Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
Well matey, the track plan on that one does look a bit more interesting to operate, for starters. What's the scale/gauge?
Looking forward to hearing more!
Boomers Wood
- Thread starter Steve Cook
- Start date
Well matey, the track plan on that one does look a bit more interesting to operate, for starters. What's the scale/gauge?
Looking forward to hearing more!
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Its S scale Capt'n. The layout is Maurice Hopper's old one, Stroudley Green - there is a bit of hitory of the build up of it on the S Scale society website here . Overall size is 93" X 20" at its widest, there is a cassette fiddle yard out of shot on the left hand side.
It passed from Maurice to Simon D whereupon it gained a set of legs - its now lost these as they were too low for me. There are many schemes and ideas floating around at the moment, it is destined to sit in the lounge and be ruminated over until I'm clear what I want from it. Don't hold your breath just yet
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Love the second shot in your last post of the Hymek.........mind you BFYE Hymeks trundling around branch lines near to closure with short pick up goods tend to push all the right buttons for me
Glad you enjoyed it Phill, it was certainly a break from the norm for me. A through station would have been better, but then I would have wanted a roundy roundy, not enough space for thatI have really enjoyed watching your progress with this project Steve...............maybe the operating interest would have been greater as a through station ?
Onwards and upwards though, a bit more on the garden beckons 
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Hi Neil
I think you are right on all of the above. I do prefer the larger models in general (whether purchased or built from kits / scratch) but it was interesting to find that the instant satisfaction of purchase did not translate into longer term enjoyment. The live steam aspect of modelling is the real appeal for me, but electrically driven engines will have their place, they are just less involving from an interaction perspective. Mind you, they are quicker to get up and running which can be a bonus too
The garden line is certainly a freer modelling experience, I have derived as much pleasure from looking at it under the changing seasons as I have from running on it. The fact that I witness changes in the colour and composition of the line, often without any input over the winter months, adds an extra dimension which can't really be captured on an indoor layout. That it evolves over time and with nature and is therefore much more like the real thing tickles me more than the capturing of a moment in time or a snapshot that is the nucleus of an indoor layout.
The flip side of that of course, is that there are some things that do warrant that level of constraint and I'm looking forward to attempting to capture that feeling in some more projects, just perhaps without the external pressure of a deadline. If nothing else, the layout has been a good catalyst to force me to think about what I do, why I do it and what I actually want to achieve - I'm weighing up the benefit of knowing that whilst thinking how much better the garden would look with the buildings done
Steve
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Looks like the baseboard framing owes more to airframe construction than model railways - wow
Its definitely a great baseboard to look at, but it is quite heavy, hence the need to have two people to get it down from the loft. It did actually start me off on the thought process of how to make things more easily moveable between lounge and loft which led to the extra bits of baseboard being stuck on the sides and ends of BW.It was interesting to read your comments on your N scale adventure CJD, and see how that paralled with mine, I wonder if its almost a rite of passage to go through that which then leads you off down the right road
I must confess that I would be very partial to a small roundy roundy though, it is just an appealing idea. Still, there is a new old layout to consider first...
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Hi Phil - No, its Arty's Passat
It didn't have any problems swallowing BW....
Phill Dyson
Western Thunderer
I would have just had a similar fiddle yard at the other end Steve, then a pick up goods would have been able to drop a few off & pick some others up & be on it's merry way
Glad you enjoyed it Phill, it was certainly a break from the norm for me. A through station would have been better, but then I would have wanted a roundy roundy, not enough space for that
.....as you say roundy roundy would have taken too much space 
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
Interesting aspect about the size of the trains/layout affecting the operating interest... I know that when I tried British HO, the operation was the bit that was disappointing - in one respect because everything had Kadee couplers*... I wanted to be rather more involved in the operation and use three-links, which led me to O Scale. Also I'd say the size of the layout makes a difference too - in OO or N, with auto-couplers and remote point switching, on a small layout you can do everything from one position almost, and just turn your head to follow the train. Real operations involve a lot of walking - just ask the Conductor/Shunter!!
Even a fairly small O Scale plank like mine needs you to move around a bit, to deal with the couplings etc, and if Boomers Wood was O scale I think the same track plan would be more operationally interesting - you'd need to physically walk alongside the train more - in other words be more involved in the operation!! This is why Steve's garden line, whilst on paper a 'boring' dead-end siding, is actually far more 'involving' that a more complex track layout but in a physically small area, where the actual physical participation in the action is more restricted.
*of course as a seeming paradox, all my US stuff has kadees, but I don't have the same disappointment with operation - partly because the buckeye is prototypical for the stock, and partly because I uncouple by hand, and my HO layout has spurs long enough so that I have to 'walk the train' just as a real Conductor would!
Even a fairly small O Scale plank like mine needs you to move around a bit, to deal with the couplings etc, and if Boomers Wood was O scale I think the same track plan would be more operationally interesting - you'd need to physically walk alongside the train more - in other words be more involved in the operation!! This is why Steve's garden line, whilst on paper a 'boring' dead-end siding, is actually far more 'involving' that a more complex track layout but in a physically small area, where the actual physical participation in the action is more restricted.
*of course as a seeming paradox, all my US stuff has kadees, but I don't have the same disappointment with operation - partly because the buckeye is prototypical for the stock, and partly because I uncouple by hand, and my HO layout has spurs long enough so that I have to 'walk the train' just as a real Conductor would!
S
Simon Dunkley
Guest
Is it just me imagining things, or did Steve really just say that?
Geoff
Western Thunderer
So does this mean that you ( Simon ) are also a short arse and stand on phone directories to operate layouts ?
Geoff
JimG
Western Thunderer
That's what I was thinking too.
Maybe he's changing from the Southern region to the Highland region - that's where Mr. Stroudley came from. Jim.
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Top ruminating that man
Almost feel like I'm spending time on a 'couch' at the moment You've boiled it down to what I like best Jordan , a combination of size and physical interaction in the running / operation of it all... careful, you'll have to move forwards again at this rate
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
I enjoyed the building of various bits and learning new stuff Scott, but not the layout as a whole. Thats why its at Arty's house nowSteve, I hope most of all you achieved enjoyment from buiding Boomers Wood.
That's what I was thinking too.
I suspect it will be fairly brutal in terms of scenery 'ammendment', but the track layout is likely to remain unchanged....ish
No ripping up per se, but perhaps a realignment or such...The S Scale clearout is stuff that doesn't fit in with the half baked ideas I have at present - I know I'm not going to model the IoW with it so those bits went up for grabs. I've kept the G15 kit, the Y7 (body built, chassis bits purchased, just need detailing bits) and John D gave me an S Scale motor bogie to have a play with (cheers John
) whilst there are 9 open wagons and a box van in the gloat box. Thats enough to get me up and running for the time being, I just need the 'scene' to go with it all - looking forward to lots of reading and research
S
Simon Dunkley
Guest
Nope: I am bang on six foot.
For the record, it was set to be a suitable height once a backscene was added, to provide a resting place for elbows when dealing with 3-link couplings: a feature I came up with by accident when I built my one and only finished layout. The ergonomics of an exhibition layout vary enormously depending on such things!
I would keep that to a minimum: the ballast is rather well fixed down.
JimG
Western Thunderer
Steve,
If you haven't moved all of the S scale items, I could put an item in the June Gazette.
Jim.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
From what I see of many exhibition layouts, yes the backscene is at optimal height to rest elbows on, but for while the Operators have a good natter, as opposed to actually running any trains.....!!!!
