Hello one and all! I live in the Norfolk countryside, bad for dust blowing off the fields…..

I have been modelling in N gauge for over 30 years but confess in steam outline it is hard work (mostly pickup problems).

Due to that and less nimble fingers I decided to change gauge to OO, my later childhood scale though I have nothing left from that era, during my early childhood I had an O gauge clockwork tinplate railway that lived on the lounge carpet when allowed.

I am a retired electronics engineer and like to combine my knowledge with various hobbies railways included so just about anything electrical on the railway is a DIY design. As a departure from all my previous layouts I have chosen to operate the points on the new layout with RC servo's that I also hope to motorize the semaphore signals with.

I have a plan, baseboards built and my first locomotive, no points as yet (in the post).

I hope to enjoy friendly nattering with everybody here :)

Here is the plan, developed over quite a few months, I have tried to take into account the best radius I can fit (~36") in the available space that is fixed. No loco turning facilities the intention being to run with tanks, the occasional tender visitor will have to leave tender first. Up to 3 operators, platforms 1&2 + MPD, Goods & Traverser.

As mentioned baseboards are complete including the traverser (using ball race drawer slides) surface is 12mm marine ply, support frame all 25 x 12mm pse selected to avoid banana's. Intended to follow house moves as is basically three 6ft x 2ft sections bolted together.

I am still finding out how to get inline images, maybe success!!

This was my last N gauge layout, Riccarton junction, note the oversized control panel (seemed a good idea at the time).

  Hi Roger and welcome to the forum.
   
  You’ve been busy and have been applying your 2mm experience well in creating your new 4mm railway. The plan looks full of operational interest and the use of large radius curves is always a good idea, as is a traverser for a branch line.
   
  Are you keeping a Great Western theme?
   
  Looking forward to learning more and hope to chat soon.
   
  Best,
   
  Bill

Hi Bill, thank you for the reply. My biggest problem changing gauge is going to be stock and to be honest I am not buying new at present as I find the prices somewhat unrealistic for me. As such I will be collecting according to opportunity so presently casting my net wide in terms of regions and era's although as the collection grows then some filtering may take place. My father was always a great fan of gods wonderful railway so I guess it passes on though his father was an LNER man. I am using code 100 track to enable a wider acceptance of wheel standards & I must get myself a back to back gauge ASAP though quite what the universal standard is I have yet to discover (I don't want a finescale standard, but something loose that will still pass through Peco code 100 points), maybe 14.4mm is the answer.

Thanks again
Roger

Hi Roger and welcome to the club.  You have clearly already made a lot of progress with the layout, but I look forward to learning more about it.
Michael

Hi Roger - a very warm welcome to the club.
We usually tell new members to ask whatever questions they like but it seems with your background, it will be us asking the questions ………

As a fan of almost everything LNER,  I'm a bit worried about your comment regarding your Grandfather - "though" he was an LNER man - that suggests he might have been a lesser man than your Father with his love of the Green Wet and Rusty ……  Believe me Sir,  your Grandfather was a wise soul and had lots of good taste.

Peco Code 100 is fine - I use it, originally because it doesn't require stock to be fine tuned for it to stay on the rails.  I also power some of my points via servos using the Megapoints system which I originally bought to control my as yet unmade semaphore signals ………

Looking forward to watching things develop - enjoy youself on here.

Hi Michael, thanks for the reply. Looking at my notes I see it was only March this year I decided to start negotiating for space having sold the N gauge last year, however things like baseboards are easy especially if you have well seasoned timber from previous layouts and as I decided to go flat instead of open very fast to construct, now things slow down, probably at least 6 months before most things operate then a few years for scenery (I lack the artistic touch)!

Hi Peter thanks for the reply, I am already enjoying myself enormously, there is a lot of very useful information on this site and that's why I wanted to join, it's the way its presented too. I don't know about being experienced, I have been modelling a long time but not entirely successfully some would say, as mentioned my artistic talents are somewhat non-existent. I read about the Megapoints controller for ideas of course but as usual decided to go my own way to help stop the advancing brain rust, it seems to work but requires the full layout to trial properly.

 I apologise for any unintentional slight upon the LNER, personally having been involved in preservation anything that boils water for motive power gets my vote :)

Hmm unmade semaphores….. I had great intentions in N gauge but gave up & used colour lights, I am hoping the increased scale will give me better luck in OO!

Regards
Roger

Hi Roger and welcome.

It happens I'm travelling a similar path of layout design and as a first step have been trying to understand point geometries better. In the past I've used Anyrail for layout planning and chosen points from the PECO library to best suit my needs bringing parts together rather unscientifically.

Now I've discovered there is a possible source of points coming onto the market later this year offering a wider range of geometries, the sorts previously only available to "serious" track builders. Some better understanding was in order before starting over. Which brought me to notice your notes on your layout plan where you cite using long points 60" radius (1524mm) and medium 36" (914mm).

(Edit: to remove inaccuracies. A revised version now is in my Topic "A Fresh start - Perhaps?")
SL-E188 and 189 have a radius of 1160mm according to my own rudimentary calculations from the PECO point template.

I've found Anyrail to be an excellent tool for planning with its wide range of track libraries. Templot might appeal to you with your engineering background.

Regards,

Colin
 

Hi Colin, thanks for your reply. I have an elderly Peco catalogue from 2005 and I have just taken as read whatever it says in there, however it is interesting to see compared to the 36" reference circle on the track plan how those long points show up. Myself I have used XtrkCad for many years in N gauge so trust it's accuracy, I have also printed the templates from the Peco website and have them attached to the baseboard for a double check.

I noticed you mention SL-E189 etc, these are finescale code 75 however according to the catalogue the basic measurements are the same, anyway minor differences will wash out in the actual track laying.

It may also be an XtrkCad version issue, I am running the latest 5.2.1a (released December 2020) and I notice the thread you reference is dated 2013, 8 years ago!!

I have never tried Anyrail although it seems to be quite popular, nor Templot but I have heard of it, thanks for the tips :)

Regards
Roger

Hi Roger and welcome to the club.Your plan looks very interesting and I think your progress will be followed by many.

Good morning Alan, thank you for your kind comments and may I say how much I like your wonderful website, very positive :)

The hardest part is getting started and negotiating planning permission with SWMBO after that the rest is plain sailing :)

[user=2213]fourtytwo[/user] wrote:

Hi Colin, thanks for your reply. I have an elderly Peco catalogue from 2005 and I have just taken as read whatever it says in there, however it is interesting to see compared to the 36" reference circle on the track plan how those long points show up. Myself I have used XtrkCad for many years in N gauge so trust it's accuracy, I have also printed the templates from the Peco website and have them attached to the baseboard for a double check.

I noticed you mention SL-E189 etc, these are finescale code 75 however according to the catalogue the basic measurements are the same, anyway minor differences will wash out in the actual track laying.

It may also be an XtrkCad version issue, I am running the latest 5.2.1a (released December 2020) and I notice the thread you reference is dated 2013, 8 years ago!!

I have never tried Anyrail although it seems to be quite popular, nor Templot but I have heard of it, thanks for the tips :)

Regards
Roger

(Edited to remove various inaccuracies) -Re the 2013 reference, on further reading that is about a different aspect of Point Geometry. 

As a minor point of "order", these comments are posting in the welcome area and further discussion would be better placed in your own topic. I'll add some comments in response to the above in my new topic as they are equally relevant there. Off to dinner now so it'll be later tonight or tomorrow now by time i get to the task.

Hi Roger,  :Welcome aboard. I see your well ahead of the game already  :) and have started your own layout thread 
(thanks Colin  :thumbs). Looking forward to watching things develope !

Cheers

Matt

Hello Roger,

That track plan looks really interesting. Can't wait to see it progress

Hey, welcome to the forum. Your layout looks fantastic, I look forwards to more of your updates. I’m also in Norfolk, just down the road in Thetford. 

Welcome to the club Roger.  Looking forward to seeing your layout develop.  :hi

Terry

A warm welcome to the Club Roger from a not so sunny Spain.

I am impressed with your plans and wish you all the best with your scale transition.

When I first started up again after many years, I went along the second hand route as the new locos were and still are quite expensive. However, many of those locos remained static due to poor running and performance so as a little word of caution, if you can, slowly build up your stock with new locos when the pennies allow.

I am currently without a layout due to wifey wishing to move back to the UK. As and when we have sold our home here, we shall be moving back to the next county down from you.

Good luck with your build and please keep us posted as to your progress.

Hello everybody, thank you all for your kind comments, things are a little slow ATM due to lack of parts (post in the countryside is very slow) as I have zero stock in my new scale! Anyway it's great to see what everybody else is doing :)

[user=2213]fourtytwo[/user] wrote:

Hello everybody, thank you all for your kind comments, things are a little slow ATM due to lack of parts (post in the countryside is very slow) as I have zero stock in my new scale! Anyway it's great to see what everybody else is doing :)

Do you shop at Great Eastern Models, they have a great stock and quick delivery :)