Loft layout

Before I came away I had been sorting the loft out for a layout. An area is now ready, 'Terra Nova' to take the layout which will use a mixture of Hornby Dublo 3 rail and Trix 3 rail and possibly some new Peco suitably 3 railed!

Managed to use SCARM to produce a 'sketch' of the layout.

Green in HD3
Red is Trix fibre 3 rail
Blue will probably be Trix plus peco. It is a wireless tram track.

End bits are to permit all round loft extensions for all three systems.



The 3D view from SCARM

"Wireless tram track" sounds intriguing. After stopping to think, I assume you mean a track without an overhead wire, like the San Fransisco trolleys or the below ground third rail they used to have in Blackpool. Will the extensions allow for many trams running a closely spaced nose to tail (like they had in Blackpool) or just a one tram shuttle?

Yes, wireless trams. There is a good book on the subject over the years by David Joyce.

I must admit my interest in three rails and a desire not to construct overheads lead me to this topic. In the past the trough system as used in parts of London and parts of USA was the most successful. I doubt today such systems would pass health and safety.

Stud systems with studs only being switched on under the tram were also tried. Only Wolverhampton seems to have made it work only giving in to overhead when spares became non existent.

There is somewhat of a revival. One system is a variation of the stud using section track where only the sections under the tram comes on. I think it is Dubai, or nearby, that uses this system exclusively. There is another system using induction, same principle as toothbrush chargers. basically the tram is the moving part of a transformer. Very expensive so not likely to become common.

Practically batteries probably have it with charging points at stops only live when the tram is over the contacts. Batteries and possibly fuel cell systems are likely to make such systems, or parts of systems more common.

What I like about three rail modelling, of which overhead is a variant that with track where the running rails are insulated from each other using a third rail a simple form of automation can be employed. Hornby Dublo is no good as running rails are connects, but Trix Twin is.

Future Website of threerail  has some automation details.

Thanks for the reference. The automation looks simple and effective. No polarity problem with reversing loops, increase the number of sections, put in some passing loops… What a service that could provide. I am almost tempted to have a go.

As a digression I remember many, many years ago reading about experiments with a London bus with a huge flywheel inside it. I would dearly like to know how they got on with it.

Do not know about the bus but a flywheel railcar is running at Stourbridge. A Parry People mover. Search Parry People Mover and the details should be there.

Thanks for the link, I had no idea these things existed. The PPM site has some fascinating videos.