Having completed the baseboard, I decided to try out a number of track plans. The joy of using Kato Unitrack is that it is designed to be clipped together, used, then dismantled for storage. This means that one can play around with various track plans to see if one’s grandiose plans will fit onto a 22” x 35” (56cm x 89cm) board.
Needless to say, my initial ideas wouldn’t work on my small board. I could just about fit in a small oval of track with two sets of points/turnouts … but it was a very tight squeeze and just didn’t look right. Part of the problem was the radius of the curved part of the points/turnouts, which were a much larger radius than the rest of the curves on my projected track design. In the end I settled for a simple long oval of track that looks like this:
Click on the photograph of the track plan to enlarge it.
The large space along one side of board is going to be the bank of the River Thames, and is where the Brennan Torpedo launching station and its defences (a small fort or gun battery) will be located. I also intend to have a couple of small halts where trains can stop to collect building material and supplies and to drop off and collect military personnel.
For the more technically minded, the curves are tight 6-inch radius ones, which means that my larger 0-6-2 locomotives can operate on the track at slow speed ... but tend to derail anything that they are pulling on the curves. As a result, I'll have to use my smaller 0-6-0 and 0-4-0 locomotives and/or shorter or articulated wagons and carriages.
PS. I have ordered some small radius points/turnouts, and if they arrive before I lay the track, I’ll see if I can add some short sidings to the layout.
Looks good. Just a thought, if you haven't got room for a fort, how about a Martello Tower? Perhaps you can find a plastic plant pot as a base shape.
ReplyDeleteJoppy,
DeleteThanks for the suggestion. I hope to build a small Victorian-style gun fort or open battery holding two medium guns, but a modified Martello Tower might be a good alternative.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, a Martello tower could be also made from one of the larger yogurt pots on sale in supermarkets. William and I once built a Peel tower using one as the base, with a coating of papier mache.
DeleteSee https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dymchurch-martello-tower/history/ for details of the design.
The railway could have been constructed for removing the bricks &c. because the tower is scheduled for demolition (which proved to be more difficult than anticipated) and as an industrial line, 040 or 060 locomotives would be more appropriate.
Best wishes, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteThanks for the great suggestions and the link.
I envisaged the new gun fort/battery as being a new build structure … but repurposing a Martello Tower makes sense as this was done elsewhere. Perhaps the Tower could act as the control position for both the battery and the Brennan Torpedo launch station. It’s certainly something for me to think about.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob, Design stage is always fun and a learning curve! If you want to see your trains running then the oval is the only way to go. I settled for the classic branch line terminus on two boards each 18" x 36" with hidden 'fiddle yard'. managed to squeeze a lot in there, the run around and several sidings with goods yard, loco shed etc and lots of fun in the operation, running it to a schedule! The locos ran at slow speeds using Gaugemaster controllers with 'brake' facility which allowed for extremely smooth running at slow speed as they entered the platform or when shunting wagons etc. Best of luck and I will be watching this project with interest :)
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Lee.
‘Lee,
DeleteI’d love to have something that big, but at present I’m on a steepish learning curve plus restricted space … so an oval (with some points and sidings, if possible) is the extent of my ambition at present.
I’m currently using a Kato controller that came with my M1 starter set, and that has a forward, brake, and reverse selector and a simple dial speed controller. The latter seems to work quite well, and I’ve managed to get my locomotives to crawl using it.
I’ll regularly blog update posts. The next one will look at my initial terrain work.
All the best,
Bob
Enjoying the learning journey of your Model Railway. I made a Martello tower called Fort Crumble for amusement from scrap during lockdown
ReplyDeletehttps://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/making-a-martello-tower-from-scrap-fort-crumble/
but didn't quite get the flat top right, but it reminded me enough of the ones I saw and visited as a child along the (south) east coast. Some of the flatter lower old coastal forts and Palmerston / Victorian artillery fort upgrades are owned by English Heritage so have some good material online as well as guide books that you can purchase online from the EH shop too. I've found this useful researching for a gaming project the Dutch naval Raids of the mid to late 17th century.
Mark, Man of TIN,
DeleteThanks for the encouragement and link. I rather like your Martello Tower, which looks quite substantial.
Sue and I had many happy holidays on Jersey, where there seem to be a huge range of Medieval to World War II coastal defence fortifications one can visit … and we certainly visited a lot of them!
I have several guidebooks to the Jersey fortifications as well a books about several of the Palmerston forts and I will have to dig them out before I design my gun fort/gun battery. (English Heritage has a ‘print and make’ model of a Tudor gun fort on their website.)
Incidentally, some years ago my wife and I almost bought a house next door to Upnor Castle but someone else bought it before we could.
All the best,
Bob
Looking good Bob and always nice to be in the planning stage, as ideas pop up or come from other Bloggers as mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteYou are quite right about ideas popping up as one plans a project and then begins to turn those plans into reality. I’ve had a few already … and if they come to fruition, I’ll blog about them.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteIf you can it would be advantageous to include a 'Passing Loop' and a 'Spur Track' in your Track Plan- these inclusions would vastly make for an interesting operational feature. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI tried having both passing loops and/or sidings on the layout but the limited space made things too tight to squeeze them in. I have managed to find some points/turnouts with smaller radius curves that might work, but until they arrive I am leaving my plan a just a basic oval.
All the best,
Bob
Well worth adding a couple of sidings if you can as it adds a lot to operational interest. Worth a look at http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/sw-inglenook.html. Your circle can act as one of the sidings so you just need to have two coming off points. And smaller versions are possible. Email me if you want to know more.
ReplyDeleteBrian Cameron,
DeleteI have managed to buy some tighter radius Kato points/turnouts from Gaugemaster, and when they arrive I plan to see if it will be possible to add at least one siding. I also ordered a Kato CV1 Compact Loop Track Set (https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/kato-k20-890.html) which I hope will give me a slightly smaller oval of track and thus give me room for my sidings.
My blog posts are a couple of days behind where I am actually at with regard to this project, and my next one will look at the work I have done over the past two days.
All the best,
Bob