Plans for possible new 1x6' shelf layout?

[RobertInOntario]

As some of you know, I'm limited to having small micro layouts due to space constraints in our small house. I recently built a 1x4' Inglenook (British 00) layout that I'm pleased with.

I'm now thinking of building a new 1x6' layout. I could go a little wider but have to limit its length to 6 feet due to lack of space. This will probably be a British 00 layout, partly because I really like British trains also partly because the smaller locos and freight cars work better on small layouts. (00 is a slightly larger scale than HO but still have the same gauge.)

I've found some layouts here -- I particularly like the layouts that appears near the bottom of this page (Shortliner & Olympian Car Shops)
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://carendt.us/scrapbook/page98/index.html">http://carendt.us/scrapbook/page98/index.html</a><!-- m -->

I'd probably use this as a freight switching layout but would really enjoy it if I could (somehow) work some passenger trains in. I'm also open to building this as Canadian / North American layout as well, as I have a fair bit of HO stock as well as British 00.

Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice!

Rob

[steinjr]

Hi Robert --

That track plan is intended for trackmobiles and short freight cars, and it would also work as a locomotive repair facility. It is not going to work all that great if you have exactly six feet and no room to extend the lead, and you want to use steam engines with tenders and/or passenger cars.

The most obvious weakness is the very short lead. That is most often one of the core limiting factors on a small switching layout - too short switching lead. Carl Arendt mentions extending the lead, and connecting a loop of track to the mainline, to make it possible to move cars between the main and the siding alongside the repair facility.

Smile,
Stein

[RobertInOntario]

Hi Robert --
That track plan is intended for trackmobiles and short freight cars, and it would also work as a locomotive repair facility. It is not going to work all that great if you have exactly six feet and no room to extend the lead, and you want to use steam engines with tenders and/or passenger cars.
The most obvious weakness is the very short lead. That is most often one of the core limiting factors on a small switching layout - too short switching lead. Carl Arendt mentions extending the lead, and connecting a loop of track to the mainline, to make it possible to move cars between the main and the siding alongside the repair facility.
Smile,
Stein

Thanks, Stein. Those are good points, especially re the extra room needed in the lead for tender locos, etc.

Rob

[shortliner]

Shortliners layout is actually being built by one of our members - Fluesheet (aka Matt Goodwin) and was built by me It ran 40' cars (although 50' ones can be used) and small diesel locos, and will keep you busy for quite a while operating at normal switching speeds. The original plan is in the Yahoo Small Layout Design Groups files.Shortliner>Ness Street, and also here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/forums/thread.aspx?ThreadID=182757">http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/f ... dID=182757</a><!-- m --> with some other good ones
A couple of in progress photos of the original. The track at far right top is used as the interchange track for staging inbound/outbound cars. If you have a couple more feet of space, ad another re-railer in the left-hand near-track, to make a road crossing and extend both tracks to the left adding another industry to the left one. When operating, the road must not be blocked for more than two moves or there will be a lot of upset motorists
   

   

[steinjr]

Just to clarify - my comment was about Carl's Olympian track plan, not about Shortliner Jack's plan - which is a perfectly fine small urban freight switching plan.

Not sure it would make much sense to try to "work some passenger trains in" on Shortliner's plan either. I would think that pretty much the only way to do something vaguely meaningful with H0 scale passenger cars in 1 x 6 feet would be to set aside maybe 30" for cassette staging or someting, and model very short (as in engine and two passenger cars) trains pulling into or departing from a terminal (immediately going into staging or coming out of staging).

But I could very well be wrong. Any ideas about working in passenger trains, Jack?

Smile,
Stein

[shortliner]

Well - using the "Extended" version would be simplest, with the station beyond the crossing rather than another industry, and only extending the centre track. The logical vehicle to use would be an RDC (Single- or two-car) - in fact if you use a kitchen timer, and run a regular service at 15 (actual minutes) intervals - it means that you have the complication of the switcher having to clear the track for the passenger, to mess up your switching moves. However you would need to decide which of your tracks the passenger enters the layout on - my suggestion would be that a branch comes in along the top left (where the dark brown boxcar is in the photos) instead of having an industry there - a slightly wider board would let you curve the track to hide the RDC behind buildings - of course, your thoughts may differ

NB - The old Athearn rubber band poweered RDCs are actually under length compared to the later ones from Proto 1000 which are correct - handy if you don't have a great deal of space - I converted an Athearn dummy with a SPUD - the extra weight cures the SPUDs "Jack-Rabbit" behaviour

[shortliner]

Robert - is it possible to have a removable piece, that can be taken off abnd stored when the layout isn't being operated?, possibly at an angle or even curving the tracks around a corner? - just wondering about the possibility of gaining a bit more space

[shortliner]

Robert PM me your email = I have something that might be of interest
Jack

[RobertInOntario]

Robert - is it possible to have a removable piece, that can be taken off abnd stored when the layout isn't being operated?, possibly at an angle or even curving the tracks around a corner? - just wondering about the possibility of gaining a bit more space

Yes, I could add a short removable section that i might occasionally use. A straight one would probably be best. Rob

[shortliner]

I wondered if it might be possible to use Fiddlesticks - removable cassette extensions, similar to here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://carendt.us/scrapbook/page93/index.html">http://carendt.us/scrapbook/page93/index.html</a><!-- m --> 6th down, or possibly a "fold-down" or plug-in two foot extebsion to add to the lefthand end for the station - a length of chain will support it when it is plugged into the main layout.

[RobertInOntario]

I wondered if it might be possible to use Fiddlesticks - removable cassette extensions, similar to here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://carendt.us/scrapbook/page93/index.html">http://carendt.us/scrapbook/page93/index.html</a><!-- m --> 6th down, or possibly a "fold-down" or plug-in two foot extebsion to add to the lefthand end for the station - a length of chain will support it when it is plugged into the main layout.

Yes, that looks good -- I like the fiddlesticks idea!

[shortliner]

Rob - the fiddlesticks have a mini-jack-pug in the end that fits into a socket under the board - wires run in a trough cut in the board and then uo to a pair of rails attached to PCB to feed power - My cassettes are converted Peco loco-lifts, so they sit on the rail at the board end and on the rail on the fiddlestick end - so power is being fed at both ends - belt and braces - not sure if you can get them in Canada - maybe ebay? It isn't the cheapest way to make cassettes but I find it is the easiest for my use - it shouldnt be too difficult ti work out a method of powering an alternative (home-made) version though.

[BR60103]

Peco locolifts are available in Ontario from the usual suspects.

[RobertInOntario]

Peco locolifts are available in Ontario from the usual suspects.

Hmm, thanks, David. I'll look into that. Cheers, Rob

[RobertInOntario]

Peco locolifts are available in Ontario from the usual suspects.

David, I googled these last night & they look interesting & useful. However, could you actually use them as "fiddle sticks" as described above? I also went to the website of my favourite British 00 retailer & could not find them, but I could email him though!

Just thought I'd check as these Peco products could be very useful for my small shelf layout(s).

Cheers,
Rob