Reg81

Cheers. Interesting... so yeah using them on the panhandle straight section was my first thought, but they do make the loop on the loop a lot neater... I'd wondered what sort of station platform could fit the noticeably wide gap that's there at the moment, but streamlines make it much neater. OK, sold on the idea of using a few them!

Really interesting thanks! I think the single track approach works best for me, as I like the extra sidings around the loop it brings. Regarding Peco streamline points - I think I'm keen to stick with Hornby because it's what I'm familiar with and have some lying around anyway, but as I need to get more points and I've made some headway into understanding Peco's bewildering array of track systems, I'm probably less adverse to trying some Peco ones than I was at the start of this thread! If I'm reading this right, a few strategically placed Peco Streamline points will simplify some arrangements and free up a little space (as the tracks are closer together), but I have to be careful about the aesthetics of mixing?

I am learning that! B+Q finally came through and now I've had a chance to actually put track onto board (albeit far from all of it), it's interesting the places things are tighter than I appreciated (e.g. around loop) but also there's more space in other areas than the plan really shows (it's actually quite a good length overall). Thanks! I'll take you up on that once I've figured out exactly which layout I meant! Right, now I need to buy a lot more points... Cheers, Reg81

Really interesting ideas further up, but I think I'm going with something similar to one of Zomboid's earlier layouts, as it's about as complicated as my beginner brain can get around! Probably one of the October 1st iterations that seem to have bit more space for scenery (plus I've widened the panhandle since then). I'd wondered about that - single line through on one platform, terminus on the other, very slightly different operating pattern to play with, plus it would fit with a country station that used to be busier in its heyday.

I think everyone has a much better idea of practically operating this and the visual impact of changes than I do, because you're seeing things that I can't yet! This is actually really helpful in avoiding issues down the line. Thanks for all the advice, which is remarkably consistent in this case! Back to the original plan I think. I might revisit the mini-fiddle yard idea, but I think it's going to require practical experimentation more than planning and is something I can think about later, if ever. The only thing holding me back so far is B+Q - so no problem at all!

Ahhh, yes... hmmm, interesting... very interesting... I thought I'd made my mind up on something along the lines of the layout that evolved above, but the continued failure of B+Q's timber saw means I haven't got the baseboard sorted yet and seeing this makes me wonder what would happen if I stretched things a bit - keep the 12 foot length, but make the fat bit narrower, no longer necessitating an access hatch, but longer - basically a 6x3 pan with a 6x1.5 handle. After precisely measuring the loft at last, I can actually go up to 12ft 11in long, but the last 11 inches has to be no more than about 10 inches wide (or it blocks an eave door), BUT extending the length along the whole of the loft wall, means the layout now reaches an alcove in the corner, which opens up the possibility of ending the scenic part of the layout with a bridge or tunnel mouth, leading to a bit of off-set space with just enough space for parking a short (2 carriage + loco train) . So as a hypothetical, I wondered what would happen if I adapted the sort of layout above to a different shape base. I get something that looks line this - looks a little less interesting at the moment, partly because I'm not sure what I could put in the loop yet, but it makes a longer straight loop station and the loop industry sidings a bit easier. I see why people spend years planning layouts...

Oh still interested I think all the options you guys have presented are better than my original, but from here I think it's mostly a case of playing around with the options a bit in practice and seeing how well they fit with trains and with how much space I want for the 'scenes' around parts of the board. Size is now pretty fixed on 4ftx4ft and 1.5ftx8ft but timber supply issues (i.e. local wood place not answering and B&Q's timber saw being U/S) mean that my weekend plans have gone a bit awry...

On reflection, I like the loco sidings and I can see the use for them - but I might parallel the tracks so I can build some sort of depot building around them, unless it gets in the way too much.

The time is a bit fuzzy, somewhere around the very early 70s, but could even be a year back into the 60s. I'm aiming post steam, but before they've got round to painting everything blue and grey - so I've got an excuse to run a slightly, but not ridiculously, motley collection of rolling stock if the mood should take me I'm finding Modelling the British Rail Era by Fleming et al to be quite helpful in allowing me to justify this. Best idea I've had so for a small dying industry that still has a reason to be rail linked was a filing cabinet factory. It also fits the theme a bit. Heavy rolls of thin steel in, bulky and boxy filing cabinets out in box vans, suitable steel pressing and bending machinery probably small enough to fit in the bays of a smallish factory. Keep the triangle ideas coming! I'm worried it might end up as dead space if I'm not careful

Thanks - If this is in his 60 small plans book or design manual, I have a copy knocking about...

It's fully converted fortunately, even has heating! The plan is for the layout to go crossways, from the front of the house to the back of the house along the partition wall - like the flat bit on an A if that makes sense? This means there is restricted height at either end of the layout, but as long as I'm not planning on putting any skyscrapers in and don't build the baseboard too high, it's not that much of a problem really. I think I have a busy weekend ahead of me playing with some of these ideas...

Thanks for the ideas, I've had a little play around with Anyrail using Hornby set track and the odd bit of flex and I think this is doable, albeit not quite as elegant as the streamline version and right hand is a bit short at the moment, to be extended depending on how much space there really is - I know the minimum but not the maximum

It's less dire than it sounds, just a slightly odd space to explain in a way that makes sense!

Extra width on the shelf isn't that much of a problem, but I think 12ft might be a bit tight - this would be so much easier if the doors to the loft eaves were in a better place, the length is actually there, but the space isn't all usable due to the access need. I'll need to do a more precise measure up TBH...

By Jove, I think this might be it! Ok, need to get a few bits of extra track (that was inevitable anyway) and possibly switch a few bits to Hornby, but I will probably start botching this together at the weekend and seeing how it works in practice - thanks for suggestions, good team effort!

Thanks guys, I’m finding these responses really helpful – good to find a nice forum for once. I’ve got a stack of Hornby track already so I thought I’d use that to begin with. I really like the idea of an out and back from the loop, the operational possibilities seem more fun so that’s a must have. The corner access needs a bit of thought and experiment from me, the access hole underneath is possible, I could shave the top far corner off as it’s wasted space at the moment anyway… though not sure I’m that flexible! It is quite surprising how many different ways there are of arranging this in a small space, and I haven’t even figured out what’s happening on the shelf in any detail!

Wow that is a much better arrangement than I have managed! Is that a mix of 1st and 2nd radius curves? Cheers

Thanks, that's helpful - gauging the 'how big is too big or too small' thing isn't something I'm doing well in my mind to be honest! There's leeway in pretty much all the dimensions apart from the 4ft corner width and I had wondered about adding a return connecting to where the 'truck parking' is - I hadn't thought too much about the operational bonus though - thanks. The top corner (possible tunnel) is the only accessibility problem I foresee, it is a bit of a stretch, but I thought about making the tunnel lift-able and living with the occasional inconvenience of a derail, if all else fails I might not tunnel there and go for something else. Cheers Reg

With the prospect of a long locked down winter, I’ve returned to model railways for the first time since I was a teenager and I’m planning my first ‛grown up’ layout, albeit still quite a small one, in 00. Access issues mean I have a slightly odd space to fill along the back wall of the loft - sort of a ‛fat bottom L’, with a lump at one end and a shelf stretching over from the top corner. This gives me space for a small loop, say 4x4 and then a shelf layout coming off the corner of it – say 6 - 8 x 1 - 2. I am thinking of a simple loop for a runaround and to give a little bit of depth and landscape, then a straight run to a terminus or mini-fiddle yard, via one or two shunting problem type arrangements on the way. I’m still working out the shelf layout arrangements particularly – there must be something more interesting that can fill the shelf, but does something like this look worthwhile to people, and how would you improve it? There’s something about the chocolate box idyll of a lot of railway buildings that’s not for me, so I’m aiming at something a bit more postwar, urban, gritty, concrete – basically the concept is a corner of a new town c.1970. Think maisonettes, questionable modernist shopping parades, industrial estates, cheerless blocky houses, that sort of stuff – a mini tribute to soulless town planning. I fancy a bit of scenery modelling primarily and given the space constraints mean I’m going for a single line for most of it, perhaps (hand waves) historically a branch line that was co-opted as a suburban passenger and light industry route for the new town (as an experiment to show how rail still had a role in the world of the car) and somehow escaped the Beeching axe (who knows, marginal constituency perhaps?), but is in decline. I might go for the edge of a pretty village and a reduced-to-one-platform-countryside station at the far end of the layout as a point of contrast, but you can bet the locals never wanted the new town built. In terms of operations – short diesel goods trains running to a few local industries that have hung on to rail delivery somehow, 2 car DMUs, a bit of shunting and perhaps a Class 25 or something pulling a couple grim looking Mk1s on days when the DMU has broken down. Any bright ideas? Cheers Reg81