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.

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.

Roots, loops and sheds

This layout has four distinct areas. Compared to some of the recent layouts that have been quite intricately woven together Isaac has reverted back to apparent simplicity here. But hidden in there are a couple of complexities that really make it work.

What struck me immediately when I came in were the trees. These are quite a rare feature on Isaac's railways. I assumed that they were decorative elements on three very closely grouped station platforms. When I mentioned this I was told that what I thought were platforms were just Isaac's solution to the fact that the trees kept falling over on the carpet. So remember, if you lack roots there's always Jenga bricks.

The entrance to the repair shed is rather grand today. Not only is approached via  along straight that brings you in high level across a viaduct, but it also has two splendid lamps at the entrance to greet the train's arrival. In contrast the engine shed is more subdued.

I particularly liked the small loop with the tunnel on. At first is seems a bit frivolous, but in fact it serves quite an important purpose of allowing the trains to turn around and face the opposite direction. This is key on a layout where all three branches involve reversing to retrace your route.

Finally, there is the little loop. Isaac's brother built this for mummy. It reminds me of Trevithick's Steam Circus. Maybe we should rename the little black engine the Catch Me If You Can.

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.

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.

Giving it all we've got (almost)

It's nice to be right once and a while. The New Heights track did remain up overnight and Isaac busied himself extending it in the morning.

He started by putting in the lifting bridge and this set the direction of the build. The suspension bridge was added to make it over the other side of the loop. To start the the new loop Isaac extended out the siding that had the repair shed on it. I was expecting that he'd aim to join the other side of the loop back on somewhere near the tunnel. making a layout of twin loops with a share track on one side.

But Isaac had other ideas and put the siding in on the loop that went under the new viaduct. At the same time he put the turntable back in and added a couple of sidings for rolling stock to be kept. This is one of those rare occasions where the turntable is used in more conventional way. The sidings and position of the new points led to a lack of straights to complete the layout. Rather than compromising the plan Isaac turned to me for help. I suggested using his hump back bridge and level crossing on one of the original loops to free up some of the straights.

Once all this had been done there were very few pieces left in the track boxes. I suppose with some more planning even they could have been integrated.

I have to say the layout is a really pleasing one if you're looking for a long journey on a train before getting back to where you started from. It is possible to do a route that involves a circuit of all three circuits before you get back to square one.

As an aside, Isaac and I worked out a solution to one of those problems that had been vexing him for a sometime. Namely the issue that the red suspension bridge did not have enough clearance for his Thomas trains. The solution was two piece of Lego under the towers raising it by just enough so Thomas could pass by smoothly.

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

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.

A little experimentation

I'm spectacularly behind on my posts at the moment. I have about four to get up and each day a new layout appears. I wondered if I would even put up this one as it wasn't really a full layout. I think Isaac was experimenting with some of his new track and buildings and just trying some ideas. It's interesting seeing some of things he did in this track come to fruition in some of the layouts that I'll post in the coming days.

The reason I think of this as experimental is that Isaac didn't complete the layout, which is really unusual for him. Normally to leave bridge with no down ramp would cause him some concern and he wouldn't play with the track until it was complete. Also it is quite a simple layout with no loops in it at all. It's really about getting trains on a liner track from A to B, then B to C, C to D etc...

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.

Together everyone achieves more

The experimentation with the new pieces to the layout continues. Today Isaac and his brother cooperated very well and came up with a different way of using the track. They started by building a small layout that incorporated the engine shed, turntable, tunnel and repair shed. It was noticeable that the distance between these elements started to widen. Also there are no sidings. As I mentioned in the last post the engine shed is seen as a superior siding and the repair shed seems to occupy the same category. The turntable is still a track switching device though.

Once this was done Isaac's younger brother then busied himself with a second layout. It wasn't for himself, but for mummy. After trying for several minutes he called on mummy to help to complete the curves. It takes the form of a simple figure of eight which ingeniously uses the two small points as the crossover rather than the crossover piece or a bridge. I'm starting to wonder whether I will need to rename the blog at the rate Isaac's brother is catching up.

To complete the work there's third layout, consisting of just a small straight which is stand alone. This is daddy's track. And despite the fact that I have the shortest track I am afforded the longest train. I have seen small side layouts before, but this was the first time that there have been three. 

I am beginning to think we need more track and points in particular. Isaac's layouts, with the help of his brother, are starting to reach a level of complexity where there are not enough ways to join  up the loops and branches. 

Any ideas where I can lay my hands on cheap track, preferably free?

Christmas comes but once a year

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. As would be expected, Christmas 2011 gave Isaac and his brother have had some additions to their railway set. An engine shed, turntable and tunnel on Christmas day and a workshop and new train on boxing day. Today's post is the layout Isaac put together on Boxing Day morning, before he got the presents for that day.

It started, of course, with the new additions to the set. The engine shed was felt to be a superior siding, but later another one was added for the train with the black engine, Isaac and his brother call this train Old Puffer Pete. For those of you familiar with Chuggington you'll understand. The turntable and tunnel were added in quick succession and then the serious layout building began.

Isaac started off with the two interconnecting loops. It was quite a nice arrangement that allowed the trains to come out of the engine shed and enter the first loop straight ahead. This loop then swung round and the trains crossed the turntable from another direction. They then proceeded round the broader loop and crossed the turntable third time and ended up back at the engine shed. It was all very neat, but also said something about the way the turntable was viewed. Rather than a device to turn locomotives and roiling stock round it was used much more a method of switching the direction of the track.

Isaac quickly realised that this layout out some limitations. The main one being he and his brother were often in conflict about the direction of the turn table. He then proceeded to build a third loop which became a wonderfully complex arrangement with a siding, crossover and bridge. This extra track solved most of the conflict, or at least spaced them out.

I'm sure over the coming days even more interesting layouts will be devised. Especially as the possibilties of the new track and buildings are realised.

Trains that pass in the night

Today's layout is about incorporation and separation. Sharing space without getting too close.

The last couple of layouts Isaac has created he has made a small loop for me as a separate element, see yesterday's post for a photo of one of them. Today he decided to take it a step further. When I left for work Isaac was busy experimenting with the track, this involved trying to use his hump back bridge as a ramp for one of his other bridges, but he promised he would make a track for me. This evening he had made it, but unlike other days, where my track was an aside, this one was semi integrated into his layout. He spent some time today explaining to my wife that the tracks were joined, but, at the same time, they were not joined . As you can see from the photo the small track crosses, but doesn't allow its trains to cross over onto the larger track.

The larger track itself is two fairly simple loops, each with its own siding of course. I am assuming that there is a loop each for Isaac and his brother. They share a straight down the middle with a level crossing on it.  The bricks on the crossing are gates, which were not Isaac's idea, but his brother's. This, apparently, was a cause of some friction with Isaac who didn't want the gates. As they were still in place this evening he seems to have come round to the idea.

And then there were three.

Isaac built quite a simple layout today. Two loops that over lapped today. I love the little loop with the bridge over it. Imagine that on a full size track it would turn a railway journey into a roller coaster ride.

What interested me though was  that Isaac had added an additional siding. One for him, one for his brother and one for ??? As ever my wife had the answer. And one for mummy. A thoughtful gesture. Everyone should have a siding in their life where they can park themselves and have a little rest.

On behalf of Isaac rail we would like to apologise to passengers.....

Railways are not simple affairs and they need maintaining. This was theme Isaac decided that he would like to explore today. In true Network Rail style he closed off a vast section of his track making normal services difficult, especially for his brother, as one of the sections under repair was his siding. Isaac used the jenga bricks to mark off the track that needed repairing. I would like to say he laid on a bus service, but I saw no evidence of this and presumably passengers on Isaac Rail arrived home late and grumpy.

 I did remove the bricks to reveal a rather elegant design that was based on a figure of eight that was then extended out (the bit under repair) to give a varied journey to passengers by allowing them to do an oval circuit as well as the original figure of eight. Isaac continued with the very curly sidings theme again, squeezing one into an already tight loop.

After a few days of struggling to get photos of rather extended layouts it was nice to come into one tha fitted the frame rather well.

A mystery is solved

I really should talk to my wife more! We were discussing Isaac's designs and why there is always a siding and more often than not two. My wife pointed out hat the reason is, that Isaac wants some where for his train to sleep and if his brother is playing with him then there needs to be a second one for his brother's train as well. In honour of this insight her slippered feet have received a special place in every photo today.

Today's design is no exception to that siding rule. It's another use all the pieces track that has two quite curly sidings at one end. The one problem that Isaac does have is only having one set of buffers and a siding is not a siding without them. This requires some negotiation between the siblings. At the other is a long loop. In between is a quite complex layout of points, crossovers and bridges. The basic design gets trains from one siding to another, but at first glance they can do that through the long loop. However, careful examination reveals a little short-cut that involves a bit of reversing. This short-cut also serves the purpose of being able to turn the trains around. Ingenious!

In the middle is also a small loop that serves no noticeable purpose other than adding a little flourish to every journey. As so often Isaac has combined the practical and the frivolous effortlessly.