Inglenook ? a shunting puzzle

Over the years I had accumulated a number of spare Peco points, buildings and scenic materials. I have dabbled with small layouts and decided to build a small Inglenook style layout. The only things not in the overs were some fishplates, Peco buffer stops and 2 lengths of code 100 track.

British locomotives and rolling stock are ideal for this because of the small diesel and steam locos and the variety of four-wheel wagons readily available. When you are building a small footprint layout, the shorter the locos and rolling stock, the less space required. I had two brake vans - one bauxite and the other grey that were ideal. The layout is an older generation where no train is complete without a brake van!

One of my friends, an accountant at our annual Modelling the Railways of South Australia Convention mentioned he was building an Inglenook and in true professional style mentioned that there were about 6,000 possible moves in operating an Inglenook module. I had at hand some 6mm MDF and other timber sections so it was easy to put together the baseboard needed. From a previous layout rebuild I had enough code 100 small radius points to recycle and only needed 2 lengths of track and fishplates. I glued some Ikea cork placemats onto the MDF base and then painted it an earth colour. Points are operated through slide switches connected to the point tiebar by a brass wire. As the track was laid the wire was set in Plastruct plastic tube and connected to the slide switch. Track and points were fixed in place with PVA glue before it was all ballasted. Frogs were switched through the slide switch to ensure slow running was reliable. Scenery was completed with Woodlands Scenics and Mininatur grasses and some buildings and parts from a previous layout. The back scene came from Art Printers, ID Backscenes who proved very helpful and provide excellent backup service.

When you have been in the hobby for most of your life, you tend to get preconceived ideas set in your mind. I thought I knew what would be best for the young grand children but I was surprised at how quickly they learned and what they could do.

When the grandchildren were visiting I had the Inglenook set up and running with my NCE PowerCAB controller and 2 locos. I had the movement cards already made and laminated so we had a turn at operating the layout. The only real difference is my rolling stock is fitted with Kadee couplings, not the traditional British hook and bar. For the younger ones it is a pity that the Peco, Hornby and Trix coupling did not become the industry standard, but I will let that quietly run by.

There is no doubt that the Thomas the Tank Engine television show and merchandising has made a big impression on children as the grandchildren could identify with the wagon pictures on the cards and an 08 diesel.

What surprised me was how quickly a 5 & an 8 year old understood how to operate the layout. On the DCC system, NCE PowerCAB they were soon running trains very capably. All I had to do was tell them to go to speed step, say 4 for them to dial up the speed required on the controller. To stop they just turned the speed wheel back to zero and to change direction they just pressed the direction button, and the controller display showed forward or reverse on the screen. It didn?t take them too long to master the horn on the diesels with sound. The good part was that when they completed one shunting operation they wanted to do another. They were happy to operate the yard for a number of turns. I was quite surprised by how quickly they worked out different moves to sort out what wagons were required for the train and how they went about assembling it.

When considering what style of layout and control system was required on a layout for them there was a lot more to consider than I first thought.

It did not take long before they were picking out the cards, identifying the wagons required to make up the train and working out how to make up the train.

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