Chas_SC_Kev
Member
Hi,
New to the these boards and fairly new to the hobby. Some quick background on me that may help those of you out there who wish to respond shape your answers.
-I work as a Structural Engineer in Chas SC, so i have a basic understanding of most math/science/physics etc.
-In college I dabbled with a 4x8 layout for a month or two but had to scrap it b/c of moving appartments every semester. It was nothing complicated, just an HO Layout that came right out of an atlas book of track plans.
-I have been doing lots of reading/research. Have books on track planning, realistic opperation, layout design and have recently subscribed to monthly publications.
All of that being said. I'm having a house built, which should be completed in about 6 months, and the wife has aggreed to surrender the third bedroom. Its a 10'-8"x11'-0" space. I want to incorporate some of the opperations of my home town, Columbia SC, but have minimial "how railroads work" knowledge right now. I would optimally like to have a Scrap Metal Recycling faility to service a Steel Mill, A aggregate quarry, yard, intramodal facility and Port (the port would actually be based on Charleston SC, not Columbia, ive decided to take some liberties with my planning). The first thing i realized was that that is ALOT to cram in a bedroom if i want to go for prototypical operation and provided trains of any real length. It quickly became evident that HO scale would be difficult to work with in my space, so i'm leaning to N.
Things i'm struggling with are, Is my layout reasonable? I'm i attempting too much for a first time railroad? Have i made any critical errors in judgement that should be addressed before the layout design progresses further?
The following is from an AutoCad 2004 file (which i would gladdly email to anybody interested). Min radius is set at 14", min center to center at 1.25", min turnout is #5. I have no current desire to model Passenger traffic. This is a work in progress still. I realize i have a lot of work to do with sidings that are not trailing the train. Max reach is about 2.5' and I'm worried that the 2' reach to the window may be an issue.
I would appreciate any advice, or words of wisdom. (i appologize for the yellow cad linework!
New to the these boards and fairly new to the hobby. Some quick background on me that may help those of you out there who wish to respond shape your answers.
-I work as a Structural Engineer in Chas SC, so i have a basic understanding of most math/science/physics etc.
-In college I dabbled with a 4x8 layout for a month or two but had to scrap it b/c of moving appartments every semester. It was nothing complicated, just an HO Layout that came right out of an atlas book of track plans.
-I have been doing lots of reading/research. Have books on track planning, realistic opperation, layout design and have recently subscribed to monthly publications.
All of that being said. I'm having a house built, which should be completed in about 6 months, and the wife has aggreed to surrender the third bedroom. Its a 10'-8"x11'-0" space. I want to incorporate some of the opperations of my home town, Columbia SC, but have minimial "how railroads work" knowledge right now. I would optimally like to have a Scrap Metal Recycling faility to service a Steel Mill, A aggregate quarry, yard, intramodal facility and Port (the port would actually be based on Charleston SC, not Columbia, ive decided to take some liberties with my planning). The first thing i realized was that that is ALOT to cram in a bedroom if i want to go for prototypical operation and provided trains of any real length. It quickly became evident that HO scale would be difficult to work with in my space, so i'm leaning to N.
Things i'm struggling with are, Is my layout reasonable? I'm i attempting too much for a first time railroad? Have i made any critical errors in judgement that should be addressed before the layout design progresses further?
The following is from an AutoCad 2004 file (which i would gladdly email to anybody interested). Min radius is set at 14", min center to center at 1.25", min turnout is #5. I have no current desire to model Passenger traffic. This is a work in progress still. I realize i have a lot of work to do with sidings that are not trailing the train. Max reach is about 2.5' and I'm worried that the 2' reach to the window may be an issue.
I would appreciate any advice, or words of wisdom. (i appologize for the yellow cad linework!