In my previous post I was worried about a leaky roof dropping moisture onto my layout. Well, it’s not what I thought. The following explanation from my brother means a much easier fix. I would read up and decide what control system you want for the layout DC (analog) or DCC (digital) and then get the best controller you can that suits what you want to do. Can anyone guide us towards the best single level layout (utilising the at least the bits that we have and the anticipated 44"/110cm wide MAX x 7'/2.1m long board).

I am new to this, and it is far from complete, but I thought I’d share some piccies of how I am getting on.Well, I thought things were going well with my layout design finally settled and I’d begun to get all enthusiastic. However, an unexpected challenge has arisen. In a nutshell it seems that in a very hard frost – some little mositure droplets can form around the nails that hold our roof tils on. This moisture can then run along the nail shaft and onto the layout. It’s a bit odd as the roof is watertight in the worst possible storms.So, I need to move the layout and sheet up the roof space above the layout. What a pain. But, thank goodness I learnt from experience and built the baseboard in modules. (baseboards.jpg)By the way I attach a painful picture of what happens to a biggish layout if you can’t get it out of your attic ! (layout sawing.jpg)Work still in progress ! Post No 4 The limit on number of locos in use is the amount of current they draw. The Powercab can also be made to display how much current it is supplying. If you find you need to draw more than it can supply, then you could always update it later on. Your shed is only just a bit smaller than the third bedroom in my new house, (when I finally move), so your plan will be of great interest to me. I have to leave space for a pull out bed though. As I understand it box rooms are not very big so an 8' X 4' island layout is probably not the best use of the space, I would suggest as Tony57 has a wall hugging narrow shelf layout around the walls of the room. There's another oddity that you will discover if you try different sizes. No matter what alternative material you try, the maximum size that doesn't twist or bend is between six feet and four feet along its longest side and between three and six inches deep. This is why large exhibition layouts are made up of so many small boards, they resist bending, even if six foot long sections are so heavy that they require two men to lift.

Over-all the layout needs to be fun; doesn't need to be real-world - and is for my kids also - one is 4 1/2 , the other will soon grow up at 1 1/2. I like the plan and the reversing loop makes for a full range of operational possibilities. But I agree with imt that you need at least the cross over at the bottom of the layout otherwise you will lose some operational flexibility and will be running more trains in the wrong direction + kids = crashes. Having seen David's reply (arrived while typing), if you still do want to go electrofrog, read on .... I don’t think the moisture travels along the nails. I think the moisture in the air, greater than usual concentrations if you’ve been up there for an hour or two, is attracted to the cold nails which have conducted the cold from outside to inside and condenses on the metal. The sharp tip provides a good collecting point – a droplet forms and then drips when the weight overcomes the surface tension. And that goes for the simple layouts too. A theme really does ‘glue’ all the visual parts of a layout together.So, my initial SCARM plan has changed considerably and a very basic re-worked layout seems to be approaching what I think will be close to a final configuration. I’ve attached one picture to show the basic arrangement so far. The prospect of starting from scratch has been a bit daunting but after moping around for a few months I’ve finally started to build the new layout. This time round I’ve tried to use my experience to make improvements on my original efforts. First off has been to use SCARM software to help me plan my new layout and give me an early idea of the general design. Here is my basic design. Quite a plethora of comments alread, which is great! You can always rely on RMwebers for comment and advice. I was very disheartened at the prospect of losing my original HD layout as we embarked in relocating to Scotland. I attach a pic to give some idea of my layout.

Is the gradient going to be too steep and if so- how can I raise the top platform a little to extend the run - i.e. I have 3 tiers of height. It looks as though I've been beaten to it for giving out the good advice, and Kebang has sketched a pretty good plan for 6x4 if that's really what you want to do or have to do. I'm an amateur at anyrail - haven't figured out colours and layers yet so I've broken the second tier out as below so it makes sense.Borrowing from Kebang, I took his set-up and applied it to 7 x 5, a foot more each way, but with the access and operation space moved inside. The reverse loop also means you can't really have the top station at a "half height" level, which could otherwise ease the gradient problem I'd like to create two levels and get used to gradient work - as my future aspirations will be to do this on a bigger layout so will need practice landscaping I too have a NEC Powercab and really like it. Tried others when visiting Digitrains in Lincoln and found it the easiest to hold and work with. I found I could actually use it left or righthand which meant it frees you dominant hand for doing things like uncoupling, point control and other hands on tasks. Easy to walk round the layout with it too. You can add another throttle (NEC CAB04,05 or 06) very easily for two operator control; 2 kids, a very useful feature. A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.