Any one have this article? Thoughts, comments?


mike8693

mike8693

Member
Plain and simply my layout sucks. Unreliable track, tight curves, and limited building space so before I spend more time and money I think I'm gonna tear down and build a new one. So the plan I really like is the one below. Would anyone be so kind :D and scan the article from Oct. 07 and post it or email it to me. Does any one have any comments or things I could improve on it? Thanks

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn48/earlthetruker/plan.jpg
 
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I don't happen to have that issue of Model Railroader but there are some copyright issues with scanning and posting articles from that magazine that I'm sure the site owner would rather not have us get into. You can order this issue from the MR website.
 
That sucks. If anyone wants my email...;). For paying 42.00 bucks a year you'd think model railroader would let subscribers view past issues for free.
 
First of all, there are definitely copyright issues here.

Secondly, I'm friends with the good folks at Kalmbach and would prefer to have it stay that way.

So, there won't be any posting of Kalmbach articles here. May I suggest you find a library and/or do an inter-library loan? Then you could, possibly under fair use, photocopy the article for personal use or simply read it and learn what you need to know.
 
Ok plan for just watching trains, but not much operational interest and about half of the main line is hidden. If you put it in a corner you can’t get to the hidden track. If you leave two feet between the wall and the layout…well I think at that point you could build an around the walls type plan and make better use of the space.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to stay away from around the walls because I'm using a corner of the finished basement and if I did you would be looking at the back of the layout whenever in our family room. As far as getting to the back I would pull it out probably 4.5 feet on the wider side and two feet on the other so I can put my workbench and shelves back there. I would open the track where the arrow is and add a turnout for a future expansion. I would remove the hidden staging track, trying to keep it simple and just use ground throws. Also does anyone know what the buildings in the circled area were? I found the issue of MR at the library but it's at the main branch in downtown Louisville so it will be about 4 days before they can send it over to my branch.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn48/earlthetruker/plan-1-1.jpg
 
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First time I've used xtrkcad so it's not great, but here she is.
layout.jpg
 
Out of curiosity, are you using the actual track tools, or just the lines? Either way, I like what you've done (added new industry). But to be honest, I don't see any reason at all to have hidden trackage on that small of a layout.
 
I'll probably cut the hidden track back to the 4 ft line on each side. I used the atlas sectional track on the program but it still came out as lines, I am very computer challenged so as long as i get the radius that i need out of it i'm satisfied. To get everything to fit I had to cut the minimum radius from 23 to 22. I don't think i'll be able to fit the roundhouse in. Did railroads ever have turntables with just the track coming out?
 
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Mike before you get too carried away there are some issues you should look into.
1st you plan to be able to move it away from the walls. This itself presents a problem.
All told that's close to 90 sq ft of layout. The worst part of this is it's L shaped
Pulling something this size away from the walls then pushing it back, even if its on rollers, is going to put an awful stress on the whole thing.
I doubt it will stand very many moves without structural damage. The legs would have to be braced very rigidly and an equal pull at three points, even at that things are going to be shook up.
A thought comes to mind (most of them are kind of hair brained) but could you have a leg of the layout on the opposite side of the wall and tunnels through the wall and no hidden track. It would be all reachable for maint. and never have to be moved.

Cheers
Willis
 
Sorry for that, I meant I would have it away from the wall probably about 4.5 feet on the widest side and a foot on the shorter side to get to the hidden track.It would never move. Then I would be able to put the workbench and shelves behind it out of view.
 
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Ah! ok that makes good sense now. Looking at your orig. drawing it looks to me that all those curved sections of track seem to be a composite of 18R and 22R pieces. I think a smoother curve could be made with flextrack. (less joins for better track power)

Cheers
Willis
 
His picture is from the PDF trackplan downloaded from MR. There's nothing else that gives any information on actual construction - that was in the article.

Mike, some desert railroads had turntables with open air service tracks but they were not common. Although turntables are cool, they take up a huge amount of space on a relatively small layout like this one. If you replace the turntable with a wye, you can still turn locomotives and have space left over for a small yard, something that's missing on your layout now.
 
Thanks for the responses everyone. With budget constraints this is what I can do at the moment but when I get the funds I will probably put a yard on each end. On the skinny end I will have to turn it so it doesn't hit the couch and I can run it straight about three feet on the wider side. I will have more room just have to get enough water out of the 600 pound fish tank to scoot it a few feet. :eek: I really feel stupid. I got my numbers switched so to get it to work it will look more like this.
caoturelayout.jpg
 
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