Ffarquhar

After deciding to give up on TT:120 last time, I was left with a sturdy baseboard 5ft x 2.5ft and nothing to do with it.

Having acquired some cheap bits of N gauge, I was reminded of the original Ffarquhar plan which the Rev. W. Awdry built before the one we all know today.

This was an oval layout, but utilised a neat trick to make it seem like and operate like an end to end layout. I believe this technique was originally popularised by Maurice Deane on their Portreath layout - and involves curving an end to end track plan into an oval shape and then using a hidden track to join it. It's easier to see in pictures - 

The hidden loop hides the entrance to the fiddleyard and controls.

Using my baseboard and N gauge code 55 track, the plan was converted into this - 
 

Control was DC, using a variety of controllers.

 Initially I tried using the one shown in the second picture above which is a PWM kit from Handem but this didn't work too well with N gauge motors in the trains I had resulting in them shooting off with little control. I then tried a Fleischmann MSF 6735 which I picked up cheaply off eBay. This was better but still lacked slow speed control. Finally I settled on a new in box OnTracks MPC3 and HH3 handheld controller. This I believe delivers power in a similar way to the modern Morley controllers, but can be found more cheaply.

Points were controlled using Peco PL-26 switches, using a Gaugemaster CDU connected to the accessory output of the controller. I used Peco PL10 switches and a combination of PL13 switches and microswitches using 3D printed parts from eBay to manage the switching and electrofrogs.

Pointwork was a mixture of curved, small radius and medium 'Unifrog' code 55 points, combined with code 80 setrack curves (and crossing you can see above).

And it worked quite well. I got the layout to the point where scenery could be started, with the wiring and operations all completed. Here are a few pictures - 

  

 

 

 The rolling stock for the layout -

 

• Dapol Pannier Tank, Dapol GWR 14xx, Class 22, BR Standard 2MT, Class 122 - all of these situate the layout firmly in the Western Region of British Rail
• Rolling stock includes a few key choices, such as the autocoach, B-set, mineral wagons and then a mix of wagons to make up pickup goods trains 

 

And a couple of early videos of it in operation -

So what happened with the layout and why did I not finish it? Well a number of reasons - 

•  I didn't have space to keep it. This is also the reason why TT:120 didn't work on this baseboard. I don't own a massive house and a big rectangle needs a dedicated space with 360 degree access really.
• The operations weren't ideal - and this was a result of rushing into building it too quickly. The way I had constructed the track bed meant the the track wasn't entirely level and made alterations difficult. I would've needed to fit undertrack magnets to enable handsfree uncoupling and that wasn't something I was willing to invest in at this stage - being unsure still if N was the right scale for me.
• The scenery required skills that were a little bit too advanced for me at this stage - I had only really done ballasting by this points and this layout called for mountains, tunnels, water, etc. It was just too much too soon.

So with that, and having no need for the baseboard for another project, it was disposed of and most of the N gauge was sold. 

 

A long overdue update and settling on a scale

Having not posted anything here in more than a year, I ought to explain myself.

It's a simple explanation - I was posting somewhere else. Namely the Hornby Hobbies forums and RMWeb. I also started uploading some short videos to YouTube to document my progress.

It started as a way to get others opinions and ask questions about things I didn't know the answers to, but then I started posting more and more on all sorts of topics. Recently though, I decided to reign this in for a couple of main reasons - 

• To avoid getting annoyed - by others mainly (a mix of newbies asking the same questions over and over again without doing the minimum amount of research themselves, but also those who clearly spend far too much time on these forums - often just waiting for an opportunity to be right)
• To avoid wasting my time - not even posting things, but just checking threads and seeing if there was anything new

Model railways are probably one of the last hobbies where forums still have such a strong foothold, although social media (mostly Facebook and YouTube) are making inroads, but they have all the same problems that forums had 20 years ago when they made up a much larger footprint on the internet. It's a shame that they're still so equally parts good and bad. On a personal note I find myself engaging less and less with the internet so this is just a natural progression of that. I'll be back on a landline before too long... 

So that brings me back here - where I can just document to myself and whoever reads these posts and build up my own little corner of the internet without the annoyances that arise elsewhere.

In which case I should give a brief overview of what I've been doing since September 2024... in no particular order.

• After deciding to abandon TT:120 and settle on OO, I ended up keeping some TT:120, building (or statrting to build) layouts in both TT:120 and OO gauge and selling most of my TT:120 and OO Gauge rolling stock
• I also built and promptly abandoned a layout in N gauge too
• Finally I started to learn more about DCC

Which brings me up to date really - I still have some OO rolling stock up for sale and I've made quite  a lot of purchases recently in another scale, but probably not the one you're thinking of.

My next activity will be to sell my TT:120 rolling stock and layout. Why?

The main reason is space, and my lack of it. Unfortunately for my present circumstances, TT:120 is still too big for any kind of layout to be achievable. Add in all the factors that are still present with the scale 3 years on from launch (lack of availability namely) and it's still a no go for me.

There's also another factor that's offputting and partly the reason why I left the Hornby Hobbies forum - the almost evangelical nature of others modelling in the scale. Seriously, some of them spend more time playing the victim of modellers in other scales than they do actual railway modelling, and the rest are just building oval after pointless oval whilst repeatedly failing to learn the basics of the hobby. Add in the remainder who seem to be trying to build a social media career more than anything else and it's all just a bit tiresome. Not to mention Hornby's repeated missteps in new releases.

So if not TT:120 and if not OO Gauge, then which scale? Obviously it's N gauge.

It's the right size for me, it has the availability of rolling stock (new and used), it's proven in multiple settings and it can do what I need it to do... I think. Looking back I should've stuck with it back in 2016/17 when I had a Japanese based layout in rented acommodation rather than taking a break from the hobby until 2022. 

I'll be posting more regularly from now on - but initially quite a bit more to document what I did over the last year, as it's hopefully been a worthwhile journey that others might find interesting. 

 

Minories in TT:120 - Part 1

Initial Ideas and Planning 

Back in December 2024, after initially thinking I was going to abandon TT:120 and build a layout in OO gauge, I started a new project with what little TT:120 I had left after selling most of it.

It was based on a well-known plan by Cyril J. Freezer - Minories.

For those that don't know, this was a plan that debuted in 1957 to coincide with the original launch of the Triang TT range (later becoming known as TT3, or 3mm scale). CJF had come up with the deceptively simple design using inspiration from the Liverpool Street Metropolitan station, resulting in an urban terminus station with 3 platforms, a pilot siding - and an arrangement of points which results in any movement only involving one reverse curve; or in practise, a very satisfying snaking of the coaches through the points when arriving or departing the station.  

Initially I tried to create the plan using the Peco TT:120 medium points, but this resulted in a board length that I didn't have space for. Limiting it to just small points helped but then I thought it may be a better homage to the original plan and the Triang TT launch to use just Hornby TT:120 track pieces. Whilst there are downsides to this, namely the insulfrog nature of the set track points, it would be a simpler proposition and result in a working layout more quickly. The initial plan is shown below:

6 sections, 6 points and a total scenic length of 147cm - with an initial plan to have it live on my shelf where the previous shelf layout fitted. A fiddleyard would be kept separate and attached during operating sessions. Unlike the original plan, it wouldn't be folding, but the layout would still be portable with the baseboards again making use of the excellent Scale Model Scenery kits. 

The setting would be based around The Easterner Set - an eastern region terminus during era 4/5.  

I'll be posting the construction of this layout over a series of posts. Next will be further revisions to the plan and trying to enhance operations with goods facilities.