the not so micro micro layout

[Sean]

rather predictably I am back after a long hiatus and have been plugging away at a new project!

I am finally at the stage where im happy to share it with the world.

I like my micro projects, because im far more likely to actually see them through, the lack of a running loop tends to frustrate me though. Im also not a fan of ovals that are 4 to 5 feet wide as ive always seen them as a terribly bulky and sometimes hard to reach across..  so messing around in railmodeller and i came across marklin 2210 which ive apltly nicknamed radius 0 as it seems like it would be the next size down from first radius in the set track system.

this gives me an overall size of around 2.5 x 3.8 feet, a very portable size!

Initially this was just going to be a simple experiment oval to see what would actually run on it with some time spent on detailed scenics however during the planning phase i got carried away with several different siding ideas and thought sure lets try and squeeze in a siding, which turned into an inglenook and so on. I can just about get some 42 flats around this but any passenger stock will be out of the question.

 

In terms of era and location it was decided fairly early on for it to be a very generic scene that could be anywhere in ireland and that neither modern nor old stock would look out of place on it, it was finally decided to focus on a 1970's or 1980's aesthetic but as i wasnt actually alive to remember either of those decades artistic license can be used somewhat and there wont be any hard of fast rules.  I have enough loose coupled wagons and nowhere to put them!

 

 

so without further ado!

Heres my overall trackplan and despite it looking quite sparse there is actually going to be more going on than meets the eye.

there will be lit signals, motorised points, block detection and even possibly some automation down the line!

 

Lets assume there is a loco parked on the spur playing yard pilot and 3 random wagons in any of the 2 sidings but the "line" cannot have any wagons parked on it by the pilot because there are trains passing through frequently,

 

let's also assume that there is another loco with 5 vans plus a brake van working the "line"

 

This gives us 2 different games plus a running loop for times of boredom.

 

the loco pulling 5 plus a brake van can be ran on a loop, it can also stop into the yard and play the inglenook game using the 3 sidings while the pilot simply waits around

 before he can play the inglenook game however he must shunt the brake van down onto the bottom siding in order to have enough space to shunt.

once the inglenook game is complete the train leaves the yard and either goes back to doing its loop or it simply stops in the fiddle yard. 

 

When the line loco is in the fiddle yard the pilot loco will be able to shunt wagons between the yard and outer siding  in a tuning fork formation but he will have to stop and goto the spur when a train comes to pass through the yard.

 

in time id like to see if i could automate the line train to stop in the fiddle yard for 5 minutes before coming again following the pilot to be driven around by a human in the interim!

 

IMG_2678.MOVIMG_2678.MOV  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 06:24 by Sean

[David Holman]

There is always room for a model railway!

[Galteemore]

Fab stuff. You can easily  get away with 4w wagons on such a layout, whereas, as you’ve realised,  long bogie coaches will overhang and look odd. On such a layout, less is more when it comes to scenery, but the tiny details such as lever frames or point rodding will make it come alive. Careful placement of the few buildings is also key to avoiding the overcrowding effect. I think this will be a brilliant layout - I’m also a micro fan for various reasons. Too many large layouts end up on the boulevard of broken dreams and I suspect I’d be on it before long! As Louis MacNeice remarked

‘And because one feels that here at least one can,

Do local work which is not at the world's mercy
And that on this tiny stage with luck a man
Might see the end of one particular action.’

 

He was talking about politics but it applies to micros! 

[Tullygrainey]

A great start! This should be an enjoyable layout to operate. I like that cottage/farmhouse. The one with (Paddy Hopkirk's?) Monte Carlo mini parked outside. Scratchbuild? The cottage not the car

Edited Tuesday at 09:37 by Tullygrainey

[DJ Dangerous]

Smashing stuff, @Sean! Great to see that you're getting locos and stock around such tight curves. Maybe A/S have a job opening for a tester.

[west_clare_wanderer]

I love this! 

You've obviously put a lot of thought into operation, which will only help bring the project to fruition. 

It looks like you're using a three-way point. What make is that - Peco, or Märklin again?

Keep on sharing!

[Patrick Davey]

Lovely stuff!!  Keep the updates coming!

[Sean]

20 hours ago, Tullygrainey said:

A great start! This should be an enjoyable layout to operate. I like that cottage/farmhouse. The one with (Paddy Hopkirk's?) Monte Carlo mini parked outside. Scratchbuild? The cottage not the car

Believe it or not thats a hornby product straight out of the box! and so is the shed.

 

19 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Smashing stuff, @Sean! Great to see that you're getting locos and stock around such tight curves. Maybe A/S have a job opening for a tester.

getting everything around it so far except the ballast chassis as the couplings are bunching up as a result of them not moving,  pretty much anything with moving couplings goes around it without any fuss whatsoever.

13 hours ago, west_clare_wanderer said:

I love this! 

You've obviously put a lot of thought into operation, which will only help bring the project to fruition. 

It looks like you're using a three-way point. What make is that - Peco, or Märklin again?

Keep on sharing!

Its actually all peco code 75 i lifted from the loft, I just used the marklin sizing as a template to make the curve and it worked out well

Edited yesterday at 05:28 by Sean

[Sean]

23 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Fab stuff. You can easily  get away with 4w wagons on such a layout, whereas, as you’ve realised,  long bogie coaches will overhang and look odd. On such a layout, less is more when it comes to scenery, but the tiny details such as lever frames or point rodding will make it come alive. Careful placement of the few buildings is also key to avoiding the overcrowding effect. I think this will be a brilliant layout - I’m also a micro fan for various reasons. Too many large layouts end up on the boulevard of broken dreams and I suspect I’d be on it before long! As Louis MacNeice remarked

‘And because one feels that here at least one can,

Do local work which is not at the world's mercy
And that on this tiny stage with luck a man
Might see the end of one particular action.’

 

He was talking about politics but it applies to micros! 

some great points here and we are on the same page about keeping things minimal and sparse!

 

I wont be adding any more buildings than this and even the house was an unplanned impulse buy but it works here so im glad i grabbed it.

 

Just about to finish off the backscene in wood rather than foam and then i have a nice photographic backscene to mount, after that im thinking a lot of greenery and a decently long counry road serving the yard and house, 

 

initially a level crossing was planned but even now im probabaly going to downgrade it to a crossing gate.