Yeovil Model Railway Gazette
Real life in miniature
The Layout :
Yeovil Town Model Railway
Developed from a fine scale OO layout started by others in the 1970's the layout was added to and rewired for DCC and computer control.
Over the years the layout has been rewired to permit DCC operation, a leg system developed to support the main layout, The baseboards dowled together and fitted with special captive nuts and stainless steel bolts. A MIMIC panel , stock storage box and Power Supply box system is now built.
This section plots the course of this layout as it progresses to it's aim of being a faithful high class exhibition model.
At present the layout was built to the 1950's standard but the feeling is to now move it back to the early 20th century and may be have some replacement parts to run it in a later period.
The author has built a OO fiddle yard to be a of a standard universal design so the layout can be used as a continuous run layout on club nights as well as providing four separate fiddle yards for exhibitions. This is fitted with it's own route selected control box and the whole layout will be DCC.
This layout was started some 30 years plus ago and got as far as the front boards working off press stud controls operating point motors. It was modelled in 00 fine scale with much of the track being hand-built.
After being offered to the Yeovil Model Railway Group and declined, a few members felt that such a layout should remain in the club because it was a Yeovil Station. Four members each bought a share from the existing owner (Paul Montacute) who made up the fifth. With the original owner selling his share, two members dying and a member moving home the layout has become the sole responsibility of Paul and Olivia Howes.
The layout was rewired for DCC and the point motors changed to take less current. After many problems with point motors being unreliable they were changed no less than a further 3 times ending up with some Traintronics DCC slow motion point motors (except for a few ZTC solenoid DCC point motors). Further rewiring and the addition of a scenic board heading towards Yeovil Junction and a large fiddle yard (code 100 track) saw the layout grow to its current size.
The layout uses Railroad & CO's TrainController Gold software to control all trains with LDT current detection boards dotted around layout to indicate where a train is. A Lens DCC controller powers the track and a separate Lens booster powers the accessories. As a backup a ZTC DCC controller can be switched into play for manual control.
The aim is to have all prototypical locomotives and rolling stock along with actual train movements however this is a gradual Process not yet completed. Although Yeovil Town was quite an active station and engine shed, serving both GWR (to Taunton & Penn Mill) and Southern (to Yeovil Junction), the schedules controlled by the computer are condensed into a much more active day just like a soap opera on TV! The layout after all is here to entertain the public...
Signals are almost all the correct type but not all are in place and/or working at this time. Later this year (2019) we will be adding the correct buildings, along with further CCTV views that can't easily be seen by the public. Trees are at their tallest to scale for a large tree of that type but in keeping with real life there are smaller trees going down to quite young ones.
The colour LED lights are currently manually controlled but in the future they will be controlled by the Computer to simulate dawn and dusk scenarios along with building and yard lights.
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