Hornby Track Plans

[Chris]

So it seems this year Hornby have decided to grow from only offering the small oval to having 3 pre designed layouts taking a small, medium large approach from their previously published track plans.
https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/shop/acces ... track.html
the medium oval comes in at £415 and while it seems like a lot with 19 points costing around £230 it probably isn't any cheaper to just copy the list and order it all individually.

is it worth it?
does it bridge the gap for people wanting a more complicated layout but who dont know where to begin designing it themselves?

For me they look like a big trainset, rather than a model railway but a good starting point, if I had seen it when I started building my loft layout I think I would have seriously considered it. Yes I would have outgrown it but then that happens for most.

[bulleidboy]

It does look like a big "train set" and I still think, even with this smaller layout, that you could build it cheaper. I think I counted nineteen points on this layout, that nineteen point motors etc., - it all mounts up. The layout you have shown is Layout 4/14 in the Track Plans Book - are there any more? It looks as though Hornby have taken a couple(?) of layouts and offered them as a track package. As you say it's a start, with something a bit more adventurous than the basic oval. In the Track Plans book all layouts are laid out on a one foot (12") grid - this then shows that some of the platforms are very short - three feet long or less, this a tender loco and three coaches at the most. Even on the earlier (corner layout) discussed earlier today, the platforms are only two feet long - looks fine on a plan, but in reality, a bit short.

[Rog (RJ)]

Their plans are just a way of selling as many pieces of track as possible with no regard to usability. Sidings so short they are almost unusable and stations too short to take a train etc

[Chris]

It does look like a big "train set" and I still think, even with this smaller layout, that you could build it cheaper. I think I counted nineteen points on this layout, that nineteen point motors etc., - it all mounts up. The layout you have shown is Layout 4/14 in the Track Plans Book - are there any more? It looks as though Hornby have taken a couple(?) of layouts and offered them as a track package. As you say it's a start, with something a bit more adventurous than the basic oval. In the Track Plans book all layouts are laid out on a one foot (12") grid - this then shows that some of the platforms are very short - three feet long or less, this a tender loco and three coaches at the most. Even on the earlier (corner layout) discussed earlier today, the platforms are only two feet long - looks fine on a plan, but in reality, a bit short.

they have three layouts, a fairly basic oval, this one and then a corner dogbone shape.

[Ron S]

Their plans are just a way of selling as many pieces of track as possible with no regard to usability. Sidings so short they are almost unusable and stations too short to take a train etc

And looking at the plan, I agree RJ - sidings too short..

[RAF96]

Including reverse loops but no mention of needing RLMs for DCC or polarity switching for DC.

[Brian]

There are no reverse loops in the plan linked to by the OP in post #1
I think you're probably thinking of the large corner L shaped track plan Hornby have produced? Which has several reverse loop sections.

Is buying a track pack like these worth it? I seriously doubt it. You can probably obtain all the items from the part list from suppliers like for example Hattons far cheaper (I used Hattons but there are many other supplies too!)

[Chris]

Brian is right if you buy the individual parts from Hattons then the cost comes in at around £328 however the Hornby points are well under RRP and I imagine some other bits are too.
What would hattons sell the pack for?

[Brian]

<Snip>
What would hattons sell the pack for?

£374 with one available https://www.hattons.co.uk/492950/hornby ... etail.aspx

Even cheaper from Jadlam at £359.99 https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/horn ... ZEEALw_wcB

[Chris]

so still cheaper to buy the individual parts. I guess it will appeal to someone who wants something 'out of the box' rather than for a more advanced layout