Gordie87 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Hi All, i am quite new to this so sorry in advance if some of what i say doesn't makes sense, i have little previous knowledge of train layout other than following a peco setrack n gauge plan book 10 years ago. I have managed to find some time to get back into model railways and wanted to know if someone can point me in the right direction. I was looking at the 2013 setrack n gauge planbook and quite like the look of the plan 11: Earles Sidings on the Hope Valley Line. I know alot of trains that would suit this type of layout are class 37's, 59's and 60's however i like the idea of building something more along the lines of steam. I wanted roughly a baseboard side of around 7ft by 2.5ft. Can anyone suggest any plans already created or any current live tracks i could look into? Also what is the best type of wood to use for the baseboard? If you need any more information please let me know and thanks in advance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordie87 Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Also probably best to add i have already purchased all the track for the plan mentioned above and have a gauge master series Q 4 track transformer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campaman Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Hi and welcome If you type Baseboard Construction into the search box at the top right of the forum you will get loads of information on different baseboard construction techniques, then you will be able to ask more based on what you have read, I find you can learn a lot with a couple of searches. And a quick browse through this section may bring up some track plan ideas, it takes a while but can get addictive. Standard baseboard construction tends to be a ply top with a softwood frame but there are many other styles, my layout is fixed in the shed so uses L Girders. (search for it) :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 The good thing about track and sidings is that they tend to change a lot less over time than features like stations. Looking at that plan, I cannot see anything that would be particularly out of place on a steam-era layout. There are a couple of places where the plan does not appear to make the best use of the space available but that is often an issue with set-track plans. There are a lot of very good sites suggetsing layout plans but it is worth considering what you want to represent. Here are some of the questions you should think about. How much space do you have available? What period do you want to model? What do you want to represent? Some people want a layout to watch trains go by in which case you probably want a continuous run. Some people want intensive shunting so a busy terminus or yard is a good choice. Some people like to focus on passengers or freight. The plan you have listed suggests that you are looking for mostly watching trains go by with a bit of shunting potential but you do not want to take up the space of modelling a station. The good news is that there are a great many lineside industries that fit this requirement. Quarries, cement works and china clay spring to mind for raw materials. If you have a factory at the end of the "branch" then you could be shunting almost anything down to the mainline. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordie87 Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 The good thing about track and sidings is that they tend to change a lot less over time than features like stations. Looking at that plan, I cannot see anything that would be particularly out of place on a steam-era layout. There are a couple of places where the plan does not appear to make the best use of the space available but that is often an issue with set-track plans. There are a lot of very good sites suggetsing layout plans but it is worth considering what you want to represent. Here are some of the questions you should think about. How much space do you have available? What period do you want to model? What do you want to represent? Some people want a layout to watch trains go by in which case you probably want a continuous run. Some people want intensive shunting so a busy terminus or yard is a good choice. Some people like to focus on passengers or freight. The plan you have listed suggests that you are looking for mostly watching trains go by with a bit of shunting potential but you do not want to take up the space of modelling a station. The good news is that there are a great many lineside industries that fit this requirement. Quarries, cement works and china clay spring to mind for raw materials. If you have a factory at the end of the "branch" then you could be shunting almost anything down to the mainline. Thanks for the advice both of you, The period i want to look at is 1960's - 70's, The space i have available is about 8ft by 2.5ft so shunting alot would be my main plan with a few additional outter lines for running non shunters. Not too bothered if i require extra track to make it work, just wanted to get some track so can play around with a few ideas, anyone else got any good shunting intensive layouts they have seen or even completed themselves that they dont mind sharing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted September 5, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 5, 2014 Possibly a bit more urban than you have in mind, but I did a plan for N Gauge Society Journal (published last year) which featured a roundy-roundy mainline at a lower level and a banjo-shaped end-to-end at an upper level with an aggregates terminal. That was drawn to go on a 6'6 x 2'6 door but an extra few inches of length would make it better. Probably no reason why the scenery could not be adapted to something a bit more rural. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordie87 Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 Possibly a bit more urban than you have in mind, but I did a plan for N Gauge Society Journal (published last year) which featured a roundy-roundy mainline at a lower level and a banjo-shaped end-to-end at an upper level with an aggregates terminal. That was drawn to go on a 6'6 x 2'6 door but an extra few inches of length would make it better. Probably no reason why the scenery could not be adapted to something a bit more rural. hi do you have any picture or track plans you used, i am still open to all ideas at this stage. Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordie87 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 does anyone else have idea for a 7ft by 3ft max layout size? running steam and shunter's? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_1066 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I don't see too much wrong with the plan you had for a shunting layout with a shunter and steam hauled trains. The sidings would allow you to bring a freight train on scene, drop off the empties and pick up the full then depart. A shunter can take the empties and swap them for fulls via the hidden storage sidings. Looks like fun and would work with a steam era setting as well as modern. Passenger trains could run through the scene. It needn't be a quarry - china clay, coal mine or some kind of industry would all suite it OK depending upon what you wanted to model. Steam era would allow a pick up goods to also deliver machinery, consumables, etc so giving more variety. You've already got the track so why not build the baseboard and lay it out. See what it is like to operate and then decide what you need to change to suite your tastes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordie87 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 I don't see too much wrong with the plan you had for a shunting layout with a shunter and steam hauled trains. The sidings would allow you to bring a freight train on scene, drop off the empties and pick up the full then depart. A shunter can take the empties and swap them for fulls via the hidden storage sidings. Looks like fun and would work with a steam era setting as well as modern. Passenger trains could run through the scene. It needn't be a quarry - china clay, coal mine or some kind of industry would all suite it OK depending upon what you wanted to model. Steam era would allow a pick up goods to also deliver machinery, consumables, etc so giving more variety. You've already got the track so why not build the baseboard and lay it out. See what it is like to operate and then decide what you need to change to suite your tastes. thanks, just looking at my options before i layout, at the moment it would be manual points but i have been looking at motorised points, anyone have any good resources to look at for motorised points and what i would need? Regards Gordon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordie87 Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 Hi All, Below is what i have put together in SCARM, just need to work out what i am going to do with my points etc and adding any extra lines and should be good to go. Any suggestions welcome Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveArkley Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 A couple of suggestions.... I'm guessing that the four loops at the top are fiddle yard lines. If so then your cross-overs are probably the wrong way around. If the intention is to be able to store any train in any fiddle yard loop then you'll have to use the crossovers as they are and then reverse trains in. Remember that trains run on the left in UK, so your outer loop is clockwise. Everything seems very parallel. You can avoid track running parallel to the edge of the baseboard by simply rotating the whole plan a few degrees. I'd suggest changing some of those long straights to sweeping (but shallow) curves, but I guess you'd need flexible track for that, it's not possible to 'sweep' with set-track although you can put some S curves in. Also consider fanning your sidings out so that they don't run parallel and so close together, remember that access is required to unload trucks. Are you planning a station at the front?. If so have a think about where you want to put platforms and ensure there's enough room to put them between lines, that looks too tight at the moment. Don't worry, we all start with designs like this. Take another look at some of the layouts on here for inspiration, your plan above will be great fun to operate but could look a little less train-set like. Keep working on your plan, it took me 38 iterations before I got something I really liked. Luckily I did all of that thinking before I glued track down! Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Flying Pig Posted September 10, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 10, 2014 If you could bear slightly shorter branch trains, an extra left hand point and some plain track would give you a headshunt clear of the main line: Edit: Dave I think the idea is to represent the junction with a freight branch and its associated sidings: no passenger station (trisonic will be overjoyed!). The fiddle yard crossovers as they stand are ok for reversing trains, but the loops could be one straight longer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordie87 Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 If you could bear slightly shorter branch trains, an extra left hand point and some plain track would give you a headshunt clear of the main line: Edit: Dave I think the idea is to represent the junction with a freight branch and its associated sidings: no passenger station (trisonic will be overjoyed!). The fiddle yard crossovers as they stand are ok for reversing trains, but the loops could be one straight longer. Geordie87.png Thanks, yeah i can spare another point and a bit of track, i am thinking due to the size of the layout and it will probably have a scenic background half way through the layout with tunnels in that i would be better using motorised points? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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