New Railway Modellers Forums

Hi Everyone,

So I'm working on my first layout and wanted advice/opinions. Unfortunately I'm working on very limited space (its actually on a old paste table). Also the only space I have available is the conservatory, so any tips for dealing with the temperature changes would be welcome, for now my only considerations I'm taking into account is the tracks are being left with small gaps between each other for expansion and the Loco's and controller are stored in a draw inside the living room when not in use and may be joined by the rolling stock if the temperature is high.

My basic idea is it is supposed to represent the end of a branch line with a station in the bottom left and cargo yard above it and as much of the track out as possible.

So without further ado here it is:

Ok so I watched a few video's and realised the yard was rather flawed so I've redesigned to address this a bit, the main loco would arrive on the second track from the bottom then be able to use the track above it to get back out leaving behind the wagons it was pulling. It means keeping what is actually pulled small but I have to accept the limits of the space.

The problems I haven't been able to solve yet are the shunter will have to move out of the yard while moving things around as to even pull 2 wagons out to shunt onto line 3 won't be possible without touching the the line outside the yard. I'm still trying to work out a way to do it, the second issue is the limited space for the main loco to wait if its going to go back out with different wagons.

Interesting plans.
At the moment, as I don't know where I will be in future years I am making a portable layout on two boards to a larger scale in narrow gauge. It is more them possible to make things work in a small space. It is a challenge.

Ok so I've been away and come up with a plan to shuffle the table to make a little space for a fiddle yard to solve all my problems, so here is the new and hopefully final plan.

If you move the upper left point to the right by one track piece and the lower right point to the left one track peice you'll have longer sidings on all four sidings.
Just an idea.
Thanks
End2end

Ok so things have changed, which has caused a major rethink.

To explain quickly, my original base of a paste table while never ideal went from bad to worse as I discovered just how warped it had become so it was a complete no go. Fortunately I was reminded of an old table I had stored away which is now out and in place, this has provided a much flatter and more table base but also made my limited space a little less limited so a new plan was called for.

My ideas behind the new layout are this is a branch line running across the bottom of the table in a small town which has some industry but also commuters so there is a station along the branch line, above this is a yard which serves some industry to be decided on with raw materials being brought in and finished product removed. The top my line of the yard will be the main loading/unloading while the remainder will be rolling stock waiting to be unloaded or taken away. The final part which I'm not sure about is the top right which I'm thinking will be either a light maintenance area and maybe the engine shed for the local shunter.

Wht space do you have?

Using new money its 2 meters by 0.75 meters. Then there is a small area to the right of the table where the room tapers in which is an awkward shape but would allow me to fit in a shelf for a fiddle yard off the main board.

Thats larger then my little layout!
I have an oval of track on mine, but I have narrow gauge.
Just a thought or two here.
75cm.... I seem to remember 79cm wide or over allows for an oval with first radius curves. Flexible track carefully layed allows tighter curves for 00 gauge though one will be slightly restricted as some locos and rolling stock wont do it. Sensible selection of stock and the possibilities are certainly there for an oval.
(My 7mm narrow gauge layout is 2ft wide (About 60cm). The wider the curve the more that will go round it. I am limited to 0-4-0's and shorter 0-6-0's).
Your end to end design will run most things. A behind the scenes sector plate will be useful for and end to end design.

I thought about trying n gauge but since I already have 00 gauge stock, track and locos it seems a better option to build out from what I have.

As for a loop, ive tried my class 60 round 1st order curves and it didnt enjoy it so even smaller will take it off the list options which is a shame as its my favourite loco .... for now anyway but a switch plate is a good idea and I think I might be able to get something in the space off to the side.

Sector plates come in different designs as nearly all will be home made. Is an idea to take a look in old model railway magazines and on the internet to have a look at a few to give some ideas. They are simple things so should be easy to make.
Another idea. Could a layout fold open for use and fold in half when not in use? Would this be a possibility for extra space? Just an idea.

I do like the idea of a fordable board but after an hour of measuring and adjusting plans I just can't get it to squeeze in. However I have had a future scoping idea, if I can come up with a way to add removable parts to go in front of the door I can happily run the track around the edge of the conservatory without intruding on anything else. So for the time being I'm going with the plan on this post which leaves easily removable sections on the ends of the main line if in future I manage to pull off the plan to loop the room theres space to curve the track.

(PS ignore the green that was me working out what track I had and what extra is needed)

Have you tried any planbooks? CJ Freezers 60 plans for small locations has lots of tips on making good use of space. Peco's settrack planbook is also good for inspiration too even if you don't adopt anything straight up from the book!

Overall the general idea seems good. I doubt you need a run around loop in the yard, ideally you would put the loco to lead into the headshunt from the main line and then reverse into sidings to shunt as needed. Seems a bit backwards which limits the use of a lot of sidings?

I've actually done a pretty big re-design again to squeeze a bit more in and also bring the yard to the front where its easier to reach to decouple anything.

The only problem with this layout which I havn't come up with a solution for is the bottom most siding can't be used as a siding without trapping anything on the other side. One option I have thought about is deleting the second line in to reduce the number of points and allowing more freedom as to where to pull the yard off the main line.

Now that's a plan!