Quote from: njee20 on April 03, 2026, 08:15:47 PMIt's a classic inglenook shunting puzzle, so the layout is fine.

I wouldn't use the Unitram points, they're very sharp and (IMO) will look daft. Kato's #4 points aren't great, but perhaps try it with #6s.

Revised #4 are fine but if you are trying to be compact then peco set track is much better suited.

An awful lot of even short wagons will not take the tram track 150 radius points as the couplings are not flexible enough so they'll just pull off the rails. Even peco set track is problematic for longer wagons when you get an S bend.

The couplings on modern UK wagons are engineering for about 9" (225mm) curve minimums. The older ones like Minitrix are about 7" (180mm or so)

I have a little circular christmas layout that is just a simple circle of track at about 150mm radius and most wagons will not run on it.

I had OO as a kid but when it came many years later to a little project with someone about computer control of model trains I only had some ikea shelves to put it on so at 50cm wide that really meant N for running stuff in circles and trying to get a computer to control with an H bridge (this is a long time ago....). So I ended up with a Farish large logo 50 and some coaches, and then I got back into model railways and it expanded a lot. I still like building Ikeabahn designs (ones that fit on one or two Ivar 83cm x 50cm shelves) as it's a great way to keep layouts mixed in with storage and also to store them as you can stack them as shelves in the units.


I did have a little OO shelf layout as well for a while but I sold it and concentrated on N.

TT was always my favourite size but apart from some old TT my grandfather had it was a nonexistent scale when it mattered and I'm not switching at this point.

I'd also always fancied a go at N having seen some of the N stuff in books in particular the kit built 03, which I eventually managed to end up with.

Quote from: Snowwolflair on April 03, 2026, 11:21:03 PMWhy

56 years ago my father bought me a Lima class 86 for Christmas and it has been down hill ever since

Then stop living at the top of a hill

Quote

QuoteScott, there's still time to join the eejits duking it out for this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267623631039

I saw that!  What's driving that price?

2 Eejits with a must have reflex.....

Regards,

Alex

Why

56 years ago my father bought me a Lima class 86 for Christmas and it has been down hill ever since

Quote from: ismangil on April 03, 2026, 06:02:30 PMHi all, I'm new, not even bought anything yet still in the planning stage.

Mostly for space reason, I was considering N or Z or even T. But in UK I can't ignore the lack of Z or the singular T source.

Also deeper in my research I decided I like the shunting operations like Inglenook puzzle more than accurate depiction of prototype, that settled me on N, just the sheer amount of resources plus I live within 10 minutes drive of Rails of Sheffield.

Good luck with your build.
Please share photographs with us as you progress.

It's a classic inglenook shunting puzzle, so the layout is fine.

I wouldn't use the Unitram points, they're very sharp and (IMO) will look daft. Kato's #4 points aren't great, but perhaps try it with #6s.

You might add a short single siding off the curve to act as a head shunt or guardsvan siding to enable more options in shunting?

Hi all,

I'm new here, still in the planning stage.

So far I've decided scale (N, of course), type of layout (shunting puzzle), track (Kato Unitrack), and DCC (but I will ask about details of DCC in a separate post).

Right now I'm looking for feedback on my track plan. I want to use T-Trak modules. While of course the triple module is perfect for an Inglenook, if I can use a double module it will be better space wise.

I am aware I'll be restricting myself using a small loco like NGS Hunslet Shunter and short wagons.

Feedback welcome - don't worry if it's harsh feedback, I know I'm not starting with a starter set so perhaps I deserve it!


PDF of plan done in SCARM attached.