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.