new layout, thoughts?

[jonjesse1]

EDIT: heres the newest version of the layout. major revisions.

I am not new to model railroading, since I have been running LGB's since I was a kid. More recently the trains only come out on christmas, but ive decided its time to put back a semi-permanent layout. But space is a concern so Ive decided to go with N scale, which i am totally new to. Ive been playing with the Atlas RTS software for a while, and based on the space I have, I came up with this, which fits my *initial* budget very nicely.

I need some help though on a few key things,

A) where should i place power feeds (im going to run DCC, 4 engines max at a time)

B) Ive never soldered anything while modeling (although i am handy with the tool) , can i get away without solder, since i want to be able to take it apart (i was thinking about using a staple gun every x number ties )

C) Is there such a thing as non-permanent ballast?

D) any other thoughts you have on my layout are welcome and encouraged
__________________________________
and last, here is some technical information for my possible layout:

im thinking Atlas code 55 track
good bet im going with the MRC Prodigy Express DCC system

Im going to build 4 trainsets,

10 or 13 passenger car train (1950's / 60's PRR powered by GG1)
8 car NJ transit with comet VI / multi-level cars powered by ALP46 or F40~
10+ car period PRR freight train powered by an E8/E9 combo
10+ car modern Norfolk Southern freight train (mostly lumber) powered by set of SD70's

as you can see im not after a period, more so im after locally run trains.
i ride the nj transit comets and new bilevels all the time so thats why i want that. the NS freight train is a common sight a block from my house going to the lumber yard across the street from my house, on the old freehold branch of the PRR, so the lumber yard is important to my layout because its based on one very close by. i picked the PRR for period freight and passenger trains because those too ran around NJ back in the day, so thats why im going that route.

what do you think?

 

[Trucklover]

First off, welcome to MRF

i like the plan, its simple but will also provide some fun in operation and switching

A) where should i place power feeds (im going to run DCC, 4 engines max at a time)

Im not sure, ive never run trains before in 4 years never had a power system or DCC system to run trains with lol but im pretty sure you should solder a feeder at least every 3 feet of track. Of coarse this is a feeder wire to each rail. For me, ill be doing them every 18" on my modules.

B) Ive never soldered anything while modeling (although i am handy with the tool) , can i get away without solder, since i want to be able to take it apart (i was thinking about using a staple gun every x number ties )

You dont have to solder if you dont want to, soldering is what you do for a more permanent layout. If you will be taking this apart soon or within a year or 2, i would just use rail joiners and use Elmer's White Glue to secure the track to the base of the layout. That way, when you want to take it all up, all you will have to do is soak the area and the track will come up easily.

C) Is there such a thing as non-permanent ballast?

There is no such thing as non-permanent ballast. If you glue it down, its there and you cannot re-use it most of the time. So if you want to re-use the ballast, do not glue it down. If you glue the track down, it wont go anywhere so if you dont want to glue the ballast you dont have to. When it comes time to dismantle the layout, get a vacuum and clean it out so that there is nothing in it, suck the ballast up and empty it out and then you can re-use it on a future layout. I would however glue most of the scenery down....

 

[AyTrane]

Your tracks come extremely close to the edge. How does your train get out of the inside loop? It almost looks like your trying to do too much with a small space. I'm not trying to get you down, I think your layout looks great, there just might be some issues.

 

[Trucklover]

Your tracks come extremely close to the edge. How does your train get out of the inside loop? It almost looks like your trying to do too much with a small space. I'm not trying to get you down, I think your layout looks great, there just might be some issues.

Outside to inside switches are on the right side near the "road" lol

i will agree, it does look a lot for that small of a space, but i think you can make it work

 

[UP2CSX]

Outside to inside switches are on the right side near the "road" lol

Unless I am reading the plan wrong, you have single crossover switch from the outside to the inside loop. This means the train has to always back into the outside or inside loop at some time no matter how you run the trains. This is less than an ideal situation. What real purpose does that inside loop serve? You could replace that entire inside loop with a passing siding by the present crossover switch and then have an industrial lead come off the siding to serve the lumber yard and industrial area. No real railroad would have such a long industrial lead when the industries can be served with a lead directly off the mainline. Converting that inside loop to two passing sidings, one on the left and right side of the layout, will look better and give you more room for scenery.

I know that more track seems like a better idea but you get into a situation where you just watch your trains run in circles. With passing sidings and industrial spurs that come off the mainline, you make operations a lot more fun and interesting.

 

[jonjesse1]

thanks for the tips. the problem with only one point of entry into the inner loop was not intentional, i didnt notice it was not there, and will add it back in for my next design revision.

i wanted the entire inner loop, and not just a a siding to two, because i want to eventually add a few choice 2 track NJ transit stations around the loop when i expand the table its on. with just a siding it makes that difficult to do all around the loop.

i also have that rather long extension leading up to the lumber yard siding so you can observe all the action from the front of the board. the back of the board is a wall, and i didnt want the spur coming out of the wall towards me, i wanted it oriented exactly like the other industrial spur, but placed the switch on the opposite side of the loop to eventually build a turnaround loop. (maybe around the residential area. )

keep it coming, in the meantime, on saturday im going to hit a few local hobby shops and get my bearings on rolling stock options.

 

[MrTrain]

play looks great I would go with it

 

[AyTrane]

You could always get a double crossover if you want to save space with your switches.

 

[PartsMan]

You could use track that has the plastic ballast made on to it.
Maybe even glue a layer of regular ballast to it.

Looks good.
The double loop will be nice for showing off to non modeler types.
You can almost hypnotize a small child with counter rotating trains.

 

[Trucklover]

You could always get a double crossover if you want to save space with your switches.

this is what i would suggest doing with that space in question. I hadnt thought about the train having to either back in or back out of that inner loop lol

 

[jonjesse1]

alright so i did some thinking on all the comments, about adding some challenge to it, beyond just a loop, so I redid the layout with code 80, which gave me the atlas roundtable, and i rebuilt the challenges from there.

the passenger terminal is still there, as are the two loops, (now interconnected correctly)
i added some stations around the perimeter to give my passenger trains something to do, and added the turnaround track to have opposite direction operation.
i added a yard along with the turntable to the center. i created 2 smaller industry spurs vs. one large one. i may put the residential area back, that is until i grow my rolling stock collection enough to warrant additional yard space.

in all, i think its coming along nicely. its quite complicated but very compact, and its still only a single elevation. i have space to add a helix off the inner loop, but thats a project for much later down the road...

any thoughts on rev. 2?

 

[UP2CSX]

Much better. The only change I would make is to connect the roundhouse lead track to the main behind the NJT station 3 and take your industry lead track 2 off the crossover. The way you have it now, your industry will have to be built right on top of the roundhouse storage tracks.

 

[oplholik]

Wow, that's a lot in that space, looks interesting. So this is what you can do with Atlas's layout program. I have down loaded it, but as yet have not figured out just how to work it. Need more time with it I guess. Good luck with the layout.

Paul