Jump to content

Playing Trains


Jeff Mennell

Recommended Posts

Hi all, what I need to know is how does one 'play' trains?? My layout renovation is almost complete so the time is drawing closer when I will have to think about what I want to 'do' with it. As a kid I would play trains but as an adult I have no idea. I've forgotten how to 'play'. Depends on the layout, I know but basically I need a 'point' to what I'm doing if you catch my drift. I can't just watch a loco going round and round 'cos I'll lose interest in five mins. I have spent a lot of time and money on this layout and worried that it'll be left unused unless I can think of how to interact with it in some way!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Couple of ideas:

Scenarios: depending on the complexity of your layout, you can act out scenarios and try different things, e.g. match up x loco with y rolling stock (maybe one that isn't normally attached to it), with z loco involved in the shunting.  Then you can put them all back to where they started...  Also, depending on what you have rolling stock-wise you could have other scenarios to enact - e.g. a breakdown crane/train attending a derailment, a freight loco on a passenger train as a railtour 'special' etc.

Photography/video: if you've spent the time renovating the layout, see what good/interesting photos and videos you can get, including ones from interesting angles you wouldn't normally watch the trains from.

If you're wanting to regress fully to childhood, you can always make up daft/over-long trains for something to do, but careful of straining any motors!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 There are so many variations if 'playing with trains' . Here are a few -

 

1. Watching the trains go by.

You set up trains that are pleasing to the eye, set the road, and turn on the controllers. You then sit and watch the trains going round  consuming a beverage and/or biscuit of your choice. Until you get bored with it. You can then create some different trains,  different locos, carriages and wagons,  and repeat as often as you wish. Or until SWMBO calls you for tea.

 

This is how I run my coarse scale gauge O garden railway.

 

2. Running to a time table.

For this ideally you need two or more stations. You plan a day in the life of your layout, write down all the trains you want to run and then operate your trains to that plan. A clock that runs to 'scale time' is sometimes used, although not everyone agrees with this. If your railway is based on a real location you can of course use a real timetable but I think that you will get fed up in the intervening  30 minutes or more between consecutive trains. You need to hurry up time in some way. A lot of exhibition layouts operate like this.

 

I will operate my OO shed railway like this.

 

3. Moving the goods

This is for people who like shunting. You have to have at least two different sets of sidings, the more the better,  and a good variety of goods wagons. These wagons are distributed at random into each of your sidings before you start. You also need a pack of cards with the identity of each wagon you have written on it . Every wagon should have a number.  

You then shuffle and deal the cards into piles representing the sidings you have on your layout. You then operate your goods train calling at each siding removing wagons that are not in the pile of cards for that siding and placing the wagons into the sidings which are.  Wagons removed stay on the train until it reaches the correct siding. No cheating, every wagon has to be moved by the loco. You finish when all the wagons are distributed into the sidings according to the cards, Then you shuffle the cards, deal them out and start again.

 

I have plans for a fine scale O gauge shunting layout that will operate in this way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I' m not overly into trains. It started off with a loco, 2 coaches and about 6 wagons , and a fair amount of old steel track which had lay in a box from the late 50's.My little director general suggested I get running for our 1st grandson. But I do like making things and especially scenery. I get real chuffed when it turns out A1 and exceeds my expectations. 1st grandson , then No.2. Showed no interest, but to my surprise their little sister liked them, but inevitibly she has arrived at 12.yrs and is now close to teens and has developed other interests. But she stills comes up to the loft to see what is going on. I,m looking forward to loco detection ( ? ) and I will probably get into shunting programmes etc, which does fire my enthusium somewhat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I usualy set up three trains and watch them go round a bit then when I'm bored with them, I get different rolling stock and/or locos and then watch them go round. I have three loops and an A to B branch line so have to keep an eye on the branch train. I like the branch line trains as it can have all sorts of cargos - passengers, livestock, coal, milk, post etc. All require different wagons so I can shunt them all into possition. I haven't got a lot of room for shunting but that what I do is fun. My younger sister enjoys transporting the figures and animals behind her own engine and taking them to other places. You could also make your own trains for current occasions, for example at Christmas, I sometimes set up my own 'Christmas Train': last year I had Evening Star pulling one pullman coach for Santa and Elves, a livestock van for reindeer, a flatbed with a Christmas tree on it and another van for all the presents.

 

I think it's important to have lots of different rolling stock for different purposes especially on a made-up layout so you don't get bored.  😀

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shunting has already been previously mentioned and you say it's DC so one train at a time, but that ain't neccesarily the case.

Why not look at options to improve what you already have, provide more flexability using insulated rail joiners and additional controllers (which can be relatively cheap), auto stopping at platforms using blocks (irj's), provide a reversing loop or a turntable if you have the money.

Some people just like to build the track and aren't particularly interested in running them others like problem solving by getting the maximumout of the minimum space they have.

Basically a trainset / model railway  (depending on whether you play or model) will keep the grey matter ticking over.

Youtube is your friend, I look at various peoples site's Barrie Davis ( got some great idea's) Chambs 123 is another, Sams Trrains also,so there are plenty to view.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This looked like a thread that would have provided some good advice to a lot of members.  I wonder if the Title has put some people off responding.  Maybe something like, 'How do you use your Layout', would have attracted inputs from the more experienced modellers as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jeff,

The question you have to ask yourself is what is your railways layout purpose?  Freight traffic, Passinger traffic or both,

Passinger traffic moves people from point a to b. turminus station  5 time around the circuit to turminus station and return..

Frieght traffic move goods fuel etc again from point a to b selection of trucks mashelled into a frieght train leaves point a travels 5 times around circuit arives a point b  coal turck shunted into a siding , box wagon to storage shed pick up other for return trip.

Does not matter if Steam Diesel or electric, old or pre modern principle is the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LC &DR, I think that's why I went for the 'Playing Trains' as a subject rather than something like 'How Do You Maximise the Limitations of Your Miniature Railway' or similar! Though it doesn't help when your daughter refers to a new loco as 'Dad's new toy! ie 'There was nothing in the post today except for a new toy for Daddy'!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rather than going into a long winded explanation of my little 6x4 DC layouts operation, here's a couple of old videos showing a typical running session.

You may want to skip the first 3 minutes of the first video to get to the nitty gritty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Geoff, I think the problem with my layout is the fact it only has a single loop which means not much background action / movement takes place when the object loco is being controlled. Nothing I can do about it unfortunately but I can see from your videos what a difference multiple loops can make, thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jeff

I am in a similar position although I have yet to build the track just about finished my baseboards.  I went to some layout exhibitions for some ideas and can see the value of dcc in that it will extend the play concept by adding time to start engines beep horns etc however I am a chronic collector and must have 30 locos so no way I can afford to put chips in them all.  As a child I remember thinking up scenarios whether it was with Dinky toys or my railway.  On the other hand may be you have to consider that perhaps you are to old to 'play' and your brain is to educated to go back to child like thoughts, years ago I had an old Jaguar hobby car and whilst I enjoyed cleaning and preparing it I also enjoyed driving it the equivalent of play.  At the enthusiasts club there was a guy who bought a wreck rebuilt it and sold it to do the same again in reality he didn't want to play in his car.

Obviously you need to try all the good suggestions and I especially like the emergency scenario or the pack of shunting cards but may be you might have to accept memories of playing are best left in your memory?

Just thoughts

Roger

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So increasing playability to keep you interested is what you are seeking, I too have grappled with this issue for some time, years to be precise, here is what I have come up with.

 

My layout is DCC controlled and will run express passenger trains. It consists  of 4 loops, 1  station with 6 thru lines, an engine yard with shed, turntable, coaling tower, ash plant and a few other essentials, 2 storage sidings for excess rolling stock and a 2 line marshalling yard. Layout has the ability to run 4 trains with 5 carriages each with the option to run a 5th loco  in and around the yards where I will perform a number of tasks. The plan is to have the 4 trains running, I can bring locos in and out of the depot and into the station to change locos that pull the passenger services, i can shuffle locos around in the depot, coal and water them up and turn them around if needed. Or, with my yet to be purchased 08 shunter, I can build new formations with carriages from the sidings that I'll move into the marshalling yard and bring 1 train in from the mainline and replace with a new formation and loco. 

 

Ive been tinkering with this layout for a good 6 months now and it's still keeping me interested so I think I'm gonna go with it, my only issue is that with 4 loops, to get the layout to do everything I want it to do I've used 44 points on a 12x6 board, it looks good but hasn't left much scope to incorporate tunnels or bridges as there always seems to be a point in the way and I don't wanna cover up any pointed areas. Plus with the 44 points it's taking forever to accumulate 44 point motors because I keep spending my money on locos(5 already this year)when I really need point motors to crack on with making the layout permanent and scenic, another half dozen passenger cars would be handy too. 

 

Im always looking for ways to add more playability to my layout, I don't think I'll ever be totally happy until I'm taking up both sides of my double garage lol.

 

Ps. This daft forum just logged me out while typing this reply, lucky I've learnt to copy before posting or I'd be mega annoyed right about now!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tynside Emu,(or anybody else), what is auto stop on a DC layout? Never heard of it.

 

This could be one of the auto reversing modules that some companies produce, or it could be as simple as a diode soldered across a break in the track.  The diode acts like a one way valve for the electric current.  It stops a loco i.e. in a blind siding or shed, but still allows the loco to reverse out when the polarity is changed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jeff Mennall

Well its a bit old hat but the point is to have some good old-fashioned fun 😆

I would suggest sequence operation rather than time table.

Time table operation usually involves some sort of fast clock and adds pressure to get there on time not needed for a hobby.

I would also look at the card system which is a USA idea and I have seen it modified to run West Australian and Queensland trains

which operated closer to the UK model than the USA model of operations.

Don't forget that there will be times it's been a bad day and you will just want to watch the trains go round and round

regards John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all

Auto stop as its name implies it automatically stops the train, I am wondering if this is the station stop device that slowed the train and stopped it in the station then after a set number of seconds allowed the train to continue on its journey.

It certainly isn't the Auto reverse set up often used on Christmas trams and the like.

You can actually do quite a lot with DC you just need to know how don't let the wire scare you most people see the wire then throw their hands in the air and say I can't do this.

regards John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jeff, some links for companies (cottage industry producers) making MR electronic products that might interest you.

.

DC Analogue (& DCC) Control Products (aware of but not used their products myself).

Heathcote

Block Signalling (Home Page)

Block Signalling (Station Stop product page)

.

Lighting and Accessories (have personally used all these companies).

Kytes Lights

Layout4U

CRSignals

Miller Engineering (excellent postal service from a US based supplier)

Express models

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
  • Create New...