Lachute's switching layout

[glencairn]

Glad to see some work being done. Carry on. What factories are you going to have?

Glencairn

[Lachute]

Found a few ideas for the backdrop:

[Lachute]

This afternoon I did a running session. Everything worked very well (switcher, wagons, points, power supply...). But after a while it appeared that this layout was a bit boring to run. Due to the very simple track plan I guess.

[luckymucklebackit]

This afternoon I did a running session. Everything worked very well (switcher, wagons, points, power supply...). But after a while it appeared that this layout was a bit boring to run. Due to the very simple track plan I guess.

The trick is to turn the operation into a puzzle that needs to be solved, that is the basis of the Inglenook, if you read this article you will see how it works, http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/ ... rules.html

Jim

[Lachute]

Thank you very much for your reply Jim. I'm going to try the Inglenook rules first. After that I'll decide what I'm gonna do with my layout.

[Lachute]

Sorry folks, just another false start
I'm looking for new ideas for trying to build a better layout. Maybe the "Big Switching Layout" is just too big...

[smeghead28]

Having built end to end layouts for the last few years they are an acquired taste especially if you don't want to follow any "rules"
However, I have recently been building a basic 4x4 oval as I want to actually run the trains rather than just go backwards and forwards, with DCC sound the locos behave/sound quite differently when you get some speed up
If I were you I would go back to your original roundy type layout plan with a few modifications to include some sidings to add a bit of interest.
This is what I went with



it's scaled back a bit from what I started with as the original plan had more points and interconnectivity but it felt like too much as well as the cost for all the points.
It could be turned 90 degrees to the right and a backscene added across the middle, although I don't intend to do that, just making a point that you can do quite a lot with relatively little space.

[Lachute]

Thank you very much for your input smeghead28. But I already built a roundy round layout: Lachute's small layout
I think I'm going to rebuild it with a second siding...

[End2end]

I can add 13 cm to the length of my baseboard but is it really interesting All your advices are welcome.

LBSL 07.jpg

I'd add the 13cms to the single track end so the train "goes off somewhere"
Thanks (or should that be merci)
End2end

[smeghead28]

Thank you very much for your input smeghead28. But I already built a roundy round layout: Lachute's small layout
I think I'm going to rebuild it with a second siding...

Yeah I knew that but my suggestion was to add a bit more interest to it with some sidings and to put a backscence across it, possibly at an angle, with the addition of some tunnel mouths etc it might make it a bit more interesting.
It's nice to see trains disappear and re-appear from somewhere and if the backscene was quite near the "front" (where the double tracks are) then the trains could come out of the tunnel on a different track than they went in on.
I would suggest you have a look at one of the Peco set track plan books, the latest is the 5th edition, while even the small layouts are bigger than what you made previously, it might give to some ideas and you can always adapt them and leave some bits out for the sake of making it a bit smaller.
If I were you I would ditch the 1st radius curves and go for 2nd radius as a minimum, pretty much any loco is okay with 2nd radius.

[Lachute]

I can add 13 cm to the length of my baseboard but is it really interesting ?

I'd add the 13cms to the single track end so the train "goes off somewhere" Thanks (or should that be merci)End2end

Merci Monsieur
Unfortunately, this layout will never be built ...

[Lachute]

Thank you very much smeghead28. I keep all of your suggestions in mind. Food for thought as they say!

[Lachute]

My shunting/switching layout finally built ! I downsized it a little. Now the dimensions are 4' x 10". I used Trix C track. I'm very pleased with the result so far. I build it with a few old piece of 15 mm chipboard. Because I don't have enough wood for the total length, I used a little trick: a few pieces of cardboard glued together. Photos talk better than words:

[Lachute]

More pics ! There are too many wagons because I want to check the actual length of the sidings. It seems to work very well.

[Lachute]

My "Inglenook sidings cards" are ready to print: