Basic tail chasing *first* layout (in N)

Eight feet long is not at all bad in N, my local station (Hale near Altrincham) would fit on such a board. for a rough sketch see . . .

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Given eight feet of length you should manage a five coach (possibly six coach) train length.

HTH

Mike

Reply to
Mike
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Hi,

I'm looking to put together a basic tail chaser layout in N, in my garage. Hoping to have a double loop, perhaps in a barbell shape to simulate a 4 track mainline (Slow Up, Fast Up Fast Down, Slow Down), with perhaps some yards to make it interesting. It will start off DC. Might progress to DCC if/when funds permit.

Biggest problem is (surprise) space.

Is this feasible in 8'x2' ? (I accept that I won't be able to run full length trains. Max 4 carriages maybe).

Cheers for any comments

Reply to
tiM`

"tiM`" wrote

If you make it a tad wider to allow the use of 12" radius curves you'll have better options and operation.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

An extra 6" suffice?

Reply to
tiM`

In message , tiM` writes

Try scaling down my OO garden railway, which is 150 feet long, and uses as much width as it needs.

Reply to
Jane Sullivan

"tiM`" wrote

Yes, it will just about give room for 12" radius, and you'll find that large locos will negotiate that much more readily than smaller curves.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

Cheers John.

Reply to
tiM`

Oh for a 150' garden... (Or even 30' !!!)

Reply to
tiM`

Other options: (with the extra 6", I agree with John that will make a big difference to running).

a) make the base-board narrower in the centre so it slightly wraps around you. The centre might be only 18in wide, opening to 30in at each end.

b) consider stacking the return loops ontop of each other, this gives maximum radius for the curves. The upper line (say its the fast) could be to the rear and on top of a brick embankment. The lower line could be to the front, and have a yard for freight handling at the centre in the front. If you wanted interchange between upper and lower lights you'd have to think about where to put in the gradients, but I think it's possible in the space available.

A bit of vertical height can do a lot to the appearance of a simple design.

- Nigel

Reply to
Nigel Cliffe

I was wondering about height, but hadn't though of that. Is it ok to have an incline on a 12" radius curve? My reading has indicated it's not such a great idea.

Ta

Reply to
tiM`

It's OK if the incline is long enough. You should not exceed 1 in 30. 1 in 40 or 1 in 50 would be better, if you have the space for it.

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

It would need to be bent inwards a bit so the platforms formed a curve toward the centre of the baseboard to give you room for the outer coal yard siding, but curved lines look better anyway.

Reply to
Mike

Like Wolf says, its OK if they are gentle. However, my idea was to have any gradients on the straight sections, probably off the back of the layout.

- Nigel

Reply to
Nigel Cliffe

Cheers, there are some good ideas in there. I can see I'm going to have to carefully think through whatever I build.

Reply to
tiM`

Build yourself a quick cheap model of your proposed model from balsa and paper. Use little blocks of balsa for significant structures. Draw track with a biro. If you want to add trains, use a strip of balsa with a bit of colour added (and move them around with pins). I suggest around 1/8th scale of your finished model.

Its really worth it; you can look at the model-model from various angles, think about how it will work both visually and operationally, etc.

- Nigel

Reply to
Nigel Cliffe

Hi All,

i like Mike's Hale sation. i just starded a project about a Historic Danish local rr. Which i am building on 120 x 30 cm modules. On modul fits the tracks main station and in between stations exept for the station that connects to DSB (Danish State RR) this is to big for one module. I'm planning to get it on a webpage, if I only had time... Advantage of this historic rr is that trains where not very long, problem however is to get Scale-N engines that remotely like the ancient Danish ones.

HC

Reply to
henk

Thanx Mike, Up till now I found a Minitrix set containing a German 0-6-0 engine (not the 80 series) so it looks right in Danish scenery, I also found a Fleischmann 0-8-0 engin on offer. I'm verry happy with this little machine because an angine exeactly like it serviced a nearby local rr. Also an Fleischmann 7032 1-6-0, this one is verry much sold in Denmark for it's a look alike of also a Danish engine.

Reply to
HC

In message , HC writes

Do they offer it in DSB (or its predecessor's) colours?

Reply to
Jane Sullivan

Got any good recommendations for air brushes and compressors. (Again, this is something I'm new to).

cheers

Reply to
tiM`

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