Model Railway Forum

Well after some work and money that I hadn't budgeted for I have the basics.
I've hidden the power cables under the track. Until I find a permanent home for it I'm not sure it will get much more than some colour and ballast though
Haven't got a name for it yet though.

Quintessentially British, Mr. Brenn. I love it. "Hedgeworth" randomly popped into my
mind. I do hope you will find the time to keep us posted. The cross over arrangement
is particularly nice, and looks like you've done a masterful job at track laying.

The long, arcing outer branch makes a splendid point to circuit, as well. The
two long spurs in the centre bespeak passenger rakes, to come.

Looks pretty good so far. Seems like you might actually have a station, which is more than I have

A nice start. Make sure trains have space to pass each other on the curves at the top of the picture though.

Thanks all.
I only have the one controller so I'm not sure I can run more than one train at a time can I? It's analogue rather than DCC too. Not sure if I can convert the loco's I have to DCC easily either.

My loco list now consists of an original 1990's Charterhouse, 1977 LMS 4657, Cadbury Castle, Thomas the Tank and a nice Shiny new Hornby Class 06 Shunter (06008) in the Club edition colours

You're right, those would not be easy to convert to DCC. (I've converted quite a few different diesels, no steam ones).

A second controller would make the layout more fun as you can have one train on the express run and use the other to control the inner loop and siding. The outer siding would be controlled by the other controller.

Investing in a DCC controller before you've built up a large fleet of locos is probably a good idea, if you wish to go down the DCC route.

I can run two trains at the same time on my layout and although it's a bit fiddly to set up (because my staging yards are only accessible from one loop) it definitely adds interest to see trains passing and on a large layout it means there's often two different points of interest. I think for roundy-roundy tracks like ours it's a good feature if you can do it.

I like IanS' idea of having an express train and a slower 'more interesting' local train. Multiple trains add interest but if there's only one operator you can only operate one train at the time. Any others have to be able to be left to their own devices.

andruec wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 10:42 am ............................ but if there's only one operator you can only operate one train at the time. Any others have to be able to be left to their own devices.

Not necessarily so, you can always automate part of the layout. For instance I have two separate shuttle lines operating independenly on my modest layout whilst I can "fiddle" about on the main section. For a single or double oval with hidden sidings you can have different trains running in both directions quite easily.

On my O gauge DC layout I have a circuit on one controller where a train can go round endlessly and the sidings are operated by another controller.

I do much the same with two controllers. Double the pleasure. My hat is off to the DCC experts, but it is above my pay grade. I do wish you'd post some more more images, this layout is just the sort of thing I love to see. Moreover, it is better than what I've come up with.