Sarum Bridge - T Gauge Layout - British Rail

Sarum Bridge is a T Scale model railway exhibition layout. The setting is somewhere near Salisbury, England, around 1980. It features automatic operation of three trains on a wrapped dogbone track plan, with working signals, roads and level crossing. This video shows the layout more-or-less complete as of August 2014, as seen at the AMRA Caulfield Model Railway Exhibition (Melbourne, Australia) 2014.

[@relaxingnature2617]

T scale is so great at having long miles of track ..no other scale comes close

[@allistairneil8968]

This is the most incredible train set I've seen, and then the busses and cars just blew my mind. Love the blooper section at the end. Whoever tacked this shebang together is a master. Well done.

[@modelrailmusings5981]

All the pieces came together much better than I had expected. For what it is worth, your video showing Ozrail's locos and wagons in action was one of things that inspired me to give T a go.

[@exveefan]

What I'd give to come down and see this beautiful layout in person. And maybe one of my own custom trains on it. :-) You must be very proud of yourself.

[@billypoe3703]

That is some fine work. That aqueduct is beautiful.

[@cyborgbadger1015]

All T gauge vids have the obligatory coin for size reference, its the law.

[@relaxingnature2617]

That is officially the coolest trainset/layout I've ever seen

[@modelrailmusings5981]

You might want to check out "The Bridge" and "Orbost" - those two really show T at its best.

[@alexmallaev4911]

Greetings from Mountain View, CA! Excellent!

[@raymondo162]

Loved the 'out-takes'

[@daveb.trains7019]

An excellent layout!!

[@manicmechanic24]

That's a cool super old video.

[@harveyleander9256]

Amazing! Really impressive work mate 😵🤩🤯

[@rickbailey7183]

Astounding! Really messes with you, though, when you get into watching this and then the Big Giant Hand comes in and does its thing!

[@klbird]

T Gauge trains seem to have two speeds. Stop and Fast. Nice modeling.

[@modelrailmusings5981]

The 1st generation mechanisms and controller were exactly like that. The 2nd is much better, but as the wheels and track get dirty you have to increase the speed to prevent stalling. The 2-year old version of my control system in the video had too few speed settings for three trains - I had to choose compromises that were ideal for none of them. The current version is noticeably better!

[@klbird]

I remember when "N" gauge came out in the sixties. It was also a bit crude but got better as the market expanded. Good luck with it!

[@siriusmicromaniac]

That central stone viaduct (they are always called viaducts, never bridges) is very evocative of the British railway scene and made me think more of the Settle and Carlisle line rather than Salisbury (but that's just because I know the north better than the south). I'm amazed that there are so many British outline models available in this scale. Like others here I would like to see this video remade in higher resolution as the 480p resolution used here doesn't do the layout or the tiny rolling stock justice - and if you do, please consider running the trains at a slower, more realistic scale speed.

[@modelrailmusings5981]

An "HST on a viaduct" was the inspiration for that layout; the location was arbitrary. A couple of years later, I got part way through building a Ribblehead layout before giving up completely on conventional T gauge. The slow running problems and maintenance headaches for anything more than a tiny layout were just too painful. The finished viaduct model sits on display in my lounge room. I have since sold off all my conventional T stuff, so I cannot remake the video. I now use linear motor drives for everything T, and this technology solves so many problems I am never looking back. A second go at Ribblehead is definitely on my list of future projects, but not at the head of the queue.

[@siriusmicromaniac]

@@modelrailmusings5981 I can appreciate that the smaller you go the harder it is to run at a low scale speed - even at N gauge it is noticeably more difficult to run stuff at a realistically slow speed than at (say) OO or HO.

[@modelrailmusings5981]

@@siriusmicromaniac The real problem is maintenance - track and wheel cleaning. And by wheel cleaning, I mean a partial teardown and rebuild. It took most of a day's work to get Sarum ready for a show. At that point, with everything perfect, it was capable of decent slow running, but performance degraded steadily. By the end of a 2-day show, I really had to crank up the speeds, as things were becoming marginal. The last day of the only 3-day show it attended was a real struggle.

[@patrickpreuer6511]

That's a very nice layout

[@plixplop]

Incredible! I'd love to see how those cars and busses work!

[@modelrailmusings5981]

There is some explanatory info on my website: modelrailmusings.weebly.com

[@Gavs_rc_hobbies]

This is an awesome layout. I have a hard enough time with N gauge! I'm thinking of getting a T gauge stater set to have on my layout as a miniature ride on railway.

[@modelrailmusings5981]

xrayracer1 Thanks, I am normally an N gauger too. Most T layouts are really tiny, so I just wanted to see what I could do in something the size of a small N design. It is actually no harder to work with, but being short sighted really helps! Eishindo did produce some ride-on coaches for model miniatures, but they are a bit hard to get hold of now. One piece of advice is to make sure that each train has two motor units - otherwise you don't get the reliability. The HST and ICE starter sets both have two so they are fine, but if you mix and match then please keep it in mind.

[@zaininnnn]

Beautiful

[@LectronCircuits]

Incredible training. Cheers!

[@tonywright8294]

Would love to live in a place like that 😊

[@Thomas1980]

Nice!

[@Thomas1980]

very nice

[@daveb.trains7019]

The viaduct is very impressive! How did you construct it?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

That one is just a piece of timber with the arches cut away with a hole-saw and covered with plastic stone sheet. The next one, for the Ribblehead layout that never got built, was fully 3d printed. Pics of both under construction are on my website.

[@magform]

Excellent! What patience you must have to model in the tiny scale.

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Thank you for that. People keep saying it must be hard, but it really isn't - my usual reply is that there is just the same of amount of fiddliness per square inch as the larger scales. You just have to do things a little differently.

[@Dunstire]

Would't want to be a standing passenger on that bus!

[@modelrailmusings5981]

... or in one of the cars. I keep telling visitors watching it at exhibitions to take the train - it's safer!

[@peterhewitt370]

Incredible....I am just getting into T gauge...could you tell me a bit about the roadway and cars you have... is it Faller? Very well done... Pete

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Peter Hewitt Thanks! It is way, way too small for Faller. It is a linear motor product from IDL Motors, working like a sort of magnetic conveyor belt. I used two of their small oval tracks and added some extra hardware to randomly switch and delay vehicles. Other people have also done similar (but simpler) things with it (google "T Gauge Finkenstein"). I've also been working on a sectional track system for more elaborate layouts, and IDL is in the process of releasing something similar too (though heading in a very different direction).

[@billypoe3703]

Fantastic design! I did appreciate the demonstration of faults at the end of the video. Could you please explain where I can purchase the mobile automobile/trolley roadways?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

The only commercial version of this technology is from www.teenytrains.com

[@ziiofswe]

Needs Higher Resolution.

[@Stratigic_Cheese_Reserve]

Do the wheels of the cars/buses move or are they a solid shell?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Just a shell over a row of 3mm-diameter magnets sliding along the track...

[@chrisrebar2381]

Excellent layout and the modelling is superb - but, as with all these layouts, once you have finished it (the building of it is the part I would enjoy), what on earth do you do with it - I'm sure (for me anyway) that after watching the trains go around a few times it would get very boring

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Well, my recent attempts are all pure exhibition layouts, and generally only brought out of storage for shows. The automation (my specialty) is complex enough that they are surprisingly mesmerizing to watch, even over several days of exhibition running. But for a serious home layout a completely different concept works much better: multiple stations, multiple operators, signalling, shunting, timetables, waybills, everything running as a full-blown simulation of a real railway. Done properly, that can keep a team of people happy for decades. Literally.

[@raymondleggs5508]

at some angles it looks real

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Raymond Leggs Thanks - that is the objective, at least from a distance. A nice thing about T is that you can fit a lot into a small space without having it look cluttered.

[@ellemarta]

Hi do you run any DCC fitted trains on this track ...

[@modelrailmusings5981]

No, the automatic control system is pure DC. Also, when it was built, DCC chips that small were not available.

[@ellemarta]

Can you run 2 train on same track

[@modelrailmusings5981]

@@ellemarta The track plan is just a very long single oval, but divided electrically into 4 sections. By switching these on and off, up to 3 trains follow each other around the layout.

[@theSPUK901]

So cool, I’ll buy this in an instant if you’re making

[@modelrailmusings5981]

As it happens, I am thinking of selling it, now that its more ambitious replacement is under construction. However, that would only be practicable for someone who lives in the SE corner of Australia. Also, it is quite maintenance-intensive (though that really applies to T in general). It takes most of a day of track and wheel cleaning to get it into proper shape for a two-day show.

[@theSPUK901]

ModelRail Musings do you live ‘near’ Melbourne by any chance?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Yup, 'near' as in 'suburbia'.

[@theSPUK901]

ModelRail Musings I live in the Uk, but my sister lives in Melbourne, I’d love to see it one day- it looks ‘perfect’- size, detail, era

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Alas, I don't plan to show it again, but there are a few pictures of it on my website: modelrailmusings.weebly.com

[@darticus1]

Very Nice ! Where can I buy t scale? Thanks Ron

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Thanks! Sorry I didn't answer earlier, but KZbin classified your comment as spam and I didn't see it :-) Your basic choices are tgauge.com in the UK, or vcshobbies.com in the US. Both ship overseas, with shipping from the UK faster to most countries.

[@darticus1]

Thanks, I am really looking for steam locos in t and I don't know where people get them. I will check out what you said. Thanks Ron

[@modelrailmusings5981]

All of the rolling stock except the HST are 3d printed bodies from shapeways.com (search for "t gauge"), and the available models do include a few steamers.

[@Malo-TheFlyingFrenchman]

I want the same set, but in HO !

[@Hushey]

its v good modelling. however buy a good camera

[@everonrailways8399]

At 2:17 is that a Deltic crossing the viaduct?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Yep. Like everything except the HST, it is a 3D printed body shell (search for "Deltic" at shapeways).

[@cyborgbadger1015]

do you need a separate pwm controller for each loco? Love the viaduct btw. A large Carlisle setttle layout is crying out to be done.

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Cyborg Badger The current version has one PWM for each of the 4 track sections. This takes less hardware than any sort of cab control switching logic. The next minor upgrade will be to use 6 speed pots (fast and slow settings for each of the 3 trains) to let me really fine-tune the speeds. And thanks - an HST on a long viaduct was the layout's inspiration. Sadly, most of the T layouts I have seen are micro layouts, but I agree there really is potential for a larger one like the S&C.

[@robertshadwell1995]

Wow, really impressed. Are the freight wagons scratch built?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Thank you - favourable comments are always welcome! And nope, the bodies are 3D printed and bought from OzRail's shop on Shapeways.com. A good clean, hand-painted (dead easy due to the small size), and then wheels, chassis for the bogie vans, and couplers added.

[@AMOGLES99]

Thanks. I must check that out. What about the loco that's pulling the goods train? (is it a Warship?). The only British outline stuff I've discovered so far is the HST and the Deltic. It would be nice to have more choice. I've been thinking of buying some T gauge stuff and building a layout. Nothing as elaboarte as yours of course. I'm impressed by the way you can really create a train in the landscape impression as you have done with the viaduct. So far I've just been checking out what you can buy. Another question. Did you use only flex track or is it a mix of fixed and flexible?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Yes, it is a Warship. Try searching Shapeways.com for "Ozrail" and "CCE614", and check out talkingtgauge.net. There are diesel bodies for classes 23, 24, 25, 42, 55 and 66 and an unpowered 08. In unpowered steam, an A3, A4, and a few tanks. While the layout is only 1.5m long, T really does permit large vistas in small spaces. If you haven't seen them yet, it is well worth looking at videos of "Orbost" and "The Bridge" on youtube - those layouts are **really** impressive. The track is flex only - if you are willing to make the effort, it both looks and runs a lot better than the fixed pieces. Other than the points of course, and there are greatly improved versions of those due out later this year. They should make a difference!

[@DeityDragon42]

How are the cars moving?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

DeityDragon42 The track is a printed circuit board electromagnets - simple coils - spaced along it. These are powered in sequence and anything with a magnet gets dragged along. Some of my other videos show later and more ambitious experiments along these lines.

[@paulmavric887]

Thank god god it's not on an Indian train🥺

[@martw5291]

What are the dimensions of something like this.

[@modelrailmusings5981]

Martin Ward 1.4m x 0.5m - basically just a large coffee table.

[@martw5291]

ModelRail Musings amazing, you have inspired me

[@user-yv3yc6ff8j]

How much is it?

[@modelrailmusings5981]

It was several years ago, but the layout itself cost me about AUD$1K in track, electronics, scenic items, etc., plus about the same again for the trains.

[@paulmavric887]

I'd hate to be the passengers on those trains

[@hubertmantz1516]

Neat! Shit resolution though 👎🏼