West Highland-ish "shed" layout

[phlyfifer]

I guess I got hooked on the idea of a small layout by reading about Kinlochewe and others.

 

First disaster was building a traverser that fed three tracks from four traverser lines --bad move as I hadn't really thought about track centres.

Rule one build a traverser to feed one line from "many" storage lines! The traverser got removed and short two line fiddle ard was added.

 

Second problem was getting a motorised turntable to line up with several infeed lines ----- inspiration here was faller roundhouse --still not cracked that issue.

 

Third problem is I have probably got too many points and not enough track.

 

Fourth problem is being torn between it being a locomotive shed layout and a shunting yard --- too many track magnets and spratt and winkle couplings and too few SMALL locomotives !

 

Fifth issue is now that I am thinking it should maybe be linked into my double oval tail chaser layout --- I think the shed layout has been built the wrong way round !

 

Why am I starting this topic ??/!!! Maybe I am trying to convince myself that by eating humble pie I will plan rather than do the next time and having confessed get on with stripping it out.

[phlyfifer]

I thought I uploaded a few pics with this thread but I can't see them --any ideas ?

[Wherry Lines]

You haven't added them into the post. When you upload a photo, you will see the text 'Add to Post I Delete'. You have click the 'add to post' link for each image separately in order to insert the image to your post. When you press this, it will appear as text similar to this: but when you submit your reply the images will show correctly.

 

There will be further guidance in the help section of the forum.

[phlyfifer]

Thanks for that help --now loaded up two pics.

[Oldddudders]

Why am I starting this topic ??/!!! Maybe I am trying to convince myself that by eating humble pie I will plan rather than do the next time and having confessed get on with stripping it out.

There is no need to be humble about this layout - you have something here which is rather more complete than many of us ever manage. It has some good modelling and several really nice little cameos. What I sense it may lack is a purpose. What does it represent? What are its objectives for you, the builder and owner, who have bust a gut and spent quite a few £ to get it this far? You don't need to justify it to anyone but yourself, of course - but my own feeling is that for the West Highland it looks a little busy!

 

If you are dissatisfied, I suggest you sit down and analyse what you like, what you don't like - and what it means to you. Would adding it into the tail-chaser give it a purpose? We can only guess. You have lots of good ideas and modelling skills. Perhaps they just need re-directing and managing into one satisfying layout.

[phlyfifer]

There is no need to be humble about this layout - you have something here which is rather more complete than many of us ever manage. It has some good modelling and several really nice little cameos. What I sense it may lack is a purpose. What does it represent? What are its objectives for you, the builder and owner, who have bust a gut and spent quite a few £ to get it this far? You don't need to justify it to anyone but yourself, of course - but my own feeling is that for the West Highland it looks a little busy!

 

If you are dissatisfied, I suggest you sit down and analyse what you like, what you don't like - and what it means to you. Would adding it into the tail-chaser give it a purpose? We can only guess. You have lots of good ideas and modelling skills. Perhaps they just need re-directing and managing into one satisfying layout.

 

Thanks for the feedback --maybe you have hit the nail on the head with it needing a "sense of purpose" and being too busy trying to get everything idea I have borrowed from others in one small layout.

p.s.

the signals all work in conjuction with point changes and there are fires & welding flashes going off at random not to mention shed doors that open shut ---just to add to the "confusion"!

[phlyfifer]

Having taken on board the observation about the Shed layout needing a purpose, I decided to convert it, from multiple end to ends, to a layout with a track in & a track out and link it into my double oval layout.

 

 

Conversion of the "Shed" to a "U" required the re-wiring of the selected output tracks to avoid a dead short, when the output was connected to the input and the complimentary swapping over of point frog feeds to the point motors -- together with isolating one section to create definitive in and out tracks.

( The shed layout had been configured to go anywhere, from anywhere, hence the need to split it).

The "Shed is being fitted with two new sets of points to give a single track in and a single track out .

 

The Double oval was DC and has now been rewired for DCC resulting in a pile of wire left over.

 

The Double oval layout is about to have its "right hand end" dismantled and a new base board fitted to allow the oval to link into the shed in/out tracks.

 

This is all of course still a work-in-progress.

 

 

 

Putting the two together will give me an L shaped continuous run loop of someting like 9 metres which in my N scale will give plenty room for reasonable length trains; still leaving the shorter low level oval original track in place and plenty of shunting available on the EX- SHED part of the layout.

 

Best of all it gives me plenty of railway work to complete !

 

The picture is of the oval layout right hand end that is about to be pulled apart --much of it of course will be re-cycled into the modified layout.

 

Finally, I read a thread on here, by somebody questioning the lack of replies/comments on posts re layouts --- the one reply to my post made me re-think my layout ---more replies might have given me more food for thought and a better result/direction !