Layout Underway At Last


F

fcwilt

Active Member
Hi,

After years of thinking about building a layout I finally have the time, the space and the resources to build a layout.

I am just getting started with the framing. I was a programmer before I retired so naturally I am going to incorporate computer control. This means a lot of wiring so I am starting with upper level, leaving the lower storage level for later.

My limited space combined with my wish list results in what you see in the attached 3D rendering.

The layout is a plain folded dog bone with the loops over top of one another. The tracks connecting the loops will be treated as a double track main line. The loops will be wired as return loops which keeps things simple.

I am just starting to construct the helix - waiting on some materials - but the framing is all done.

There is a shot of where the helix will go - sitting on the lower level.

There is also a shot of the upper level over the helix. This area will be cutout in the area where the helix will be leaving just enough surface around the perimeter for the return loop on this level.

There will be a second level 4" inches up over this level where the other return loop resides.

There are a handful of industries, plus the freight yard and the passenger station which should allow for enough operations to keep things interesting.

For display purposes the storage yard and the computer will allow lots of action to entertain the visitors, most of which will just want to "see the trains run".

Now my goal is to live long enough to get it finished!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t3o4lkeoue9ng6t/AAAlZ4JTTGalAUYaI9fi0O20a?dl=0
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That hardest thing was giving up on a number of things I had dreamed of, things like the floor to ceiling scenery on John Allen's G&D.

After including the "must haves" - walk-in design, 30" min radius (love big engines), 130' turntable and full circle roundhouse, freight yard, passenger station, some industries, storage yard - there just wasn't much room left.

I will have a bit of room for scenery but nothing spectacular.

It really took a long time to come up with a workable plan that I thought I could actually build as I kept hoping I would come up with something that would allow more items from my wish list - but it just wasn't to be.

Finally reality took hold, I settled on a design and began construction.

So far I am having a good time and all is going better then I had hoped.

I wish I hadn't waited until I was 62 - I'm not as limber as I used to be. <g>
 
I must say you have done a awesome job here.

How big is the layout area?

I love your helix design. this is perfectly designed.
 
joed2323 said:
I must say you have done a awesome job here.

How big is the layout area?

I love your helix design. this is perfectly designed.
Click to expand...

They layout area is roughly 13' by 21'. The space is part of my basement workshop area - see attached.

The tan units are work benches or cabinets. The teal units are power tools (band saw, table saw, drill press, mill/lathe). The aqua sections of the lower wall are sliding glass doors to the back yard. The brown sections of the walls are doors to a utility room and the basement family room.

The helix roadbed (and support) was made for me by a company that does (among other things) custom helix kits. (Can I place a link to them on this forum?).

I have modified it a bit to make the installation more trouble free. And I think it will be easier too.

I am using 2" foam over 1/2" plywood as my basic platform.

The helix will sit on that octagon of wood which is 1/4" thick. The pitch of the helix is right around 2%. The helix being raised 1/4" off the foam allows for an vertical easement, leading into the helix, that "averages" about 1%. There will be a vertical easement at the upper end as well.

Given that access to the helix (when the layout is complete) will be via crawling under the lower level to the access area I am going to take a good deal of time, work slow and try to make the track work as perfect as I can.
 
Looks great! I like the track design and love the benchwork. I'm curious - what were some of the elements of the design that you ended up passing on?
 
I think you might be surprised how much scenery you can get in all that space. Based on reading Pelle Soeborg's scenery book, I am convinced you should "decorate a scene to death". That is, create a scene, a grade crossing, a buiding, then take a digital picture of it from a "model railroad persons" point of view. Then study that scene and see all of the things that are not there. I have been doing that in my last effort, and it convinced me to rip everything out and start again. Michael Tylick did a 2 X 4 foot diorama in MR back in 1989 or something, and it blew me away, details I never thought about. I think you have plenty of space to really "show off" with some great modeling. You certainly have some great looking benchwork.
I look forward to your updates.
 
notabob said:
Looks great! I like the track design and love the benchwork. I'm curious - what were some of the elements of the design that you ended up passing on?
Click to expand...

I told my wife that if we won the lottery I was building a 6 car garage with a room on the back the entire length of the garage and 15' deep.

The idea being to have a shelf layout that ran the entire length of the room with hidden, yet accessible, reverse loops.

With that I could have the walk-along design I would like, room for more industries, room for some dramatic scenery, room for multiple operators, longer yards and passing sidings, the sense that the trains were going to/from distant locales, simpler construction since most areas would be shallow shelves hanging off the wall, simpler wiring since I could have an walk-in area behind the wall supporting the shelves and place all of the electronics there and do the wiring standing or sitting, instead of lying on my back under the layout.

Dreams are wonderful things. <g>
 
NC&StL said:
I think you might be surprised how much scenery you can get in all that space.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I can - I've never been very creative that way.

I'm good at "engineering" type things - the design of the bench work, the carpentry, ensuring the track work meets spec, the wiring - that sort of thing.

I look at some of the scenery work in MR magazine and amazed at all the little details that are included.

When my daughter (who is quite the artist) was around 4 she was drawing pictures of some of her toy animals. I asked her about some of the elements she was drawing. She pointed to the animals. I hadn't noticed the details that she saw and was including in her drawings.

I think truly talented, artistic folks see the world much "better" then I do.
 
Well the next step is to construct the helix. I am waiting on some materials.

I suppose I could start cutting and installing the foam on the rest of the area - that wouldn't interfere with working on the helix.

Then I could take pictures with lots of blue in them. <g>
 
Even though you say all you have to show for is plywood and bench work. So what that layout is awesome they way its layed out. Please take more pics soon if no progress, pictures from different angles will work also:D
 
OK a little bit of progress - the materials I need for the helix have been shipped so not much longer until work on that can begin.

Attached is a little better picture of the upper level of the track plan with some notes.

Since I couldn't work on the helix I decided to tackle cutting the plywood above the helix. Using a laser "plumb bob" (the circle of helix roadbed on the lower level was the reference) I was able to make accurate marks on the underside of the plywood. I flipped the plywood over, lined up another circle of helix roadbed on the marks and traced around the outside edge of the roadbed. A little work with a jig saw and it was done.

I have been looking for just the right thing to hold down the roadbed/track/etc while waiting for the glue to set. I've seen people use all sorts of odds and ends. I thought there had to be something better than cans of soup. So I looked around the internet and found what you can see in the attached picture. They are dive weights. They come in different sizes - the ones shown are one pound. I purchased 50 for $100. They seem just about perfect for the task.
 
layout_upper_level_w_notes.jpg

I was looking over your plan. I think it looks great accept there may be too many crossovers from on track to the next. I went thru and eliminated a few and flipped a couple for easier operation.

Steve
 
choops said:
I was looking over your plan. I think it looks great accept there may be too many crossovers from on track to the next. I went thru and eliminated a few and flipped a couple for easier operation.

Steve
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. I will have to study your proposed changes and see if I can determine why you have made them - no hints now please - let me think on this some.
 
FC,
Congrats on starting your 'dream layout.' Even though you think you can only do part of what you wanted, don't give up. At some point maybe you'll find a way to expand into your workshop in some way, at one height or another.

In looking at your trackplan, about 2 messages back, it seems to me that the crossover coming out of the passenger station should be reversed, so trains on either main can enter/exit the station. I see Steve mentioned something about this type of thing, but didn't see a revised trackplan in his post.

You're making great progress! Keep up the good work, and have fun! Looking forward to more photos.
 
fcwilt:

One thought popped into my mind while looking at your neat helix. As you know long trains (however you define that) going up the helix creat a lot of friction stress between the inside wheels/flanges and the inside rail head - tops and inside corners. If any of the rail head joints are misaligned by a whisker the potential for a derailment in the helix goes up by an exponential factor.

My suggestion is that while building the helix when access to the tracks is somewhat flexible (i.e. easier now rather than later) you use a 1/4" wide flat but curved file and lightly go over every (expecially the inside, but outside also) single rail joint's top and interior corners to remove any possible height/width mismatched discrepancies. I bet this smoothing out will decrease the potential in-the-helix-derailment-headache factor almost entirely.

Hope this is helpful.

DougC
 
I'm working on my "last" layout. Believe me, the things I have had to do to "compromise" my space with my age AND my concept.......

Rest assured, you will find things to incorporate beyond your wildest dreams.

A layout is never truly "done".

Don
 
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