AndyB

Evenin' all. I'm lucky enough to have the week off so I've been adding contact switches to the servo motors for frog switching. My plan this week is to get as far as putting the backscene together; @stivesnick proposed using knock-down blocks to allow the backscene to be removable. A packet have been ordered and I'm looking forward to trying these out. And a car reversing camera kit has also been ordered to visualise what's happening in the hudden fiddle yard. All has gone well apart from the last remaining finescale point which stubbornly refused to accept that voltage was being applied to the frog. I'd hoped that previous repairs to this point would be reliable. But one of the frog blades has now parted company from the webbing leaving nothing much to attach it to again. So my plan is to bin it and replace it with a Peco Unifrog. Above aesthetics I really want to achieve reliable running. That's about it for now. But any thoughts or comments are always welcome. Andy

Hi Andy. Sorry not to have seen you at our annual 2 winter meet ups (Alton & Basingstoke). It strikes me that the L-shaped area you now have available would allow a reincarnation of your Bodmin-esque layout. Albeit your version of it was U-shaped. I'm wondering if, once you've got all these diesels out of your system you might return to some proper trains and give us a rendition of a 1950s/60s era BLT? Maybe throw in a OO9 line for tourist traffic. 😇 Cheers for now. Andy

Ah yes. A small dockside layout. Keith could have his 🍰 ...and you'd eat it. 🤣

"...I could see if a Minories-type terminus / FY might be possible,..." Other track plans are available. 🤣 You might like to take a look at this book. A lot lof interesting micro plans, UK and US outline. As for the switching layout this one came to mind...from the 1977 MRC exhibition. I'm certain there's a layout out there for you. And, as you say, a new home nay inspire you.

@RobertFrench you might like to check out this book. It has 6 pages of B&W photos and captions covering Cranleigh.

My personal take home from this is to count my blessings. I'm fortunate to have room to build and leave set up a space for my own layout. @Keith Addenbrooke I think you get a lot of pleasure from assembling building kits. And this might feed into a working diorama approach. I particularly liked the large station building g you shared with us. Nice bit of work that. You've previously focused on the roundy-roundy style of layout. But thinking about what Mikkel has mentioned I'm wondering if a small (hinged halfway) FY to terminus layout might work...with removable buildings for compactness. Two 3' x 12"? Or a US-themed shunting plank with a hidden FY siding inside a low relief warehouse. Not forgetting that a small, nicely modelled layout trumps a large mediocre layout every time.

Would it be an idea to get the shed built and baseboards assembled before committing to the expensive purchase of points? I wonder if sitting on the plan for a couple of months might make you continue to love it, or maybe fall out of love with it.

I thought it might be fun to mark the 1st birthday of this layout thread!! And to help celebrate I wanted to show the progress that's been made over the kast 12 months. This time last year I'd got a plan and a newly made workbench. Didn't it look tidy!! And a year on the track laying and wiring are drawing to a conclusion. Let's not zoom in too close on this next mess photo. I'm not quite there yet so this was a bit of an ad hoc shove it together photo. Some bits have worked well. Some bits haven't worked at all. Such is life. But all of it will work well - even if that means tearing up some of it and trying again; I'm not going to be precious about any of it. So. To Year 2. My best guess is that by the end of the Easter holiday I should have trains circulating. This may mean some of the station throat has to be relaid for more reliable running. As summer progresses I'm hoping to move on to the scenics. But, for now, thanks for taking an interest in my layout thread over the last 12 months. AndyB

Hi @Keith Addenbrooke always interesting to read you latest post. Out of interest I'm wondering how big your new garden might be? It's a shame you're losing your outside workshop. But I'm wondering if there might be room for a very small shed which could accomodate a terminus down one side of it. And an out and back track outside the shed? Some folk punch a hole through their shed walls to allow trains to go in and out. 6' x 4' sheds are around £250; comparable to a couple of locos? Maybe there are 2nd hand ones going begging. All the best. Andy

I'm wondering if Dave Cooper's "Brickmakers Lane" might give some inspiration. I believe the track plan and layout were described in Railway Modeller a few years ago. Obviously the issue is this is N gauge and would take a lot if space in OO; more than us available. But that said there may be some ideas that could transfer to @penguin_sam's layout. Cheers for now. Andy

Apart from the space needed it's worth remembering that RTR coaches are roughly £50 a pop. And you may not want just the one train...

I've done as Dungrange suggests. Although I was joining Code 40 to Code 55 points. Works fine, albeit this close up makes it look rougher than it is in practice. Cheers. Andy

Thanks @gingerangles. Forgive me but I'm not sure what scale you're using on your CAD drawing. I'm reading "loft layout" suggesting it might be quite long and a FY with fans of points would fit in. But you might want to do a quick track plan of a FY and see how many storage lines you can get vs how long they are. Think about how many coaches you're trains are going to have. Might be 7 or 8 plus a tender loco; potentially taking up several feet + points and avoiding snagging trains in adjacent sidings. All the best. Andy

Hi gingerangles Thanks for sharing your plan. I think with roundy roundy layouts one of the delights is to have a parade of trains. But to keep it from being monotonous you need a fiddle yard with quite a capacity. Any thoughts on how to fit a FY in with plenty of capacity? I'm thinking a traverser might help here? Cheers. Andy

Hi Nick. I'll be facing the same issue on my own layout. I've not (consciously) come across those two-part shelf connectors before. Any chance you could point me to a picture of what youve used for this? Cheers. Andy

I'm wondering if the sidings at the station might be refined a bit. I'd suggest a kick back siding; at present they all come directly off the running rail. And you might consider a bay platform (departure platform) on the RHS of the station. Branch trains would arrive on the main platform and then shunt into the departure platform ahead of their return journey. Lots more play value for one extra point.

Hi Robert. I had a small N gauge layout that was sort of like this. Albeit the FY was a traverser. One thing to remember is that in your Fidfle Yard, at the turnout where your return line meets the line going to the station, you'll need to switch track polarities. If you're thinking of using DCC control then you can get a gadget to do this...

Afternoon all Hope that the weather is as nice where you are as it is here. With Spring in the air, which normally signals me getting stuck into modelling, I've been doing some of the boring bits. First job was to extend the servo switch leads so they'll reach the mimic panel. Now just waiting for some cable tidy to turn up so I can convert this pile of spaghetti into a more manageable flying lead. Next up was designing the artwork for the mimic panel. I used PowerPoint for this. Printed onto photographic paper, Pritt-sticked onto MDF and then covered in sticky-backed plastic. Next job is to fit and wire-up some switches. I've forward planned using the Dapol motorised bracket signal. It's not ideal as the actual signal had a lattice-type post and may well have been upper quadrant. I think the LSWR switched over to upper quadrant on the nearby line through Liphook. The Dapol signal is a GWR lower quadrant. That said a working signal will have play value, even if its not prototypical. Cheers for now. Andy

Minories.

I was going to wait until I'd got everything wired up and trains running before giving an update. But that may take a little bit longer and I thought you might be interested to see how things are progressing. This is a shot of the central part if the layout and is basically the station throat. Following the issues I encountered around the finescale kits I recycled a number of Electrofrog points, and Insulfrog double slip and bought a couple of extra Unifrog points. The track is British Finescale. Where it butts up to Peco Code 55 points I've added a piece of cardboard* underneath to match the rail heights. *Metcalfe platform surface card is just right for anyone that's interested. For each of the points I've added dropper wires, bonded the stock rails to the point blades and isolated the frog. Next steps. 1. Fit and programme the servos; made easier as the sub-baseboard is small and easy to turn over and work on. 2. Wire up the servo switches. 3. Paint the control box and print a track diagram onto it. 4. Connect the droppers to the power supply bus and... 5. Hope there are no shorts! 6. Put all 3 layout boards back together and test. 7. At the baseboard extremities solder the track to screws to prevent damage and help with track alignment. 8. Weather the track. 9. Ballast. 10. Add 3rd rail and protection boards. Cheers for now. Andy

Unfortunately my phone camera was playing up. But I did manage to snap these shots.. Andy

A really enjoyable show. Parking was plentiful and a good selection of layouts. Well done to the Basingstoke team for putting on a very good show. I was able to pick up a few bits for my own layout and collect a loco that was being chipped by Coastal DCC. As an N gauge modeller I was very taken with Bamfylde. I don't recall seeing better looking Peco Code 55 track. 👏 And always nice to catch up with old acquaintances.

Hi @Keith Addenbrooke Thanks for your analysis. I don't have a gadget to check B2Bs. But reading @Andy_C's post I think I'd better invest in one. But I do have a second M7 which behaves similarly. I tried a heavy class 33 diesel and this was OK. As was a (light) coach. I suspect a little very gentle filing may help. But I don't want to rush into anything. Especially with the recent issues I've had with kit points!

First of all a big thank you to everyone who pitched in with thoughts earlier in the week. Really appreciated them. Thank you. I'm now hoping you may ve able to offer some further thoughts about rough riding through a double slip.. I've been doing some investigation with turnouts that I've got already and seeing what else I'd need to purchase. I already have an Insulfrog code 55 double slip. So I wanted to see if the lightweight & short M7 would stall on it. Testing showed it wouldn't. So that's the best part of £50 saved if i dont nwed to buy an Electrofrog equivalent. What I did notice, however, was that the locos wheels lift up in a couple of places. This also happens with lightweight wagons. Does anyone know if there's a way to cure this? I'm wondering if a bit of judicious filing might help? But obviously don't want to start doing that unless you reckon it'd help? Any tboughts?

So, on the theme of switching back to Peco I did a quick inventory of what Code 55 turnouts I had left over from past layouts. A mixed bag of Electrofrogs, a Unifrog and an Insulfrog double slip. Taking into account the M7 branch train would be a frequent user of the double slip I think it would be a mistake to re-use that particular component; I suspect I'd see a lot of stalling there by the loco and frustration by me! I'll need to revise what modifications will be needed to the Electrofrogs.