A small 00 Branch Line

Decision Time

Just for fun I raided the toy box to see what a branch line station could look like on an 8 x 4 board in 00 scale.

There is not much room and the whole set up is very crammed, I had to use curved points at one end and the curves are very tight - 2nd radius.  As you can see from the pictures it all looks too compacted:


The track and stock are from my old layout, with some very ancient Hornby buildings.

I have now made up my mind.  I am going to try out TT120 and will be ordering in some bits and pieces to make a start.

Good luck Bob, I'll be following along.  



Ed

I was browsing the internet and looking at Eynsham to see if there were anymore pictures of the station.  In particular, I am looking for the colours of the paintwork on the buildings.  During my search I looked at the Eynsham Museum site and, low and behold, there were two pictures of a model of the station.  Pictures posted courtesy of Eynsham Museum:



The army logistics base at the bottom of the picture is interesting.

Now, I am not going to model Eynsham, I am using it as inspiration and to provide a prototype template for my track plan, but it is good to see a model of it.

Looks great but even better with a backscene :)

 

That looks good    

Phil.c said

Looks great but even better with a backscene :)

 

From “Post #289,757”, 25th February 2024, 9:58 am

Reply test.

Phil.c said

Looks great but even better with a backscene :)

From “Post #289,757”, 25th February 2024, 9:58 am

That is a major improvement.  Apologies for not responding sooner, had access problems.

Bob

Petermac said

That looks good    

From “Post #289,776”, 27th February 2024, 11:02 am

What is interesting is the colour scheme on the station building of cream and green.  Not really GWR colours.

Having experimented with several ideas, I have now settled upon a track plan; a simplified version of Eynsham.  Even in TT:120 there is insufficient space for an exact copy of the prototype. Here is an overview:


Detail of the station area.  I had to kink the long siding to make space for the goods shed and I have removed one of the goods loops.:


Looking in the other direction.  The signals are N gauge from my spares box:


I think by using TT:120 track I have created a much better layout that was possible in 00 gauge.

Bob

Think it's better without the extra goods loop, just wondering how accurate the original drawings were.

Can't see how many goods loops there are, in the museum layout.



Ed

Ed said

Think it's better without the extra goods loop, just wondering how accurate the original drawings were.

Can't see how many goods loops there are, in the museum layout.



Ed

From “Post #289,815”, 28th February 2024, 3:45 pm

There were definitely two loops as can be seen from these two pictures:

I can't really see the point of that middle loop Bob - it's short and boxed in by the main lines and inner siding so, other than for storage it doesn't seem to serve much purpose.  It wouldn't be accessible by vehicles if the two outer sidings were in use.  It might offer some shunting oportunities but I'd be inclined to do away with it and lengthen the platform so you'd have a similar length on both up and down platforms - or, as it's single line traffic, the north and south platforms ………….  You could add a headshunt coming off the siding with the buffer stop.   Not sure what traffic you plan but the platform only looks long enough for a loco and a couple of carriages - maybe that's enough for a branch line.  

Is it all set track or do they make flexi in TT120 ?

Petermac said

I can't really see the point of that middle loop Bob - it's short and boxed in by the main lines and inner siding so, other than for storage it doesn't seem to serve much purpose.  It wouldn't be accessible by vehicles if the two outer sidings were in use.  It might offer some shunting oportunities but I'd be inclined to do away with it and lengthen the platform so you'd have a similar length on both up and down platforms - or, as it's single line traffic, the north and south platforms ………….  You could add a headshunt coming off the siding with the buffer stop.   Not sure what traffic you plan but the platform only looks long enough for a loco and a couple of carriages - maybe that's enough for a branch line.  

Is it all set track or do they make flexi in TT120 ?

From “Post #289,819”, 28th February 2024, 6:01 pm

Sorry, missed this one Peter. At the moment TT:120 is limited to set track, as far as I know. If I go ahead with this plan, it will not be a copy of Eynsham, I am just using it to get some ideas from the prototype.
Bob

Peco make code 55 flexitrack  and unifrog points Bob.


PECO - Tagged "narrow-gauge, tt-120, 55, track"



Ed

Ed said

Peco make code 55 flexitrack  and unifrog points Bob.


PECO - Tagged "narrow-gauge, tt-120, 55, track"



Ed

From “Post #289,885”, 13th March 2024, 8:55 am

Thanks Ed, that's useful to know.  

Seemingly Hornby are planning a big announcement about TT:120 on the 2nd of April.  I am holding fire until I see what they have to say. I am currently rather disappointed over the lack of locos and rolling stock and remain sitting on the fence as to whether I should fully commit to this scale.

Bob

I'm getting email alerts from various model shops about Hornby TT:120 new announcements, one of which is an LNER J50 expected November 2024.

Doesn't help if you want to model the Green, Wet and Rusty though  
Locomotives (themodelcentre.com)

Ed

Ed said

I'm getting email alerts from various model shops about Hornby TT:120 new announcements, one of which is an LNER J50 expected November 2024.

Doesn't help if you want to model the Green, Wet and Rusty though
Locomotives (themodelcentre.com)

Ed

From “Post #290,004”, 2nd April 2024, 9:00 am

Yes Ed, not very promising.  It seems odd that Hornby are ignoring the GWR in TT:120.  Even the planned signals move the wrong way!

I have just about made up my mind, despite the limitations, I am thinking of building a compact 00 layout.

Bob
 

Please explain Bob……………………….

I thought you'd had a good look at TT120 and decided to give it a go - why the change of heart now ?  Surely not driven away by the prospect of an LNER loco arriving ………..

Petermac said

Please explain Bob……………………….

I thought you'd had a good look at TT120 and decided to give it a go - why the change of heart now ?  Surely not driven away by the prospect of an LNER loco arriving ………..

From “Post #290,008”, 2nd April 2024, 8:56 pm

Hi Peter,
I really am having difficulty deciding where to go.  I have enough TT:120 stuff to build a layout, but nothing to run on it.  I really want to model a GWR branch line and have been waiting nearly 2 years for some appropriate stuff from Hornby.  This latest release does not help. On the other hand, I do have a couple of 00 gauge GWR tank engines, track and buildings as well as rolling stock from the left overs of my previous efforts.  I am thinking of building an 00 gauge layout and maybe try TT:120 in a few years when things improve.

Alternatively, I could just sit on my hands and wait for the locos to be released. I might just set something up so that I can run some trains!  I do like TT:120 though.

Bob