Hi
I'm new to this Society & therefore this forum.
I have inherited some lovely scratch built locomotives with some rolling stock + a small amount of track.
For many years i have some baseboards that have not been used.
So if one was going to start a new layout from scratch, would you construct a terminus with a fiddle yard at one end or a round and round layout?
Taking into account that it might go to shows.
BASEBOARD SET 1 is 2No. 1500 x 450 [one with an inbuilt sliding board] so 2300 Scenic and 700mm Fiddle yard, total length 3m
BASEBOARD SET 2 is 2No. 1220 x 600 which would give 1220 x 1200.
I am lucky enough to have space in my dry insulated loft for either.
So your thoughts would be gratefully received.
I think end to end or continuous run is very much up to personal choice. I keep an eye on some layout design Facebook pages and it seems a lot of people (most probably ones who have never built a model railway) start from the point of view of filling the space available with track as if it was an obstacle course and thinking about it as if they were driving a car on a jaunt rather than creating a segment of a railway that serves a ' purpose.
I think it is also a matter of personal preference whether the layout should be long and thin or squarer. This might be determined whether you see yourself wanting to see the layout with a 'god's eye' view or get down lower to look at it from nearer eye-level (irrespective of what the actual baseboard height is). At home it can be a lot easier to arrange things for ideal viewing when seated and when standing than at exhibitions where the viewers come in all shapes and sizes.
If it is a freelance railway rather than a recreation of a section of a real one, one approach is to think about the backstory to the line. It need not be a complete history (though a good number of people enjoy making one), but have some idea why the railway exists, what it serves and at least a general notion of the sort of timetable or schedule it might run. It then gives a basis on which to incorporate things like passenger and goods handling, passing loops, sidings and so on. From that it can give some idea of the sort of 'moves' that are possible, are not possible or ones with alterations can be made possible. I think that is likely to be more successful that putting in sidings where there is space or because it might look good.
Such moves might include things such as trains on a single track travelling in opposite directions and crossing paths at a station using a loop. Maybe treating a station (end to end layout or continuous run) as a terminus with a run around loop to put the loco at the front end. Perhaps a goods train picking up or dropping of goods, moving a brake van from one end to the other and so on. Sketching out some ideas and perhaps moving counters about the plan should give some indication of what can be done. If it looks as if all that is possible is 'enter stage left, exit stage right' interest could wane quickly.
Of course that might be the desired effect if one is primarily a collector of locomotives and stock and is seeking a way to queue up a succession of trains to watch them travel past and through some scenic features.
There is an old set of guidelines coined by the late modeller John Armstrong "Givens and Druthers". Draw up two lists: one of the 'Givens', the fixed quantitites and qualities and the 'Druthers' the other things it would be nice to have and start a design working to those criteria.
If you want a hands free end-to-end layout including locos running round trains and shunting then this will require quite a bit of work getting all the couplings to self centralize, be at exactly the same height and work well with every other coupling.
If you are happy to couple and uncouple by hand then this is not so critical.
It is also worth knowing at a planning stage that 009 couplings do not couple up together well on curves.
If you are going to have continuous run only then all the couplings need to do is stay coupled together!
From an operators point of view a layout with continuous running only can become quite boring quite quickly.
An end to end layout, especially one that involves shunting as well, gives far more interest to the operator.
However, if you have poor slow running and coupling adjustment issues then a layout of this type is a total pain to operate!
There is another factor for you to consider:
You state that you have scratch built locos, if you have a continuous run layout these locos will ware out far quicker than on an end to end layout as they will inevitably do a lot more millage.
Re-building and getting parts for scratch built chassis may prove to be near impossible.
The same can also be said for some ready to run N gauge chassis, however often these can be replaced with a complete chassis, but at a cost.
Basically all the locos will all ware out quicker on a continuous run layout than they would on an end to end layout.
Looking at the sizes of the boards I'd suggest the following:
Set 1 at 450mm wide is insufficient width to have a circuit unless your stock will traverse curves of less than 9" - probably more like 8" once you've laid the track far enough in from the baseboard edge to allow for things to 'safely' fall off without plummeting to the floor. On those boards I'd build a 'terminus to fiddle yard' scheme, but I wonder how easy a pair of 1500mm (5 foot as near as) long baseboards will be to maneuver out of the loft, through the house and into the car, then out of the car and into the venue with the reverse trip at the end of the show, even with one person at each end.
Set 2 might be a better bet for a circuit of track, but I'm assuming that as you list 2 x 1220 by 600 mm (4 feet by 2 feet in old money) then 1220 x 1220 when they are together then I assume they are linked by their long edge - which could make things awkward. A 4 foot square would give you a nice wide circle of track, but fitting in a sensible station at the front and a fiddle yard at the back whilst keeping the curves to a sensible radii could be 'challenging'. In that respect it may be better to use the boards in an '8 foot by 2 foot' format and use 10" radii curves at each end. between the front station and rear fiddle yard.
A pair of 4' by 2' boards may be easier to maneuver than the 5' long ones, but even so I suspect it will also need 2 people, especially if the 2 boards are bolted together into a box for transport.
As to what you build to exhibit...
At a show I generally find more interest from terminus to fiddle yard types as there seems to be much more going on by way of shunting movements. But that needs locos that are reliable enough to run at the slower speeds needed and precision when it comes to couplings (set to the same height and central to the stock and track) so that they too work reliably, and you may also want some form of 'hands free' system to avoid the hand of god making an appearance. It is also quite hard work for the operator as you'll need to 'work' all the time making a train in the fiddle yard, moving it to the station, shunting it around, running it back then repeat. What happens when you want to take a break to look at the show, get your lunch or a cuppa, or pop off for a 'comfort break' (though this may be less of an issue if you haven't eaten or drunk anything all day as you can't get away from the layout!). A second operator can be a godsend for layouts like this as you can run things 'one man on, one man off', or if it's a not very interesting show one of you can drive the trains and shunt the station whilst the other gets the next train ready in the fiddle yard.
If you are going to be a solo exhibitor then a 'roundy roundy' might be better, or at least have some facility on the layout for having something trundling round whilst you nip to the loo and grab a cuppa, or so you don't have to break off a conversation with a punter about the layout, stock or what-have-you whilst you change a point you forgot about or position a set of couplings over the uncoupler or re-rail the train you've just driven off the end of a siding...
Thank you for your replies.
My thinking is less is more!
So I might just do a simple terminus, with a coal canal adjacent and a small brewery.
I think also to construct a short and long layout as quiet often these days shows are put on for just a day.
I will start drawing it up and post again my thought so as to get further comments.
Thanks again.
If you are hoping to exhibit then think clearly about your 'moves' especially if you are a single operator.
If the track configuration and the operation you wish to carry out ties up things where it seems to the audience that nothing much is happening for a long time then they might lose interest. Conversely if operation means simply driving in and out repeatedly then again interest might pall. Having a clear route in and out and carrying out shunting off the main or as near to it as possible can avoid being tied up in a complex move.
Being able to mix things up might rekindle interest. If say in the middle of a long and involved bit of goods shunting, a rail bus for example comes in drops off and picks up passengers and departs again it breaks events up. Things like that can come to the rescue if for instance couplings are misbehaving and failing to couple up. It gives the operator a bit of respite and relieves the frustration of dealing with 'troublesome trucks'.
On the other hand, having only trivial moves to carry can make for a long and boring weekend so it is good to be able to throw in something challenging.