Hi Simon, good to see you back, just liked and subbed,(long overdue, sorry for the delay), I'm looking forward to seeing the layout developing, thanks for sharing, take care, all the best from Scotland, Stephen.
Thanks for sharing. A couple of quick thoughts: Avoid S curves - derailments tend to follow. For your second station, perhaps start it at an angle to the baseboard - that way making it a little more visually interesting? Test your layout by running anything, even DC. Practical runs are a great way to test practicality of a design. Also test it with the longest engines/carriages that you have - not only in movement but in working out siding capacity for your later use. Most of all - remember to have fun - rule 1 - it's your railway :)
Hi Simon. I like the changes to the track and it's good to see it all down. I was very surprised to hear you say that with insulfrog points, which by the look of things is what you have, you need to fit insulated rail joiners. That is different to all the advice I have seen regularly given on many Facebook groups or in Forums, when the same question has been asked. So I went hunting for the PECO booklet I bought when I first came back to the hobby entitled "Wiring the Layout Part 1: First Steps" It says very clearly that "Insulfrog points, when set to one route, automatically isolate the blade and frog rail to the other route i.e. the one not in use, and thus (in most situations) insulated rail joiners do need fitting" The situations you might need them is either (for a DC wired layout) if you going to be running two trains on separate loops with separate controllers which are joined by two sets of points creating a crossover, or where you have a reversing loop, or triangle. Where did you see PECO advising that insulated rail joiners are needed with insulfrog points? Stephen
Hi Simon I am new to your channel and great to catch you at pretty much the same stage as I am returning to the hobby after a 40+ year brake. I also lost all my original layout and all my worldly goods as it happens in a fire in 93 so have nothing from that time. I will be watching your progress to pick up any ideas and help I can as so much has changed in my absence. Your layout is looking good already.
Looking really good and a great explanation of the vision you have for what is going where. Not sure on the point advice, if they are ST240/ST241 points then I have used them with clips and they work absolutely fine for me with no shorts. One thing to look out for are any S curves when running larger steam locomotives, especially with curved points too. One channel I'd recommend is Charlie at Chadwick Model Railway for both beginners and experienced modellers alike.
Hi Simon , looking good with the track plan and fingers crossed that we see some trains running soon . I'm afraid I can't advise you with the point wiring as I have always used Hornby points with clips , I found it easier than going under the layout putting dropper wires in . If I get under the layout and look up the world goes round and round 🙃 , great update though ........Peter
Great update looks good and your plans too I’m looking forward to seeing develop, so far as testing what I did was to use coaches to test the curves but if your adding insulated rail joiners I’m sure you’ll have to apply power to each section, I’m no wiz at that so can’t offer to much advice, hope you cagey some further advice that helps u - Mark
If using DCC it's prudent to have the insulated joiners because wide flanges can sometimes bridge the gap of the frog and short out on the insulfrog stuff. A few extra wires won't hurt but it is a necessary evil.
Hi Simon if it was me i would make it work with the minimum amount of droppers and run trains not so much to test track but to test if the plan works for you the holes in the board if you move the track just put a bit of blue tac in your going to cover every inch of board with scenics materials or platforms or buildings. How a plan looks is different to how it feels when running trains and do some shunting and really test the plan.If your worried about the track moving put small bits of strips of double-sided tap down and then you can just pull it of. And you do need insulation jioners. Hope that helps. Colin
Hiya Simon my friend, im really like the look of this layout i cant really offer advice about the turn outs im still al dc analogue, but i do think this type of issue is why the dcc brigade but wires all the way around beneath ghe track and put dropper every few inches? All the best my friend
A great video of your track laying Simon!!! Thanks for sharing! Cheers Onno.
Many thanks Onno
Hi Simon looks great looking forward to more progress regards Andy
Many thanks
Hi Simon, good to see you back, just liked and subbed,(long overdue, sorry for the delay), I'm looking forward to seeing the layout developing, thanks for sharing, take care, all the best from Scotland, Stephen.
Many thanks Stephen
Nice work and great layout. We appreciate you 😊
Many thanks
Thanks for sharing. A couple of quick thoughts: Avoid S curves - derailments tend to follow. For your second station, perhaps start it at an angle to the baseboard - that way making it a little more visually interesting? Test your layout by running anything, even DC. Practical runs are a great way to test practicality of a design. Also test it with the longest engines/carriages that you have - not only in movement but in working out siding capacity for your later use. Most of all - remember to have fun - rule 1 - it's your railway :)
Many thanks for your fantastic suggestions, will have a look at implementing them…Simon
Hi Simon. I like the changes to the track and it's good to see it all down. I was very surprised to hear you say that with insulfrog points, which by the look of things is what you have, you need to fit insulated rail joiners. That is different to all the advice I have seen regularly given on many Facebook groups or in Forums, when the same question has been asked. So I went hunting for the PECO booklet I bought when I first came back to the hobby entitled "Wiring the Layout Part 1: First Steps" It says very clearly that "Insulfrog points, when set to one route, automatically isolate the blade and frog rail to the other route i.e. the one not in use, and thus (in most situations) insulated rail joiners do need fitting" The situations you might need them is either (for a DC wired layout) if you going to be running two trains on separate loops with separate controllers which are joined by two sets of points creating a crossover, or where you have a reversing loop, or triangle. Where did you see PECO advising that insulated rail joiners are needed with insulfrog points? Stephen
That should be "insulated rail joiners do NOT need fitting" 🙄
Hi Simon I am new to your channel and great to catch you at pretty much the same stage as I am returning to the hobby after a 40+ year brake. I also lost all my original layout and all my worldly goods as it happens in a fire in 93 so have nothing from that time. I will be watching your progress to pick up any ideas and help I can as so much has changed in my absence. Your layout is looking good already.
Many thanks for taking the time to comment, and good luck with your build…
Looking really good and a great explanation of the vision you have for what is going where. Not sure on the point advice, if they are ST240/ST241 points then I have used them with clips and they work absolutely fine for me with no shorts.
One thing to look out for are any S curves when running larger steam locomotives, especially with curved points too.
One channel I'd recommend is Charlie at Chadwick Model Railway for both beginners and experienced modellers alike.
Many thanks for the advice
good vid nice track plane thanks lee
Many thanks Lee
Hi Simon , looking good with the track plan and fingers crossed that we see some trains running soon . I'm afraid I can't advise you with the point wiring as I have always used Hornby points with clips , I found it easier than going under the layout putting dropper wires in . If I get under the layout and look up the world goes round and round 🙃 , great update though ........Peter
Hi Peter, Peco did not design their insulated points for DCC very well...Simon
Great update looks good and your plans too I’m looking forward to seeing develop, so far as testing what I did was to use coaches to test the curves but if your adding insulated rail joiners I’m sure you’ll have to apply power to each section, I’m no wiz at that so can’t offer to much advice, hope you cagey some further advice that helps u - Mark
Many thanks for all your comments Mark, very much appreciated. Simon
If using DCC it's prudent to have the insulated joiners because wide flanges can sometimes bridge the gap of the frog and short out on the insulfrog stuff. A few extra wires won't hurt but it is a necessary evil.
All makes sense
Hi Simon if it was me i would make it work with the minimum amount of droppers and run trains not so much to test track but to test if the plan works for you the holes in the board if you move the track just put a bit of blue tac in your going to cover every inch of board with scenics materials or platforms or buildings. How a plan looks is different to how it feels when running trains and do some shunting and really test the plan.If your worried about the track moving put small bits of strips of double-sided tap down and then you can just pull it of. And you do need insulation jioners. Hope that helps. Colin
Many thanks for your suggestions Colin, will have a go at them…simon
Hiya Simon my friend, im really like the look of this layout i cant really offer advice about the turn outs im still al dc analogue, but i do think this type of issue is why the dcc brigade but wires all the way around beneath ghe track and put dropper every few inches? All the best my friend
Hi Digger, its a bit of a pain the way Peco have designed their insulated frogs when running under DCC...Simon
Great video. What size is the layout and what size are each of the boards? All the best, Jon