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.

Sidings with a twist

 It's been a while since Isaac created a layout. This is the first one he did after a couple of weeks rest. It appears to be a layout that demonstrates his repertoire of sidings to the world, a little like one of those cabinet maker's apprentice pieces. As is fairly obvious from the photo that Isaac had to work this layout around a fairly busy room and he even incorporated the leg of the coffee table into the layout.

The layout consists of five sidings. Two finish at the repair shed and engine shed respectively. The other three are straight sidings for a single train.

The first of these is the wonderfully twisted one at the bottom of the layout. It does a full 180 degree turn before reaching the buffers. When I first came in and saw the layout it was this one that caught my eye as it was so prominent.

However the final pair of sidings are the ones that I eventually found most pleasing. I love the longer siding with it's double approach to it. It's wonderfully extravagant and a little overboard. What is so fun thought is the small siding that then pierces one of these branches like a thread though the eye of a needle.

If I was after a someone who knew about making sidings I would definitely consider this apprentice.

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.