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.

Warning: Boys at work

We thought it was about time you saw some of the process that goes into making the layouts. This sequence of photos is Isaac and his brother working out a new layout. It turned out to be one of the most ambitious layouts they have created to date.

What made it particularly interesting was that part of the way through Isaac ran out of some small but essential pieces and had to work out how to free them from where they were in the track so that he could use them else where.

These first three pictures show the initial stages of the layout. First, what will become the centre track is laid. The lift bridge and engine shed are good points of reference for later photos. The second photo shows this track has a Y junction at the other end which leads round to the turntable. In photo three the track is extended right the way back down to cross over the lift bridge.

In this next sequence of photos the track is extended again off the third branch of the turntable and the tunnel added, but the loop is left incomplete. Finally, the forth branch is completed which loops under the bridges that form the central track. Once this was done Isaac returned to the loop with the tunnel on it. To complete this Isaac used the two short double ended pieces.

Isaac then found he needed another double ended piece to complete the main loop. After a little while he figured out he could free both of the pieces by turning the turn table round by 90 degrees. It did mean having to redo the loop which went under the bridges. If you look carefully at the two similar photos to the right you can see the changes that were made. The loop joining the lifting bridge and the other end of the Y junction was completed, including the doubled ended piece.

The final elements was a passing loop that was added to the last straight and a short curving siding. It needs top be noted that Isaac's brother was definitely a co-creator of this layout and the boys cooperated beautifully to create a really pleasing layout.

Tracing my fingers round the track, as I do, I could see it had lots of possibilities in terms of routes and direction and it kept the boys busy for a long tie as they explored the options.

Invalidated by an invalid

Invalid

1: to remove from or classify as not able to perform active service
2: an infirm or sickly person.

Today's layout is quite straightforward. This might reflect the fact that Isaac was suffering from a stinking cold. He built a loop using the viaduct and then put in the points which split off into two branches, one to the engine shed and the other to the repair shed.

After a few minutes later he removed the repair shed and placed a simple siding in the layout instead. The two lines out of the repair shed seem to indicate there might have been an intention to reincorporate it back into the main track, but this never happened.

It reminded me of what happens with real life railways, where a piece of infrastructure no longer serves a purpose and rather than being erased it is just left to slowly decay in sight of the working railway. I often wonder about this when I view it from a train. Was there an intention of returning to it some day, but  no one ever got round to it?

A break through

I have mentioned in previous posts that some times the levels of cooperation in building railways between Isaac and his brother can be fairly tense. Isaac does tend to dominate his brother when it comes to deciding the layout. This track started out that way and then something changed.

Isaac stated off with a simple loop with a viaduct in it. His brother wanted to help, but Isaac was having none of it and in the end consented to let his brother have a few pieces to build a separate track. 

After a few minutes of solitary building the two brothers suddenly decided to join their loops up. It the top photo Isaac's original loop is on the left and his brothers on the right. 

Once this had been done Isaac suggested the linking track through the viaduct. Finally the turntable and sidings were added. The rest of the afternoon was fairly peaceful with a good deal of cooperation, listening and respect for ideas.

The track itself works really well with lots of opportunities to reverse the train's direction and vary the route. I always mentally play out the possibilities in my mind and find it quite pleasing when there are lots of choices. Maybe that says something about me.

Noughts and crosses

Isn't always the way? Yesterday I decided to post a layout that I normally wouldn't have shared, just to let everyone know we hadn't fallen off the edge of the world and then today I come home to a new layout!

Isaac is maintaining the simplicity theme. In fact today's track seems to be all about places where rolling stock and engines can be stored rather than any sort of journey they could make. The one circuit is completely inaccessible to any of the trains using the main track.

The forest on the plinth is back and there are three buildings as well. The combination of repair shed, tunnel and level crossing in close proximity is intriguing.

At the other end of the line is a rare example of the turntable being used to access sidings rather than a a replacement for the cross over. 

For such a small layout there was a lot of rolling stock, but only one engine. But whatever it's quirks it's nice to have Isaac building again.

A simple interlude

It's been a but quiet on he railway front for quite a number of days. I have been expecting normal service to resume shortly, but as yet nothing.

This layout was done a few days ago and was so simple I half decided not to post it. But given the length of time since my last post I decided I would add it.

I had wondered what would happen if Isaac didn't build a railway for a while. There is never any coercion in making him get the tracks out and create a layout. I always said what ever happens that he had to be spontaneous in his building.

I suppose that's always the dilemma in writing about something that is not really in your control. I do anticipate coming home to a layout each night and when I don't I have to accept that's the way it is. My disappointment is not too great as Isaac and his brother have usually used their creative skills in some other venture. Recent achievements have included building a castle form boxes and toilet rolls, learning to colour within the lines and building a fantastic house form building blocks.

So, back to the layout: This is a really simple track which just allows a train to leave the repair shed, go through the tunnel over the bridge loop round and return. There's not much more to it than that. There is the separate circle, which I believe was mummy's track.

Until next time keep watching this space! Thanks.

The bottom of the box

 It was going to happen one day and today was that day. Every single piece of track was used. The evolution of this track was a fascinating journey.

Originally Isaac put together a figure of eight around the lifting bridge. There was a shot loop and then a broad one. The broad one had the single arch hump back bridge and the seven arch viaduct in it. There were two sets of points added so the engine shed and repair shed could be in the middle.

In the meantime Isaac's brother was creating a separate layout using a small loop, the cross over and a set of points. This was designated as mummy and daddy's track. But when play started the large layout was the chosen one.

There quickly arose a difference of opinion about which direction the trains should be travelling. At this point I was elbow deep in washing up and wasn't wanting to arbitrate. I tried the wisdom of Solomon tack and said if they couldn't agree the track would go away. But this just resulted in two wailing boys.

Then Isaac had an idea that he would build a second loop so that the trains would not run into each other. This seemed acceptable to all parties so I returned to the kitchen sink. To be honest I thought Isaac was just going to create a short passing loop. I knew something more was going on when a few minutes later Isaac said he didn't have enough straight pieces. I suggested using the red suspension bridge. I came in a little later to find the inner and outer loops that shared just one straight.

I loved it. It was well thought out and executed. I particularly liked the use of the two short Y points as the entrance and exit to the outer loop. I also liked the way that it passed round the table leg.

After a few minutes it was decided to incorporate the small loop. Following a bit of rearranging this became a series of sidings. including some with a curiously twisting route involving crossing over itself. I did think the siding that passed under the slope of the lifting bridge wasn't going to work, but in fact there were a few wagons that fitted under there quite neatly. There was plenty of room on this layout for every train to be used.

Back where you started

Isaac and his brother worked on this a couple of days back. They seem to have gone small with the last couple f creations. One of which was just a circle, which I didn't write about or photograph as I couldn't think what I might write about it.

This layout is unusual as it doesn't have a continuous loop. You start at the engine shed and finish right back there again. The only other option is to come out and go onto a siding. One of which is tiny.

Isaac has put a passing loop in so that he and his brother could share share this compact layout.

I'm not sure who chose it, but one of them was running the battery train. However it's lack of cornering meant it couldn't complete the last twisty section. Also the little black engine 'old puffer pete' was chosen. The choice of these two locomotives leads me to conclude some sort of Chuggington based adventure was being acted out.

Good train and goods yards

Isaac's latest track was a bit of challenge to fit into one photo as it stretches right across the living room. There are two ends joined by an isthmus of track containing a couple of bridges. Interestingly the viaduct didn't make an appearance today.

Looking at the layout one end of it has certainly received more thought than the other. As I have said before Isaac is not keen on loops that once on have no exit except by reversing. But he seems to have been content to allow one to pass here. The building in the loop is a knight's castle and dragon. At the other end is a spectacular tour de force of sidings, Isaac, assisted by mummy, creating a goods yard and this was for one reason.

For the sharp eyed regular readers you may have noticed a new train. Isaac got a supplies train today in the post and both he and his brother were very excited by this. It's certainly well made and each element has something extra. Two of the trucks can be tipped and unloaded, a third rotates and the engine has a bogie. It had a nice weight to it as well. I can see that this will be coming out quite often.

It's intriguing that today's new arrival has reversed the normal cycle of Isaac's building. Often, he'll spend hours putting together a layout and then only playing in short bursts. It's like the construction is more fun than the play. But here it feels like the layout was rushed so that Isaac would have something to play with his new train on.

If you go down to the woods today

 Isaac and his brother co-created today's layout. It started with a fairly basic loop around the seven arched viaduct (this is definitely the most popular track piece at the moment). I thought we were going to get another simple layout and then at the last piece Isaac put in the points.

Even at this stage I thought it would just be a siding and I suppose looking at it in it's purest form that's just what it is. But, oh what a siding.

The loop back followed by the hump back bridge was the clue something bigger was planned. The next set of points allow it split into two branches. One for the engine shed and one for the repair shed. Interestingly to reach the engine shed you have to cross the points and then double back. Given that there is a lot of Y points available I'm not sure why this configuration was chosen. The turntable was added to give access to rolling-stock stock sidings.

I have to say I zoned out a little on what was going on at this point. I came back into a heated debate about the height of a 'cave'. Isaac was building a small tower near the viaduct. His brother was of the opinion that it shouldn't be that high. Eventually gravity won due to a carpet not being the best foundation for a tower. This borne out by the fact that not one major skyscraper in the last 75 years has been built on a foundation of either loop or shag pile. So Isaac's brother won the argument and the cave was dully built as low rise and occupied by a black bear. I have a feeling the wooden shape was supposed to be a sheep, but it is rather bear like.

Finally with some left over pieces Isaac and his brother constructed a small loop and siding that were completely detached form the rest of the layout. It's the thing that looks like a speech bubble. This is mummy and daddy's track. Presumably to keep us out of harms way in case we want to play trains too.

Simple and ordered, but is that good?

Isaac's  new track is a departure from his normal abandon in joining up pieces until he gets a layout he likes. By his standards it is quiet stayed. It's a classic case of having to adapt his style to accommodate a new element. That element being a battery operated train. There was a false start on this development as Isaac and his brother got one of these trains for Christmas, but it died only a couple of days later. The sounds all worked, but the motor didn't. We thought it was the batteries and tried replacing them, but the problem was still there. This is the second attempt a electrification, which came out of Isaac's brother's birthday.

Being relatively new to the world of wooden railways I thought I'd do a little research and found that opinion is sharply divided over these electric trains. On one hand is the school of thought that goes toys are becoming more hi-tech and to keep children's interest and secure a future of wooden railways it needs to adapt. The other  says  that the purpose of wooden trains is develop manual dexterity in children by pushing the trains around and this doesn't happen when the train is self propelled.

Having watched Isaac adapting to the electric train I have some thoughts. Isaac had to simplify his layout because the train dis not work well on tight or twisting curves. Often it became jammed and sometimes fell off the track. Points were a real issue and had to be set against the run of the trains as it would randomly choose its direction. Often the the locomotive would choose a different direction to the carriage at points. The train is also heavy because of the batteries and motor and it struggled up slid down inclines. And talking of batteries a complete change will set us back £11.27 (a major brand from a well known supermarket).

I have to say I'm coming down on the side of the traditionalists on this one. Any advance that forces out the creativity of a child is probably not an advance at all. I sound very ungrateful here to the enormous generosity of the gift giver and that's not my intention, if I had to be cross with anyone it would be the manufacturers for selling out on the great core proposition that wooden railways are. If you have any thoughts on this I'd love to hear them in the comments.

Having had my say I'll get back to the track.  I's a pretty straight forward circuit with three branches. A siding for rolling stock, the engine shed and repair shed. The repair shed was an after thought, mainly because the new train won't fit in the engine shed, and Isaac neatly added it into the track with a deft shoulder in the loop. The figures lined up in two neat rows are school children waiting to board the trains with their teacher at the front. Isaac clearly has little experience with ordering school children going on a excursion! Though close inspection of the pupils does reveal some who are already holding down employment and others who are of a pensionable age.

New heights

Isaac's brother had a birthday and got a present of a viaduct and some points from his great aunt and uncle. Apparently the idea for what to get him partly came through viewing this blog and seeing some of the layouts.

Whilst his brother was distracted with cake and other presents Isaac set to work creating this layout. The centre piece was definitely the viaduct with the points added at either end. The engine shed and repair shed were added as destinations for one side of each of the points and then the others were joined in a simple loop.

About half an hour later Isaac felt that the viaduct was serving little purpose so he added a second loop that went under the arches. It took a couple of attempts to get this right as the placement of the points and the subsequent curves within the tight confines of the first loop were difficult to negotiate. One of the arches formed a tight squeeze for the engine and its carriage. As it passed through it reminded me of the clearance on the tunnel on the old Crab and Winkle line in Whitstable.

By the end of the afternoon's play it was clear that each of the arches had a dedicated purpose. The other one being for people, the tall middle on of buses and lorries, while the remaining two (other than those for rail traffic) were for cars.

The layout is still up as I write and I'm expecting some development of it for tomorrow. I'm secretly hoping all the bridges might come out because I think that could lead to a visually stunning layout.

Criss cross and car parks

I came in from work to be presented with this thrilling layout. Why run parallel lines when you can have a weaving layout. I wouldn't like to be the signal operator in charge of this route or on either the up train or the down train when they had to pass.

Isaac's brother was having a car day and it was nice to see that they had decided to cooperate with their games. Isaac had built his brother access to a car park. Where presumably passengers could catch a train from the nearby station (the green building blocks).

I'm not sure the destination of the engine shed might be what the passengers had in mind, but following any journey on this line you will end up there.

The layout stayed up overnight and Isaac modified it the next morning, but sadly it didn't stay up long enough to be photographed. In essence Isaac wanted to extend the layout and go under the bridge, but he'd run out of points. So he removed the points at the head of the small siding inside the end circuit and added them into the layout near the Y points by the bridge. This then looped all the way back, under the bridge, to the points near the level crossing. The remaining points, by the car park, then became the siding. As well as extending the track it gave the trains a route that didn't always end at the shed. A bonus in my books.

More motorway than railway

Isaac dumped the buildings for his latest layout and reinstated the bridges, which have been absent for the last few days. He also made full use of all the points at his disposal. This was one of those layouts that made me wish I was an inch high and could ride it because it looked like a lot of fun.

Isaac has been experimenting a couple of weeks back with a long viaduct. I don't seem to have any photos of it because it only lasted a couple of hours (if I find some I'll add it to this post). He discovered that three Duplo bricks piled up made a perfect hight pier to support the track sections. The problem is that the track moves on the Duplo because there is little friction holding it there. In this layout he returned to the idea, but only for one pier, allowing Isaac to form a fairly long bridge.

The most striking element of this layout is the cloverleaf design at the bottom of the ramp. It is highly fictional allowing trains to direct themselves onto the correct track element with ease and without having to reverse. The only odd element is the turntable, which Isaac still prefers over the cross piece despite its limitations.

Another element that reminded me more of a motorway than a railway was the track running parallel to the bridge. I don't think the photos really do it justice.

Passing loops, sidings and debates

Isaac started this layout off in a similar way to yesterday's 'elaborate' layout. He began with the repair shed and added the Y points. But on the second entrance he added a set of points and then made a passing loop form them. If you remember back to the 'It's a family affair' layout it was mum who came up with the idea, but Isaac never really took it up. Until now. Which just goes to show that a child might show no signs of taking ideas on board, but they're always listening and watching.


Isaac built on the idea of a running loop, that he used yesterday, and extended that out into quite a orderly, by his standards, rectangular loop. The addition of the engine shed on a short siding and the level crossing were the final touches Isaac added to the layout.


About half an hour later Isaac had gone off somewhere and his brother came and added in the turntable and two sidings. Isaac's return prompted a "loud and lively discussion" on the merits and desirability of this addition to the layout. Eventually after being offered an option to go away and calm down Isaac accepted the appendix to his work - reluctantly. Later however he seemed to be happy playing with the sidings. Again a lesson to us all about taking time to try out changes that might not be out idea before dismissing them.

"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts." Arnold Bennett

Please could you elaborate

After yesterday's issues with non cooperation Isaac and his brother seem to have patched up their artistic differences. Isaac started by building a fairly compact layout with loops that interconnected through the turntable.

What was particularly intriguing was that he was experimenting with the Y points again. Instead of directly running them into the repair shed he used it to provide one route into the shed and the other branch to be  a continuation of one of his loops. To reach the other bay of the repair shed he created a separate line in.

The engine shed was used in a more conventional manner apart from the bridge that needed to be negotiated to get in.

This layout persisted for an hour or two until Isaac's brother wanted to play as well. With a bit of negotiating a new loop was added for Isaac's brother. As the turntable was deemed the best way of accessing this new loop Isaac placed the cross over piece in his side of the layout. This meant that Isaac had an interesting arrangement where a train starting from bay 2 of the repair yard would follow the route round that either led it to bay 1 or all the way back to bay 2.

Another thing I asked Isaac about was why his tunnel was blocked up later in the day. He explained that the steam trains had got it dirty so his men has washed it down and now they were waiting for it to dry before trains could pass through again.

Go your own way

Isaac doesn't have the monopoly on the track ownership. Many of the elements belong equally to his brother. When they choose to play with railway at the same time they mostly muddle their way through and create a joint layout. Occasionally artistic differences get the better of them. This usually results in a spectacular falling out and they decide to work separately.

In this case Isaac's layout is on the left and his brother's on the right. The lifting bridge is back in favour as I finally found a way of fixing the issue with the hardboard support breaking off: I glued the ramp directly to the bridge. Isaac's layout it quite simple and I think this reflects the fact that to get the tunnel, buffer and bridge he let his brother have the lion's share of the track in exchange

His brother's track is interesting because it contains two loops that you can get on, but not off (unless you reverse). Isaac doesn't really like this kind of thing and so would normally work to make sure that loops have an exit and entrance.

What is also noticeable is that neither of them choose to use the engine shed or repair shed, which have become part of most layouts since Christmas. I'm not sure why, maybe the high emotions meant they decided not to escalate matters by bringing more coveted items into play.

Loops and bridges

I always said to myself that this blog would only be written when Isaac created. For a few days Isaac has been content to play with other toys and leave his track packed away. But my patience was rewarded by this fabulous creation.

Isaac started off with the turntable and the repair shed. He then built the loop that ran straight out from the repair shed looped back on itself through the tunnel and over the two bridges ending in the engine shed. Even Isaac commented this was a long way for a sleep. He then realised the other axis of the turntable had no track an built a straight line out of either side. The need to join these up resulted in the rather wonderful and compact lines at the centre of this layout.

This is the first time the lifting bridge has been used for a while. That is mainly because it has been in for repairs for the umpteenth time. It relies on two small pieces of hardboard to support the slopped tracks where the connect with the bridge. The hardboard seems to break off rather easily necessitating a dab of glue. The bridge had just come back, however close inspection will show a block being used to support one slope because yet again the hardboard broke. Some times Bigjigs quality is let down by little material weaknesses such as this or the crossing gates that sheer off with use.

I digress, back to the layout. Meanwhile Isaac's brother had been playing with a few pieces making sidings. There was a little collaboration and this became a completely separate loop. Finally it was decided to join the two tracks. Though the two tracks don't allow trains to move between them I think the intricacy of the way they weave in and put of each other quite brilliant. The remaining track was then used for a couple of sidings.

There is something very satisfying about this layout that I can't quite pin down.