Ready to take the plunge


U-3-b

GTW in the summer of 53
Because I am not getting any younger and I have been collecting for this for years, I am now ready to start planning for a layout. Since my space is small, 13 feet by about 18 inches, I was thinking about a switching layout.

This is something for me to learn on, make mistakes on, screw up, rebuild and most importantly, have fun with. I would like to go with DCC and this will also give me a chance to learn that too.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a good track plan for that size area? Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve
 
The usual response will be...

What are your givens & druthers?
Is there a specific prototype?
What scale?
What kind of equipment?
Time period?
Minimum radius (plays in on the previous 3 questions)?

I'm sure there's allot more to be asked, but those are a basis of us being able to help you plan.
 
All of my equipment is GTW HO steam, well I do have a NW-2 and a SC, but I have (3) 0-6-0's and (2) 0-8-0's and I would like to use them for this layout. I don't really have a prototype in mind so I can free lance this. I would like to lay my own track but that maybe too much to bite off at this time. I was also thinking about code 83 for rail size.

Does that help?

Steve
 
That helps. Would you like a yard, lots of switching, mainline runs, roundhouse, town, hills, water?
 
Since it is only at the max 18 inches wide I was thinking just a yard and I could make and break up trains. There is not a lot of space in 13 feet to do much else, that and where the GTW runs is pretty much flat.

Thanks for the link!

Steve
 
Do you have a wall on any side which would give you more depth than 18"? If so, then you can have a small yard that way. 13' is pretty good to get a bunch of sidings and industries to move things back and forth. You could probably get away with a 9 car train; as long as you have a runaround siding, it could be a good switching puzzle, using the main to temporarily store a car or two as you shunt back and forth....

Kennedy
 
This area has a wall on three sides so that is my limting factor. The open space is the steps downstairs. I like the idea of a switching problem layout and I think I am headed that way.

Thanks for the link Chip. I hope that will save me some headaches.

Steve
 
If you want an industrial switching type layout, check out some of the designs on this website for ideas:

http://andrews-trains.fotopic.net/

Alternatively, you could do a freight yard that receives trains, uses a switcher to break them up and make new trains, then sends outbound trains to another destination. You won't have enough space to model a full engine service area on the yard, but you could model the leads to it with them running to an imaginary roundhouse off the end of the layout. This type of layout will work best if you can have a couple of tracks of staging on either end so you can realistically model the inbound and outbound traffic.

In the Kalmbach book "Model Railroader's Guide to Freight Yards," there's a page that shows some "domino" style yard designs, each using three 18"x4' sections end to end. If you'd like to design a yard-style layout, I recommend reading the following websites first:

http://www.housatonicrr.com/yard_des.html

http://ldsig.org/wiki/index.php/Yards--freight_and_passenger

http://ldsig.org/wiki/index.php/Auxiliary_Yards

Good luck!
 
i have roughly the same size area but i also have a continious loop round the wall, it's only six inches deep at one point

this is mostly it for now, a yard and a ballast loading facillity
P5190034.jpg

P5190030.jpg
 
Steve, I wish I could go around the rest of the room since I think that would make it a lot more fun but since this area is basically the hall at the top of the steps and there are four rooms leading off the hall, I don’t think my wife would like that too much.

Dan thanks for the links. I like the way those designs flow and I more than likely will be headed in something along those lines. I will keep you informed about what I choose.

Thanks to all who have helped me on this project.

Steve
 



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