Lin's G Scale Shunting Puzzle

Bruksbanen

October 29th 2006 SOLENT GROUP G Scale Indoor Meet

It started with the idea of creating a small G scale layout. This would provide the opportunity to show off my growing accumulation of field railway stock.
The garden layout was started with small stock in mind, however it has now grown to accommodate larger passenger trains, which tower over the tiny field wagons! A portable layout therefore would offer great potential.

A number of plans were drawn out, the intention being to design a tabletop layout, on which two trains could run at the same time, and provide the opportunity to undertake some shunting. All of the designs had one drawback, they proved to be rather on the large side! A Table Tennis Transportable Layout
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A while later, was it really early summer? During one of the Solent Garden meets, the subject of shunting puzzles was raised. It was considered that it would provide an interesting variation on the layouts currently on the circuit. I had not come across such puzzles before, and did not really know what they were about. However it seemed that not a lot of space would be required, and I already had sufficient stock, so I decided to investigate a bit further.


	Photographs taken by Glyn Smith at Bruksbanen's 1st Outing ©Glyn Smith

There are a number of sites on the internet that describe these puzzles, their history, how to make them, how to run them etc. There is even a site with an on-line puzzle! A few days surfing the web and reading up, and I was hooked! Plans to make a shunting puzzle were started. Then came summer holidays, late summer holidays and other commitments and plans were on hold until...
Conversations with a young neighbour with regards setting up a permanent 00 layout, focused attention on value for money practical baseboards. One thought was to purchase an inexpensive door from one of the local DIY chains. One weekend, we acquired such a door, and proceeded to check out what could be fitted on to a pair of doors. (00 of course).

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Door, Shunting Puzzle, Shunting Puzzle, Door. Yes the door did fit into my car, with space to spare with scenery, so one sunny afternoon, the door was propped up in the garden, and I started laying out some track. It would fit! The mini shunting puzzle would fit in its entirety, the full sized version would require a short extension to the door. Phil even came up with the hump shunt version by tilting the door and reinforcing the buffer stops! I decided on the full size version, as it could always be restricted to run the mini version if required. The full size also gave more scope for the addition of some scenery.

	Gandy Dancer/Dressinge Trolley fitted with MTS small loco module LGB Lorry fitted with MTS Small Loco Module

Photographs Taken during Construction Made entirely with Radius 1 Set Track! (and 3 R1 electric Points)

Phil has been Bruksbanen's Civil Engineer and Permanent way man. To prove a point, and to avoid the use of track he had put aside for the larger indoor Table Tennis Table layout, we decided to build the layout using three points and some of our surplus of radius 1 curves. Not as daft as it might sound, as with the help of a fancy trackbender, the curves can be straightened to provide more than suitable straights for a country siding!

So the track has been fixed, spray foam has been added for landscaping a polystyrene hill forms the old mine entrance, and liberal paint and bits have been applied. This provides the basic theme for the layout. No doubt the future will see further development of the layout. Noch Static Grass was applied over the scenic board.

The operational size of the layout is 1½ doors in length - joined by a piano hinge and supported on 3 trestles. The lightweight layout simply folds to a single door size for transport in the back of RE CUE our Range Rover Ambulance, for rapid set-up and de-rig.
Loco control and track power is LGB MTS (version 1) which provide simple handheld control which any visitor can use, and good low speed performance. The points are operated by a switch-box located 'continental-style' on the adjacent station platform (or anywher more convenient since it is on the end of a 5 metre lead). Uncoupling is with Single LGB Uncoupling Ramps and wagons have only 1 hook to match. (Not our usual standard)

The back track. which also enters the Mine, has no direct involvement with the Puzzle, but provides operational interest and expansion potential. Equally, the current version of the Mine has 'Castle Gates' concealed within, forming part of a 'sub-plot' in our Area Group. Seasonal variation is standard: This first outing was adorned with pumpkins made by Lin in Fimo Clay, and had 'rubies' in a mine wagon; at other times it might be diamonds, crystal, gold, copper etc.

The success of this layout and a Scandinavian 2-door basedboard experiment
has led to proposals for a MODULAR G-SCALE layout by members of SOLENT Group

Modular Door-based G-Scale Layout from Solent Group
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Beechingless Barnstaple 2007 - The Rebuild
DCC Power Scheme for Beechingless Barnstaple
Scandinavian
Easter Engineering - LGB
LGB Lin's Garden Bahn

Created in HTMLEdit Studio by Phil & Lin Spiegelhalter on November 1st 2006