Looking for Help / Ideas Please

[BlueDay]

Hi - as stated in another thread, i'm new on here and am finally realising a 40 year dream of building my own train layout. I have my boards set up in the loft - just looking for some ideas / pointers to track planning.

The idea I have is for a fairly modern layout with freight and passenger trains. It'll be running using Railmaster so I have plenty of scope.

I'll try and post a basic drawing of what I have below

Area 1 i was thinking a station with perhaps a terminus platform as well as 2 run through ones.

Area 2 probably a yard of some sort??

As you can see the layout runs to another section that'll be unseen behind a small wall for storing coaches / freight etc. This area is accessed by tunnels as indicated

Sorry it's a bit rubbish but my PC skills are minimal

[BlueDay]

I have a couple of photos of the loft but can’t add them as they are too large?

[Mountain]

No doubt someone will give you some ideas. I find that I prefer aa loop type of line though a terminus station is also attractive and can be combined.
What gauge/scale are you considering?

[BlueDay]

No doubt someone will give you some ideas. I find that I prefer aa loop type of line though a terminus station is also attractive and can be combined.
What gauge/scale are you considering?

Sorry - 00. I’m thinking of basing it on 2 loop lines running round the whole layout - but, open to ideas.

[Mountain]

While first radius curves turn on a board width of 3ft (Only just!) You really could do with 3½ft wide boards to turn a semicircle of track.
I've always planned by taking some track and laying it out to measure where it fits, but this is not possible if you dont have any track to start with.
We do have a gentleman on here who is most excellent at designing track plans... Emettman. If he sees this no doubt he will give some ideas.
I tend to shrink back a little from the computer designed plans. I prefer pen (Or pencil) and paper.

[BlueDay]

While first radius curves turn on a board width of 3ft (Only just!) You really could do with 3½ft wide boards to turn a semicircle of track.
I've always planned by taking some track and laying it out to measure where it fits, but this is not possible if you dont have any track to start with.
We do have a gentleman on here who is most excellent at designing track plans... Emettman. If he sees this no doubt he will give some ideas.
I tend to shrink back a little from the computer designed plans. I prefer pen (Or pencil) and paper.

Thanks mountain - I understand about the first radius track limitations, but as my loop is going to run round the whole set (and not just looping around a 3’ Wide board) I’ll be able to use second and third radius track

[Mountain]

You say you want modern. Which decade? The style of the track plan in the 1980's largely harks back to steam days, but with the massive changes in the 1990's where far more track mileages were lost then at any other time in railway history of the UK including the Beeching cuts, the railways were typically seen with the width of a whole yard with only a single track left passing through, as it was before the growth hid the remains of lifted track.
The new milenium onwards more changes were seen.... Engine and coach type trains had almost disappeared. Nearly all goods was now in bulk 80-100 ton bogie wagons... Smaller 4 wheel wagons also were rare.
Modern DMU's were the main fleet. Sidings and marshalling yards were non existant except for the odd train depot or stabling point which there were not many left.. Lots of changes.

[BlueDay]

I’d probably look at basing around 70s

[Mountain]

A nice era. As a general rule, 1970-1976 locos displayed head codes. 1976-1977 (Or thereabouts) they displayed 0O00 in their headcode boxes, the second character being the letter "O", the rest being the number zero). After that they changed the blinds so that two dots appeared.
From around 1973 (I'm going by memory here... I may be wrong about this date, though I shouldnt be too far out) the Tops code of numbering was seen on the locos. (E.g. 37 251 which was a class 37 number 251. Later sub classes were introduced into the numbering system).
It is easier to model the tail end of the '70s to the early '80's as one doesn't need to display head codes but one loses out on the lovely diesel hydraulics as the last Warships were used in 1973 and the last Westerns went around 1976-77, though the majority were already scrapped before that date. The last Hymeks had also gone by 1976 and the class 22 hydraulics had disappeared around the same time as the Warships (Around 1973).
The new HST's were introduced around 1976 onwards and 1976 also saw the introduction of the class 56 (If I had my dates right. I am going by the Western Region of B.R. regarding the HST's for the date).
The B.R. blue era is a fascinating couple of decades which combines the old traditional ways along with what many design concepts coming in that we see today. And the other big advantage at the moment is that there's lots of choice for those wanting to buy 00 gauge models especially on the secondhand market, which I'm slowly adding to as I'm going to concentrate in 7mm narrow gauge. So keep an eye on the "For sale" section!

[Emettman]

Hello again, BlueDay.

I do have some ideas half sketched, but nothing ready to present yet.

Two questions: are you aiming at an essentially one-level layout, or would multiple levels with gradients be acceptable or even desired?
This will make a big difference to design possibilities.

What are your ideas in terms of freight?
By the mid sixties at least near me the small goods yards at many stations were largely abandoned.
(odd sight of coal merchant still in goods yard but the coal being brought in by lorry!)
Surviving active yards tended to be the larger and more specialised yards, with longer specialised wagons trains, quite big to model.
One answer is to have the (big) goods trains not stop "in scene" but run fiddle-yard to fiddle yard.

Modelling a disused goods yard could be fun but it's not often done because it takes up space while adding little or nothing to the operational variety of the layout.

Chris

[Mountain]

In my area of Wales in the 1980's goods sheds and yards were very much still in regular use. It wasn't until the late '80's to early 1990's did this start to change and change they did! Once busy goods sheds like Llanelli where one would regularly see two or more locos (Usually class 08's) shunting often at the same time and almost overnight the shed was closed and it became an empty shell, so I guess it depends which part of the country you live.

[BlueDay]

Hi Chris.

I have thought of a raised section but thinking, as a newbie, maybe a step too far?

I like your idea of an out of sight fiddle yard and losing the small freight

[BlueDay]

So I’ve made a start on a track plan, done a basic loop around the full extent of the layout and laid the track to test it - so far so good.

I’ve got the track plan in SCARM but not sure I can post it here ........

[BlueDay]

51FD5DE6-2669-4D58-9286-448860FD999A.jpeg (39.5 KiB) Viewed 2293 times

[Emettman]

I haven't been sell these past two weeks, but I haven't forgotten you!

I've noted down your sketch and hope to show a few ideas soon.

On what you've shown, can I ask which way is your access to the middle? From the long side or the short?

Are you happy ducking under (an#d will you be in ten years time?)

With the space you have I'd recommend not using R2 curves, but that really mean avoiding setrack standard R2 points as well.
This is one of the "your call" decisions that you will have to live with for quite a while...

As shown, if set up for normal left-hand running some of the point positions might be awkward.
If not easily visualised, it can be worthwhile drawing out a plan large enough to use small Lego bricks or Monopoly houses and hotels (or whatever) to simulate operations. It can help see what moves can and can't be made, and what too quickly jams up the works with more than one train in play.

Chris