot on either side of the layout as that makes me think of the yards at grove park obviously on a smaller scale, I’m wondering if I could use one side of the track as a full train depot and a small loco only depot on the other side of the tracks? Thanks all! Loving the ideas and really getting me thinking. H

I have added a couple of loco sidings in place for some of the diesel depot, I’ve also added a loco spur to the station, just need to add a run around loop somewhere in the station area. As you can see there is now a continuous run which I will turn into a hidden fiddle yard (just need to work out).

@Satan's Goldfish thank you for your points. Some have really made me think. I have been thinking long and hard and have decided that I will probably link the bottoms to the 2 boards together but with a removable fiddle yard so that I can still have continuous runs of trains but it gives me the storage space to hold trains when I’m modelling aswell. the scenic elements are a mixture of the 2! I’m hoping the station is edge of suburbia heading out into the countryside on the other side of the layout where I’m thinking of having a small diesel yard. The set track curves are what I dislike the most but the thought of using flexitrack for the corners scares the bejesus out of me, but that would definitely be my preferred choice of corner! Below is my most recent update to the plan which I have half laid out on the baseboards and am really pleased with! Ignore my scribblings they are just for me to imagine how the scenic elements could lay around the track. Something someone might be able to answer is there a way to compress the 2 3-way turnouts in the station into a kind of triple slip? I know I won’t gain much space from doing that but just an idea! Thanks H

Hi All, I have gone back to the drawing board. Now I know this isn’t perfect but have created this track plan as a compacted version of a local station and would love to hear your thoughts on it. I know that any trains on platform 1 cannot get to the sidings on the top left but I’m not too worried about this as it is more that these sidings are used for the terminating trains in platforms 3,4 & 5. The trains on 1&2 I am hoping will be able to go off to a fiddle yard or possible a continuous run thanks to ideas from @Tallpaul69!! I have used PECO streamline for the trackwork on the top half and Set track for the mainlines as this is the stuff I currently have to work with. thanks H

Hi All, Thank you for all your suggestions. I have taken it on board and have done some tweaking! Have decided to create a fictional through station with a couple of terminal platforms like a scaled down orpington. I would still like a depot of some kind and now that I am heading more for a fictional area was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of ideas for diesel yards that I could look at to get some ideas. Thanks H

I'm not thinking just kent but the whole of the Network Southeast routes. Having done a bit of digging today I am wondering if I could do a scaled down version of Holborn Viaduct at one side of the board heading to an EMU shed on the other side of the board e.g. what would have been at Orpington in the 80's?

Thanks for your comment paul, the tank starts about 10cm from the end of the shorter baseboard, I hadn’t thought about another board across the middle but would have to check with space around the roof joists as they are all in the centre of the loft, hence the U shape. In terms of width I went with 600 as it meant that I could have storage space still underneath without taking up too much space in the loft itself! Would love to have gone deeper but had to compromise with my fiancé as she wants space to store in the loft! Thanks H

Hi Terry, Unfortunately no as there is a large water tank at that end of the loft space that is floor to roof. H

Hi Everyone, I have had a couple of posts on this site before but I am really struggling with the planning of my new layout. I know that I want to model in the 80s to modern day era in the Network Southeast to Southeastern Rail liveries and area. I have finished the baseboards that fit the space I have and have put a picture of the dimensions below. What I want to include in the layout are: - Branch line terminus - TMD/diesel engine sheds - EMU/DMU Sheds. In the space I am thinking that the most I will be able to run is 4 car EMU/DMUs. Every layout that I come up with seems to just not fulfill me when I’m laying the track and looking at the scenic properties as well, any help from anyone with ideas would be amazing right now as I have hit a wall. Thanks H

Well 2021 has begun, we have been put into a national lockdown and I have a model railway that has really started moving since all the baseboard materials were delivered on the 31st December. A little bit about me in my first ever blog post. I received my first Hornby train set - The Flying Scotsman of course - as a christmas present with my twin brother aged 11. For the preceding few years we received more and more additional bits of track and a couple of locomotives from family members. We never however had space for it to become any more than a rainy day activity to be put away every evening. Well the years past and 2019 meant that me and my now fiancé moved into our first property. We are super lucky that the house has a nice sized loft which she agreed I could turn into space for me to be able to model in. Well now its the beginning of 2021 and I have finished preparing the space in a way that we could on our budget and have begun to build the baseboards to fit the space in a way that means I have a good size to model but there is also space for storage. Just after finishing boarding the loft space. The space with added insulation and the timber in place to begin building the baseboard frames. I have now finished all apart from the baseboard around the chimney breast but I haven’t taken a picture yet. Now onto the track plan and layout the I will eventually bring to life. I have spent may hours looking at books, forums on here and other websites and real lift from many hours travelling to and from London for work. I have decided that Southeast England is my desired modelling location, and I have really enjoyed learning about my local railways from 1980 till today so have picked this as a rough time to be modelling in. With DMUs and EMUs in mind the layout would need sheds/storage space to hold this rolling stock, a station that could take the same trains and then the potential of some kind of maintenance department. Below is what I have come up with. It is by no where near a final plan and I’m sure it will change loads before I pin the track down the final time but it for me is a definitely a start. This is going to be a massive learning curve for me. For a job i work in automation so I will definitely be including automated systems e.g. the faller car system, in to the layout as well as home build extras which I’m sure I will experiment and work on as I build the railway. Well here’s to a year of modelling and learning all the skills along with that. I hope I can update this blog as and when I have significant advancements in the layout. H

Right I get you and I hadn’t thought of that I really like it

Thank you for this. I did want to use streamline but I do have a lot of set track already so probs cost effective to stick with this. im not sure I quite get what you mean about having a lower track in front of the plan?

I would love some advice on my new plan. This is by no means a final plan but it has all the concepts I would like in it. A few details - 00 gauge 1980s-current day south east railways Mainly DMUs & EMUs DCC operated there will be a helix at the bottom left which will end up at a fiddle yard under the left side of the layout. Possibly thinking I could turn part of the EMU depot into a Balfour Beatty depot (or something similar). Not sure what to do with the top right of the layout thinking I might just leave it as scenic. Happy to take any advice as am new to modelling properly as have just got the space to have a permanent layout.

Hi all, Could anyone help me with this track plan. Does anyone know what PECO track would have been used to plan this? I have tried both st and sl codes but can’t seem to make it work. Thanks H

This is an update after some work today! I would like any help with the TMD space I feel like I can do more with the space but I’m not 100% sure what! Possible could include the space in the top right of the space. Also any tips on the rest of the layout more than welcome! there will be a helix off the bottom left of the layout which will go to a fiddle yard underneath the board but I haven’t planned that yet!

I have managed to persuade my fiancé to let me use outside edge of the whole loft. So I have tweaked some of the layout to make it bigger in the top section between the 2 black lines I would like to add a TMD. Any tips or ideas how I could make it work would be much appreciated. Please not the track plan currently on the design is not final as I have just mocked it to fit the new space so I know it needs tweaking. I can make the baseboard a bit deeper at the top if needed to make it easier to fit a TMD!

I am using a mix of Hornby and Peco and that will be why I couldn't find a slip