Yet another struggling for inspiration thread!

[heda]

It might be worth getting a quote from a carpenter for the lifting section. Save you a lot of time and worry.
Dave

[Bigmet]

Of course another alternative is to build the layout a little higher than normal (not too much) and get one of those wheeled gardening stools for wifey and me to use so she \ I can get under the boards and no need for a swing gate \ bridge!!

That is a very good plan. My layout is positioned so that it is eye level height when sitting on my John Lewis bar stool. I have a platform to stand on when working on the layout, and two wheelchairs (acquired over the years due to family members with significant disabilities and still in use as required) which will serve to 'scoot' the wife and I under should 'ducking under' become difficult in later age.

I too have the fun that my wife is an active participant. She was deprived when young, an entire family of eight girls - sisters and cousins - not a boy in sight to have a train set... There is a slight downside, I like weathering the stock into realistic 'in service' condition. Not her models, she likes them pristine, just the way they left the works: that's the influence of having seen newly finished coaches at Swindon where her Grandfather worked.

[Bufferstop]

A station on a bend is a good space saving idea.

But hard to make convincing if you run modern full scale length passenger stock, due to the massive gap you need between coach and platform.

[centenary]

It might be worth getting a quote from a carpenter for the lifting section. Save you a lot of time and worry.
Dave

Yes, considering asking on Facebook if there's any semi retired joiner \ carpenter locally to do all the woodwork once Ive finalised a plan and cleared out the garage.

[Mountain]

A station on a bend is a good space saving idea.

But hard to make convincing if you run modern full scale length passenger stock, due to the massive gap you need between coach and platform.

Would he have such a massive gap because the width he has to play with, one can give the station a more gentle curve.

[centenary]

Hope everyone had as good a Christmas and New Year as they could. Looks like this new lockdown is going to severely impact clearing the integral garage and getting started building base boards as my local tip will only let you take one type of rubbish per visit.

Anyhooo, given the constraints I have regarding available area I have, just over 5m by 2m and a bit, I know I cannot get many of my requirements in. So, yeah, it does kind of end up being curves at each end and straights.

Ive added a few more minor sidings at the stations. Some of these may stay. That said, the inner bottom loop in the second attempt was straight like the first but I want to try and get a smooth curve in there. Everytime I attempt to make the curve smoother in Anyrail, it doesnt come out looking right. Im still not happy with it so more re work is required.

For now, this is the working baseline.

[centenary]

An alternative layout design Im considering although it would tax my woodworking skills to the Nth!

Picture looks a bit fuzzy but when you click to view, it is clearer. At the top of the diagram, the green sidings and blue 'loop' track immediately in front of them, will be at the highest level. This height will be maintained to just past the bottom left where the red line curves straighten out where the decline will start.

At roughly the same point, the outer lines incline will begin from bottom left roughly 300mm along the blue and yellow straights, carry on through the bottom blue curves and short straight, if necessary to reach the height of the sidings.

Similarly, the red lines at bottom left, will initially be at the same level as the green sidings and then go to a decline, the idea being not to obscure the incline at the bottom and run into the two platforms. Im thinking the lines in the platforms will only be about 120-150(?) mm lower than blue lines and sidings behind them.

The orange sidings are temporarily positioned. The connection point with the red inner line Im considering would be better placed nearer the stations as this would allow a greater length of the red track to reduce to platform level.

[Wolseley]

I'm coming late into this thread and I have to say that, being someone who likes to see the trains go around rather than operate a strict timetable, I don't think the original version is too bad. It is crying out for some basic goods facilities, but that would, of course, depend on the era you are modelling. I could quite easily live with a layout such as this, but I would want to add an island platform between the inner tracks of the station. An engine shed would be nice too, but not essential.

[centenary]

I'm coming late into this thread and I have to say that, being someone who likes to see the trains go around rather than operate a strict timetable, I don't think the original version is too bad. It is crying out for some basic goods facilities, but that would, of course, depend on the era you are modelling. I could quite easily live with a layout such as this, but I would want to add an island platform between the inner tracks of the station. An engine shed would be nice too, but not essential.

Yes, I like the Hornby Magazine Topley Dale layout. The big issue for me is that the station is only a small one that only accomodates 3 maybe 4 carriages. I want platforms capable of taking 6 carriages which impacts the positioning of goods facility as per HM's Topley Dale.

Platforms could be lengthened along the corner but that then causes knock on issues for passing lines and the bottom left corner where a pillar narrows the width of my garage.

I also need some form of access to the centre of the layout other than crawling on hands and knees for both me and wifey which again, impacts the design of the layout.

[Chops]

Just my humble experience, all those straight lines get rather tiresome to look at. Throw in a little curve, now and then, as the track follows the
river or dodges hill or swale. Diamonds are a modellers best friends. I shan't advocate for playing bumper trains, but having two trains coordinate
for right-of-way at a crossing adds some spice to an otherwise bland diet of going round 'n round.

Crash 001.JPG (126.54 KiB) Viewed 2138 times

[centenary]

Just my humble experience, all those straight lines get rather tiresome to look at. Throw in a little curve, now and then, as the track follows the
river or dodges hill or swale. Diamonds are a modellers best friends. I shan't advocate for playing bumper trains, but having two trains coordinate
for right-of-way at a crossing adds some spice to an otherwise bland diet of going round 'n round.

Crash 001.JPG

LOL. Yeah I know straights arent to everyone's taste never mind not always 'prototypical' (sorry Charlie!). But Ive some limitations I have to live with as far as the layout and access goes. One layout I designed did have twin diamond crossings instead of being at different levels. I toyed with the idea of using DCC to give one set of crossing tracks priority over the others but there's limitations to my wallet as well as DCC control!

Depending which track plan I eventually go with, I'll likely try and add the odd extra curvature. It's just quicker and easier to design straight runs in Anyrail to get a visualisation of potential layouts. Tweaks and the like can be added at leisure.

[Wolseley]

Just my humble experience, all those straight lines get rather tiresome to look at. Throw in a little curve, now and then, as the track follows the river or dodges hill or swale. Diamonds are a modellers best friends. I shan't advocate for playing bumper trains, but having two trains coordinate for right-of-way at a crossing adds some spice to an otherwise bland diet of going round 'n round.

I agree. no matter how much you enjoy seeing trains go around, there comes a time when you want to see one of them do something else. My layout is basically a double track oval, and a very "old school" design (it's a modified version of one of the Hornby Dublo plans), but I put in a four track terminus, reversing loop, goods shed and a turntable and engine shed to hold the interest. The entry to the terminus includes one diamond crossing, so I know what you mean about having to be careful.....

Jim

[centenary]

Thanks for all comments but I think a few people may lose sight of space availability and other constraints.

This is in an integral garage just over 5m long by about 2.5m wide. It's not loft space. There needs to be a decent 'gap' between outer most part of the track and edge of the board to help reduce the risk of models falling off the layout. That reduces the possible track dimensions.

Ive also got to work in suitable access since wifey and I have dodgey knees and crawling underneath it isnt an option. Stations, points, curves etc across an access point complicate building matters.

When you're running no curve smaller than 540m radius as your inner curves with 610mm as the outer, it limits the length of straight across the width especially on the outside track.

Ive no doubt if I paid thousands for a professional to design and build a layout (if I could find one who isnt fully booked up!), it would be beyond my expectations.

[Chops]

Well, I've oft remarked that I stand in amazement how my British Cousins do twice as much in half the space as my American brethren. Sounds like
you got plenty (5 m) of length, and enough width (2.5) to get into trouble with. Modelers are recreating something nostalgic. Do trams or branch lines hold an appeal, or are you drawn to the modern era and its long, sleek train sets? Another curiosity is the great number of point-to-point layouts created by UK modelers. They are very, very uncommon in North America, by contrast.

[centenary]

Some modellers like to use a helix to drop down to a lower level for their fiddle yard or storage sidings. I dont like them, they take a lot of space and Charlie's prevails on Chadwick convinced me it wasnt for me. That means my main storage sidings either has to be at the same level as my layout or a little lower. That's why Topley Dale is attractive and the other design is a round the wall with a slight incline \ decline to accommodate this.

Im sure more experienced builders could get a far more interesting design in the area I have. Ive explored an almost 'W' shaped layout but the width of area wouldnt permit the minimum radius curves I want to use unless there's some complex built in different levels which is beyond my build skills. Even if this was done, Im still struggling to get about 6 sidings with relatively easy entry and exit somewhere in the design.

I do want trains to be able to reach a decent scale like speed so some longish straights are needed.