7mm , Blackney, A Glimpse of the Forest

[Northroader]

Like buses, wait for one, then two come along together.

 

[Richard]

I must agree with Jordan. I remember saying to my very supportive wife that I would have a maximum of two locos and about eight wagons and a brake van. Whoops I think I've slightly over shot that.

I'm sure that your good lady understands that what is really meant by that, is the maximum of two locos, eight wagons and a brake van is what is allowed on Blackney at any one time. (Apart from photo shoots)

 

[LarryG]

Buy as many locos as you like. If you have ever counted the shoes, coats and dresses in her wardrobes, you'll know you are in credit...

 

[simond]

Like asking her age, I’m too much of a gentleman to consider doing such a thing!

 

[Alan]

4689 now totally finished.







By the way the man leaning out of the cab is the driver, he's looking concerned as his newly passed fireman id oing his first turn at driving down to Bullo. He may also be slightly annoyed that the fireman has left the prep pipe dangling again.

 

[Alan]

Nice to have WT back, well done Adrian,
Spent the weekend playing about with templates about an idea I've been mulling over for a few weeks, a small micro layout with a scenic section of 4ft 6 and a width of 1ft 6. Possibly using 3 set track points slightly shortened Track plan as below



spacing set for a small industrial unit, possibly Forest Furniture idea being wagons propelled on scene by a pannier and the the shunting done by a small Hunslet diesel. with the Pannier returning to take wagon or wagons away.





The alternative might be a small engine shed or watering and coaling facility.

 

[Bill Campbell]

Hi Alan

Are you aware of the Micro Model Railway Dispatch Magazine?

Lots of inspiration for small layouts - free downloads from here if you are not on the mailing list:

The Home of The Micro Model Railway Dispatch – Just another WordPress site

micromodelrailwaydispatch.com

Regards.

 

[Alan]

Thanks Bill.

 

[Northroader]

All in favour of th microlayout idea. I would advise to go carefully with setrak points, they might not fulfil all your expectations.

 

[Geoff]

"The alternative might be a small engine shed or watering and coaling facility".

I wish you well should you go down that route Alan, I was surprised by how much space was needed for a small shed scene.

Geoff

 

[LarryG]

Like you, I printed off some 0 gauge Setttrack point plans on the assumption they would be space savers, but if used as a crossover, the "six foot way" is wider than if using Standard Peco points. The siding would have the same track centres as the loop. Chopping them down or splicing them could be interesting.

The angle of divergence would be useful in some circumstances that's for sure, but the straight is about the same length as a standard Peco point.

 

[John_B]

Watch out for buffer locking on Setrack points. I find most wagons are very close to locking, but I mostly get away with it. My Minerva iron mink has smaller than usual buffer heads and more sideplay on the axles, and I had to reduce sideplay with washers to make it usable. Overhangs on locos can be a problem too. I only have 0-6-0 tanks, and the worst is the rear end of my Dapol Terriers. I've got two of the annoying and expensive things on my test track, which is also an inglenook shunting puzzle, and I regret buying them. I suppose they are good on a test track though, as it will ensure that anything I test will be more than adequate on my layout when/if it gets built! Maybe one day I'll sell them and 3D print some Templot COT turnouts instead.

I took great delight in removing the one on our club industrial layout that we are in the process of rebuilding!

 

[Easterner]

I wondered how long it would be until you got itchy fingers and started looking at your next project!

I'd echo the comments of others regards to set track points, a few friends have used them and allthough convient gone back to normal peco points - I don't think they look all that realistic either but I guess that may be reduced by your viewing angle.

It will be interesting to see where this goes none the less!

 

[Alan]

Thanks for all your thoughts.

 

[Richard Gawler]

On this one I eased the curve of the diverging track. Mainly to let the trackwork fit the baseboard, but as a bonus this lets something like a GER Y14 (LNER J15) negotiate the curve with the correct distance between tender and loco.

 

[Alan]

Thanks for that Richard.

I've always enjoyed the 3D sketches of layout plans that Iain Rice did and Gordan Gravett does, I tried desperately to remembe Tech Drawing skills from 'O' level from 62 years ago and art lessons form even further back and came up with this. It si roughly to scale


The Furniture factory is the old Mill
The two buildings on the left, the brown one is the Ruston-Hornsby shed and the blue one is a corrugated shed used for storage.

 

[John Duffy]

Does the right end building need to by anything specific Alan? In itself it is unlikely to produce enough traffic to warrant rail connection, but in urban areas odd lines ran down the backs of buildings without ever needing to serve them. I would simply have that as a siding that wagons get placed into and taken out of during shunting. That would give more scope for movement than using a structure to justify traffic.

Just a thought

John

 

[Richard Gawler]

Alan, if you go for Setrack points I would put two short straight tracks between the reverse curves as I have highlighted here. If these are as long as the longest wagon, they will prevent most buffer locking. Then the problems will only come if the loco is too long.

I have drawn this in AnyRail for a 1,500 x 600 mm baseboard.

 

[Alan]

Thanks Richard, I was thinking about cutting back the curved part of the crossover points lessens the gap between the2 tracks. Gather it has been done successfully.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Thanks Richard, I was thinking about cutting back the curved part of the crossover points lessens the gap between the2 tracks. Gather it has been done successfully.

When you buy a new Setrack point, the curved leg matches up to a Setrack curve. So you only need to leave the point "as supplied" if you want to perm it into a continuous R2 curve.

I would cut the webbing between the last few timbers first. Let the curved exit track straighten itself out, see what it looks like. Then trim back the rails if necessary, but on a crossover do leave enough straight track to hold a wagon between the two crossings. To reduce the likelihood of buffer locking.