North Wales inspired layout 1970s

[Stonedtrainman420]

Hello all!

I'm brand new to the forum and returning to the hobby after about 8 years, as a teenager i had a nice 8x4 layout which i got many happy years out of, but then as i got older i gave up on trains and became interested in the usual for a lad my age (girls, smoking, beer, etc).

Now, much older, wiser and in a position to actually build a prototypical layout! My plan is to build a layout inspired by the North Wales Costal Railway that runs from Chester to Holyhead in the mid 70's, so that means order of the day will be class 25, 40's and 47's, running oil trains, parcel trains, box vans and passenger trains and nuclear flask trains.

The reason i'm posting on here is that i'm having difficulty planning my layout, as i can't commit to any of the ideas i have had so i thought i'd see what other people think. In terms of operation, i want an option of both shunting and continuos running, i'm not overtly bothered about realism as long as it has a north wales theme.

The two ideas i've been floating around are an 8ftx4ft single track loop with a runaround and some sidings, with a double track scenic run from a fiddle yard in the bottom lefthand corner, i would like this double track to be able to recieve trains in both directions. I would need a space on one side of the run for a small beach scene. Which would in theory be a 8x4 board with a 2x5 board in the bottom lefthand corner.

My second idea is to run the track lengthwise and have
sidings running next to the mainline and a signal box, with a layout similar to mostyn goods yard with fiddle yards either end. Which would be long but not take up as much floor space.

I will be uploading some v0.1 track plans soon and getting my baseboards built very soon, i am swaying to the first idea for the operational benefit but any feedback anyone could provide on the matter would be greatly appreciated! Although I have a feeling i may need bigger baseboards for plan one

[Chops]

This sounds just fabulous.

"I spent all my money on wine, women, and song. The rest I wasted." -Willie Nelson

[Stonedtrainman420]

These are the plans i have at the moment, this first one is purely to give people an idea, ignore the shoddy drawing on it i don't have access to a pc to be able to create a true to size plan, the loop board is 8x6 and not 8x4 too,




And this is what i had in mind for the end to end equivalent; i would be modifying mine of course,

[Mountain]

It is a very nice concept. Is it possible to have a layout right around the room?

[Stonedtrainman420]

It is a very nice concept. Is it possible to have a layout right around the room?

It may well be in the future, the room i'm planning on using has to have other items in it for the time being so i only have two walls, but that may well end up being my approach so i can replicate longer trains, but thanks for the feedback

[Mountain]

Nothing wrong with an 8x4. Here are some thoughts relating to 00 gauge.
A single track line does look slightly more convincing in a smaller area, though I under stand you are looking at a double track prototype I believe.
Staggering the oval so it doesn't follow the edge of the board is a trick which can take the viewers eyes away from the trainset look. Believe it or not, a few subtle changes can transform a layout from having a trainset look to having a model railway look to it, and it is just as fun when running.
I like the 1970's and the 1980's, though I'm slowly selling my models from that period as I'm investing in 7mm narrow gauge instead..

[Stonedtrainman420]

Had a little play around today with some of my old track to see what i did and didn't have, its all servicible just needs a clean and some new fish plates, i also found some good scenic stuff too which i'm going to make use of on my layout.


Here's what i got to with designing the shape of the loop, thanks to mountain for the suggestion of staggering the loop its made the loop look much less train set like. I've also checked the clearence for the junction to the scenic stretch (the junction will be in the bottom lefthand corner) the station will be in the bottom right hand corner, i plan to have the station on a seperate track inside the loop, so that i have both a runaround loop and a fast line, the yard will be near the junction. In the top left hand corner i also have a small curved siding that i'm going to turn into a chemical works (i found some UPA tankers and ICI tanks in my old stash





I also found a skaledale engine shed, i have no plans to make an mpd layout and even if i did i don't think this shed would really suit north wales in the mid 1970's anyway, so i'm going to patch up one side and the back and use it as a small goods shed to run my parcels trains and other goods etc.





I've got this signal box too, its looking abit battered so i'm going to board up the windows and dirty it up, this will be placed outside the chemical works




There are more bits of track and stuff i need to buy but overall things are looking pretty hopeful, i've got a hornby class 25 in the post and i'm buying all the wood at the weekend so test trains are due pretty soon!! i'm going to hopefully have a go at scratch building a station buildung based off one from the north wales coast, in keeping with the theme, i do have a skaledale building thats based off the settle - carlise style stations but i don't really want to use it, so its going cheap to a good home, along with some platforms or i will swap it for a br blue lima/hornby class 47, message me for more

[Mountain]

Those Hornby 25's are nice models. Though they have been outclassed a bit by the much newer Bachmann models, but to be honest, there is nothing wrong with the Hornby version. You may need to alter the back to back of the wheels if they struggle going trough modern pointwork but only if there are issues... Most will work fine. If you find it struggles to pull and just slips, you may need new traction tyres. Other then that, they are relatively easy to work on and are are often found at very reasonable prices.

[Stonedtrainman420]

Those Hornby 25's are nice models. Though they have been outclassed a bit by the much newer Bachmann models, but to be honest, there is nothing wrong with the Hornby version. You may need to alter the back to back of the wheels if they struggle going trough modern pointwork but only if there are issues... Most will work fine. If you find it struggles to pull and just slips, you may need new traction tyres. Other then that, they are relatively easy to work on and are are often found at very reasonable prices.

Well the price is firstly what attracted me to it, i didn't want to fork out £100+ on the bachmann model until the layout is somewhat more developed, plus i like the idea of getting to detail a loco up and make it look closer to the working thing, and as far as i can tell with mine not an awful lot of work should need doing to it

[Mountain]

The only real difference I found between an older Hornby or Lima model and the modern models (Apart from the fine detail) is that most modern models have a central motor and drive at both ends. However, unless one wants to take ones trains out in the garden where one needs all the wheels driven that are practical, indoors one only needs drive at the single end. I used to pull ten coach and even longer trains with Lima diesels. The Hornby class 25 should pull at least six coaches, if not a little more as long as the layout is flat.
If they slide rather then pull then new traction tyres can solve the issue, unless one is pulling trains far to heavy for them in the first place.

[sishades]

I strongly recommend that you do not build your layout on a duvet. It will get all soggy and wrinkly, trains will derail and your sleep pattern will be severly disrupted.

[Stonedtrainman420]

The only real difference I found between an older Hornby or Lima model and the modern models (Apart from the fine detail) is that most modern models have a central motor and drive at both ends. However, unless one wants to take ones trains out in the garden where one needs all the wheels driven that are practical, indoors one only needs drive at the single end. I used to pull ten coach and even longer trains with Lima diesels. The Hornby class 25 should pull at least six coaches, if not a little more as long as the layout is flat.
If they slide rather then pull then new traction tyres can solve the issue, unless one is pulling trains far to heavy for them in the first place.

Thats pretty good to hear all my trains are going to be pretty short anyway the most carriages i plan to run will be 4 and even then i'll leave that upto my hornby class 47, i'm planning on using the 25 on some old UPA wagons i found that i bought years ago and just never used, i've got both the locos today in the post but i might replace ths traction tyres anyway and give them a service just to help run them in

[Stonedtrainman420]

I strongly recommend that you do not build your layout on a duvet. It will get all soggy and wrinkly, trains will derail and your sleep pattern will be severly disrupted.

Well i was planning to just curl up in a ball and sleep in the middle of the track to be honest but i think your right, maybe some hardwood might do the trick instead

[Mountain]

I find that Lima did a nicer class 47 then Hornby used to. However with the Lima 37, though theirs was better it did not have the roof mounted horns. All the ones I saw had them. We did on rare occasions see 25's down my area of South West Wales but they were rare because the local depots trainstaff didn't sign for them. They were used on ballast trains when they put new ballast down.

[Chops]

I've been dwelling upon an American HO point- to- point, which is a rarity over here. What I really like about this track plan is that it allows the shunter to travel around the other end of a given wagon. This is really good stuff. The two mains and the fifth from the top line would allow
corresponding tracks to fit club module NMRA standards, as well. Thanks for posting.

BTW: that line on the left going to Mostyn- is that a double slip or a diamond crossing where the brackets are?