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Irishthump's new layout.

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irishthump

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Been working quietly on the new layout the last few weeks and finally have something to show for it!

 

Progress has been slow but the baseboards are finished and I'll be starting to lay the track hopefully this weekend.

I decided to make this layout at a more comfortable height to work on (the old layout was barely 3ft high and it was a nightmare to access wiring under the baseboards). These baseboards are about 4.5 feet high, roughly chest height. I'm also hoping to add another level above this in the future.

 

Here's a few pics...

 

This section is about 15ft long and I plan to put a fair sized passenger terminus and freight yard here.

 

 

4BA7D921-09BD-4E63-8457-60AF4D8E27F6_zpsghfjjcpe.jpg

 

3ACF4FFB-BEDC-4A8F-AD02-D751770A6D27_zpsxaqvf1sa.jpg

 

5EE8E90C-1CA0-49BF-834A-3CFDAFFCB05F_zpsx634g5ll.jpg

 

Off to the right; there will be a double track loop about 8ft square. Possibly an engine shed and refuelling point along this side.

 

D1C13783-8F5F-4078-885C-73D42CFD7F97_zpsiah3jnts.jpg

 

The opposite side to the planned terminus. This will be another station with a run around so I can turn trains and send them back onto the mainline.

 

3DD70B97-E9EB-408A-8507-1AEB254E6454_zpsrkrj397g.jpg

 

And back around to where we started. This section will be removable as it's right over the attic door.

 

099EBB75-C976-4612-A482-0FDAA3D615B2_zpsrqgit0l8.jpg

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Huge potential there... looking forward to seeing the layout develop. :)

 

Thanks Garfield! Although it looks quite cramped from the photos it's possible to walk around most of the layout and there's headroom enough to stand while operating.

The track plan is all in my head at the moment but I'll try to sketch something out so that I can post it here.

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Thanks for the words of encouragement lads! Here's a rough trackplan (subject to change of course, but hopefully you'll get the idea.)

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18564[/ATTACH]

Hi IT,

If you were to have trains running in opposite directions on the main circuits, the clockwise circuit would not be able to directly access the station terminus and vice versa for the anti-c to the station. I realize the plan may be to go from one to the other via the main circuits and then run the loco round if not top'n'tailed

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Hi IT,

If you were to have trains running in opposite directions on the main circuits, the clockwise circuit would not be able to directly access the station terminus and vice versa for the anti-c to the station. I realize the plan may be to go from one to the other via the main circuits and then run the loco round if not top'n'tailed

 

Thanks for the comments, Divecontroller. Yes that's the idea, trains will run from either station, do a couple of laps of the main circuit then head into the other station.

In the case of the larger terminus after arrival a station pilot will shunt release the loco from the train and it can head to the loco shed for service/refuelling.

The smaller station has a runaround loop as you describe. The same with freight trains.

This sort of operation was something I couldn't do with my last layout and it was the first thing I wanted to put right!

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A little more progress.....

 

I've spent the last few days hand painting lengths of flex track and most of the points. I decided to hand paint the rails before laying the track as I didn't fancy spraying all the track with my airbrush in the confined space of the attic with no ventilation!

 

With the track plan pretty much finalised I went ahead and fixed down the trackbed. I used Woodlands Scenic foam trackbed partly because it seems very easy to work with and it also worked out cheaper than cork. I fixed it down with "No Nail" adhesive.

 

Here's what will eventually be the main terminus:

 

6F16462B-0A53-4C56-98D8-D8B6F6EF68E8_zpsmppe4qld.jpg

 

The two tracks on the left will be the terminus platforms and will be mostly covered by the station building. (I'm going to have to figure how to deal with that ugly wooden beam on the left! I'll have to either hide it or make a feature of it.....) The longest train that can be accommodated is 5 markIII's with a 201. That's shorter than I would like but I can live with it. The two tracks to the right are for freight and coach storage. I've placed a point to show where I'll be putting a loop which will allow an engine to run around it's train and will provide access to the freight/container yard.

 

Here's another pic looking towards the entrance to the station yard:

 

F889C293-90C3-49B7-9E34-DEE200623CFE_zpsbxoacdmc.jpg

 

You can see how the track on the far right leads out of the station yard and around to the right which will allow access to the engine shed or to link with the main double track loop.

 

5E5380FC-1C9F-406D-B669-4B7DE0D75711_zpsjfnaovft.jpg

 

Here's the mail line and on the left is where the engine shed will be placed, pretty much where that Peco shed is standing. There's no underlay here, I plan to lay the engine shed tracks directly onto the baseboards to have a little height difference from the main.

 

Here's a shot of the removable section:

 

C8132C5C-A09A-4DAF-944A-258420C136D0_zpspsweobfp.jpg

 

Hopefully I'll get some of the main line laid before the weekend.....

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Got the track for the main loop laid over the last week. It's all Peco flex track with Peco streamline points (won't touch Hornby ones again!) I fixed the track down with No Nails (clear variety) and I'd highly recommend for laying track. It holds the track down without the need for any pins, even on curves. By the way the points are all insulfrog, I used them on my last layout and never had any stalling issues with them at all.

 

Anyway here's a short video of me testing out the loop.....

 

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IT mind telling me what size is your layout, ft & ins. please as otherwise it's complicated, great work in such a short time, well done

 

The track diagram is out of scale but the main loop is about 8 feet square. The terminus section at the top is about 17ft long while the station at the bottom is about 15ft in total.

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