Life started with a ‘Christmas train’....

[Tigcraft]

Ok excuse the title, what strange start to a fantastic new interest! I’ll make it quick, (Never do) wife said let’s have the best ever Xmas since we’ve lost quality life so Shortly she bought a Little Hornby OO Santa train for under the Xmas tree. I assembled it and hid it as long as I could from the grand kids...
As I ‘tested’ it I was so fascinated by the smoothness of the engine at slow speeds and the build quality of the whole lot I said to the wife yes...... I get it now, I can see the fascination with trains..........



Well for Xmas I got a brand new ‘Flying Scotsman’ and it brought tears to my eyes as I’ve never had a ‘train set’ and now I’m 56!!
So guess what I’m up to this week .....?

[Dublo]

Welcome to the forum Tigcraft.
And a very big welcome to the world of Model Railways.
Enjoy yourself.
If you have any questions, fire away.
There is an amazing variety of interests amongst us, someone will be able to answer you.

[End2end]

Welcome to the forum Tigcraft.
Thanks
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[Tigcraft]

Thank you for the warm welcomes

[Admin4]

Welcome aboard

[Mountain]

Hello and welcome. Something I have to say with those Hornby Flying Scotsman train sets (If this is what you have) is that the older Hornby LNER coaches can be picked up rather cheaply and are quite nice. They have done super detailed newer ones but you don't need it. The old versions are more then good enough to run behind your train.
I believe the ones in your set are the older type which they still make for the sets (As far as I am aware). What you want to aim for is consistency so one either gets the older type or the newer type and runs the entire rake using the same type.
I am glad you are loving making a start in the hobby. It really is a special hobby. Take things one step at a time and you will do fine!

[Tigcraft]

Thank you for that. I’ve to find a bit of ‘me’ time to start my base which I’ve got all the materials for Now and really looking forward to. I’ve to ‘learn’ the availability of track curves and see what I can produce out of the space I have.

[Mountain]

If you are intending to stay with 00 gauge, I would keep to curves of 2nd radius or larger. You can use 1st radius curves in areas that little shunters would go but they are too sharp for some locos.
The Flying Scotsman may actually make it round 1st radius if it is made to the old tooling and has its centre pair of drive wheels flangeless like they used to make them in the past, but the problem with 1st radius is one may need to be selective as not all locos can be used. A few even need 3rd radius or larger!
Generally speaking though, you need a space of about 4ft to turn in. You can turn in just 3ft (Just over) with 1st radius, but obviously one will be slightly limited with what one can run. (Nearly all old models used to be made to run on 1st radius but models designed in the last 20 years have not been designed to turn so sharply).

I actually model in a larger scale again but use 00 gauge track width and my models are built to turn on a 2ft wide board as I model in narrow gauge in a small space so it can be done if one is careful to select or build models that will go round such tight curves.

[Tigcraft]

That’s good to know about turning circles. Can’t believe at times how something looking pleasurable can be complicated but it is. I’ve just about space to run first and second diameter radius as the track will be ‘woven’ through the top of the stairs in the loft and on short stilts. Well, there’s a third curve, it’s my ‘learning’ curve!

[Mountain]

To save costs when using track, and yet saving oneself from potential issues, I would reccomend using sectional track for sharper curves (E.g. First and second radius), and using flexible track for the rest. Don't forget to get plenty of spare railjoiners!

[Tigcraft]

Finally found a bit of time to get the show on the road. I’ve been reading up on as much as I can understand as it’s all a strange language and very hard to soak in the basics.
I’m building a ‘L’shape of some sort as I’ve spent a lot of hours measuring and planning and hopefully getting my wife to ‘understand’ the space needed. She thought I could just have the ‘flying Scotsman’ on a mini oval but that’s a bit like delboy with a full blown Pedigree race horse in a ‘small back garden’.....
I’ve done the Outline for ‘section 1’ which is now cut out on plywood and ready to provisionally place in the room. I’ll see soon how well I’ve planned it...

[End2end]

Are you REALLY sure you want limiting 1st radius?
Your probably not aware that Peco make track that sits closer together albeit the points are longer.
I have ample space so don't need to use them but our members here are very versed with it.
Thanks
End2end

[Tigcraft]

No not aware at all. In fact I don’t know at all what’s compatible with anything as I’ve never owned a model train of any description till a few weeks ago. I’m on a massive learning curve...

[Mountain]

The larger the radius the more choice one has that can run on it but the more space one needs. It is all about compromize.
Most people tend to use second radius as a minimum, but just like the real railways, they did have sharp curves that only little shunting locos with very large buffers could use. Their express locos and strong heavy freight pulling locomotives needed larger radius curves. They would dropp off their loads in marshalling yards where little shunters which did not go fast, but were geared low so they could really pull, and they were the ones that could fit in small spaces. The little shunters could (Depending on the loco) often pull almost as much as the larger machines but they could only do it at a low speed like 15mph.. The larger heavier locos were the ones that could take the loads at 45 or even up to 75mph on certain trains depending what loads they had to pull and if they were "Fitted" stock or not. (Fitted means they had brakes that operated from the locomotive via pipes. Older stock have vacuum brakes but later stock were converted to air brakes. Unfitted stock relied on the brake van and stopping at the top and bottom of hills to put handbrakes on a certain number of wagons depending on the weights involved and the steepness of the hill... The guard had quite a job on his hands to get it right in those days! Unfitted (Handbrake only) stock was normally limited to a maximum speed of 45mph).

Passenger locomotives top speed was limited to a few considerations. The maximum safe linespeed (Freight trains also were limited and often there were dual speed limits, the lower speed limit for freight), the top speed the loco was allowed to run at, and the highest speed that the coach with the lowest top permitted speed happened to have. The passenger guard would have to look at the train during his prep and check every coach for their maximum speeds so the driver would know what top speed the train was allowed to go.
The LNER hyped up their trains especially the Flying Scotsman claiming it to be the first train past 100mph when it was built in 1927 which it was not (The GWR City of Truro held this record in Britain in 1904 (Built in 1903) and it is said an American 4-4-0 touched 100mph in 1898. While the 1898 claim could not be proven, the 1904 claim was BUT the GWR did all they could to hush it up, as in those days had passengers had known, they would have avoided using the GWR to travel on as there had been claims by a doctor and others in the press that people would faint if they went past 100mph). Then the LNER said the Flying Scotsman was the first regular passenger train service to travel at 100mph and over which was another claim where the GWR beat them to it with their Cheltenham Flyer then pulled by a Castle Class, which was in its day the most powerful passenger locomotive in the world (It is why they wanted to see it in the USA because they wanted to know how it was able to out perform their passenger locomotives which were many times larger. The GWR had a very close relationship with railways in the USA and they often shared information and new ideas between the two countries. The GWR had managed to make their locos perform so well by altering the angles of the valve gear to an angle that the other railway companies had not tried to use. It is why GWR engines had such a powerful blast up their chimneys!)
What the LNER was good at was the art of self promotion or commonly known as advertizing. They did this so well that the Flying Scotsman became famous both as a complete passenger service and as an individual steam locomotive. The loco was origionally designated as a class A1 but was reclassed as an A3 after having a few modifications including a corridor tender which the A1's did not have, so train crew could swap places without stopping the train. You may wonder why the more powerful GWR castle class was smaller. The LNER locos had to travel further distances (The GWR locos routes were long enough) often burning poorer quality coal so they had to be built with much larger ash pans, hence why they were longer and had an extra pair of wheels. Eavery company had to design their locos and stock to suit their own personal needs.


But going back on track... There are many space saving ideas. One novel idea is to run a high level layout at close to ceiling height BUT it is ultra important to ensure that any trains that come off the rails can't fall off such a layout. It also helps visually to model in a larger scale for this type of layout.

You mention an L shape. Is this end to end or will it be an L shaped oval? If you have the space for an L shaped oval it will be supurb! And those older Hornby LNER coaches do look nice and run well, and they can be found cheaply too on the secondhand market. It is worth buying the older ones and changing their wheels for some lovely new Hornby 12.6mm metal disc wheels, as they will run even nicer! If you have a newish trainset, you will already have these whels fitted. The older wheels they used to fit are plastic with metal tyres. They do roll well and behave, but sometimes can jump on modern Peco points as todays tollerences have become finer then they used to be. The great thing about these older LNER coaches is one can pick them up for around £6 each, and even in model railway secondhand specialist shops they usually go for £8 to £12 each, which is not bad value at all for what you are getting, and even after changing wheels they are less then half the price of modern 00 gauge coaches, and I have to say that to be honest about it, that the older coaches run better. I once had a rake of twelve of them behind a live steam 00 gauge Mallard and they really ran well. (I had to sell the Mallard when I had bills to pay as I used to own a house, and later I sold the coaches).

[End2end]

Here's a little info I just found.
"WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PECO STREAMLINE AND SET-TRACK?
Peco manufactures two types of track:

- Set-Track is the standard geometry range, similar to the one used by Hornby. The range comprises curves, straights, crossings and points.

- Streamline is the extended range with wider radii for the points and crossings, making them look more real. There is no Streamline straights or curves but flexible track can be used. It requires being cut to size and bent according to the needs. This is why Streamline is considered to be for the more experienced modeller.

Both Streamline and Set-Track will connect together."

Cutting track with the correct tool is simple.
Thanks
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