The trials and tribulations of model railroading.

[Blackcloud Railways]

I dug San Vince de Rey out of the railway cupboard this morning...

It is a while since I've run anything on the micro layout and I actually just wanted to have a very quick session with it to see if my new six axle locos will fit on the cassette with a pair of freight cars, but this was not to be.

First off the back road was dead, obviously just a broken wire somewhere but where? All the wiring is buried in the scenery because the layout is built on a small tray so there's no protection for anything underneath it. Easy thinks I, just add feeds to the cassette and it will power the rear track when it's plugged in to it. Which I did, and it worked.

So, back to the original plan and test the layout with the SD7s. That's when the second problem arose. The track on the cassette is very slightly narrow to gauge where the clips are attached. No problem thinks I. Relay the track on the cassette.

That's when the third problem arose. There appear to be two types of metal paper clip in the world. The sort that will solder to nickel silver rails and the sort that I have! So, after destroying a couple of feet of track trying I gave up. The cassette has been relayed without the clips on the end and now simply butts up to the layout.

I tried it on the front tracks first and the loco ran smoothly over the join and the points and into the sidings... Then I tried it on the back track... Which reminded me that the back track was dead. Having ascertained which rail was unpowered I soldered a jumper lead between it and the connection block at the rear of the layout to bypass the broken wire.

While attaching the new jumper to the connection block at the rear of the layout I discovered where the original wire was broken... At the connection block!

Anyway - Having relayed the track on the cassette and partially rewired the layout everything now runs smoothly and the new locos are fine for working on San Vince de Rey as well as Sand Creek.

SD7 and 2 cars on the cassette.


Big loco...


... Little layout.

[MountainMan]

Can you operate with that much machinery in such a small area?

[Tyson Rayles]

Glad to see you got it all sorted out! I think I would opt for a SW9 and some 40 footers in that tight of a space.

[Blackcloud Railways]

Can you operate with that much machinery in such a small area?

SVdR is usually operated as a Reduced Inglenook. The three tracks hold 3, 2 and 2 cars each. The off stage cassette, used as a drill track, takes a loco and 2. The maximum capacity is a loco and 6 cars but switching gets very tricky with that many on so a loco and 5 is the normal stock.

For readers who are not familiar with the genre Inglenooks are small switching puzzles, best explained on the link below...
http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/I...kplan.html

There is a virtual Inglenook which can be operated via this link which generates the spotting order automatically...
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.precisionlabels.com/shunt/jpage330.html">http://www.precisionlabels.com/shunt/jpage330.html</a><!-- m -->

I think I would opt for a SW9 and some 40 footers in that tight of a space.

40 footers are a must, using anything longer fouls the turnout clearance on the short tracks. The regular loco for this layout is a Minitrix FM switcher but, as yesterday's test shows, a six axle unit will fit... Just.

[sailormatlac]

BlackCloud, the world is such a small place. When I designed my inglenook shelf a year ago, I directly took my inspiration from your St. Vince de Rey layout... These little shelves make nice display setting having operation potential. I converted mine as a car shop.

With Inglenook, locomotive size doesn't really matter, except for the cassette lenght and turnout #.

Tracking electric problems is a real pain. I've a hard time convincing club members to ballast track because of that, among many other practical reasons...

Matt

[Blackcloud Railways]

...the world is such a small place.

Maybe, but I still wouldn't want to have to paint it all.

Glad you like the microlayout. It has been exhibited a few times, usually with other micros on the same table but once on its own... I'm glad that was only a one day show!

Seriously though an Inglenook, even a tuning fork*, can be an interesting layout. It's just a matter of setting a realistic operating task such as giving cars pre-determined destinations then seeing how long it takes to get them on their spots.

* I'm currently working on an O scale narrow gauge railway pier with a tuning fork style track plan.