Market Street (formerly CandO)

[CandO]

So after the attic build and the baseboard construction were complete it was time to start laying some track. Now apart from the main central part of the layout which would be similar to CandO (itself based on Church and Oswaldtwistle (as was)) the rest would be a total freestyle and I had a couple of ideas in my head.
The right side was obvious really as it would only be a return loop...

Return Loop

....whilst the left side was a bit more of a conundrum. I obviously wanted a running loop all around the outside but wanted some sort of fiddle yard or sidings in the middle. After lots of messing about with various ideas I finally settled on a final design which I hope will be very accommodating for the layout. Please note the track in the following pics is just placed in its location so is not cut to actual lengths as yet...

The first laying of track incorporated a very large fiddle yard but after a bit of thinking i decided there were too many tracks and points thus access at the bottom end would be way too complicated within the space available.

1st Laying

The second plan stumbled upon was more to my liking but still seemed to lack something....

2nd plan

A few tweaks (and a scratchbuild!!) later and I arrived at something I was generally happy with and which would basically be my final laying.

final

I hope you can see what I am trying to achieve and any comments will be obviously be gratefully received

[CandO]

So there now follows a few pics showing the layout as I think it will probably end up. I'm hoping the points in the sidings will be adequate for all the engines to navigate but if not I may need to invest in the medium ones. Like before the gaps in the track in places need filling but more track needs to be purchased.

[CandO]

I'm hoping to at least get some trains running this month but time is very precious atm and with a new grand-daughter due in around two weeks it may be a little hectic over the summer

Hope you've all enjoyed my progress so far!

[CandO]

I just thought I'd post a little update of how the main goods sidings/fiddle yard section is looking on the layout. It is a clockwise continuous run on the outer track with a point just before the tunnel mouth at left into the one-way yard before re-joining the main track at bottom right. The track in this section has been fitted with droppers - although the bus isn't yet connected to a power source - and I have fitted all the point motors but not trimmed them down yet as I still need to stick the track in place so I want to do that and be totally happy before trimming down. The elevated part with the church is practically all finished , just a few little embellishments required (trees, people etc). The totem may not stay on that wall in the long run but it looks ok there atm and the small pic above it is actually an old view of the station building (which will be further round on the layout) titled with 'Market Street' which I thought was a nice touch
I'm quite happy with the result considering I'm on a steep learning curve

layout

[CandO]

Wow!!! I cant believe it has been 3 years since the post above and practically nothing has changed on the layout!
Anyway, I've been a bit more proactive since Christmas with a scratchbuild of a local warehouse well under way but my issue at the moment is with the track layout. I've decided to do a double track around the section in the following pic rather than just the clockwise single loop...

However my quandary is this: where is the best point from which to access the fiddle yard from the main track? I've roughly outlined three possible access points in red and blue from the CW loop and yellow from the AntiCW loop.

I'm aiming to remove the line in pink as I'm going to move the raised corner piece left slightly to create more low relief space on the right.

As an aside - Does there HAVE to be a fiddle yard??

Any thoughts will be gratefully received

[joshing_man]

Welcome back!

No there doesn't HAVE to be a fiddle yard. It is your layout so do what you want!

Presumably you will need to re-model the tunnel to allow for two tracks? The existing entry or blue entry should be OK and the yellow for anti-clockwise if you want it to be two way.

I'm no expert though.

You could also consider moving this thread to the Layouts under construction part of the forum to get some interaction.

Andrew

[Dad-1]

Hi Andrew,

Good to see a posting from you as well.

Geoff T.

[CandO]

Welcome back!

Thank you

No there doesn't HAVE to be a fiddle yard. It is your layout so do what you want!

That's certainly something I've to think about

Presumably you will need to re-model the tunnel to allow for two tracks? The existing entry or blue entry should be OK and the yellow for anti-clockwise if you want it to be two way.

They are Double track portals so I'll be ok there I think. Blue would be my choice tbh but I've got to admit I never considered the existing entry!

You could also consider moving this thread to the Layouts under construction part of the forum to get some interaction.

Hmmmmm....

Thankyou Andrew, much obliged

[Mountain]

There is a book based on a large 0 gauge layout (Though covers more than just one layout and scale) called "The Living Model Railway". What I love about the book is that it is about model railway operation and how one can run ones railway where everything has a purpose as if it was a real line. I don't think fiddle yards exist as the layouts themselves are designed in such a way that nothing much is hidden.

It is your choice as to what you want to include or where you want the lines to run, as you are the managing director of your railway company so you say what goes!
What I will say is your proposed yellow and red diversion routes above do look like the curvature will be a little too sharp, so this may need checking in your feasability report.

[captrees]

If its 2 continuous loops. do you really need a fiddle yard? I have 2 loops, and have various sidings and branchlines that may never have power attached, but have static locos and wagons all looking like they are doing stuff. I don't like to overcomplicate it all.

[CandO]

What I will say is your proposed yellow and red diversion routes above do look like the curvature will be a little too sharp, so this may need checking in your feasability report.

The lines are just a rough guide to illustrate possible options so not true to scale

[CandO]

If its 2 continuous loops. do you really need a fiddle yard? I have 2 loops, and have various sidings and branchlines that may never have power attached, but have static locos and wagons all looking like they are doing stuff. I don't like to overcomplicate it all.

Very interesting thought there's already going to be a coaling yard further round so that is an option Thanks

[Mountain]

Fiddle yards (Hidden sidings) tend to come into their own more on smaller layouts where one wants to create a realistic scene which would not make visual sense to have a small space saving layout that is not visually connected to the rest of the railway network in model form. It is used as a visual block to help ones imagination think there is more, so one can create the illusion that trains enter the scenic scene have places to go when in reality the places to go are basically "Nowhere!" Just a hidden track or tracks just a very short distance away. (Hence the need for it to be hidden).
One can create the same effect that ones railway "Goes somewhere" easily without hidden sidings by simply running a dummy track off the edge of the board somewhere so it looks as if ones railway is part of a larger railway network.

Tunnels act as good scenic blockers to block the visual effect of looking at an oval of track.

[Jaz]

I always like this but getting the tracks working and running I suppose because you play with the trains to check it out

I personally think this is the time to paint the back wall blue because stretching over for a backscene is a pain