Creativity issue

[simonjackson1964]

Hi Guys (and possibly gals too? Let's not make sexist generalisations here!)

I'm having what I can best describe as "Modellers block". I am reasonably certain that the issue has been caused by a number of computer crashes, where I thought I'd backed things up, but clearly had not, and have consequently lost all previously created layouts!

This has resulted in a feeling of worthlessness. What is the point of making something good only to lose it again? I also haver another issue here, in that I have put a lot of effort into one particular layout (saved to current PC), only to realise that when I tried to make it run, it's just too complex! There re too many "routes", crossing over one another, too many junctions, too many possibilities. Also, using KS signalling may have been a mistake as each signal affects the one before it and potentially the one after it...

So that layout had been abandoned.

And while I'm happy to give something simpler a go, I have no idea what. Seriously, I'm tempted to just put an oval of track on a carpet and have a single train chasing its tail...

But where's the challenge? I know I can do that but there's no point.

I have a layout that I've started, that has a double oval and a traditional fiddle-yard on one side... And a massive gap on the other side. I keep coming back to it to try and put something in that gap - Station, freight yard, vehicle yard, junction, trans-shipping point... Anything!

But I just don't have the inspiration. I want it to be simple enough that I can get it working, but complex enough to present a challenge. I've even tried searching on-line for track plans...

I'm stumped.

If anyone has an idea they think might work, please let me know? I'm desperate enough to ask!

Cheers

Simon.

[220hotwheels]

1 hour ago, simonjackson1964 said:

Hi Guys (and possibly gals too? Let's not make sexist generalisations here!)

I'm having what I can best describe as "Modellers block". I am reasonably certain that the issue has been caused by a number of computer crashes, where I thought I'd backed things up, but clearly had not, and have consequently lost all previously created layouts!

This has resulted in a feeling of worthlessness. What is the point of making something good only to lose it again? I also haver another issue here, in that I have put a lot of effort into one particular layout (saved to current PC), only to realise that when I tried to make it run, it's just too complex! There re too many "routes", crossing over one another, too many junctions, too many possibilities. Also, using KS signalling may have been a mistake as each signal affects the one before it and potentially the one after it...

So that layout had been abandoned.

And while I'm happy to give something simpler a go, I have no idea what. Seriously, I'm tempted to just put an oval of track on a carpet and have a single train chasing its tail...

But where's the challenge? I know I can do that but there's no point.

I have a layout that I've started, that has a double oval and a traditional fiddle-yard on one side... And a massive gap on the other side. I keep coming back to it to try and put something in that gap - Station, freight yard, vehicle yard, junction, trans-shipping point... Anything!

But I just don't have the inspiration. I want it to be simple enough that I can get it working, but complex enough to present a challenge. I've even tried searching on-line for track plans...

I'm stumped.

If anyone has an idea they think might work, please let me know? I'm desperate enough to ask!

Cheers

Simon.

Hi Simon

I'm really sorry to hear of your dilemma. I know we all say that this sort of situation won't happen to us as we are constantly backing up but, hey life is a b----r, as they say and yes we are all probable guilty of overlooking a most important backup. I personally go over the top. I backup via MBS, I back up to my computer, I then copy all files to an encrypted portable hard drive as well as backing up the whole computer to another hard drive once every month. Yep, way over the top, but then when you've been there and lost stuff you don't want to make the same mistake again.

Not too sure what you are asking for. Can you be more specific and I'm sure help will follow. I have it at the back of my mind that you sent me at least one of your layouts so will look back through my files and see what I find. If I find anything do you want me to send you it?

Pete

[220hotwheels]

Hi Simon

Just a thought but do you fancy having a go at revising my Woodridge layout. I mean the EV is probably rubbish compared to your method, the fiddle yard perhaps needs a major overhaul and the signalling system is stone age, but if you like a challenge then I'm happy to send it to you via your email.

Kind regards

Pete

[Herman]

Hi @simonjackson1964 , Dear Simon, 

I had the same desperate feelings in the begin of 2024.  Not that I lost something, but totally  out of new ideas. Yes call it a block.
Even three attemps for starting a new layout failed, and they are now in the wastebin forever. 

What did I do?  I looked back here in the forum to the layouts of Modellbahnspass, tried to find one that suits me, and started again. And believe me, there's a lot to choose from his layouts, and then adapt it to your own ideas.

But considering that since the start of using MBS by me, the studio gave me hours and hours of joy, I hope you too start again with something new and enjoy the making of that layout.

If you have more specific questions, I'll be happy to help. Even via P.M if you wish.

My best wishes, greetings, Herman

Bearbeitet 24. Juni von Herman

[prinz]

Hi @simonjackson1964 ,

if you are looking for new ideas for layouts, have a look at the thread

https://community.3d-modellbahn.de/forums/topic/6968-quellen-für-gleispläne/#comment-114333

I created that thread because i had the same problem finding new ideas.

Best wishes,
    Wolfgang

 

[simonjackson1964]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys.

I think my biggest issue is, what do I want to put in that gap...?

Industry, passenger station, goods yard, freight yard, some combination?

I mean, I could easily scrap this and replace the fiddle yard with a V-Depot at either end, but I kind-of have a thing for the actual fiddle yard - I like to see the trains all lined up...! Plus it's a bit of a weird thing, but I also like to sit in the cab of a loco in the yard and watch the trains come in and leave, while waiting for the one I'm in to start moving...!

I guess the most obvious would be a passenger station, possibly with a goods yard attached... I just need some inspiration on where to put everything...  Probably what I should do is just put some tracks and platforms in and see where it goes... I'm just worried that I'll get so far and think, "Nah!" and just delete it...

But again, thanks for the encouragement.

Simon

[simonjackson1964]

Here's a thing:

One of the part-built layouts that I honestly thought I had backed up to the cloud, but then couldn't find anywhere when I re-installed MBS on my stand-by laptop after my PC blew up..., was a brick factory. I had even "kit bashed" one of the standard hopper wagons to put a canopy on and make it into a clay wagon, I'd fiddled around with Lua code to make pallets of bricks appear in the outbound warehouse, I had a gas dank and a gas delivery lorry that I'd kit bashed, the factory itself was put together from existing buildings and "primitives", and there was a water tower, and all the signals and routes were working.

I even had scenery all but complete. The last bit that I was still figuring out when I lost the lot was how to get the brick pallets into the outbound open wagons... Cranes are something of a weak-spot...!

I have a desire to recreate that.

But I know it won't be the same. Plus, I'm worried that I'll get to the same stage and realise that what I'm trying to do with the brick pallets won't work... I guess the obvious solution is to do that bit first...!

But ... Maybe not bricks? But then what? This is why I'm frustrated!

[220hotwheels]

13 minutes ago, simonjackson1964 said:

Here's a thing:

One of the part-built layouts that I honestly thought I had backed up to the cloud, but then couldn't find anywhere when I re-installed MBS on my stand-by laptop after my PC blew up..., was a brick factory. I had even "kit bashed" one of the standard hopper wagons to put a canopy on and make it into a clay wagon, I'd fiddled around with Lua code to make pallets of bricks appear in the outbound warehouse, I had a gas dank and a gas delivery lorry that I'd kit bashed, the factory itself was put together from existing buildings and "primitives", and there was a water tower, and all the signals and routes were working.

I even had scenery all but complete. The last bit that I was still figuring out when I lost the lot was how to get the brick pallets into the outbound open wagons... Cranes are something of a weak-spot...!

I have a desire to recreate that.

But I know it won't be the same. Plus, I'm worried that I'll get to the same stage and realise that what I'm trying to do with the brick pallets won't work... I guess the obvious solution is to do that bit first...!

But ... Maybe not bricks? But then what? This is why I'm frustrated!

Hi Simon

I tried to send you these files via your email address but it just bounced back so here goews again. hope they prove to be of some use.

D8ED1623-8BCD-45D8-95BF-BD62AAAAA700

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hCjxBoUCAG3KKM4eA

Also attached is a suggested start to fill in that gap. I'm sure your creative juices will take over.

Pete

Sinon layout 1.mbp

[Herman]

17 minutes ago, simonjackson1964 said:

Cranes are something of a weak-spot...!

For handling pallets on a train, a crane does the work. 
I made some examples in the past to illustrate the working of a crane. ( with a lot of english comments ) 

Why not starting with a test layout :  pallets of bricks, let the crane put them on several wagons , the train goes to a destination and another crane unloads them. 

PS what I made there was a kind of tutorial for cranes, they were for a Dutch speaking member like me. I replaced it with an English one. And I took a container crane as example, but remember, all cranes works with the same principle.

Kind regards, Herman

 

Bearbeitet 24. Juni von Herman

[simonjackson1964]

11 minutes ago, 220hotwheels said:

Hi Simon

I tried to send you these files via your email address but it just bounced back so here goews again. hope they prove to be of some use.

D8ED1623-8BCD-45D8-95BF-BD62AAAAA700

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hCjxBoUCAG3KKM4eA

Also attached is a suggested start to fill in that gap. I'm sure your creative juices will take over.

Pete

Sinon layout 1.mbp 301.44 kB · 0 downloads

Hi Pete.

Thanks for that. The terminus is one of my many failures. It never actually worked, because I was trying to be too complicated. Lots of lovely little details but, actually getting the trains to run? Forget it.

I think the main reason I abandoned it was because I was trying to somehow put a "realistic" timetable in place, and worked out that if a vehicle is moving at 60Kmh for 1 minute, guess what, it's going to cover one Km, If the scale of the model is 1:1 then that will be a real kilometre. If the scale is 1:100, that will be 10m... so if you want realistic scale distances and speeds, your 24-hour timetable has to work over a real 24 hours. To get a workable layout, you either sacrifice the intervals between trains (becomes shorter), the speed of the trains (becomes faster), or the length of the trains (become shorter).

The "Valley Road Station" doesn't work properly at v8 - it was built at v5, I think, and has a number of quirks that have been ironed out or superseded in later versions.

7C346FA4-A33E-4148-A0EE-3D0F790B8524

The above is a draft upload of the layout I was working on earlier this year. It's got water falls, a ford, an underground car park that actually works... extensive use of primitives to fill holes...

But no EV and only the basic routes for trains. It's just too complicated. This is the sort of thing I'm capable of creating. If someone else wants to collaborate and get it working, please do...

[simonjackson1964]

38 minutes ago, Herman said:

For handling pallets on a train, a crane does the work. 
I made some examples in the past to illustrate the working of a crane. ( with a lot of english comments ) 

Why not starting with a test layout :  pallets of bricks, let the crane put them on several wagons , the train goes to a destination and another crane unloads them. 

PS what I made there was a kind of tutorial for cranes, they were for a Dutch speaking member like me. I replaced it with an English one. And I took a container crane as example, but remember, all cranes works with the same principle.

Kind regards, Herman

 

I think that might be an idea, although I'm still not convinced that using brick pallets is the way I want to go. I'm just worried that I will want the layout to look like the previous one, and it won't, and I'll be disappointed and abandon it.

[simonjackson1964]

Crisis over, I am working on a new layout. How it turns out, only time will tell. I know what I want it to look like, but ... We shall see.

[hmclay]

simonjackson196 ... I'm delighted you are not quitting !  I have enjoyed your input and perceived enthusiasm in the past. You would be missed if absent from this forum.

I hope your new layout proves to be an enjoyment to develop !

[simonjackson1964]

Thanks.

It's slow going for a number of reasons, but I'll get there, possibly before v9!

[Dad3353]

If this 'block' has been overcome, this may be redundant, but, if anyone is looking for a Challenge, I can propose one. I've attached a screenshot, to give some idea. This was, in fact my very first layout, which grew and grew. The Challenge concerns the tracks at the bottom of the picture. On the left : three parallel sidings, each with a short train of wagons, and a shunter, waiting to start the operation. On the right, three parallel sidings, empty. The idea is to have the shunter pick up each train in turn, take it to the other end, and leave it in one or other of the sidings. Come back to pick up the next train, and repeat, taking it to another empty siding. Back again for the third train, taking it to the last  empty siding on the right.
Once that has been achieved, return each of the trains on the right, back to the left, leaving it in a different siding to that where it started. Repeat for the other two on the right.
This can be repeated, until each train has been returned to its original siding on the left. It takes quite a lot of backwards and forwards to do this, but it was fun, interesting and instructive working out how, where and when to command the shunter.
There is a connection to the centre of the whole layout, but that can be ignored. The upper part has trains looping around, sharing parts of the track, and obeying the appropriate signals. The shunter operation is entirely independent of all that.
I can (I think...) post my layout, but it may contain some elements that are not in the catalogue. These (few...) can be replaced with an equivalent (look at the name...), or ignored. The layout was started with an earlier version, but has evolved, so far, up to v8.5, where the most recent little mods were done.
Anyway, there's just one idea of how to use up a bottle or two of aspirin, and make the long winter nights pass very quickly. Hope this helps.

Wenn diese „Blockade“ überwunden wurde, ist das hier vielleicht überflüssig, aber wenn jemand eine Herausforderung sucht, kann ich eine vorschlagen. Ich habe einen Screenshot angehängt, um eine Vorstellung zu geben. Das war tatsächlich mein allererstes Layout, das immer weiter gewachsen ist. Die Herausforderung betrifft die Gleise unten im Bild. Links: drei parallele Abstellgleise, jedes mit einem kurzen Waggonzug und einem Rangierer, der darauf wartet, mit dem Betrieb zu beginnen. Rechts: drei parallele Abstellgleise, leer. Die Idee ist, dass der Rangierer nacheinander jeden Zug aufnimmt, ihn ans andere Ende bringt und ihn auf dem einen oder anderen Abstellgleis abstellt. Zurückkommen, um den nächsten Zug aufzunehmen, und dies wiederholen, indem er ihn zu einem anderen leeren Abstellgleis bringt. Noch einmal zurück für den dritten Zug, und ihn zum letzten leeren Abstellgleis auf der rechten Seite bringen.
Wenn dies geschafft ist, jeden der Züge auf der rechten Seite wieder nach links zurückbringen und ihn auf einem anderen Abstellgleis abstellen als dem, auf dem er gestartet ist. Wiederholen Sie dies für die anderen beiden auf der rechten Seite.
Dies kann wiederholt werden, bis jeder Zug auf sein ursprüngliches Abstellgleis auf der linken Seite zurückgebracht wurde. Dies erfordert ziemlich viel Hin und Her, aber es hat Spaß gemacht, war interessant und lehrreich herauszufinden, wie, wo und wann man den Rangierer befehligt.
Es besteht eine Verbindung zur Mitte des gesamten Layouts, die jedoch ignoriert werden kann. Im oberen Teil fahren Züge im Kreis, teilen sich Teile des Gleises und befolgen die entsprechenden Signale. Der Rangierbetrieb ist davon völlig unabhängig.
Ich kann (glaube ich...) mein Layout veröffentlichen, aber es kann einige Elemente enthalten, die nicht im Katalog enthalten sind. Diese (wenigen...) können durch ein Äquivalent ersetzt (sehen Sie sich den Namen an...) oder ignoriert werden. Das Layout wurde mit einer früheren Version begonnen, hat sich jedoch bisher bis zu v8.5 weiterentwickelt, wo die letzten kleinen Modifikationen vorgenommen wurden.
Wie auch immer, es gibt nur eine Idee, wie man ein oder zwei Flaschen Aspirin aufbrauchen und die langen Winternächte sehr schnell vergehen lassen kann. Ich hoffe, das hilft.

Douglas

Shunter_Layout_8-5.mbp

[Dad3353]

I had made a video at the time, where one may see it all; the shunter is plodding away in the background, mostly...

Ich hatte damals ein Video gemacht, da kann man alles sehen, im Hintergrund dümpelt größtenteils die Rangierlok vor sich hin...