Hi guys just a quick intro Ant from New Zealand

[Antnz]

I had so much straight track left over ive now added an inside second track.All comments most welcome.

Cheers Ant

[Beaver]

I am not sure that the locomotive shed is right for the station.

 

Sheds are usually located at places where train services start or terminate, such as at a terminus or junction. A shed at a through station is unusual.

 

One explanation for the shed could be that the station is at the bottom of a very steep bank and the shed is used for the banking locomotives.

[cteno4]

Antnz,

 

Nice, looks like you will have a lot of room for a good amount of scenery. Looks like things are moving forward. Plans on how you will build modules and support it all? 

 

Jeff

[Antnz]

Cheers guys

Thank you Dafydd ( a good welsh name,both my parents are both welsh ) i will try and find some info on where i should try to place my loco sheds,so i will see where i can fit them in on my plan.

Cheers Jeff

Yes the scenery is important for me,which is why this is taking so long to get correct i think.I do have a shopping list of ply and timber ect ( 12mm X 1200x600 9 sheets )( pine 65x18x1.2 meters 52 lengths ) When the bills slow up or stop coming in i will grab everything,i was hoping to have everything now (who was it that said patience grasshopper ) The modules will be 1200x600 and 1200x400

Im thinking on gluing 25mm poly sheets on the ply (that i can get 1200x600)to bed the river into and also bed the building basements in also.

But yes i will get my camera charged and clicking when D day comes,you will see my problem with the windows then (wish id put them in higher)still looking as though i will have a 600mm high layout.What do they say a low layout is better than no layout

Ant

[disturbman]

I also find the position of the loco shed a bit strange, that's a lot of unnecessary trackage and the locs only have access to a single track. It would make a bit more sense to place a point leading to the shed at the exit of the station or at the exit of the "coal bins" siding, to service that industry.

[Antnz]

Thank you Disturbman

Yes i can see your thinking,frees up more space as well.Easy when your looking through someone else's eyes which is why im here.

cheers

Ant

[Antnz]

Ive made some changes to loco sheds at both stations,is this what you guys are thinking ?

[Antnz]

While looking at loco shed B i stumbled upon this idea to increase my storage in the fiddle yard,may be of more use to me than a second loco shed.A future addition though,those turnouts are racking up the dollars.

[disturbman]

Looks better. I would replace the turnout leading to loco shed A by a X turnout (I don't remember how they are called in English) so the locs can directly access the top track, the farm siding and the coal bins.

[Antnz]

Cheers Disturbman

I have altered the curves above loco shed A slightly and inserted a crossover L 15 deg attached to the outside track & loco shed A ( i hope this is what you had in mind ? )

Ive also altered the fiddle yard to accommodate loco shed B ( good idea or not ? don't hold back )

Question,is my passing lane too long ? and should i add another below the one i have by the bridge ?

Ant

[Antnz]

Second passing lane added ( looks not to bad ) what do you think.I think i'm nearly their except the track leading into the fiddle yard doesn't quite look correct yet.

[Antnz]

Sorry guys i kept on fiddling with this but i think Ive cracked it,so here is my plane ( last hopefully ) may need a little tweaking

Thank you Disturbman i think introducing the X turnouts solved a lot of problems for me.

[disturbman]

You are welcome, Antnz. Maybe you could look at incorporating your passing sidings in the station design.

[Antnz]

Thank you Disturbman

I will look at the passing lanes and move them to the stations,i will have a look at some of the members layouts and see if i can pinch some ideas.I wont change anything to drastically at this stage LOL.

[Antnz]

Ive moved the passing sidings to station A ( looks better )and i turned my attention to station B.The more i looked at it ( station B i don't like it much )

When i first started this journey there was a couch in this room that i was working around,my plan was designed around the couch.We had visitors one day and they helped rid me of the couch,which freed up my layout so much.

Ive suddenly realized i am doing the same with my drawer unit ( on castors ) Ive made a space beside the door for it.When Ive finished ( in 20 plus years lol ) the drawers can go.

So my thinking is to add another section beside the door and widen the lift up section.It doesn't appear to me to be adding that much more track,but does open up a lot more  possibilities for a better station setting,fiddle yard and loco sheds.The drawers can happily be pushed around in the meantime.

I think a 400mm lift up ( depth of the base board this side )would be a little to much so i halved it.

[cteno4]

Looking good ant! Passing sidings at stations are a nice way to store extra trains on the layout and switch out trains quickly to do operations or just mix up you train running. Having a resting train in a station is a nice scene. Having platform access to all the tracks with a platform between each thru and passing siding works well for this.

 

maybe a narrow bridge scene for the lift out? I’ve seen folks just do a large girder bridge for the lift out section so it just spans the doorway. But with your very scenic focused layout a narrow scene will probably be best to complete the scenic loop. You could probably go out to like 300mm wide without much trouble to lift it out. Just make that section lightweight as possible in the middle as ends will need to be sturdier for contacts and positioning. Hinging is possible but it’s a more complicated mechanism and fitting and may get in the way of your big scenery. Sure there are a bunch of lift outs documented on YouTube.

 

be strategic on your support framework under the modules for your storage options under the layout. You have a nice chunk of storage space there.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Antnz]

Cheers Jeff

Ive had a hard look at my plan after reading your comments.I hadn't thought about storage under the layout ( good idea ) i was chewing up a lot of room trying to get wagons onto the layout so Ive tossed that idea and used the space for goods sheds and coal.I will store any wagons etc under the base board or in the coal yard or goods sheds ..I will probably go for a lift out as you suggest and make it scenic ( Ive gone up to 300mm )

Ive added a line with a single track bridge as i had purchased this a while ago going to a farm,perhaps picking up cattle ( i am not convinced it looks correct,but i can ignore it at a later date )

Any way have a look at this latest plan and feel free to suggest any improvements.

I think with your advice and that from the other members this layout is heading in a good direction,or if i dare say nearly complete.

If it needs tweaking please say 

[cteno4]

Ant,

 

yes layout planning is a lot of balancing acts throw together. It’s all about tradeoffs as you can almost never have everything you might want in your space, but with fiddling with it and not rushing it you usually can get most of what you want and all you need! One trick I’ve done is to print out versions of the layout and I write on them the things I changed on that version and why. Then as I have  a bunch of versions I can spread them out and look them over and sometimes I find 2 variations on different versions can be fused. We tend to head down design paths and sometimes forget some early ideas that may c9me back around again as we evolve the design and be useful, but our brain tends to sort of put away he earlier versions as past and therefore no longer relevant.

 

yes good use of the space below the layout (and even above with high shelf for storage or display) is really really useful in the long haul and effects your comfort in the space playing with the layout. Just increases your enjoyment and time with the layout. Also once a layout this size is built it’s very hard to retrofit your support structure(s). So spending time now researching storage options you have or would buy so they fit well under the layout would help. A nice workbench could be made from two roll arounds that just clip together or a top placed over them so you can use a chair under the center and then hide under the layout.

 

on the support since you are filling the room you won’t need a lot of lateral support and could even run a rail bolted to the walls to hold the back of the structure and front supports only need to handle vertical forces. This frees up a lot of room for under layout storage not having  to do a lot of bracing for lateral support on a free standing large layout.

 

for wagon storage you can look at making some trays you could pull out or thin drawers to quickly pull out cars to put on the layout or stow away. Again it’s always tradeoffs in a layout and you started off saying you wanted big countryside scenery, so don’t let too much track ruin that love. Again it’s compromises.

 

if you have a lot of track try setting up sections of the layout on a sheet(s) of cardboard cut to the size of the sections and see how it feels in 3D and in person to how much track is there, it’s very different looking at the real track from the angle you will usually view the layout than looking at a small top down view like an eagle at 2000’ up.

 

luckily you have space and have spread stuff out so I don’t see anything in the plan that looks like it would have geometry issues with points and some trains. Smaller layouts you have to watch for too many points close together or next to curves that some train just get touchy with,

 

it’s looking nice! Keep at it!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Antnz]

Jeff

Thank you again.I have printed out my plane as you suggested and yes its a lot easier to see where things are going wrong and i have made notes on the print outs.

I am looking at the track in the stations should i be looking at a spacing of 55.5 mm center rails  between the passing lane ( run around )and the main line ?? using tomix track the station setups are confusing me a little.I cant seem to find much info on the spacing's for track laying at stations.I'm not sure if what i have so far is correct or not.

I have looked at the stations you can purchase ( Tomix ) they seem mighty narrow.I am assuming the 55.5 is for an island platform.

I can see that an island gives the passengers access to the inner and outer track via a passenger bridge.

I am keen to get started on the baseboard construction,it will make life easier to visualize the layout and spacing's.I will also look at placing a beam around the wall to hold up the back of the layout.I think you are correct it will save me a lot of timber also,and space under the layout.

 

Cheers

Ant

[cteno4]

Ant,

 

good glad it helped, I’ve found that when I focused too long on revs in software I sort of loose my history and sometimes can loose some good things or start down a wrong alley when you think you are moving forward. Layout planning is a complex juggle and easy to loose site of a few items in the air! 

 

sorry I don’t know the Tomix platform geometries and spacing but I’m sure someone here can give some info/advice.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Antnz]

Jeff

 

Yes a complex juggle indeed.I have found it a lot easier to make adjustments on the printouts before adjusting my software plan.I seem to have simplified the whole layout considerably having looked back at some of my earlier plans.As you say a lot of give and take and being prepared to loose a few items to make space for others.Squeezing in my second station was a trial.I wanted to get the backs of low relief houses or scenery in behind the station ( i had to move the whole layout on the base board to achieve this )

Ive looked at the tomix geometry  and made the island platform a little deeper to be on the safe side.

I am very happy with the way things have come together,with your help,and I'm hoping i will be able to make any small improvements with the track as i start laying ( temporary before gluing )

Onto the base board frame.

So this is my latest layout plan,i will live with it for a while before making any improvements ( or if you see any glaring problems or tweaks to improve )

 

Ant

[MeTheSwede]

I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for, but Tomix standard island plattform is based on having a 72.5mm straight between the turnout and the 541-15 curve.

 

The illustration on the box of this set https://1999.co.jp/eng/image/10411292/10/1 might be of help.

Edited July 31, 2023 by MeTheSwede

[Antnz]

Cheers MeTheSwede

That does help thankyou

[cteno4]

Ant looks good, simplified. I guess it’s a tradeoff with storing more trains on the layout to run easily or how much you want to see parked trains in your big scenery. A set of drawers and some foam you could just store cars sitting in the drawer instead of in boxes or cases for faster changeout. Kato and Tomix rerailers work pretty well.

 

how much of the track do you currently have? Looks like your layout base has not changed much so you could finalize the base and build that and just set up what you can and play some to see how it feels running and looks for the scenes you want.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Antnz]

I'm beginning to think just like you Jeff 😀 i had been thinking about storing wagons underneath the baseboard after you mentioned it earlier,which left room to move the track around more.I was also looking at the rerailers  which i can live with seems a game changer.

 

As for track i have 58 tomix fine track 280mm, for my layout i need 48 ( just printed out my material list ) ten left over so i might go through my layout with eagle eye and see if i can reduce the amount of 140mm straights as i have racked up 22 of those and i have non.As for curves i have some,8 off 391-45 deg just as i needed ( lucky )

But i will go through the list and start picking through it for order,but yes i think i should start on the framing now,and layout what i have .

 

I don't have any turnouts,but i did get some power switches for them and cables,it appears i need fifteen WOW i was looking at powered now thinking manual may be in order.it would be nice to flick a switch but the cost may be a little too high.

 

All said and done i am happy with the way things have gone and the way things have fitted into place,i may just have to buy the rest of the track a little at a time.

But the baseboard first,the timbers only a fifteen minutes drive away,i just hope its straight enough lol.

Oh i do have two controllers ( Tomix ) and i did buy ( second hand ) a loco and a few wagons and i laid out a large oval to give the controllers and loco a run to see if everything is working and yes all good.Yes i should have got my timber first and yes the track as well but wanted to have a play lol and yes i am hooked it was fun and i cant wait to get the base down and track laid out for that first run.

 

Cheers again Jeff

 

Ant