After I started test-fitting track with the door layout plan so many of you contributed help with, problems started cropping up with spacing between tracks and where turnouts were located and manual ground throws not fitting within those spaces. I have made a conscious decision to take another approach with this door layout. Goals: 1. KISS and virtually bullet-proof. The layout will eventually be given to the grandkids for their enjoyment. The 3 year old grandson has shown a keen interest in all things trains. 2. Get trains up and running fast. Kato Unitrack will be used. 3. Initially it will be DC operation but may switch it to DCC. I took a plan from Kato's website and made some slight changes to it. Here's the plan:
That looks like it will work pretty well. I had a similar Unitrack setup for a short period that was basically the same plan except I had a small (3-track) yard in the front part. Good luck!
Thanks Doug! I also drew one up with a small yard and placed it in the upper left instead of the industrial sidings and I drew up the Carolina Central using Kato Unitrack. So options are there. I printed out the plan above at 1:1 scale and everything will fit nicely.
That will work. My thoughts: I personaly am not a fan of the double crossover and I am not sure why. I think it would be best to break it out into four turnouts. A two or three track yard in the middle might be nice The reach across the layout might be a bit much for smaller people If it will be used with supervision it looks great as is.
I like the double crossover and I am not sure why except the cost vs. the cost of 4 turnouts. The layout will be accessible from all sides and will be ran under supervision. Here's the plan with a small yard instead:
I have never owned a double crossover. How easy is it to insulate the outside loop from the inside loop? If you did then you could use 2 power supplies and run two trains at the same time as I do on the Grey and Grandure. Just an idea. I personally like the yard and think children would as they will be more interested in running trains than operating. Please note these are just my ideas and do not reflect any major critique of the plan.
I have now evolved to revision 3 and added a reversing section in order to open up more options for running. This will be my first experience with Kato Unitrack and hopefully I can figure out the wiring for this easily.
Unitrack Wiring Poppy; Kato's Unitrack wiring is as follows: the white wire is (+) and the blue wire is (-) in forward operation. In DCC that makes white "A" and blue "B". If you don't want to cut your feeders you can make your own extensions and adapters. You use the MPI Mini Tamiya/Kyosho plug kit, part #2913 (scroll down a ways on that page). The Tamiya is the female housing with the male pins and the Kyosho is, obviously, the opposite. The Tamiya alone is MPI part #2917 and the Kyosho is #2914. You use a standard Molex type crimper, but you can't use Molex pins; the .061 aren't quite the right size. And sadly MPI doesn't sell extra pins so crimp carefully. Unfortunately I can't find two-conductor blue/white wire anywhere, so I have to make twisted pair for my extensions. This took me a while to sort out. I hope the information is useful to you or someone on here.
Lownen: Thanks for that info. I decided I needed some bridges and a body of water. I flipped the plan and put in the bridges and a river and lake.
I like it. I believe you should try to do the reversing section with Unitrak. If you like I'll be happy to tell you what I used for a mildly similar layout. Remember to impress upon the children that you must never reverse direction without stopping first as it will fry the decoder.
Steve: Thanks for the offer but after a little trial and error I finally was able to get things lined up using Unitrack for the reversing section. It now has become revision 5 but looks good and I'm sure that things will run smoother through that section.
Charles, Might I suggest a runaround track near your industry switching areas? Going without a runaround track, or two will seriously hinder switching ops. Have I missed this, or did someone not already note this?
Hi, I've made a XtrkCad file of your layout, with some mods though (my door is a little bit larger and longer than 36 x 80....Actually, it's 39 x 83) What do you think? (It's all Kato) Could someone tell me how to do the wiring for DCC (because of the reverse loop and double cross-over) Thanks
French Guy - I really like yours though I would add a spur to the upper right since direction of expansion is not known. I have saved the plan.
That looks good, but you only have one crossover. I say forget the double crossover, and use a single pair of turnouts instead. And add a similar crossover on the opposite side of the layout. I think it would be a operations problem to only have the crossover only on one side of the layout. If you like switching, you would prolly benefit from 2 crossovers. 4 turnouts to build your crossovers instead of a single double crossover would likely be cheaper. BTW, you might want a runaround track on the other side of the layout as well.
