A small 00 Branch Line

Blossom Hill 2

After my good friend Reg (Sparky) passed away, some two years ago, I lost interest in model railways.  Reg and I did most of our railway stuff together, including visiting shows, running sessions, and working on our layouts in our respective houses.  Having to dismantle Reg’s Blossom Hill layout and dispose of all of his stuff somehow killed off my model railway mojo.  Interest in my own layout, which sat gathering dust for over a year, died away.  Last year I decided to sell off all my 00 items and dismantled the baseboard - that was very much on its last legs anyway.

Now, two years on the model railway bug is beginning to bite once more and plans are emerging for a smaller project in the form of a branch line layout.  I have ordered a new baseboard and have bought a box of brand-new track, a couple of tank engines and some rolling stock.

My plan, still under consideration, is for a circular layout with a couple of country branch line stations.  If space permits, I would like to include a small terminus too.

The layout will be called Blossom Hill in memory of Reg.

Bob

 

Still 00 gauge Bob?



Ed

Ed said

Still 00 gauge Bob?



Ed

From “Post #289,489”, 22nd January 2024, 8:08 AM

Thanks for sorting things out.  Yes, 00 again.

Looking again, I should have read your description properly  

I'm still waiting for someone to start something in TT120.



Ed

Great to see you back at it Bob.

Really looking forward to seeing what your plans are - I did do a bit of a double take when I saw the layout name ………

Reg is certainly missed, as are a few others from the good old days …….

Petermac said

Great to see you back at it Bob.

Really looking forward to seeing what your plans are - I did do a bit of a double take when I saw the layout name ………

Reg is certainly missed, as are a few others from the good old days …….

From “Post #289,507”, 22nd January 2024, 5:06 PM

Thanks Peter. Yes, the ranks have thinned somewhat since those early days.

Bob

After some deliberation I am struggling a bit to find a decent layout that can fit into my available 8 x 4 space.  I am keen to produce something like a protypical track plan but such a design does take up quite a bit of room.  My initial thoughts are either a fiddle yard to terminus, with the fiddle yard out of sight at the back.  However, I would like to be able to give the trains a bit of a run.  I could have a loop with a through station and storage sidings hidden from view, but with two curved ends the available space is rapidly eaten up with around just 5ft for the station complex.  

I did consider a smaller scale layout.  I have already done a GWR branch line terminus in N gauge, which was great but shunting did not work very well.  Another option would be TT120.  At the moment the locos and rolling stock are a bit limited but that should improve with time.  More pondering methinks.

You'd have to. do a fair bit of scratch building Bob but I always thought 3mm scale was great - the old original 'TT'.

Alternatively, what about a double decker.  The lower deck where they could stretch their legs and a gradient on 3 sides bringing you up to the top deck with a terminus - that would lose one of your corners……

I have ordered a few bits of TT120 track to see what it looks like on the board that I plan to use.

The TT120 track arrived today and I have been taking a look at it.  Initial impressions are good. The points are of a much larger radius than 00 standard items.  In terms of fitting it onto my baseboard, my choice of 4th radius curves have a radius of around 16" which means they will fit comfortably into the 4ft width on the board.  

This is going to be a slow process though as there are no smaller locos available in TT120 scale yet (apart from an 08 shunter).  I have heard that a pannier tank loco is being produced at some point and I note that Peco have brought out some suitable wagons.  As for buildings, Hornby have a few resin items and Peco have introduced 4 or 5 kits.  There are quite a few cottage industry products in this scale as well.

I am still awaiting the arrival of the baseboard.  Once I have it and set it up I will make a decision as to whether I stick with TT120.

There's always N gauge Bob, just a bit smaller.

https://railsofsheffield.com/search?q=n%20gauge%20pannier


Ed

Ed said

There's always N gauge Bob, just a bit smaller.

https://railsofsheffield.com/search?q=n%20gauge%20pannier


Ed

From “Post #289,612”, 5th February 2024, 1:58 PM

I actually have an N Gauge pannier and quite a fleet of other 0-6-0s, however, as I said at the outset my last branch line effort in N gauge was great but the shunting side was less good.  As I would like shunting to be a major feature of my new layout I originally looked at 00, however, space becomes an issue.  TT120 seems like a good compromise, although, I have yet to make up my mind.

Are you planning on hands-free coupling/uncoupling Bob, could be a factor in deciding scale.


Ed

Ed said

Are you planning on hands-free coupling/uncoupling Bob, could be a factor in deciding scale.


Ed

From “Post #289,619”, 6th February 2024, 10:34 AM

Thanks Ed, yes the shunting must be hands free.  I will use magnetic couplers.  

If I go for TT120, I will replace the couplers with Dapol Easimate (if that's the correct term) couplers.  They are quite expensive but, as I will not have much in the way of stock, they will be a good alternative.  If I go back to 00, which remains an option, my choice will be Kadee couplers.

I managed to get up close and personal to some Hornby TT120 stock recently at the Eastleigh exhibition and compared to modern 00 rtr stock, to my eyes, it looked just too toy-like, with insufficient detail for my tastes.

Everyone tends to have differing preferences, but if / when I decide to build a small layout, the level of detail I can achieve in 4mm will please me the most.

In the meantime, I'll be testing hands free DG couplings, available from Comet and as used in Nick Wood's "Much Murkle" exhibition layout, to be seen at the Basingstoke show in late March.

I've bought some Dapol Easi-Fit's for my N gauge stock, but I've yet to try them out.

I've got some Kato 20-032 Magnet Uncoupler Tracks already installed and I tested the Atlas American stock I bought recently which have magnetic knuckle couplers (very similar to Kadee/Mico-Trains Line), and they worked really well.

I've also read good things about the 4mm scale DG couplings Bill mentions.

………………………………… and people think building a model railway is easy  



Ed
 

I'm pretty sure DGs come in smaller scales than 00. I'll check when I next make my next order to Comet.

Longchap said

I managed to get up close and personal to some Hornby TT120 stock recently at the Eastleigh exhibition and compared to modern 00 rtr stock, to my eyes, it looked just too toy-like, with insufficient detail for my tastes.

Everyone tends to have differing preferences, but if / when I decide to build a small layout, the level of detail I can achieve in 4mm will please me the most.

In the meantime, I'll be testing hands free DG couplings, available from Comet and as used in Nick Wood's "Much Murkle" exhibition layout, to be seen at the Basingstoke show in late March.

From “Post #289,624”, 6th February 2024, 12:07 PM

I will explore DG couplers, but from memory they require a bit of effort to put together.  I must say, when I looked at the TT120 layout displayed on the Hornby stand at The Great Electric Train Show at Milton Keynes last year, I was a bit disappointed to see that they had used Peco track.  I will see what TT 120 looks like when laid out and compare it with my 00 stuff.

Ed said

I've bought some Dapol Easi-Fit's for my N gauge stock, but I've yet to try them out.

I've got some Kato 20-032 Magnet Uncoupler Tracks already installed and I tested the Atlas American stock I bought recently which have magnetic knuckle couplers (very similar to Kadee/Mico-Trains Line), and they worked really well.

I've also read good things about the 4mm scale DG couplings Bill mentions.

………………………………… and people think building a model railway is easy  



Ed
 

From “Post #289,625”, 6th February 2024, 12:27 PM

The reason I am attracted to Dapol Easi-Fit is that they will just clip into existing NEM pockets. That may be the same for other makes. I know Kadee have some like this too.

I have been thinking about the surface of my baseboard. I see that in the USA there is wide use of high density foam as a base.  I was wondering if anyone has used this material.  I looked online and it does seem to be very expensive.  Looking for ideas.