[kiwionrails]

does anyone know what should be the minimum lenth (in 4mm scale) for a country station platform that is on a buisy branch line? I'm a 12 year old modeler hoping to start his first layout

 

[john woodall]

Platform length will be dictated by train length.

If you only have small passenger trains, you might like to take the longest one's length add a coach or two to its length for possible future expansion and then you will have your ideal platform length.

In my terminus station my platform lengths vary from from about 1 meter long (one of them) to about 2.7 meters long (the other 2). Mind you my "busy" branch lines has freight trains of 3 meters in length which is a bit extreme really.

John

 

[John Webb]

Welcome to the Forum.

Branch line passenger trains could be anything from 1 to 4 or more coaches long, depending on the number of passengers expected. Railway companies ran the smallest trains they could to keep costs to a minimum. So a branch line connecting two reasonable sized towns would carry more passengers than a branch that linked only small villages and would have longer trains.

For a model railway the limit is usually the space you have available for your layout. I think three or four coach trains are probably reasonably realistic without needing too much room.

Have fun!

Regards,
John Webb

PS As you've become a member, you don't need to use the Guest posting area; for questions about the real railways which you want to ask, there is a 'Prototype' section in the index you could use. It's worth looking at as you might pick up some ideas to help you design your layout. And in the Track, Layout and Scenery section a lot of people have asked about their layout design as well.

 

[7113]

QUOTE (John Webb @ 23 May 2008, 11:03) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>For a model railway the limit is usually the space you have available for your layout. I think three or four coach trains are probably reasonably realistic without needing too much room.

Sound advice from John in that last post. I would also add that a lot depends on what era you wish to model as this can have an effect on platform lenth as well. It may well be worth borrowing some pictorial books from your local library as this will often give you ideas and rough dimensions.

Regards

PS welcome to the four figure gang John!

 

[ben1]

Hi and welcome to the forum!
I suggest that..... you do exactly as every one else suggests, but cannot say much more, never having given the matter much thought.

Regards,
Ben

 

[hairyhandedfool]

I would say platform lengths generally are as posted above, as long as they need to be, but it does depend on history too. It maybe that previously there were longer trains that used the line, maybe it was a through route that has been partially closed. Perhaps, like Newquay or Blackburn, it used to be a far busier station and has shrunk to meet demand. I think you best plan what sort of atmosphere you want to create and in which era and then try to decide what would best suit your needs.

The typical branch line station would generally have platforms to suit it's needs and little else.

 

[Guest]

Hiya

AFAIK there are no rules on minimum length. There are many stations around here (north Warwickshire line) where a 3 car DMU would not fit. Also places like Morton in Marsh where the platforms are shorter than the HST's that stop there.

There is, however a minimum width and that is (from memory) 12 feet from the platform edge to any structure. In the event of island platforms the 12 feet rule applies per face so the absolute minumum is 24 feet across.

HTH

Jim

(ps 12 feet = 48mm and 24 feet = 96mm in 00)