Thanks for posting! I'm really enjoying your TT videos. It is several decades since I've made a layout. Have both Hornby TT120 sets plus some extra track with other items in pre order and planning to make a small layout shortly. Really hoping the TT120 releases keep coming as I want to spend a lot more time on this hobby when I retire, hopefully next year.
Glad you are enjoying the videos, I'm hoping Hornby will have the class 08 in stock soon so I can do a review and a bit of shunting. Thanks for watching 👍
Thanks for these videos, I haven't done a layout in over 20 years and was thinking of doing a TT, these have been really helpful, looking forward to the rest
Printing 3D templates is a smart idea! I found a local shop that could laser cut acrylic sheet from a vector art file, so a bit of work in Inkscape and voila, some nice templates for N.
Love these videos, Simon. I've wanted a TT layout for the last 40 years, and whilst the scale may have shrunk a bit, I'm finally getting my wish, so I can build one, ostensibly for my 6 year old! Love your choice of weights too. I have the same K&R C and Perl books as you, and even the same green drill! My suggestion for track glue though is copydex used as an impact glue - spread it on the track bed and also on the underside of the trackl; allowing both to set (about 20 mins). Then lay paper on the track bed and position the track. Finally, like a magician, hold the track in place and slide out the paper and the track will already be firmly held in place. The great thing too about Copydex is that you can easily peel it off if you make a mistake (and the books can stay on the bookcase!). Keep it up!
Thanks John, interesting tip on the copydex. The classic programming books are becoming a bit of a theme, I'll have to see what else is on the bookshelf 😀 Thanks for watching 🚂
My twins first love was thomas but their favourite terrier ( there being no corgi class) is stepney (non character version)and classmates Carisbrooke and picadilly with some southern green carriages bought at the SVR. We missed out on the taw valley purple model ( now also available in black) but looking forward to the coronation coach being available. A.Dryden
@@Andy.Gledhill.Models. The problem with pinning the track is that if you put too much pressure on the sleeper, it will try to draw the rails closer together as the sleeper distorts in the middle, which will may lead to derailments. Gluing is preferable IMO. If you let the glue go off a bit, it will grab as you put the track down. For straight track I would use a piece of battening weighted at either end to get a nice grip along the length. In a warm room, the glue goes off quickly so you don't need to wait several hours. I use copydex rather than PVA but I might give PVA a go. Copydex is more forgiving and might allow you to pull the track up at a later date with little damage to the sleepers. I have wondered if ballasting the usual way with PVA/water mix might also hold the track in place, but not tried that yet.
Just a suggestion, you could use bullet insulated crimps instead of soldering and heat shrinking . I used to work in electronics as an engineer pcb designer, bombardier. Get a crimping tool to do the crimping. Colours are red yellow and blue for the appropriate wire sizes. Think you’d need blue for the smaller cable and red for the main bus line.
Nice one Simon, all running nicely, some good tutorial points in there, I use the spade connectors myself for the droppers they work very well, I also like that connector to the controller might have to get some of those. You can also get from DCC Concepts a bus wire suppressor which goes on the end of the bus wire, which I don’t think are to expensive, I haven’t got one yet but will soon. Cheers for now, John
Great video, thanks for sharing your process! I assume the points will be either hand operated or using surface mounted point motors? Otherwise you might struggle to mount a motor beneath the board where your current point is. Looks like it will intersect one of the beams underneath.
Hi Simon! Nice to see the train running smoothly - especially in reverse! I'm wondering if the track underlay would benefit from being thicker? With my XPS foam base things got much quieter at 20mm thickness over 10mm, and now I'm running on 40mn all you hear is the loco and wheelsets trundling around! All the best, Ian.
Hi Ian, yes would definitely double up or buy thicker foam if I could lay it again. I might experiment with some foam underneath to see if that dampens the sound a bit. Thanks for watching 👍
Hi Simon, great video on laying your TT:120 track, iam looking into doing this myself but iam new to railmodeller pro and i was wondering how do you make a 3rd radius curve from a section peco SL-1200 Flex track. Or do you just use the hornby setrack. all the best Tony
Hi, Thinking of making a start in railway modelling and looking at the TT scale. Getting my head around the DC v DCC layouts and locomotives. This is a DC layout? When choosing the engine does it have to be the one without the decoder chip or can you run it on it? Can you upgrade later? Cheers.
Hi Simon, Have you seen the MITTBACK trestle tables available from IKEA, adjustable height , look beautifully finished. Would appreciate your professional opinion.? Best Wishes James
Hi Simon, So far looking great. I always wondered about the flex track seen in these videos. What I found has been the type that tends to straighten out once you let go. They never retain the curve that you form and it is a struggle to get them back to the required curves as you go along pining them down. How are they known or specified other than saying flex track?
From my experience that is normal. If you are going to glue the track, you can place some pins between the sleepers on the outside edge of the track at the ends to maintain the shape and then remove them once it has all set. That way you are not leaving unsightly holes in the sleepers themselves, although if you are going to paint the track, this will fill in the holes anyway. If you are going to pin the track, then the templates are a real help. You can run the template along the track and then pin as you go, that way the track will maintain the shape you want. HTH
I've found the Peco TT 120 flexi track holds its shape really well, better than the n gauge track I've used before. Definitely recommend the track templates to get the right shape and rising one en first. They are all just called flexi track as far as I'm aware 👍
@@anandadesilva6558 Yes they can be ordered online from any of the large box shifters or eBay. If you have a local model shop (rare these days) then they might stock them. The brand is called Traksetta
I heard about that. Meant to say the track itself. Even from Peco, there is a series of tracks that retain the curve once formed. The regular flex track won't do that.
Daft newbie question, how many dropper connections do you need to the main circuit that loops from the controller, is it one for each section of flexi track? And if that’s the case how would that work if you’re using the Hornby individual track pieces? Thanks 😊
Yes I'm using one for each section of flexi track. Using set track you can either hope that the fishplates keep working/conducting or do a lot of wiring!
Hi Simon, I'm about to get started building a oo track layout for me and my grandson. I've purchased a hornby train set together with most of their expansion packs, also I have the materials to build the baseboard 6ft x 4ft. I noticed on your new layout you have installed dropper wires from most of the track sections. I know that in one of the expansion packs I have a pair of wires to link two of the tracks together. Should I be doing what you are doing and linking different sections of the track together? Also in the future I would like to add another train to the layout. Sorry if these questions are a bit long, but I'm new to this, and there isn't any modelling shops located near me to ask advice. Many thanks for any help
You can just put the track together and rely on the rail-joiners to send the power along to the next piece of track, it will probably be OK for a while but eventually there is a risk they will cause issues and you may get dead sections of track. That's why I have the pair of wires running under the baseboard (the 'bus-wire') and every singly piece of track is connected to that bus-wire via the dropper wires. I think you need separate loops of track to run 2 trains at the same time (unless you get a DCC controller and DCC chips for each loco) 👍
Many thanks for your information, I was just waiting to purchase all of the bits before putting it all together. But with what you have mentioned I should be able to check for these problems if they happen. Once again many thanks for your help
@@SimonsShed that is really strange. I made that comment on the previous video I watch where a guy had 4 dapol locos running badly, not this video! UA-cam glitch!
@@SimonsShed that is really strange. I made that comment on the previous video I watch where a guy had 4 dapol locos running badly, not this video! UA-cam glitch!
I chuckled when you went in reverse at full belt. Passengers must have had kittens, LOL. I do like your down to earth commentary style. Subscribed.
As a newbie, these videos are great. Thanks.
You're very welcome!
Thanks for posting! I'm really enjoying your TT videos. It is several decades since I've made a layout. Have both Hornby TT120 sets plus some extra track with other items in pre order and planning to make a small layout shortly.
Really hoping the TT120 releases keep coming as I want to spend a lot more time on this hobby when I retire, hopefully next year.
Glad you are enjoying the videos, I'm hoping Hornby will have the class 08 in stock soon so I can do a review and a bit of shunting. Thanks for watching 👍
Thanks for these videos, I haven't done a layout in over 20 years and was thinking of doing a TT, these have been really helpful, looking forward to the rest
Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching! 🚂
It's starting to take shape, I can't wait to see the rest of the track laid to see what the final layout looks like.
its getting there, thanks for watching 🚂
Printing 3D templates is a smart idea! I found a local shop that could laser cut acrylic sheet from a vector art file, so a bit of work in Inkscape and voila, some nice templates for N.
Really enjoying this Simon….will look out for the next episode…👍👏
thanks for watching! 🚂
Love these videos, Simon. I've wanted a TT layout for the last 40 years, and whilst the scale may have shrunk a bit, I'm finally getting my wish, so I can build one, ostensibly for my 6 year old!
Love your choice of weights too. I have the same K&R C and Perl books as you, and even the same green drill!
My suggestion for track glue though is copydex used as an impact glue - spread it on the track bed and also on the underside of the trackl; allowing both to set (about 20 mins). Then lay paper on the track bed and position the track. Finally, like a magician, hold the track in place and slide out the paper and the track will already be firmly held in place. The great thing too about Copydex is that you can easily peel it off if you make a mistake (and the books can stay on the bookcase!).
Keep it up!
Thanks John, interesting tip on the copydex. The classic programming books are becoming a bit of a theme, I'll have to see what else is on the bookshelf 😀 Thanks for watching 🚂
It lives again!! Nice one Simon, a great start to the TT journey..regards, Chris
Thanks Chris, is coming along nicely 🚂
My twins first love was thomas but their favourite terrier ( there being no corgi class) is stepney (non character version)and classmates Carisbrooke and picadilly with some southern green carriages bought at the SVR. We missed out on the taw valley purple model ( now also available in black) but looking forward to the coronation coach being available. A.Dryden
Thanks for the like I had been trying to add a comment to the coronation competition 😀
Thanks Simon, as a returning modeller after many years how things have changed 😳!!!
Thanks for watching 👍
A nice scale, got me thinking now, thanks Simon
Thanks for watching 👍
Thanks for the great video and information, helps newcomers like myself.
Glad to help, thanks for watching 👍
Looking good so far Simon. Looking forward to seeing it progress further.
Thanks for watching 👍
@@SimonsShed Question. Can you pin the track down with panel pins? To save all that messing about with glue.
@@Andy.Gledhill.Models. yes a lot of people use track pins 👍🏼
@@Andy.Gledhill.Models. The problem with pinning the track is that if you put too much pressure on the sleeper, it will try to draw the rails closer together as the sleeper distorts in the middle, which will may lead to derailments. Gluing is preferable IMO. If you let the glue go off a bit, it will grab as you put the track down. For straight track I would use a piece of battening weighted at either end to get a nice grip along the length. In a warm room, the glue goes off quickly so you don't need to wait several hours. I use copydex rather than PVA but I might give PVA a go. Copydex is more forgiving and might allow you to pull the track up at a later date with little damage to the sleepers. I have wondered if ballasting the usual way with PVA/water mix might also hold the track in place, but not tried that yet.
@@pierre-de-standing Thanks for the tips. Building a TT-120 layout is something I may look into in the future. Can't afford it at the moment lol.
Just a suggestion, you could use bullet insulated crimps instead of soldering and heat shrinking . I used to work in electronics as an engineer pcb designer, bombardier. Get a crimping tool to do the crimping. Colours are red yellow and blue for the appropriate wire sizes. Think you’d need blue for the smaller cable and red for the main bus line.
Great start, and a train running too. Got to be good.
Thanks John, it's refreshing to be making such rapid progress...the joys of building a small layout! 👍
Nice one Simon, all running nicely, some good tutorial points in there, I use the spade connectors myself for the droppers they work very well, I also like that connector to the controller might have to get some of those. You can also get from DCC Concepts a bus wire suppressor which goes on the end of the bus wire, which I don’t think are to expensive, I haven’t got one yet but will soon.
Cheers for now, John
Cheers John, I'll have a look into the suppressor..I .should probably get one for my n gauge layout too!
It looks a great scale size and I like the loud sound.
Looks good.
thanks 🚂
Great video, thanks for sharing your process! I assume the points will be either hand operated or using surface mounted point motors? Otherwise you might struggle to mount a motor beneath the board where your current point is. Looks like it will intersect one of the beams underneath.
Yes for this one Im planning to keep it really simple and just operate the points by hand 👍
Hi Simon! Nice to see the train running smoothly - especially in reverse! I'm wondering if the track underlay would benefit from being thicker? With my XPS foam base things got much quieter at 20mm thickness over 10mm, and now I'm running on 40mn all you hear is the loco and wheelsets trundling around! All the best, Ian.
Hi Ian, yes would definitely double up or buy thicker foam if I could lay it again. I might experiment with some foam underneath to see if that dampens the sound a bit. Thanks for watching 👍
Hi Simon, great video on laying your TT:120 track, iam looking into doing this myself but iam new to railmodeller pro and i was wondering how do you make a 3rd radius curve from a section peco SL-1200 Flex track. Or do you just use the hornby setrack.
all the best
Tony
Hi, Thinking of making a start in railway modelling and looking at the TT scale. Getting my head around the DC v DCC layouts and locomotives. This is a DC layout? When choosing the engine does it have to be the one without the decoder chip or can you run it on it? Can you upgrade later? Cheers.
Interesting that you are using 7/02 wire for the droppers , I take it you find it's ok ?
Yes all working fine on the layout in the shed (which is a LOT bigger) 👍
good vid on thee channel thanks lee
Glad you enjoyed it 🚂
I never use flux, never seen the need for it for this sort of thing, just use the rosin cored lead solder.
I'm rubbish at soldering, is there a way to power the tracks without the need to solder the wires to it?
Well done Simon
Coming along really well Nick Australia
Thanks Nick 👍
Hi Simon, Have you seen the MITTBACK trestle tables available from IKEA, adjustable height , look beautifully finished.
Would appreciate your professional opinion.?
Best Wishes
James
look good but I've no experience of them myself.
Hi Simon,
So far looking great. I always wondered about the flex track seen in these videos. What I found has been the type that tends to straighten out once you let go. They never retain the curve that you form and it is a struggle to get them back to the required curves as you go along pining them down. How are they known or specified other than saying flex track?
From my experience that is normal. If you are going to glue the track, you can place some pins between the sleepers on the outside edge of the track at the ends to maintain the shape and then remove them once it has all set. That way you are not leaving unsightly holes in the sleepers themselves, although if you are going to paint the track, this will fill in the holes anyway. If you are going to pin the track, then the templates are a real help. You can run the template along the track and then pin as you go, that way the track will maintain the shape you want. HTH
I've found the Peco TT 120 flexi track holds its shape really well, better than the n gauge track I've used before. Definitely recommend the track templates to get the right shape and rising one en first. They are all just called flexi track as far as I'm aware 👍
@@SimonsShed is tere a similar one for HO?
@@anandadesilva6558 Yes they can be ordered online from any of the large box shifters or eBay. If you have a local model shop (rare these days) then they might stock them. The brand is called Traksetta
I heard about that. Meant to say the track itself. Even from Peco, there is a series of tracks that retain the curve once formed. The regular flex track won't do that.
Any issues with the BR mk1 coaches rubbing on the curves?
No they are fine now the track is fixed down 👍
How wide has the baseboard to be to fit a 180 degr turn ?
think its around 75cm (its radius 3 equivalent) .
Like for the Programming Perl underlay weight.
😁 its a classic.
@@SimonsShed Yeah but Kernighan and Ritchie is the best ;)
Great vid :) can you share the 3d files you used for the track curve and straight setter?
Daft newbie question, how many dropper connections do you need to the main circuit that loops from the controller, is it one for each section of flexi track? And if that’s the case how would that work if you’re using the Hornby individual track pieces? Thanks 😊
Yes I'm using one for each section of flexi track. Using set track you can either hope that the fishplates keep working/conducting or do a lot of wiring!
Hi Simon, I'm about to get started building a oo track layout for me and my grandson. I've purchased a hornby train set together with most of their expansion packs, also I have the materials to build the baseboard 6ft x 4ft. I noticed on your new layout you have installed dropper wires from most of the track sections. I know that in one of the expansion packs I have a pair of wires to link two of the tracks together. Should I be doing what you are doing and linking different sections of the track together? Also in the future I would like to add another train to the layout. Sorry if these questions are a bit long, but I'm new to this, and there isn't any modelling shops located near me to ask advice. Many thanks for any help
Have you got Facebook Peter? Join the OO layout beginners group
You can just put the track together and rely on the rail-joiners to send the power along to the next piece of track, it will probably be OK for a while but eventually there is a risk they will cause issues and you may get dead sections of track. That's why I have the pair of wires running under the baseboard (the 'bus-wire') and every singly piece of track is connected to that bus-wire via the dropper wires. I think you need separate loops of track to run 2 trains at the same time (unless you get a DCC controller and DCC chips for each loco) 👍
Many thanks for your information, I was just waiting to purchase all of the bits before putting it all together. But with what you have mentioned I should be able to check for these problems if they happen. Once again many thanks for your help
@@DominicGreen432 Hi George, many thanks for your reply, but no I don't use or have Facebook. Can you recommend any books that may be of any help.
If you made two or three of those straight templates and glued them to a longer ruler, it would be easier to maintain a straight line.
good idea 👍
Hey Simon, loving the progress, would you consider making those track templates for purchase? in N also?
Will add these to the list when I reopen the ebay shop 👍
@@SimonsShed fantastic :) shame nobody does these for express track spacings 😉
I had a dapol 2-6-2 and it never ran well. Eventually it died. Very disappointed
sorry to hear that.
@@SimonsShed that is really strange. I made that comment on the previous video I watch where a guy had 4 dapol locos running badly, not this video! UA-cam glitch!
@@SimonsShed that is really strange. I made that comment on the previous video I watch where a guy had 4 dapol locos running badly, not this video! UA-cam glitch!
Be careful not the glue the point blades.......er guilty of doing that 20 years ago!
Yes I've done it myself in the past, not good! 😅
@@SimonsShed yeh destroyed a few Peco points that way.