Long and lean

This is going to be a very short post today.

The layout the boys created was very simple so they could to run their electric train on it. The elongated loop has wide curves to prevent the train sticking. At the top the placed a set of points and then created a long siding with a bridge to take it rover the bottom of the loop.

There are a couple of embellishments to the design including the tunnel and the additional two bridges in the siding, which serve no purpose other than make the train go up and down a bit.

The roundabout way from A to B

It's been a bit of a linear day for our sons. The first layout was built by Isaac's brother, I have no photo, but it was described to me by mum. It was a straight track with buffers either end, it had both the turntable and cross over in it, but the essential main line was the straight track. Isaac's brother then put the battery train it and ran it from one end and back again for quarter of an hour.

Later Isaac got to work on this layout. Although it looks quite complicated it is actually just a track between two points, the siding and the engine shed. It is also sprawls, which is why none of the photos quite get it all in. Despite it's simple form there are a couple of marvellous elements to it.

Starting at the engine shed you come to the loop after the bridges. Instead of taking a tight turn Isaac made a loop that had a single track in and out a set of Y points. The train is turned around and goes back down the way it came. It can either retrace the route back to the shed or continue down the line.

Continuing down the line brings it eventually to the siding, which is tucked down the side of the sofa. On the return leg the train can take a little diversion onto a small circuit. But once on there you have two choices:
1. Get very dizzy
2. Reverse off

I do like the mixture of simplicity and little twists in this track. It feels like you're taking a journey and yet not going too far.

Conform or innovate

Isaac is still working round the battery train issues and while he's doing this he is building quite simple layouts. This one was a loop with three sidings. One for the repair shed, one for the engine shed and a siding for rolling stock.

He added a further siding to accommodate the battery train as it wouldn't fit the engine shed. I did like the way that the final siding looped under the viaduct. I think Isaac is enjoying the new viaduct for the options it gives him in terms of which arch to use.

This layout survived for a couple of days. But he dismantled it this morning and called for me to see what he'd built in its place. For the first time he had ventured out of the living room with a track. There was a long liner track that went from the living room, through the kitchen and was on it's way to the dining area. He was very pleased with this development. Sadly the practicalities of having a track the follows one of the main walk ways in the house was soon apparent and it became a bit of five minute flash in the pan. Hence why there are no photos.

Looking at the latter layout I wonder if Isaac was trying to work out how to have an innovative layout that had very few curves and sidings.

Getting it straight

Isaac has been into his curves lately and then today, out of the blue, he created a track with some strong linear elements. In many ways it was a catalogue type layout with a simple figure of eight circuit. What was very elegant was the curving siding that ended at a crossover. Unlike the other day when the track rambled the long way round this one had a simple curve that fitted within the loop of the track. He put one more siding in, again very straight, and seemed quite content. Personally I found the track very pleasing to the eye, maybe I shy away from the flamboyance of some of the other tracks.

After a few minutes Isaac realised he not only had a lot of curves left, but also a set of points so he built me a track to go next to his. Mine of course was a lot more curvy. Unlike my post a couple of days ago I have photos of it to show you today.

All of this work was done in the early morning and Isaac appears to have been pleased with his layout as it was unchanged when I got in from work almost 12 hours later.