Imahilus

Very good point David, you're quite right. The intention actually has been to use flex-track from the start, the set-track I have in that photo isn't actually in great nick to be used anymore, but it's still handy for mock-ups to get a more visual representation for a feel Though if you have specific suggestions on where to introduce some subtle curves, I'd be all ears.

Finally, after a long long time... I've finally constructed some benchwork! Been wanting a proper train table for over a decade now. With a slightly modified trackplan for the harbour (the printed plan was posted earlier in this topic by Glenderg), though I'm still doubting my modifications. Full story can be read on http://frozenchaos.net/?p=28

Made a start with a platform and received some points to start figuring out exactly how to do the trackwork for the harbour. I might have to look into printing myself some semaphore signals, the only lower quadrant ones I can find in N gauge are by Dapol, and they don't appear available yet... I'm going to keep track of progress on my site: https://frozenchaos.net/ Already had it and has been sitting idly, so why not use it as a place to track this stuff. Anyway, my start at a platform:

So simple, got around to testing this... it's a motor short... tried running the actual motor, and can see there's a short there. Cheers for the assistance.

Interesting thing to know, murrayec, as far as I'm aware this is one of their newer productions though, it's only roughly a year old. I have checked the gears and wheels, and all axles and gears are in pristine condition. When the motors wormgear isn't engaged on the main drive cog, the wheels and gears run smoothly.

Hey, I have an N gauge Graham Farish class 08 shunter that I fitted with a lenz silver mini+ decoder. I ran the loco in on DC on a set-track loop before fitting the decoder, and tested the loco after installation on the same loop, replacing the DC control with an Uhlenbrock Intellibox Basic DCC control box. It ran fine at the time. Now, roughly a year later, I'm able to start working on my layout and have just wired up and some track and laid it down. Not even a loop, just a straight section so far, but I wanted to see my lovely little train run... and the controller just said short. So I opened up the loc, fixed the obvious short (so the intellibox no longer gives a short message when the train is placed on the track), but the decoder now keeps giving the error code 4 on CV 30 (which means motor short) and doesn't respond on the normal track. Now I've tried troubleshooting the wiring but am coming up a bit blank. I get 41.5 ohms of resistance between the motor pickups, but it makes sense to have continuity for the motor pickups, isn't it? (and from what I've found, 40ish ohms is fine for a motor) I get continuity between the following wires: grey and orange (both motor pickup wires) grey and red (grey is motor pickup, red is wheel pickup) orange and red (orange is motor pickup, red is wheel pickup) No continuity between black and any other wires (black being a wheel pickup) Resetting the decoder doesn't solve it either (I was thinking the error might trip and have to be reset to get the decoder to work again). I can still read and write CV values from the decoder on a programming track, so am thinking the decoder is still fine? (I only own a cheapish multimeter to troubleshoot) Any help would be most appreciated!

Wow, am properly amazed at the response and the discussion going on Definitely going to use your designs as a base, Glenderg! I'm fairly sure I can do a bit of a combination between the smaller one and the larger one, I do have additional space I can use, just not on the same base scene as the harbour, so that pub is going to make it in I'd say. Will post photos here when I get something down, though my progress is probably going to be slow enough considering this is my first time doing an actual layout. And I'll probably extend the amount of goods coming through the harbour as per suggestions (like fish, I have a lovely fishing boat by Artitec waiting for me to put together).

Holy sh... now that is a truely inspirational drawing, I have to say! The station area in particular catches my eye, and not just because of The Fawls (the railway bar). I love how I can actually picture this looking in real life? (or in scale? I'm not sure now, my mind must be playing tricks). I think I can integrate this with a station idea I have. Best of all? I think I can make out what is what and why thanks to jhb171achill's drawing. There's just two abbreviations that I can't make sense of, RNLI and ES? I think I have to do something with this drawing just from the sheer inspiration it gives, did this drawing come from some other project? or did you actually just draw all of this as per my request?? PS: the dimensions provided are just for the harbour bit, I can find other pieces of ply for different sections, but as I don't have the materials for a table right now, I have to stick to building individual scenes to be stitched together later

Hey Glenderg, I just measured the ply I have for this project, and it's looking like I'll have 30"x12"~16", this should include the water, so it can't all be used for harbour sidings.

I've managed to find a copy of Iain Rice's book 'Cameo Layouts' at some german shop and decided to order it despite the price, looks like this book is in short supply! Hopefully it will be as inspiring as you all make it out to be @Paddy Mac Namara: I have a natural aptitude for software, and with the stuff that was going on at the time, easy choice, I still really enjoyed mechanical engineering though. I loved the material sciences. Interesting video you linked, extremely simple trackplan, do you really only need just a run-around track? and I'm a bit surprised the short stretch between the points is on the water side. Does that make it easier for shunting operations? (as much as I like trains and railways, I'm noticing more and more that I know very little about the whole railway thing)

Hey, I know live loading/unloading is generally ill advised because of all the reasons mentioned. But as David Holman put it, it's an eye catcher when you get it working. It isn't that high up on my list to do, as I'd want to get a semblance of a layout in place first (and as such could really use some help with a trackplan for this bit!) I'm a software developer by trade, have messed around with robotics, arduino's, raspberry pi's, am learning to use my resin 3D printer, and have done a few years of mechanical engineering in college as well before getting a degree in software. Essentially; I just like the challenge to try and get it to work The engineering side I can figure out, but to figure out what would have been in a small harbour like this and how they'd lay the tracks for it? That's where I fall short.

Hey, thank you for a very insightful reply. I'll be using british locomotives like the 08 and steam mainly for price and availability, maybe somewhere down the line when I can actually enjoy the layout that I might look into getting Irish stock. I don't have a problem appropriating different areas into a 'fantasy' conglomeration, as long as things are rooted in a believable design. The landscape specifically will be very heavily inspired by the Irish landscape, the industries.. in this case I'd prefer to go more for space efficiency than historic accuracy, as long as the type is believable in the setting. For instance, what you mentioned, using things from South Wales, which also has breath taking landscapes and not too dissimilar looking from Irish ones. So for the coal mine I have no qualms about using a mine with a mine-head to reduce the impact of the mine on the surrounding land for instance, even if we didn't actually have such a mine, just to have more room for pastures and woodland. You've definitely given me enough to ponder about that I hadn't even considered though, so many thanks for that!

Hey, I was hoping someone would be willing to help me out with a little bit of trackplan development. I used to mess around with model trains when I was a kid, and have been assembling some kits and assembling bits and bobs for a layout ever since. But now.. now I actually have some time, some inspiration, and some funds to actually put into a layout! And most important of all, some inspiration =) But I'm coming up short when it comes to one thing.. and that is a trackplan for a little harbour scene. I'm building my layout under the following constraints: N gauge, 1950's(ish) so mostly steam but couldn't resist a class 08 shunter from graham farish, painterly look (hand-painting all buildings in a miniature for wargaming style), idyllic (limited rust and stuff, no vandalism, etc.), short trains (max 3~4 pieces of rolling stock) to maximise room for scenery, and planning to automate a lot of stuff (I also dabble with arduino's and raspberry pi's; I'm a software developer by trade). The plan is to have a coal mine somewhere that loads of wagons with coal, and that they get delivered to this harbour scene where they get unloaded into a ship, where the coal gets transported behind the scenes back to the mine to be re-used to load the wagons. I'm aware of the difficulty of working with live loads, but that is another interesting challenge to solve another time. For now I'm wondering what a workable, minimalist, harbour trackplan could look like. I'll only have a single loading/unloading pier. Open to any suggestions for other things that would be considered essential for a (tiny) (irish / irish inspired) harbour like this. I'm not very knowledgeable about shunting and trackplans, and what would look 'realistic'. Any help would be much appreciated!