NMRA British Region Forum

switcher1 wrote: so I am a bit stuck with just the two 6ftx2ft boards.

Hi Keith

I have seen some really great O gauge exibition layouts less than that in size. However for plain switching see http://www.carendt.com/articles/highland/.

Or Curren Street Yard 14' http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dMhE ... rd&f=false

If the link fails google is your friend.

Peter

This is a possibility. I have a HO standard gauge logging line, the original boards are 8' long,but an articulated steam loco and at least one car can fit on the run around ends. If only a switcher had to fit I think over 18" could come off the length, without shortening the loop that is a bit over 6' in HO less than 13' in O. The righthand top spur could feed the layout, mine is fed from the right end of the loop via another board with a very sharp 90 degree curve (pushes the articulated locos to the limit).



A photo of the left end



The middle



The right end, with loco and two cars on the end of the run around loop, the layout mainline on this layout.

For books I'd also recommend ' how to design a switching layout' and ' operating a switching layout' by Lance Mindheim , a big advocate of ' less is more' , it might give you some other ideas. Koos


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You're very welcome, he also has a website , visit www.lancemindheim.com

Lot's of pictures, an interesting blog , and gives you a taster of what you might find in the books.

Koos

Lance's books are available from 'The Titfield Thunderbolt' bookshop, www.titfield.co.uk

switcher1 wrote:Thanks, santafe1958, but they are already on order from Amazon, (&, I might add, a lot cheaper).

Edit: They have just arrived, (11am).

Win some, lose some!
At the time I purchased them it was the opposite.
However, that is neither here nor there, they are still interesting reading, and Lance does have some unusual ideas!
I have taken some of them and applied them to my own layout, in that now it takes the best part of an hour to run a local freight out and back!
And if I have a spare 20 minutes or so, then I can find some switching to do.

Brian

I'm glad these books are useful to you Keith.

Indeed, he has a fresh approach on how things can be done, and how they're done in the real world. It gives you new ideas on how to operate a layout, and in the process make the most out of a seemingly small space.

I'm sure you'll enjoy his operation book too, although a little extreme here and there for my personal taste, the general idea is to 'slow things down, take your time', and spotting 1 car suddenly takes 5 minutes instead of 10 seconds.

Koos