More progress on the new loop

Since the last post I have been busy fixing, aligning and generally securing the trackbed for the new loop and the re-routed inner loop. It doesn't look much different, actually, but is a lot steadier than it was, and ready to accept track when needed.

I have also taken up the old branch line trackbed (sob!) and installed a new one (or most of it) along the front of the layout. This, when finished, will connect with the outer loop near the sidings on F1. The new branch line isn't the most exciting of routes but should make for a more manageable gradient.






























Having got this far with the new loop, basically having both ends of it plumbed in and ready, I've decided not to do any more work on it for the time being. It will be easy to return to it in due course, without any disruption to the main layout. So once the new branch line is connected up I will return to the first fix and the track-laying. I really want to run some trains now!

Finally, a gratuitous shot of my birthday present from Karen. A very welcome addition to my motive power fleet!

Track plan revisited

While watching the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday I came up with a new version of the track plan, this time in Visio. I wanted something that was less literal and more schematic, something that I could eventually use as the basis for the layout control panel (with point motor studs, indicator LEDs, that sort of thing). Here is the result:


















Black tracks are "visible" parts of the layout. Blue tracks are the sub-surface lines. Green is the new "relief" loop. The track labels should largely speak for themselves.

I am pleased with this as a first attempt. It will, of course, need some revision. But when I am finally happy with it I should be able to have it screen-printed onto something that can form the front of the control panel.

Progress on the new loop

As hoped, I've at last been able to do some work on the new loop. The alignment is more or less (barring the usual tweaks) in place at both ends of the loop. Here is the loop junction on F5, with track added for illustration.





























And here's the new spur on F1 looking towards the back of this section (the section is currently resting on others along the back). Not a good photo; sorry.















On F5 I now need to realign the outer trackbed (F5o) as there's no longer enough clearance where the new loop spur crosses. This means starting and, of course, finishing the outer gradient further round the loop.

The other casualty of the F5 realignment is my neat little branch line feeder than snakes to and fro among the trackbed supports. The newly moved gradients now don't allow clearance for this any more, so I will reluctantly have to move it. The easiest solution will be to take a spur off the F5o mainline feeder, just after it emerges from under the new loop spur. This might also soften the gradient on the branch line, so it's no bad thing (although a less interesting alignment).

We'll gather lilacs...

If anyone has been wondering "why haven't there been any Middlehampton posts lately?" it's because the holiday season has given me almost no loft time in the past month. Plenty of thinking time, but no actual doing time. And that's been very frustrating (although the holidays have been very nice).

I am hoping that this will all change shortly. I have a new loop to build, after all, and the time it takes to build it is time I didn't expect to be spending on construction at this stage. I thought I'd be well into the track-laying, and able to work in the evenings without needing to bang, drill or saw something every five minutes. So much for the optimism of July.

I have actually done a little bit of real work; specifically, I've put in the new lower-level trackbed on F1 to provide a feed from the storage sidings out to the new loop. The layout is a building site once again. Now that the holidays are over and the weekly routines are restarting, I expect to be able to do more work, and will post photos when I have something to show for all my thinking time.

Buses will replace trains...

Hmmm.

All the enthusiasm of the previous post quickly evaporated. Flushed with success from getting my three-car DMU round without suffering from the gradients, I tried a five-car loco-hauled train using a variety of locos. Every time I ran the test, it failed on the inner loop. Not one of my locos can haul a five-car train up that slope. Wheelslip kicks in, and everything gradually grinds to a halt. On the outer loop, where the gradient is less severe, the trains make it up more or less comfortably. But this layout has two loops and both have to work; at the moment, one of them doesn't. Hmmm. (And it's not as if some people didn't warn me this might happen!)

Various options have sprung to mind as I've pondered what is effectively a roadblock:

1. Soften the inner loop gradient. Unfortunately, there isn't enough space to make an appreciable difference, so that option is more or less ruled out.
   
2. Reduce the likelihood of wheelslip. This could be with rubber tyres on the traction wheels, or somehow making the track less slippery. I don't know how much effect that could really have.
   
3. Have mechanical assistance, such as rack and pinion, to help pull trains up the slope. Apart from looking unsightly in the uncovered track sections, this would mean fitting every loco on the layout with traction pinions - not easy.
4. Push trains up the slope with a tail loco. Not really practical as the loco would have to detach and return with the train still in motion, to avoid emerging from the tunnel and spoiling the illusion.
   
5. Re-route the inner loop, as suggested by friend and fellow modeller Alan at Rio Grande. There is a loft cross-beam about 3ft from the front of the layout, which could be used to support an extra track with a gentle gradient, carrying inner loop trains from F1 round to F5.

The last option requires the most engineering, including building about 20ft of new trackbed and remodelling the station throat on F5i-B5u. But despite the delay to track-laying, I think it's the most comprehensive solution. I won't remove the existing inner loop and may try softening the gradient a little bit in the hope that at least some trains can use it. The station approach on F5 will look as if it has two mainlines merging - it will be a simple double-track crossover junction. The new line will disappear into a tunnel, cross over the outer loop on F5o, and then run round the loft beam gently losing height until it reconnects with the inner loop somewhere under the recently added F1 sidings. The new loop will be single-track, and covered, I think, for protection and to hide it from view. In time I might add some storage sidings on the loop if I need to relieve pressure on the lower level under the station.

It's a setback, but actually the operational potential of the new loop is rather interesting so it might be a blessing in disguise. The only trouble is, with the holiday season in full swing I don't know how long it'll be before I can get the work done.

Running test #1

This past weekend, back from holiday, I reached a long-awaited milestone. Click below for the evidence!



This is a vindication of all the work that has gone before, showing (a) that the trackbeds are level enough to support smooth running, and (b) that the mainline gradients are manageable. Although it has to be said, as far as (b) is concerned, that this is not the most stringent test. The test train, a Hornby class 101, is a small unit with a relatively good motor; I have yet to try the test with a longer loco-hauled train. And I also need to try the branch line, where perhaps the gradients are more challenging. I will do both of these things before going any further with construction. But, so far so good.

A work in progress

This is a brief post to check in before going off on holiday. Last weekend I did a bit more in the loft, finalising the F1 sidings and putting down the first of the cork underlay on B1l.















The above shows B1 with the lid off and the underlay on. Also shown is one of my Peco setrack points with point motor attached. Every point that goes down on the lower level will need one of these motors before the lid goes on for good.















And here is F1 with the top sidings finished (and B1 removed as in the above photo).















And finally, here is B1 with the lid on (at least temporarily) showing where the lower track will join onto B2. On B1 all the bolt holes have been drilled and the top board attaches nicely to the frame. B1 is the first board that has to come out when moving the layout and it's a bit of a fiddle (as I discovered on Saturday when I had to extract it for this work) so I may have to strengthen the frame a tad more.

When I'm back from holiday I will try to run a layout test and see whether I can get a train all the way round the circuit. Watch this space...