layout begins, layout ideas


J

joed2323

Member
Ok i have been posting different questions for awhile now with no pictures to my madness.

this is idea number 1, i like it but what could be different, yes its pencil drawn some curves look tight, but there will be nothing smaller then 22, mostly 24-30 radius depending on where.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u486/joed2323/photobucket-3383-1329010692947.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u486/joed2323/photobucket-1895-1329010672495.jpg

now those are ideas.
the next is kind of what i like but could be altered

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u486/joed2323/photobucket-1896-1329010771501.jpg

[IMG]http://http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u486/joed2323/photobucket-29[/IMG]

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u486/joed2323/photobucket-3394-1329010783736.jpg

OK guys. pick these apart, and let me know what is bad, what wont work.
 
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Which picture do you like the hand drawing or the pictures of my layout with my the cardboard cutouts on top?

On the hand drawing the mainline track only goes around the east section once, my cardboard templates i made, i have it going around the layout once like around room style, plus theres a oval on the east section also.

Is the oval inside the outer loop on east section too much, it also has a wye to turn locos/cars around, good or bad? was wondering if i did this if i would have enuf room for structures, etc?

rip it apart guys, this is what i want, i need to know, hey (joe) your putting too much track on your design with cardboard templates or you should use the idea with the hand drawing, less track is better...

Dont be afraid to be bashful, this is how i learn and become a better modeler ps: you can be nice if you want to :)
 
i will be using road bed since i have a bunch of it already...

yes the track looks close to the edge, did that so i get get 28-30 radius curves, that can be fixed so track isnt on edge.

the big empty spot in middle, i was thinking maybe a town with industries. or whatever works, yes i want siding going in feeding town/industry

the gray poop, is just caulk i used to to seal up, make it flush between foam board ends, no big deal, that will either be carved down for land, it will be painted over with brown paint, before road bed/track goes down.

the cardboard over the gap, a bridge is going there, im making hinged lift up section, it will hinge up on the west section....

Out of the crappy hand drawing i have made up, which do you guys like more that one or the cardboard track templates with the wye, thats on the top of layout now???? even if you dont like both let me know please

Im not running passenger cars, so no need for a station.

Also, everything you see on my layout, wood/foam/paint/caulk anything and everything was stuff i had around my house/garage. Everything was pretty much free, i didnt spend any money on construction of the layout bench work or backdrop

The gray caulk you see is called sikaflex. its really good caulk it expands and contracts, it stays flexible after it cures. This was extra stuff i was able to have from my work. it pays when your the shop foreman of a trucking company. We use the sikaflex for caulking trailers, etc.

I used foam because it gives me wiggle room,1 1/2 to carve down or to make it not completely flat.

Yes i could use help planning the town/industry area, where the sidings should go. need some pointers for this area, im kinda stumped on how i should do the east section.

Also, staging, i would like it so it looks like my trains/cars come from somewhere. i dont know where to put staging...
I was thinking maybe how i have that outside loop around the whole layout, on the east section, where it crosses over from west to east section/bridge, on south side i could make it go off the layout next to it, dropping elevation so it would follow the table but on the outside and maybe it could go under the layout as it reaches the wall.

So staging would go off layout and under layout... is this a good idea, or should i just simplify things and make it go behind a tall building or in some mountain?
 
It'd be awfully handy to know what size you are talking about, and what scale you are planning to use - then you might get some answers - but personnally I think you are trying to squeeze in too much track into too small a space - Certainly if you want a paper mill in there! Try putting in a couple of sidings alongside a "flat" with loading doors and putting the rest of the mill on the backscene. And another thing - unless you are an expert draughtsman, ahand drawn plans NEVER work out! Download XTrkcad (free) or Anyrail (Free up to 50 pieces - but you can always draw the plan in sections) or SCARM (free) and use them to draw the trackplan and you will see exactly what I mean!
 
10x10
ho scale

i know im squeezing too much, just wanted your thoughts.

i would gain alot more without using a paper mill on layout. your right i am trying to do too much. i need to take a step back a realize what i have to work with.

I could always go bigger a addition anytime so i need to keep that in my head and not try to squeeze too much with what i have to work with
 
It strikes me that this setup goes in one direction. Your yards are all pretty long comparatively but it appears to me that you have to either back in or back out. If you are leaving cars, I assume you would back out on to the main. I view that as somewhat awkward. I may be misreading it.

I think using topography might get you a lot more versatility on a 10x10. Get some stuff up in the air a bit. Use some tunnels.

IMHO.
 
I was thinking of making a turnout from yard back on to the mail so i didnt have to back in. But i also was thinking of putting a wye on the yard lead so i could back in or pull in forward.
 
Wyes take up a lot of space. You should lay that out and see what really happens. I would say don't make your yard tracks longer than the trains you plan to run. There is always a big temptation to plan to run forty car trains. On a 10x10, the engine can almost run into the caboose on some I've seen. Maybe 10 car trains as a max are more realistic.
 
Pete- i have a picture of how i would.set up a wye its like the 4th pic from top on my first post.

I only planned on running 10 car trains max
 
Ok makes sense on sidings should be atleast length of train.
How many yard tracks should i have? I wanted longest yard track to be 6feet, then it would taper down to smaller. I was thinking of atleast 3.

Small yards do not need a/d tracks correct?
 
There's no rulebook on that. A yard should be able to handle some classification for where the cars are going to ultimately wind up. Backing cars onto the main from classification is a little awkward. Again, think about getting up in the air some.
 
Just picked up.the track planning for realistic operation by john armstrong.
Im learning alot of more insightful advice and how to design a realiatic model railroad.

Im just trying to create a realistic layout that is functional so i can operate my railroad and and have fun doing it.

But dont we all want to achieve greatness.
 
Joe,

1)If you're stuck drawing your plans by hand, at least draw them to scale, using a ruler, and compass for curves. That way you will have a more realistic idea of what's possible.
2)In HO scale, typical Atlas switches are #4 1/2 and #6. Simply translated this means for every 4.5 units, or 6 units, the angled side goes out 1 unit. This will start to give you a better idea of what your yard will look like.

Your more recent drawings portray an interesting trackplan in some ways, however your shortest yard track is going to end up much shorter than you've sketched.
 
I have to admit I'm not a fan of the loop on the right side. Is there enough room to do a peninsula in the middle? Basically a 'W' with the top closed off for continuous running. It would give you a long mainline run. Not sure how wide your aisles would be. If you keep the benchwork around the walls down to about 18" it might give you enough space.

Steve S
 
Wye's just about always add interest, particularly when they represent a junction. I wouldn't tie the one leg of the wye into the yard like you did.
 
joed2323 said:
photobucket-2046-1329354642840.png


ok guys this is what my layout may look like, this is what i have planned out, the sections are right also.

I need to do something with the yard, condense it down. i was thinking of keeping everything from the mainline to the wye track in the yard and getting rid of the rest.

What do you guys think of this idea i have planned out?
Click to expand...

The most obvious thing from a very quick glance is that you seemingly do not have a lead at lower end of yard, so there appears to be no way to get into the rightmost four tracks in the yard.

Apart from that, the yard area seems pretty full of tracks, and the overall footprint (combining a dough nut layout with a pit with a loop on table (i.e. a walkaround) seems likely to be a suboptimal use of space in the room, and require quite a bit of movement from inside the pit to outside the pit.

Smile,
Stein
 
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