Hey all as you know I am a social Railroader, not too hardcore but I like my American Diesels and High speed electrics... I don't have much room for a layout and currently I just have a Single loop.. This is all the room I can dedicate.. Its 90cm (3ft) x 180cm(6ft) with a Side part for my Analogue controller..( there is no way I can afford to go digital) If you wanted to run freight and a High speed loop using Unitrack.. What would you do ? 1. LIMITED BUDGET 2. Time is not a real concern but I am far from skilled with building things with foam (Hence the pre-built tunnels I have now) Since this is in the main living room.. I would like it to look good...doesn't have to be modeled on any era or any section... How would I go about featuring at least a bridge in the layout. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR8uOr4VpHc This vid highlights the original need for the Table... but with the purchase of a New TV.. the table was able to be moved...
Your layout is off to a good start. I see room there for some dead end spurs. To answer your question: If you are any good with wood working 101. I'd raise the track by cutting out a sub-roadbed from a piece of plywood or presswood. Easy to do and would raise the track enough so you can put in a small bridge. Not high enough? Another thing you can do is get yourself some 2 1/2 inch foam and cut it out to form a stream and install a bridge. You can do mountains, tunnels and all kinds of scenic wonders with the foam. I tend to mix the two options, as needed.
In my opinion a fast look over at the layout Planning Forum here will reveal several HCD(Hollow Core Door) layouts that can be shortened a small bit and your set once you find one you may like
So Raise the track bed.... That can be done... I am not brilliant with wood but my father is.. Then I suppose I would need to hide the wood any suggestions on how ?
Kato has some layout plans for small Unitrack layouts. I'm partial to the "Cheap and Nothing Wasted" (30"x54") and the "Granny Kay & Bonnie." (24"x48") These can be extended to better fit your space and otherwise tweaked to your liking. They are more suited to freight operations. Kato Unitrack Layout Plans Andy Tetsu Uma
I would also recommend putting a 2" piece of pink foam over the plywood; it will help to deaden the noise. Unitrack on bare plywood is pretty noisy. With the foam, you will also be able to carve out a stream, roads, etc. Also, you mentioned you like your American diesels; you should decide what type of freight or passenger cars you want to haul and create a couple of industries for that (or maybe a passenger station). I would use the Kato 15" curves and also put some easements in as you have room. This would be the largest radius curves you can use with a 36" wide board. The last thing is a passing siding or some sort of a yard to park trains. You are off to a good start.
There are a lot of classic methods for making realistc and inexpensive scenery. There's using vertical cardboard supports covered with cardboard strips woven together. These are then covered with paper towels dipped in plaster. There is supported window screen covered with plaster or plaster dipped paper towels. Trouble is, plaster gets heavy. Then there are the foam methods which have already been mentioned. I am by no means a scenery expert but these are some simple techniques that I know of. There is a lot of information available on the internet about model railroad scenery. I would also recommend a visit to the library as there are usually a book or two on model railroad basics. Andy Tetsu Uma
If you like high speed running, look for Katos double track set item # 20-872-1 looks like it might be a good start for you......Mike
I am thinking of keeping it simple at this stage.. The Viaduct might be possible in the near future but for the time being I would like to keep it as a rural setting. I am thinking along the lines of an Up and over figure 8 just elongated.. This would allow me to keep the track layout simple but also feature a bridge as the crossing point... Something like the inner figure 8 on this layout... (Pic found on the internet and is not mine)
Update : the Layout is now as large as I can make it.. Which is 180cm x 235cm.. I cannot fit a bigger board in... Now my existing loop looks small lol...
That's almost 6' x almost 8'. This gives you room for larger radius turns for your high speed trains. Something to consider, if you have track that's not within easy reach, that is where the derailments occur. Easy reach for most people is about 18" (45cm) to 24" (60cm). If you don't mind having a "duck under," you couple put a loop around your available space and leave the middle open. Either put your controller there which puts you "in" the action or just for access. If you like the figure-8, one thing I would suggest is having a loop with two crossovers (the figure-8) part in the middle. This allows you to change train direction and makes operating exponentially more interesting. (I can't claim credit for this. I read it in The Classic Layout Designs of John Armstrong.)
A figure 8? Look at these two examples. I built the small layout for my son. It is a 8 that crosses itself at the bridge. Which is a Kato bridge, by the way. The base of the landscape is a layer of foam of 2 centimeters thick, and the hills and roadbed are foam also. As subroadbed, I use thinner kind of foam of a few millimeters thick. The drawing is from my own, new layout. It is now in the early stage of building: I am carving the foam in the shapes of the hills and roadbed. And yep, that bridge is a Kato bridge too. I can really recommend the foam. I started using this stuff years ago when I was not very confident with my scenery skills. Foam is very easy to work with: you glue it together with white glue, and use a hobby knife or even a dinner knife to make he shapes of the landscape. When I am satisfied with the results, I use plaster or modelling clay to cover the foam. And foam is rather cheap.
What sort of foam do I need to get... Foam is not easy to come by in my area so I need to drive about 100km's (return) to get it.. And once I get the foam, is there anything I need to get as I was told foam and glue = big melt.. Essentially Thieu I would like a less complex version of what you have (Essentially without the spurs) More of a continuous run.. At this stage I would only like to be running one train at a time as I cannot afford to go Digital... I need it to be long enough without the train becomming a tail chaser.. I have just Re-cut the board... It stuck out too much so its now 90cm x235cm... Sorta narrowed the board width but now I am not bashing my hip on it as I walk past...
I have white insulation foam. When you cut it, it gives a lot of little white balls in your room. So keep the vacuum cleaner within reach... I buy packages with, I think, about 10 sheets. But for me, it is a 1 km drive to about 3 home improvement centers... Some glue melts the foam, yes. But I use white glue (called 'wood glue' around here): that can even glue styrene together, and it is not agressive on foam. I fact, it is the kind of glue I use the most: for the foam, for sticking trees in the underground, for the subroadbed, for grass, plants and (thinned with water and with soap for cleaning your dishes) all sorts of WS stuff and the ballast. I couldn't live without that glue. The spurs are not only there for switching purposes, but also to stage the engines and cars. So I recommend you to incorporate some spurs in your plan. DCC has nothing to do with it: analog spurs are handy too. It makes it also easier for you to reach the outer edge of your layout.
I tossed this together over the weekend for test track while I was working on some engines. Its a little longer than you want but can be shorten easily.
One thing I would recommend is buying the Kato V-11 track set. It can be bought for about $80 US and it is a double track with superelevated curves. This is great because the two tracks are isolated from each other and you can use that to set up a passenger train on the outer loop and use the inner loop for freight. Just leave out a section of the double track straight and put a switch in there to gain expansion and access to side tracks for industries and such.
That is really REALLY cool!!!!!! Do you by any chance have a tracklist or would be able to make a track plan? That would be an interesting plan to make for my kid's first layout.
If you have that much space to work with, I would make the outer oval using the Kato 28 1/4" curves (the widest they make) and then make an inner track plan of some sort using 19" curves. You cuold get away with making the layout about 62 wides using that track and I would suggest that so you can in the middle if necessary. The other option would be make a dogbone with the wide curves at the end and more narrow in the middle.
Things are beginning to shape up for you. You will have hours of fun with your layout. Keep posting pictures of your progress as I will be following the fun.
Yes I do, Here's an image of the plan and the track list below: Track & Objects 20000, N Kato Unitrack 20000. Straight 9 3/4". 8 20010, N Kato Unitrack 20010. Straight 7 5/16". 5 20020, N Kato Unitrack 20020. Straight 4 7/8". 5 20030, N Kato Unitrack 20030. Straight 2 17/32". 3 20050, N Kato Unitrack 20050. Straight extendable 3 1/16"-4 1/4". 2 20110, N Kato Unitrack 20110. Curve radius 11 3/32", angle 45º 6 20111, N Kato Unitrack 20111. Curve radius 11 3/32", angle 15º 4 20120, N Kato Unitrack 20120. Curve radius 12 13/32", angle 45º 8 20132, N Kato Unitrack 20132. Curve radius 13 11/16", angle 45º 8 20150, N Kato Unitrack 20150. Curve radius 28 9/32", angle 15º 3 20202, N Kato Unitrack 20202. Left turnout 7 5/16". (remote) 1 20203, N Kato Unitrack 20203. Right turnout 7 5/16". (remote) 1 20300, N Kato Unitrack 20300. Crossing 7 5/16". 15º (left) 3 20301, N Kato Unitrack 20301. Crossing 7 5/16". 15º (right) 1 And the metric version of list since that's what printed on the back of the track. Track & Objects 20000, N Kato Unitrack 20000. Straight 248mm. 8 20010, N Kato Unitrack 20010. Straight 186mm. 5 20020, N Kato Unitrack 20020. Straight 124mm. 5 20030, N Kato Unitrack 20030. Straight 64mm. 3 20050, N Kato Unitrack 20050. Straight extendable 78mm-108mm. 2 20110, N Kato Unitrack 20110. Curve radius 282mm, angle 45º 6 20111, N Kato Unitrack 20111. Curve radius 282mm, angle 15º 4 20120, N Kato Unitrack 20120. Curve radius 315mm, angle 45º 8 20132, N Kato Unitrack 20132. Curve radius 348mm, angle 45º 8 20150, N Kato Unitrack 20150. Curve radius 718mm, angle 15º 3 20202, N Kato Unitrack 20202. Left turnout 186mm. (remote) 1 20203, N Kato Unitrack 20203. Right turnout 186mm. (remote) 1 20300, N Kato Unitrack 20300. Crossing 186mm. 15º (left) 3 20301, N Kato Unitrack 20301. Crossing 186mm. 15º (right) 1 I did not include power feeds in the track plan you'll want to either swap out the 20030 pieces for 20041 or use wire joint feeders.
