Layout for my son - Eastfleet

[mumbles]

i'm sorry basildon may be the chav capital of essex but for the mecca wikipedia gives a good explanation!
"Chatham is often referred to "Chavham". The word has also been in use for several generations to describe a person on the dole. To be "on the dole" was to be "on the chat" or "on the chav". It was a local joke that people from Chatham dressed a certain way and were frequently on the dole, which led to the term "Chatham Chav"."
done these parts chav was in use long before any recent mainstream intrest, mind you several generations in chav culture [ha there's an oxymoron] is not that long
sorry still hijacking, i'll stop now
michael

[westbrom]

Nice vid, and very good looking layout.


Neil

[paulh]

Eastfleet has now moved from the playroom in our house, the the garage and with the move it will change to a round the room layout.

The area that the layout will cover will be 3.8m x 2.5m with boards 60cm wide all the way round and ideally include an incline & raised section. It will be modern image, include a town scene (raised over part of the station on the plan below), large station and industrial area (again raised at the bottom of the plan).

I've come up with a initial trackplan which includes most of the features I'd like to have:



I would appreciate any comments from people, even if you have a better way to use the available space.


Paul

[paulh]

I've been wondering whether the raised section should be double track and the whole layout as a folded figure-8, rather than the current double track mainline and the separate single track raised section?

[mumbles]

I've been wondering whether the raised section should be double track and the whole layout as a folded figure-8, rather than the current double track mainline and the separate single track raised section?

that is a good idea, doubles the running. just make sure you get those gradients right. i have a similar track plan as does john geee in his shed
my gradients are nearly 3 meters in length to rise about 90cm, this means i can run trains up at slow speeds as they would be going round the rest of the track and not have to get a run up!
looking at the size of your room the gradients could be mostly on the straight too which really helps
michael

[mumbles]

just had a quick play with xtrkcad, hope you don't mind

would be best for you to do sidings etc yourself to your requirements and interests but trackplans look silly with out them
its a nice amount of space to play with though, you can do pretty much what you like with the area
michael

[paulh]

I definately don't mind.

I like the idea of having two stations and a curved platform but I am concerned that there will be problems with clearances as most of our rolling stock is long coaches like Pendolino and Eurostar and I would also like platforms long enough to take 6 car (minimum) trains in addition to 3 and 2 car E/DMU.

Cheers
Paul

[mumbles]

yeah, i realised the platforms were pretty short but just wanted to demonstrate them really
i have used peco streamline points as well and not sure what you have? you would probably find that this plan would be a bit tight in the space with settrack spacing.. i'm not sure
i reckon if you have a specific idea of what you want for a station then take that as a starting point for your track plan. maybe you could leave a long side free for station
i look forward to seeing what you come up with, whatever it is
michael

[ollyg16]

I agree with Mumbles................I have a similar layout to that trackplan in style and size (idea stolen from his layout)

It means the trains have a longer "run" and the kids love the inclines.

I have manage to include a small rural station and a larger curved station. It looks OK but as you say it was horrible to get the clearances right. I cheated and lowered the platforms so the longer carriges ride over them. It depends in how accurate you want it to look. Its still under construction.

Maybe this will help:

[pmlondon]

Talking of cheating regarding the curved platforms this is exactly what I intend to do on my layout. I was wondering if anyone here had done this.

[Lofty]

my gradients are nearly 3 meters in length to rise about 90cm,

I assume that should read 90mm or 9cm

Lofty

[mumbles]

my gradients are nearly 3 meters in length to rise about 90cm,

I assume that should read 90mm or 9cm

Lofty

yeah, well spotted

[sishades]

Anyone with a European styled layout will tell you that their platforms are much lower in comparison to our superior British types.

[paulh]

The platforms have got to be the right height so lowering them is not an option.

I've come up with a new plan:



I'm pretty happy with it and may add another small station on the raised area in the top left corner. Also, I'm not sure about the area below the inclines, I see it as having an industrial/retail park backscene hiding the inclines and the sidings would be a frieght depot and stabling sidings.

As always, any comments/improvements gratefully received.


Paul

[paulh]

Happy New Year everybody!!

Got a bit of work done in the garage yesterday, managed to get all the baseboards built and even a couple up on the wall.





Hopefully I'll get the rest of the boards on the wall today and I may even get down to a well known DIY superstore for the MDF tops.