Roseline Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Circle Line TabletopSo the track plan I have in mind is a circle table 4 feet diameter with two tracks running in concentric circles from the middle point. (using Hornby track geometry.. That means using first radius of approx 14 inch (R 604 & R605, with the second radius of approx 17 inch (R606 & R607) Hornby curved track. ( But that might change... )At first the layout will be static, but in the future the whole table should be free to rotate... Therefore all the electrics will come up a centre hole and then spread out (probably underneath) across the layout.I will be using small shunting trains and rolling stock...I actually hope to make several of these over a long time... Depicting several scenes.Hope this now begins to make sense..I will need help as I go along because I want more track, points, sidings & landscaping advice...RoselineThis is a new posting (It used to be Track Plans / Layout, but some of you went off topic..)I composed this off-line and posted it onto the forum for spelling, grammar & technical detail..From RAF96If you are keen to have a swivel table so the layout can be whizzed round to access any part then something I have used as the pivot for a turntable is a 1/4 inch stereo jack plug and socket as used by guitars and older electronics projects. To feed just track power you could use a mono jack and socket. The beauty of this method is there is no limit to spinning it round as there would be if it was hard wired as that would wind up the power feed cables and eventually they would break. The socket mounts to the underlying framework and the jack plug is on the layout, so you can just lift it out and take it away for working on. In my case the jack plug was fitted to the turntable bed and the socket to the layout board.@howbimanYou could buy a basic round table and fit castors to the legs for total manoeuvrability........would save a lot of time........HB Never thought about that method... Castors on table legs might be much better. I will give that a serious consideration... Thanks for that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rana Temporia Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Someone did a rotating layout a number of years ago, I'm not sure if it' in one of the Model Railway Constructor annuals. Basically the layout was divided into 4 quarters and each was decorated according to a particular season. I am not sure how the power was fed to the track but the builder could manage the speed of the layout and the loco to make it appear as though the loco was still and the scenery passed by it. If I can find a link to the article I'll post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamy Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 The rotating seasonal layout was based on the Wisbech and upwell tramway. Each season represented a stage in the railways life - Spring - GER, summer LNER 1940s, Autumn early BR steam, Winter - BR diesel. I think the trackplan was a simple run round loop or terminus with run round. It wa sfeatured in BRM on one of tehir dvds I think. Very effective and effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roseline Posted December 18, 2019 Author Share Posted December 18, 2019 Circle Line Tabletop.So after looking closely at the track geometry from Hornby, it would seem that radius 2 & 3 would be better for my proposed design, as it has curved points for connecting the two tracks together and for sidings and track extensions.This will mean that my original idea of a 4 feet table top might have to be increased to a slight larger diameter. (Because of the 3rd radius being 550 mm.)I have added two photos to help identify the important points... Radius & track points./media/tinymce_upload/a111f32fafdb2b9444817146ae21ec3d.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c1fc5434d55a2b7b92a6d043b0704b4b.jpg Roseline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Just be aware that Hornby's R8074 & 8075 curved points are raised many tiimes on this forum as issues relating to derailment. Many on here advise that these Hornby points are substituted with PECO's direct replacement ST-244 and ST-245 curved points..It may be that the forum members that report derailment issues are not adopting the official Hornby track quide when using them.....see image below:./media/tinymce_upload/b546e11c2d5ae200d0c89616d54aa3cc.jpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 600mm is effectively 2 feet so you could just fit Rad 4 (572mm) onto a 4 foot diameter table, without any outside scenic work (apart from an anti-floor-dive safety fence). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Hornby curved points are not very good how ever they are layed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Unless you've a little 'Christmas set', or small 0-4-0 / 0-6-0 with short wheelbase trucks, avoid 1st radius. Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roseline Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 Ah well thanks to 'atom3624' , 'walkingthdog' , 'RAF96' & 'Chrissaf' for that advice on the curved track pointer 'points.!' I will take that advice and use it well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Have fun and enjoy - always nice to start a new project and see it advance. Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Start with the middle 2nd or 3rd radii, whichever is closest to your initial plan, then if you need to you can go in one radius or if you have room go out one radius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buz Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Hi RoselineI have only just seen this.I would suggest going with a square table 4'6" about 1350mm (hope I got the conversion right) square,that will mean all be they small everything people reasonably expect to get on a model railway will fit.Do not go below R2 many modern locomotives cannot run on R1 and it isn't on the box, it looks wrong but the Hogwarts express and other larger locomotives do get to stretch there legs every now and then on my layout If I had R1 curves that might not be possible unless using very old locomotives.More importantly with a square table extending it becomes a lot easier these things have the habit of expanding to fill all the available space.Which brings me to make sure you design in a place to extend from even if like me you are absolutely positively not going to extend the layout I said that, and now have plans to extend off the bay platform passed a warehouse down to the end of the line filling the available space only a small extension but an extension none the less.Trains will be short on a small layout but that is compensated for by it being possible to complete it to a high standard with good levels of scenic detail even small layouts take time to build./media/tinymce_upload/ea5936065f990fdebda567297ff2e9ea.jpgThis is a picture of my small layout more has been done since it was taken, compromises have to be made to get something workable, but eminently possible in the kind of space you want to build in.Remember to leave space for scenic development that is a very enjoyable if somewhat messy part of the hobby.regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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