How much space is required.

[Johnmay]

Any advice on how I calculate the space needed to model Forfar station in OO gauge.
I didn’t realise the extent of the track until I saw this wonderful drawing.
Thanks John

[Bufferstop]

Unless you are in possession of a large hall or aircraft hanger the answer is all most certainly, far more than you have. The diagram which isn't necessarily to scale gives the main dimensions in "chains' yards and feet" a chain being 22yds or 66ft. I've actually surveyed using a chain and they "ain't 'arf dammed heavy." The usual process is to look at a station and decide what are the elements that make up the essence of it. Shortening platforms by a coach or two and buildings by slightly less, reduce the number and length of the sidings but keep them in the same relative position. This is the sort of project which a club or dedicated modelling group would undertake. There are a few brave souls who undertake one single handed, but they usually have a few successful layouts under their belt.

[Flashbang]

As suggested, in OO, if you have an aircraft hanger or disused barn then even with compression its going to take a huge amount of space! There are three left hand curved crossover points on the main line shown in the plan plus a huge amount of sidings!

[Johnmay]

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.
It’s exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. I did think it was a tad ambitious.
Lots of good bits to pick from that would make a great layout.
Thanks guys

[luckymucklebackit]

As an additional resouce - the NLS has a 1:2500 map of the station and surroundings here https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by ... =ESRIWorld. These maps can be manipulated to get some idea of the scale involved,

Jim

[Bigmet]

...Lots of good bits to pick from that would make a great layout...

The truly useful feature is the continuous curvature of the running lines, which frames much of the sidings. A half length interpretation ('Twofar'?) should be possible in 4mm in an 8x10 room on a 24" curve radius basis, while a typical single garage floor plan would enable use of 36" radius.

[pete12345]

...Lots of good bits to pick from that would make a great layout...

The truly useful feature is the continuous curvature of the running lines, which frames much of the sidings. A half length interpretation ('Twofar'?) should be possible in 4mm in an 8x10 room on a 24" curve radius basis, while a typical single garage floor plan would enable use of 36" radius.

I really like this idea for a layout. I've seen a few layouts on a continuous curve and it works well. The sidings could be pruned back while still looking the part and without losing too much operation. I'd try and keep as large a curve radius as possible- maybe building the platforms along the larger side of a stretched oval layout The branch on the right hand side could still be modelled, even if it didn't go anywhere. "Twofar" as a layout name is obvious

[Mountain]

This is where N gauge really comes into its own.

[pete12345]

N gauge is great for this sort of thing. 1/4 the area of OO really adds up. But for me personally, I just find the models too small for my liking- the exception being American layouts where the real thing is that much larger. It's a big shame TT never really lasted in this country.

[Mountain]

N gauge is great for this sort of thing. 1/4 the area of OO really adds up. But for me personally, I just find the models too small for my liking- the exception being American layouts where the real thing is that much larger. It's a big shame TT never really lasted in this country.

These days I prefer 7mm scale just because it is more "Hands on" even though my "Models" which are more for my own amusement are on 00 gauge chassis or use 00 gauge wheels.
I have tried both N gauge and H0e and found them both to be a little small. Great things though. Is more when one needs to open them up if something needs a clean is when one is glad one is in a larger scale, but the way the small scale imerses itself in scenery sure is impressive! The other thing about N gauge that I was impressed by in the days when Graham Farish was Graham Farish (Not saying that the models are better or worse under Bachmann as I honestly don't know) was the sheer lengt of trains the locos could pull due to their heavy cast metal bodies and their weighty chassis. Now that DCC as come along and the need to make room for decoders, I doubt the models can pull as much. I was told in 00 gauge the small shunters like the class 08 and the GWR pannier tanks lost a fair bit of their haulage capacity to make room for DCC decoders as they were lighter in weight. I know with the older 08's one could just about fit a Lenz mini N gauge decoder into it, so one could take advantage of both worlds, but back in those days no other DCC decoder would fit those locos as the Lenz mini N gauge decoder was the first DCC decoder on the market tat was small enough. (Of course, since Bachmann changed their chassis to have more room but less weight a lot of decoders will fit).

[glencairn]

To model a real station I find there has to be compromise.
You could model part of the goods area. The remainder goes off stage to a fiddle yard. The same with part of the platforms.
Although only part of the station is modelled, the whole station is operated.
A few years back I remember a model of North Leith Station was modelled in such a way.

Glencairn

[Mountain]

A famous part station to be modelled is Glasgow as the design encourages this.