New Railway Modellers Forums

beerandpies wrote:I've seen a few people use PVA glue with cans of lager to weigh them down... Great excuse to buy a slab!

That'll be me then!!

Good work so far mate, one thing I'd say with regard to the sidings is firstly decide what you want there. Then research what stock movements would have taken place in that industry, this will likely dictate how many sidings you actually NEED, as well as tell you how many wagons of which type you might need. You can always find an excuse for an extra one or two if you really want - loco stabling, etc - but it saves you ending up with too many sidings for the intended purpose and wondering how to fill them


Paul

I would say a gradient is do-able in a 5ft space,barks went quite high with his but you could do half that height in 5ft and it would still be high enough.
Yes it is challenging to do but thats partly the idea,instead of just hammering track down quickly to get something you could take your time and get something much better.
If I ever do another layout it will have some gradients,I was thinking of doing it in just 4ft
The only other thing you could do is loose 1/3 or 1/2 of the board behind a backscene like I did on my dads layout.

http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... t&start=45

It is nothing more than a circle of track with a couple of sidings but it is disguised a bit by the backscene.
If you did the backscene with a suitable sized area on the top you could have another bit of a railway on there.
If you get chance have a look at the Peco 00 gauge trackplan book,there is something similar in there,thats partly where I got my idea from but I just didn't do the railway on the top section.

smallman28 wrote:I would say a gradient is do-able in a 5ft space,barks went quite high with his but you could do half that height in 5ft and it would still be high enough.
Yes it is challenging to do but thats partly the idea,instead of just hammering track down quickly to get something you could take your time and get something much better.
If I ever do another layout it will have some gradients,I was thinking of doing it in just 4ft
The only other thing you could do is loose 1/3 or 1/2 of the board behind a backscene like I did on my dads layout.

http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... t&start=45

It is nothing more than a circle of track with a couple of sidings but it is disguised a bit by the backscene.
If you did the backscene with a suitable sized area on the top you could have another bit of a railway on there.
If you get chance have a look at the Peco 00 gauge trackplan book,there is something similar in there,thats partly where I got my idea from but I just didn't do the railway on the top section.

I read that thread - I was very impressed with what you could do with such a small amount of track and a very good, creative imagination. This is something that I lack!

In regards to researching the area I want to model. There are a few locations I would like to incorporate into a layout, but don't think I will be able to for lack of space. Those being the TMD in Allerton (Well I think its a TMD), Lime Street train station and my dads old work place, which is the EWS siding area in Edge Hill.

I think I will steer clear of the elevated sections for now, considering I can't make a decision on a design with a single layer, let alone 2 or more.

Things have happened in the last 24 hours which mean I am going to be taking a few days/week out from playing around with the model railway. When i get time to start again, I will update this thread, and I will bring pictures!

Thanks to all who has given me help and advice so far, and I will be back soon.

Hello - I am back.

Had a rethink on the layout design in the last few days after getting cold feet about the original. The new track is below. I took inpsiration from a butternut squash ( ) in the shape, but adapted it to suit the track I have already. I did have it set to run with most R/H setrack points, without realising the majority of the points for the old layout were L/H so the layout was mirrored and runs the opposite direction. I took the advice of bigbob and have limited the loops to a twin mainline with an odd section at the top. you will notice it straight away (I think).

Scenery - Bottom of the layout I will have a through station with 1 line terminating, and a storage line behind for loco/coach storage. The top section of sidings will be my take on my dads old workplace - in transit depot/storage location. I will have loco stabling in the middle (upper left hand side in middle of loops, and refueling station. At the end of the platform, to hide the track cornering, there will be a tunnel. Now I have't decided whether this will be a mountain tunnel or tunnel beneath town scene. Either way, most of the middle of the layout will be urban town scene with the upper section fenced off, similar to how operational siding areas are.

pictures



this is the XTrkCad design of the new layout.



All the track from the old design pulled up and relaid as per the new design above. I am sadly lacking a few components which i will have to order. I have everything required to start wiring and pinning the main two loops, but due to strained ligaments in my foot, I am supposed to be resting (how does the doctor think you rest when you have 3 11 month old babies to look after, I don't know!)



i have perched the tunnel openings where they are going to be to give an idea of the size of tunnel I'm aiming for. I do know that I will need to allow access for derailments etc, so I am going to incorporate a hinged hatch in the back panel for access.



This is the odd points section I mentioned above, It allows the outer and inner loops to merge, and depending on direction of travel, access into the sidings area. Hopefully I am going to incorporate a signal box in the middle.



This picture shows the 2 through lines and single terminating line with siding for coaches and maybe a loco or two.

The pictures I have linked to show a siding in the middle of the layout. This will be changed once I have ordered the additional track required. i was seeing what I could do with the many pieces of setrack I have left over. I have decided that with the overspill of track (basically the track that came with the starter set I bought last year, I will do a 2 1/2 x 2 foot layout sometime in the future. No point in wasting good sections of track now is there.


All of the work that needs doing is going to take a long while because of my foot and also because of a medical condition I have concerning my back and legs. Updates will be plentiful, which means more photos for you guys to ponder over and give friendly advice and criticism, like you have in the previously 4 pages.

Next major purchase of rolling stock I'm intending on buying (wont be until December) is going to be either a class 220 cross country or the Class 222 in midland mainline livery. ideally I would like the 222 however there is no date for release yet.

Sorry if this is a long post. Hope I ain't bored you all to death!

Well I'm loving the new track plan, excellent stuff.

I'd say go for the town above the tunnels rather than a hillside, it will just draw that bit of extra interest to that end of the layout.

Good stuff.

Gav.

Thanks for the kind words Spavo - I've started pinning the track and the wiring this morning. Just taking a while as I can't stand up nor kneel for very long!! Also, due to not having enough of the right sections of track, there is going to come a point where I can go no further, that is until they are ordered.

Town scene over the lines sounds like a better plan for the over line bit at the end of the layout. At least it means I don't have to try and model rock faces, which I was getting a little worried about!!

More pictures will be available later after I've done a little more.

Thank god I took the time to sit down with the new track layout before fully fitting it to the board otherwise would be ripping most of it back up again. If you look at the layout, if you were to run a loco around the inner loop clockwise, the only way to get onto the outer loop is to reverse either on the east points or at the top. If you were to run it anticlockwise, then you would have access to the outer loop, but once there, there is no way back onto the inner loop without reversing. And the same could be said for running clockwise on the outer loop - 2 accesses to the inner, but none back onto the outer.

Need to have a rethink of the points for the twin line loop before pinning it all down.

Can anyone give any suggestions as I like the way this layout is going.

How about something like...



Jonathan

jweighell wrote:How about something like...



Jonathan

Thanks for the suggestion jweighell, I will try laying it out tomorrow. I did try implementing it into my XtrkCad design and it looks good, however the exits for the mainline do not line up for the corners, leaving the rest of the layout does not line up. Will try it regardless as there might be a little play in the track for it all to line up. If it doesn't the other option would be to add in an extra set of points in the other direction somewhere, which seems too easy.

I tried using the suggested change to my layout, but the mainline exits from the junction didn't match up so would have caused problems elsewhere Also, from what I could see, it didnt shift the mainline far enough across as it does in the original.. oh well, I'll just use what I had and add in an extra right and left hand switch into the layout before and after the junction area. just means I will need more points for the sidings, which i can get later on.

No real updates as I haven't been able to do much in the last few days, except sit in front of the computer with my feet up, looking at everybody elses layouts, thinking I wish I had the space to go larger

Hello again!!

A bit of a confession to begin with. I got bored last night, so started reading some old threads in the under construction section and found an old thread by Jeep. Looking at the layout thatwas created got me thinking. I used Cad (again) to draw their design up and then modified it slightly to my taste to include a twin loop round the bends and a further line down one side. I came up with the picture below.



and this is where I'm upto as of this evening



95% of the droppers have been installed, the left side is partially pinned down. I am having thoughts about leaving the point motors due to cost, and having it operated by 'hand of god' for the time being. I will be drilling holes for the point motors, should I have the spare cash to be able to do it. Electrics will be completed hopefully tomorrow ready for testing of the layout to ensure everything works/no issues anywhere. Then comes the ballasting, which I will have a go on a spare piece of track, which I seem to have lots of at the moment. I actually think I will have enough to build a small 2x2.5ft layout in the future. In any case, I will need to obtain two sections of track to complete the loco shed area, which is the middle 4th rail on the left.

In terms of scenics, there will still be an overhead section at the top of the photo, with tunnels, and hill to access upper area, and 3/4 lane section with through, non stop line - all on right. Shold I use mdf for the upper area, or could I fashion something out of cardboard and some polystyrene, as it is likely to be paper maschied (sp?) anyway to give a little definition to the area?

If you're going to run rail up I'd do what I did and make a wooden tunnel and put the top line on, then use chicken wire and paper mache to model the mountain and tunnels around the structure. I finally used plaster over the top to make it all hard before painting.

The layout is staying flat, its the idea I have had to put an urban scene over one end of the layout, with a ramp/hill for a road to gain access to the centre of the layout/train station. The chicken wire sounds like a good idea as it would appear to be good stuff to mould into the shape you want, however Isn't it rather expensive for such a small amount? What other options are there to create a hilly road and would it be best to use a piece of mdf for the urban scene or would a double layer of corrugated cardboard suffice?


Plan of action tomorrow
-finish droppers for the siding/train station terminus.
-run cable underneath and start connecting everything up.
-finish tacking the layout down
-work out a way of securing the tunnel mouths to the baseboard.
-find humbrol paints (they are somewhere safe!!)
-research how to lay ballast and maybe have a go.

bluechang wrote:What other options are there to create a hilly road and would it be best to use a piece of mdf for the urban scene or would a double layer of corrugated cardboard suffice?

Hi Bluechang. Can I interest you in the wonder, the marvel, that is foamboard? It's very light stuff - two thin sheets of cardboard with a plastic filling - and very easy to cut, but as far as strength is concerned it knocks your corrugated cardboard into a cocked hat. It's wonderful, and it can be cut into any shape you like, thus making it useful not only for your town but also the winding road leading up to it.

You can get it in arts and craft stores, and it's relatively cheap (dearer than cardboard, cheaper than MDF and chicken wire).

Hope this helps,
Gavin