GWR LNER fan 4472 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 I have plans for a single track analogue Thomas loop to go round the room in our new house that we're hoping to move into in Febuary-March time. We'll keep our normal layout, but this will be a Thomas-themed one. My idea is to have it based on various locations from Thomas's branchline. I chose this as my basis because there's much more photos and illustrations of this than Duck's or Edward's and I didn't want to have the main line as it would mean double track and more expensive engines. So far, the locations I'm intending to model are 'the post windmill' as seen in the opening titles, Mrs Kyndley's cottage, the road over rail bridge and signal box again in the opening titles, Elsbridge river bridge and Elsbridge/Knapford station. In the books, Elsbridge is a small through station, but in the TV series it's a four-platform junction, seemingly based off Knapford station from the books. However in the TV series, Knapford is a huge canopied station. As I'm happy switching between and combining elements from the books and TV series, the station I'll model could be the TV series verision of Elsbridge or Knapford junction from the books whenever I fell like it. This limits the number of Thomas locos I can get, as only four permanently work on Thomas's branch. I already have a Hornby Percy and trucks, but when Bachmann's UK range becomes available I'll get Thomas and Annie and Clarabel, no need for an expensive Gordon or Henry. Has anyone got any idea when the Bachmann range will be out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR LNER fan 4472 Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 /media/tinymce_upload/d1d612736f24d1b5b24a1394198c6a63.png Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWR-Gordon-4 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 These plans sound very good, but will take a while to build I reckon. Please post photos of construction of it along the way and of course the finished layout! GNR-Gordon-4 (HF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR LNER fan 4472 Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 I will indeed. As I say, nothing's actually been started yet as we haven't moved in to our new house yet (it's still being built), but I have a lot of the baseboard, track and scenery etc ready to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Using the dreaded curved points I see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 They are fine as long as they are not Hornby. I have several sets on my layout and they work well. They are streamline. /media/tinymce_upload/7144d8e781ed34746aa025d96ec12f77.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWR-Gordon-4 Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 @GWR & LNER fan 4472 That's a good diagram. Well done. 😀 @RAF96 and @walkingthedog What's wrong with curved points? Derailing issues? I have never used them, hence my question. GNR-Gordon-4 (HF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 The Hornby version tends to derail some locos and rolling stock. Not always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWR-Gordon-4 Posted December 25, 2019 Share Posted December 25, 2019 I didn't know that. I don't any cureved point at present, but if I do in the future and decide to change my layout, I will remember that. All of my track at present is PECO track anyway, apart from the diamond crossing, which is a Hornby piece. The PECO version was just slightly too long and wouldn't fit. I like to keep all of my track to the same manufactuer, if I can. GNR-Gordon-4 (HF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR LNER fan 4472 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 Project update:The room I'm planning to put this in is now fully painted. Looking forward to setting up the boards in coming months. Another part of the layout not shown on the track plan I posted earlier is the plan for a triangle off the top left hand corner. Ideally I'd like it to split just before the curved points and join up with the straight bit at the top off to the left of the diagram. Any suggestions for triangles using Hornby set track or would flexi track be easier? Preferably no tighter than 2nd rad, but only planning to run max 0-6-0s on this, so could be tighter if need be. We have a triangle on our existing layout, but every side to that is curved and on this one, one is straight. I've tried FreeTrackPlans, but can't see anything obvious to go off, anyone know of any plans that include a very small triangle?Thanks for any suggestions :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 As your plan is analogue powered you will likely need a reversing switch arrangement for your proposed triangle, which is effectively a reversing loop, i.e. a loco going in from one direction can eventually reappear going in the other direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howbi Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 @GWR & LNER fan.......... have a look at this site, shows what you need........you would not need the reverse loop module, that is for DCC so a changeover switch would be needed to reverse the polarity...HB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR LNER fan 4472 Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 Brilliant, thanks for that howbiman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR LNER fan 4472 Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 Well I said it was going to take a while...Anyway, here are some updates:I've done a bit of scratch-building and kit-bashing to create a water tower and a footbridge. For the water tower, I've used a temporary cover from the sprinkler system in our new house, an offcut of copper pipe, an empty Humbrol paint tin and an offcut of live wire. I haven't done much scratch building before, but all in all I'm pretty pleased with the results. The Humbrol spray paint is really easy to use and gets good results, love it! It's based on the water towers you see on the Thomas and Friends TV series. Although a tad out of scale, it does the job./media/tinymce_upload/5088b879808dbeec7e33c0d2c0fd905b.jpg For the footbridge, I used some Airfix kits from the '70s, two of which were built and had fallen apart over the years, and one was an unbuilt kit. I intended to base it on the bridge seen at Elsbridge station, which comes down from the high-level station building onto the platforms, seen here:https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Elsbridge/Gallery?file=TheFlyingKipper56.png In order to get the correct height, I had to chop and glue the supports to be three X panels high on one support. The differences with my version are that the steps on the near end go down in two stages, as per the original Airfix kits, and for extra detail, I've added some advertisments, including a Dalby-esque nod to the Railway Series itself. Unpainted model, showing the faded old kits and the unbuilt parts in light grey:/media/tinymce_upload/8d23be5e23f4b7ed97d97aad173046af.jpgPainted bridge:/media/tinymce_upload/d0d089d983c597c6def430b377972289.jpgWith signs that I printed out and glued on:/media/tinymce_upload/4b5836c8eef9c81665cd8833f88d11ff.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/2a4a6cc76bda44c26e4f6877eeec4ba9.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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