Greater Loftchester

[Dublo]

Hi Michaela

Oh this is a great shame as your layout is coming together really nicely. I can understand completely where you are coming from with being demoralised I personally hate having to rework something. Do you have enough components to be able to rebuild the affected pointwork ? If not then a further purchase is needed so why not add a bit more cash and buy readymade.


Regarding the height of your proposed upper level. If it is going to run over the lower lines I would have thought that having enough room to get your hand under would be useful. I have never created a multi level railway, so not really sure.

At the end of the day this is our hobby a means of relaxation and enjoyment.

[Ex-Pat]

I'm with Timbersurf on the "photos please" request. It would be a shame to undo all the good track work - there is definitely something attractive about hand-built track.

Have you considered "sinking" the lower level into the base board? - if you went down enough you could halve the gradients required.

[Michaelaface]

Re pointwork, as you have the skills, could you not cut a section out and repair it? (pictures, please)
Re height, what you have laid is not quite as per the previous diagram, could you give us an up to date diagram? I have issue with the previous diagram that the upper track would be obscuring access/sight to the lower track.
You need 6mm (better 12mm) above your highest train clearance for structural thickness and a bit of reality, but height always tends to be compromised to be the absolute minimum to keep the the interconnecting incline gradients as shallow as possible, if the two levels are not connected, then it can be as high as you like!
The use of rocky cliffs and retaining walls will assist with the scenic connection between the two.

I could cut the section out and repair it, but I've been finding myself less and less motivated to put the time and effort into it, buying RTR points would be more costly, but it'd save so much time and I could just get on with everything, the only thing I didnt follow on the track plan is the fiddle yard, which was to fit a longer train in the outer loop but everything else is laid to that plan so far, I think a lot of retaining walls will be needed

I'm with Timbersurf on the "photos please" request. It would be a shame to undo all the good track work - there is definitely something attractive about hand-built track.

Have you considered "sinking" the lower level into the base board? - if you went down enough you could halve the gradients required.

it is a shame which is why I'm taking my time to think over it so much, I'll get some pictures soon, I was so annoyed I couldn't face looking at the mess

and sinking as in making it look as if is below ground level?

Hi Michaela

Oh this is a great shame as your layout is coming together really nicely. I can understand completely where you are coming from with being demoralised I personally hate having to rework something. Do you have enough components to be able to rebuild the affected pointwork ? If not then a further purchase is needed so why not add a bit more cash and buy readymade.


Regarding the height of your proposed upper level. If it is going to run over the lower lines I would have thought that having enough room to get your hand under would be useful. I have never created a multi level railway, so not really sure.

At the end of the day this is our hobby a means of relaxation and enjoyment.

to enjoy the hobby I do feel like saving up and investing the money is worthwile, and yeah being able to get my hands underneath is valid point but I don't want it to result the difference in height between the two levels being unrealistically high so I've tried to plan the layers so they rarely overlap causing that issue

[Mountain]

Part of the fun is in the building of the layout. I must say I get excited about making new things but I do put off things that I know I can do but need to make many of them...
Perservere. Rebuild the points... Get that bit going first.

[glencairn]

I had the same challenges with faulty point work and track. I did put off and put off. Eventually, I was sick of derailments etc. I ‘bit the bullet’ and decided to put the wrongs right. With success trains are running smoothly once more.

As Mountain suggests, persevere and rebuild the offending track. Your layout is excellent and you shouldn’t let a minor setback spoil the great work. I am sure you already know that. Looking forward to seeing positive results.

Glencairn

[Ex-Pat]

I'm with Timbersurf on the "photos please" request. It would be a shame to undo all the good track work - there is definitely something attractive about hand-built track.

Have you considered "sinking" the lower level into the base board? - if you went down enough you could halve the gradients required.

and sinking as in making it look as if is below ground level?

Precisely - there are "burrowing" junctions etc. in real life. I only suggested it from the practical point of view of easing the gradients required. It would need cosmetic surgery such as side-walls etc. so it would have character.

[Hymirl]

the next task will be to finish the the track in the branch line terminus and then its on to building the upper level, but for now I'm rewarding myself by just running some trains, check out my video below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfQgg7D-o7A

Thats brilliant. Mainline trains at mainline speeds is a joy.

Im answer to your question why not leave the terminus to come back to and concentrate on getting a part of the main line done even if its a scenic section? Will it be continuous countryside or will you have different scenes for trains to pass through?

[Michaelaface]

Thats brilliant. Mainline trains at mainline speeds is a joy.

Im answer to your question why not leave the terminus to come back to and concentrate on getting a part of the main line done even if its a scenic section? Will it be continuous countryside or will you have different scenes for trains to pass through?

thank you, and I can't really start on any scenery until the upper level is in place, mainly because that'll dictate what goes where, but I can't start the upper level until the the track on the lower level is all complete and I'm confident in it all working, as there'll be a few sections which'll become annoying to get to once the upper level goes on

And as for the destroyed point


rather frustrating as I was quite happy with how it was all looking, but the more I think about it the more I just want to get on with building this damn layout! so using some bits I already have I'm leaning toward this configuration



I think keeping everything simple is probably going to be the best idea going forward, tried all sorts of point configurations and I think it looks best with just 3 lines, thoughts welcome

[Michaelaface]

TRACK WORK FOR THE LOWER SECTION IS COMPLETE!



Decided to go with some points I already had combined with peco's bullhead points as they look the part, not wired it up for block detection yet or put in point motors as I need to buy a few more bits to do that, but it is all wired up for regular DCC and so far works perfectly

Here's a video of the sort of operations I had in mind for this part

https://youtu.be/oKbASGvErlM

feel free to leave any thoughts and comments

[Montfort]

feel free to leave any thoughts and comments

[Michaelaface]

not much progress recently, been focusing on getting some buildings built for the layout to help give me an idea of where things will go, I'm also considering modifying the fiddle yard, by adding some more sidings and also removing the liftout section and replacing it with a permanent section, as that area is starting to annoy me (there are no faults, it works perfectly well, but it just seems like a weak spot)

anywhere here's a few shots from tonight's running session

[Montfort]

[joshv8]

Definitely coming along well!

[Michaelaface]

So I've decided to get rid of the lift out section and redesign the fiddle yard to be more efficient, here's where I'm up to so far

[Michaelaface]

Video of a little running session

https://youtu.be/p0S67yR6e1Q