My Layout Progress or Lack of it

poliss · My Layout Progress or Lack of it

Here's a rough, (very rough) drawing of my track plan. The sidings to the left are lower in reality giving more room. The two squiggles on the lower crossings are to mark double slips. The broken lines show the engine shed to the left and the station to the right.

upnick

Hi Poliss,

Looks a good plan

plenty of switching from outside to inner lines the possibilities are endless in operations.

Joe

It Looks brilliant, I wondered about your trackplan because in my eyes it portrays a very realitic yard, what I like most though is where the station is it just seems prototypical.

Joe

TheThing

Looking good poliss. Plenty of interst there. What overal size of layout are you working to?

Shame you're an N guage modeller as I have a diamond crossing going spare, but it' s OO gauge!

poliss

Thanks guys. The pointwork on the left was made delibirately difficult to present shunting problems. The double slips enable a train to run round both loops and through the station without changing any of the points. The line behind the station will probably have a spur to the turntable. It would actually enter from below as the centre of the drawing is waaaay to compressed.
I have a roundhouse kit for the turntable and another station kit yet to be built. The other station, which will go at the top of the plan, is much larger and should accomodate 4 coach trains.
I did try drawing it all on Xtrkcad, but there's something wrong with the track geometries as when mixing Kato, Minitrix and Peco track, what actually fits on the MDF doesn't on the program.

The baseboard is 6'x2', the maximum space I was allowed to have.

Even older tom

Is that an 'Inglenook' siding I see? It'll drive you potty

poliss

The bottom left siding only has room for one coach and an 0-6-0 loco, so forming trains will take considerable shunting operations. Not prototypical maybe, but lots of operating potential. After all, just having trains running round the ovals can get boring very quickly.
The top three sdings are large enough to store four coach trains. There's storage space for twelve locos.

TheThing

Too true! I have decided to add another siding to my layout to increase shunting capabilities. Just room to squeeze it in I think.

You layout looks ace poliss. I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on.

poliss

I think I shall remove the set of points on the top left oval and the lower set in the storage yards. I might move the scissors crossover a bit to the left too. As the Tomix points are smaller I have a little more room for buildings.
Removing the top set of points means I have to find 8" long Kato straights and as Kato don't make any that length it means the chainsaw...I mean junior hacksaw has to come out again. Well, it will do when I buy some more straights.

poliss

Added two more sets of Tomix points, now I have a gap in the track next to the station. Ordered some more Tomix straights to fill it. Should be here before the week is out. The post is quick from Japan!

poliss

Couple of photos of my cloud backscene. Yes, the board is still a work in progress. Waiting for some more track to arrive to fill some awkward gaps.

To begin with I had to put a step ladder behind the lid so that it wouldn't fall through the window when I removed all the zillion screws that hold it in place. While it was off I took the oportunity to cut the points off the screws that hold the chain on. They were a little too long.

For the first strip, I pasted the paper and even though it fought me a little it went on ok. The second strip revolted and needed a damn good thrashing to get it in place. Being wiser now, I pasted the board for the final piece and it went on much easier.

Now, even though I'd checked the measurements very carefully, by doing a dry run first, the last piece overhung the end by half an inch. It must have expanded when pasting. Luckily the paper was quite thick and was easily cut without tearing.

upnick

Hi Poliss,

The paper went on well and looks the part

bet you cant wait to ballast around the track work

and have it all up and running

ba4472

dumb question:

is it american outline? or british, european?

poliss

It's a very rich mans 'heritage' railway located in the north east of England and is based on European and US railways, with a Flying Scotsman replica on a plinth.

ba4472

upnick

Even older tom

It can't be located in the north of England, the sky isn't grey!

Suggest you relocate to Sunny Sussex

ba4472

i have a better option why not come to Leicestershire and get the best of both worlds, Blue skies and grey skies

mind you the road system is rubbish atm...

Noakesy123

lol talk about Leicesters roads being bad.... It's a nightmare there at the minute (I used to live in Leicester and have many relatives and friends still there) Leicester is my true home! Where abouts in Leicester do you live?

Lovely layout there Pol, sky is the wrong colour for North East though isnt it? I've only been up north three times, once it rained, once it snowed, and only once was it vaguely sunny!

ba4472

I'm in good ol' Aylestone park

yes the road system is bloomin awful, the saffron lane is closed one way for gas works, the ring road has been out in New parks for some stupid reason and then the tigers ground junction is being modified.....

tell you what, makes me wonder if they are actually human people who work for the council.... they don't deem to understand that lots of roadworks at the same time = traffic jams, accidents and frustration!

Noakesy123

Yeah, very true, they are some weird species of trouble and delay makers! I lived in Knighton.... And talking of Tigers..... Can't wait to see the stadium finished (or at least the new stand for now) will be brilliant, lets just hope to stadium keeps its atmosphere...

ba4472

lets hope its good

dave`s dangerous

Nice Layout you have there Doug wish I had better eyesight and could model on the N gauge, not as much track to clean, (big laugh) and you can fit it in a corner. Looks Great

poliss

Just cut some more track to length. Only cut myself once*, broke a knife tip and sent a tiny piece of rail into orbit never to be seen again. Usual stuff.

Decided I needed another Tomix right hand point, so put an order in.

*Bleeding has stopped now.

ba4472

Teleman

First Aid Kit in the top kitchen draw , to the left of the sink

*Note to self ,,, Never loan Pol power tools , they will come back with blood on *

poliss

Z is quite large compared to T Scale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_scale

poliss

Keep the first aid kit and extra large box of plasters in the left drawer of my computer desk Pete. Only have to reach 6 inches for it.

Never know when you can cut yourself typing.

ba4472

Teleman

ba4472

haha... no i wont force him...... i dont want him losing his eyesight LOL

Teleman

There is a reply to that but ,,,,,,,,, It's not true ,,,, its age that makes you go blind

not ,,,,,,,, er you know what i mean

poliss

Very thick glasses. -O-O-

dave`s dangerous

poliss

I haven't been able to see the eye of a needle without wearing my glasses and using both lenses of my magnifier for years Dave. My layout looks better to me bacause of it.

dave`s dangerous

It could be fun to try though or maybe just flustrating, I have problems seeing to put 00 back on the track

poliss

You need one of these Dave. http://tinyurl.com/m8fzqa
N Scale stock is notoriously difficult to put on the track without them. (The N Scale version for mine of course.)

dave`s dangerous

Do you mean the Kato price list? It`s something I may consider in the winter months, as for now I have enough to go at with the garden and my 00 gauge layout, I had to send Sir Nigel to Bachmann this week a axle crank pin came out and I lost the spacer and the rods got all bent so just a little frustrated with my railway just now, imagine me trying to find the parts with N gauge

poliss

The link should have pointed to a little pic of the Kato HO RERAILER, LIST PRICE $3.6. Gaugemaster sell rerailers too. http://tinyurl.com/kszny9
I'll see if I can find any cheaper.

dave`s dangerous

poliss

Yes, £4.00 postage. That was just an example of what they look like. I'm sure they can be bought for less elsewhere.

poliss

The Hobby Shop in Faversham has the Fleischmann version and is cheaper on all counts. £3.00 for the rerailer and £2.05 postage.

http://tinyurl.com/pqj6f8

dave`s dangerous

Thanks Doug I have bought it so should be no problem now in the future

ba4472

i need an N guage rerailer....

poliss

Fastrack99 has them on sale in his Ebay shop for 99p. http://tinyurl.com/lds2q9

poliss

I've just been testing some of my rolling stock over my Tomix points. My older rolling stock doesn't like them because the wheel flanges are too big. It's easy enough to turn down the flanges on coaches and wagons, but I'm not sure about locos as the axles aren't easily removed.

Can't turn them down in situ as the filings would get into the motors. It's a head scratcher of a problem.

upnick

How bad of a problem are the locos wheels Poliss ? and which locos dont like the Tomix track ?

poliss

The wagons and coaches derail every time Nick when taking the diverging route. Haven't tested any locos on the diverging track yet because my feeder track is in the wrong place and unlike the Minitrix points the Tomix points are power routing.
The frog on the Tomix points is code 55 I reckon.

upnick

poliss

This link shows the frog on Tomix points. You will see that the clearence is quite shallow, about half of the normal depth. Finescale wheels don't have a problem with it, but older coarse stock does. It also gives a good view of how the point motor is fitted.
http://tinyurl.com/mmk9us

upnick

Hi Poliss see your problem now .... not sure how your going to conquere it

poliss

Further investigation reveals that the truck is catching on the bodywork preventing turning on anything less than radius 100 curves I'd say. Got the heavy duty nail file out.

upnick

Hi Poliss,

If the truck is catching on the bodywork remove it and place a 540 motor shim or two between the truck and underside and try it ... save a lot of trimming.

the coupling height will stay the same and hopefully solve it.

My shims come from my days racing R/C cars but here are some that may be suitable.

http://tinyurl.com/m9975v

The guy has a few types listed.

I presume you mean it is catching on stock not locos.

poliss

It's the wagon with the strange stiff couplers so it will probably cheaper to buy complete new trucks anyway.
I might have some spare washers on an old truck that I could use as a temporary measure.

poliss

Added another Tomix point. Looks good, except that it fouls the Minitrix double slip point motor. Impossible to make a cutout in the Tomix or Minitrix point motors, so I've had to order a couple of 70mm Tomix straights to move the points furter apart.

poliss

Track arrived today. Thought it would never come. Was just about to have a very strong word with the Royal Mail again. Will cut and paste it tomorrow.
Pantographs arrived from Japan too. Still waiting for the ones I ordered from ontracks.

upnick

Good news Poliss more progress on the layout

dave`s dangerous

Looking forward to seeing it when completed, I am doing quite a bit of alterations on mine, could be finished by Xmas?????

dave`s dangerous

Is it just me . but when I am working on alterations every time I require a certain tool they are nowhere to be seen, although I have just used them, think I have Spooks in my Loft

Even older tom

poliss

Not spooks Dave, it's the Borrowers.

"Arrietty Clock is a Borrower, although actually, when this story starts, she's never been borrowing in her life. She lives with her father and mother under the floorboards in the kitchen of a rather large, old house. Her father, Pol, regularly goes off borrowing, for the things that the family needs.

Have you ever wondered where all those little lost things go to in a house? All the bottle tops and pins and needles and string and matchboxes and reels of cotton and a hundred and one other things? Well, someone like Pol has probably been round collecting them."

upnick

Things turn up right in front of me after searching for a few minutes Dave

think its the lamps need adjusting

Or as Poliss says Pod has paid you a visit

Teleman

Pol ? i thought it was Pod too

poliss

It was Pod until I altered it.

I read all 6 Borrowers books in one night when I was a kid because every book ended on a cliffhanger and I couldn't wait to find out what happened.

Teleman

OMG if i read six in a year my Mum would have fainted

Still the same now , book are for looking things up in to find out things for me .

poliss

I read all the Biggles books in the library and Jennings, Submariner Sinclair (he says they don't sound the klaxon and shout dive, dive, dive. The enemy would hear that 10 miles away), James Blish, Hugh Walters etc. etc. etc. Couldn't keep me out of the library.

Teleman

You could never get me in a Library , unless it had a big reference section , I would spend hours looking things up , never took many books home to read .

dave`s dangerous

dave`s dangerous

poliss

Looking for your glasses when you have them on already is the worst.

dave`s dangerous

poliss

There's trouble at' points. Derailments and jumpiness. Can't quite see where the probem is. Looks like lcos are rising over the fishplates. Will have to take a section out and examine closely on a table.

On the positive side, Multimaus works a treat on mi sound locos.

dave`s dangerous

I also have been having problems with loc`os and rolling stock on the points I have been re-laying, but with a bit o tweeking on the guide rails and again re setting on the board so they are absolutley level I have now (touch wood) got them running smoothly over the points. Funny thing I have 1 rake of carriages that kept getting de-railed on one set of points and then aother rake which gave no problem, and both lots are Hornby and not very old stock.

Where would the fun be if every thing went smoothly

upnick

Hi Poliss/Dave,

A little weight in the cars might solve the jumpiness or shimming of the trucks.

Dave your coaches the set that go over no problems you may find are slightly heavier

The NMRA weight guide is a good rule of thumb to go by

http://www.nmra.org/beginner/weight.html

poliss

Not the weight Nick. My Arnold BR80 0-6-0 with heavy metal body jumps like a kangaroo over the points.

Can't see the track end on while it's in situ.

upnick

poliss

Up and down, probably caused by the extremely clunky fishplates. Happens berfore it even gets to the turn.

upnick

poliss

Nothing is fixed down yet as I keep modifying the track plan. If you look at the fishplates second from the left in this pic you can see the problem with the size of the fishplates.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cS71XS-.../s1600-h/Fleischmann+vs+Tomix.JPG

Changing them with Minitrix fishplates might solve the problem as they are finer but still fit on Tomix track.

As the mini Tomix points are designed for trams it looks like only old models with a large turning radius and four wheeled locos will run through the points. Which means my layout will be just like the real thing with each loco having a Route Availabilty restriction.

Even older tom

I don't know if this will help Pol but on my OO layout there was a section of track (including points) that gave all my rolling stock some grief whether they were approaching, going over or even leaving the section (for no apparent reason). The track looked perfect, totally flat etc. In exasperation, I went at them with some screws between the sleepers to make damn sure they were flat.

Guess what happened?

Yep, you are right - all worked perfectly. Added some more glue/ballast, let it dry and removed the screws. No problems since.

I'm guessing N is even less tolerant than OO so it might an idea to give this a try.

upnick

Hi Poliss,

I can see better now your problems .... like Tom i used servo screws to hold in place Code 83 on the HO layout while the glue was drying the same could be done with your track butt it all up perfectly in line & then glue /ballast soldering the joins where needed a touch of flux on the join solder flowed into the joint & a touch with some desoldering braid to clean any excess of the side of the rails if needed.

The screws allow you to level out any track as Tom said, either up or down WS trackbed can make the track sit proud of the next rail.

poliss

Waiting for some more Kato points to arrive before I fix anything down. The whole layout tends to move when you undo a piece of Kato track.
Lack of space is the problem. If I had an extra 4' length I could use 15 degree crossing/slips etc.

upnick

True Poliss crossings take up a lot of room when space is limited

i know after trying various combinations here in planning. i have seen use of a reversing module on crossings but have been told if all 8 rails are insulated and feeds in the crossing & after rall 8 rails the crossing will work ok without the need for a reversing module

poliss

I just add points wherever and have never needed insulated joiners on anything, not even on the scissors crossover. No shorts (apart from when locos fall over). Must be clever chappies over at Kato HQ.

poliss

Revised track plan with loads of points deleted. Had to or there would be no room for buildings.

The straight line to the turntable should be a curve, but I don't know how to draw one with PSP.

poliss

All points have arrived and are now in place. All I need now to complete the track is a curve to the turntable, some buffer stops and a magnetic uncoupler that sits on the track.
Fingers crossed I can fit my roundehouse in.

dave`s dangerous

Look forward to seeing it all completed, should be before Xmas

poliss

Yep, but I'm not saying which Xmas.

dave`s dangerous

Well thought out plan though doug, not like me I just lay it pull it up and re lay about 4 times, by about which time the track is bu...rd and have knocked the spring out of the points.

poliss

Just realised I need six bits of track for my roundhouse.

dave`s dangerous

upnick

dave`s dangerous

Could do with something like that I was trying to figure it out with 4 sets of points and a crossover you need a lot of area in 00 gauge but in N you wont need so much, but also trying to figure out points so near to curve. No doubt when Pol has finished it we will be able to see. bom

upnick

Hi Dave,

Had a look at Kato's list but no four way crossing is listed in HO strange i would have thought there would be one

For a point near a curve would a curved point not fit in better

dave`s dangerous

[quote="upnick"]Hi Dave,

Had a look at Kato's list but no four way crossing is listed in HO strange i would have thought there would be one

For a point near a curve would a curved point not fit in better

[/quote

I have curved points but they seem to be the ones that give most trouble, I have standard points which do work (abait a lot of pain) but now I try to use Express points as they seem less troublesome, but they are all getting very expensive, but my point was how do you get a crossover between 1 st and 2nd track and keep the two tracks relativly close??? all I could think was 4 sets of points.

upnick

Hi Dave,

A pair of streamline points facing each other should give as close as you can get spacing for the tracks ...... not sure how they compare to code 83 i use here.

Here on my HO two points meet the overall width sleeper edge to sleeper edge is 3 inches wide as can be seen on the ruler laid across just over 7 & half inches for all four tracks furthest from the cam.
Sorry its a bit out of focus

dave`s dangerous

Poor drawing , but this is what I meant Nick, to put a crossover in 00 would nead 4 points plus cross so would need a lot of space?

poliss

Shinohara do a scissors crossover in HO scale. Length 19.3 inches. http://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatal...ack___Pointwork__HO__Code_83.html

Mine is the Kato scissors crossover Nick. Only uses the 2 wires to control everything. No cutting holes in the baseboard, no DPDT switches and no point motors to buy.

Teleman

Heres one in O gauge

poliss

How long did it take you to wire that Pete?