O-27 continuous run and switching layout in 15-square feet...

Hi Howard,

 

      Nice plan!  Lot of action in a small space! Thanks for sharing!  Looking forward to seeing the trains in operation with the scenery.

 

Take care, Joe.

Very nice start on the layout, Howard. It looks like it will be fun with running and switching.

Continuous running, 2 different sidings to simulate operations *AND* a layout puzzle in the same 15sq ft? Sign me up!

Glad to see another Inglenook fan in the house. 

 

I plan on using the 5-3-3.  I've also done the 5-3-3 (in N Scale) at Boy Scout Merit Badge classes.

Other than the wine maker, I'm not familiar with the term 'inglenook'.  Could you

'splain' that?  Thanks.  I like the plan too.  Compact and does the job, sorta like

an 0-4-0!

 

     Hoppy

 

 

Hoppy,

 

Like the Timesaver, it is a switching puzzle, and it comes from the UK.  Came across it last year and have since always tried to include it in any of my various track plans.  That way I could have both continuous running and switching.  I'm not much into detailed operations, etc. but more into the play aspect.  The Inglenook is very simple and involves four spurs of track, only 2 turnouts needed (easy on the $$$).  Object is to make a 5-car consist out of the 8 cars on the sidings.  The length of each of the spurs is restricted (5 cars in one, 3 each in the other) so that you have to make up the consist - in a predetermined order of cars - within that limited space.  The order of cars can be drawn from a hat, etc. There are many combinations that can be done (the 5-3-3 version has 6,720 possible combinations of trains) so it won't be repetitive.  With the 3-2-2 by the OP, the number of consist combinations is 360, which is still a lot.

 

With me in my O Gauge world, my goal is to have operating accessories on each of the spurs so that I can play the Inglenook and/or use the accessories that are on the tracks.

 

It's a great fun game to play and I used it on my 30x72 N Scale layout at a Boy Scout Merit Badge class earlier this year.  

 

This website explains it in great detail better:  http://www.wymann.info/Shuntin...enook-trackplan.html.  Like the Timesaver, there are videos of it on YouTube.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for your reply Kevin.  I knew about the back-and-forth aspect of the consist

makeup, just never connected a procedural name to it.

 

     Hoppy

Howard,

It looks like a nice plan for a small space.  I too have a small space.

 

Kevin,

Thank you for explaining and for the Inglenook.  I have seen it before, but had totally forgotten the name.  It all looks like fun, I too want some accessories to switch between, and run trains on the 'main line'.

Hoppy and Mark, you're both welcome.

 

I prefer the 5-3-3 but  in O Gauge it is very lengthy and requires at least 10-12 feet (based upon using freight cars of 11.5 inches in length).  I've come up with different versions including having the shunting end do a 180-degree turn in order to fit it in a 6-8 foot long layout.  I followed the premise from the Layout Vision website on how it wrapped around the "Switchman's Nightmare" track plan to fit on a 4x8 http://layoutvision.com/id45.html. 

 

With space constraints in play, I'm probably going to do the 3-2-2 on my permanent layout.

 

Kevin,

I recall the old Lynn Westcott Switchman's Nightmare.  I was in HO before I got into O gauge, and was reading Model Railroader and Wescott in the late '60s.  I never built anything like the nightmare.  Wow!!  It makes John Allen's Timesaver look like kid's stuff. Wescott had a lot of great ideas in his own right.  I did build a variation of his HO Railroad That Grows when I was in high school.  I almost wore that book out!  ;-)

Kevin, could you also explain the terms you use (5-3-3, 3-2-2)?  Again, I understand

the concept of pick-and-choose in making up a consist, just not the modeler's jargon

that applies to it.  Thanks for your patience!

 

     Hoppy

I know you asked Kevin, but the numbers just refer to siding capacity. 5-3-3 means a capacity for 5 cars, 3 cars and 3 cars. Most people use a mainline anyway for the first 'siding' so the second and third numbers are the ones for concern. A 2 car siding fits a lot better within the loop given (and 2 of them at that!) than a 3 car siding.... Unless you cheat and use the K-line ore cars that went with the Porter locomotive

Great exlpanation, Greg!  

 

Hoppy, Greg's Porter and ore car example is just one way of operating an O gauge micro layout in a smaller space than even the 15 square feet in the original example.  

Basic “3-2-2 Inglenook“ operation…small space, a few cars, simple rules...this is how i plan to run...and hopefully my grandson as well...

 

1 siding has 3 spotting/parking spaces…2 sidings have 2 spotting/parking spaces each…A total of 7 spotting/parking spaces…

 

Operate with a switcher and 5 cars…Switcher can only be backed into a siding to pickup or drop off a car or cars…No cars may be spotted/parked on the outside oval…

 

5 cars are randomly spotted/parked on the sidings…This leaves 2 unoccupied spotting/parking spaces…Bumpers indicated in red...

 

There are 5 “train order cards”…1 card for each car with a picture of the car…Shuffle cards face down and place face down on table…Then draw 3 cards...Now the “switching” begins…Train must be made up behind the switcher in the order of the 3 drawn cards…

 

Switching operating options…

 

With another opponent/opponents…Take turns…Each opponent/opponents makes up three trains…Every time a switch is thrown counts as one point…Lowest total points wins…

 

Same as above…But operate against a timer clock in addition to switch throw counts…Fastest time and lowest points wins…

 

Howard…

 

Last line in above copy edited to "fastest time"..."not lowest time"...

 

Another reason small layouts don't have to be relegated to just running in a circle. A lot of enjoyment can be attained by making your train up, running it. Then dropping the cars off, again by shuffling cards, or any method you wish. My neighbor can enjoy hours of running with this method. Myself, switching, making up a consist is my number 1 enjoyment. Afterwards I can enjoy the train going round the layout.

Greg and Mark, many thanks for your replies!  Sounds like a load of fun and I'm gonna

include something like that in my build.

 

     Hoppy

Finally getting a chance to check in on this thread, and it looks like the Inglenook is alive and well!

 

Enjoy Hoppy!