I have a small N scale track plan 30"x48" and am looking for info on how to power it. It's single track. Approx 15 switches and 2 crossings. The switches will be Peco insulfrog probably, manual with Caboose Ind ground throws I am thinking. How does this get wired? How many power feeds would this layout need? Using Terminal joiners? or is there a better way to get the power to the rails? Looking for the simplest but most efficient way to do this for now. Thanks Tony
Is there any way you can post a pic of your track plan. The reason i ask is that depending on where your switches are will tell you where you need feeder wires for your power will need to be. With an idea on how your track plan will look like, we could tell you what power you will need for the layout.
Plan I'll post the plan after I ask the designer if it's OK to post,,, not my plan so.......... Thanks T
PRODIGY EXPRESS Have a look at the PRODIGY EXPRESS by MRC. I use the Prodigy Advanced but I think the Express will fit you bill just right. Its cheep and works well. I have been thinking about it for a small N scal layout I’d like to build. However as much as I like the Prodigy system, I’m not a big fan of there decoders. See more @ MRC - DCC Series - PRODIGY EXPRESS, Item: 0001408, TRAIN CONTROLS/DCC
Plan Here the plan. I might go with all insulfrog or a mix of both Insul/Electro, haven't decided yet.
Hmmmmmmmmmm, ?? Fit ? I was assured it will fit, I don;t even have a piece of track in hand yet so in time I'll see what can and can't be done I guess. Phantom, I am going with plain ol DC transformer, don;t want to get into DCC and changing over Loco's right now, anyway. I need to know how many blocks I need or might want to have ? I know I want a seperate block for the rearmost trackage as that's storage area, the through double track mainline another block, the loop portions another 1 or 2 blocks I guess. I would think the small yard areas and each spur also should be on a seperate blocks ? Don;t know....... Thanks Tony
I had a plan that was set up similar to this one. I had hours of operational fun operating it. Just a word of advice. Build your table to fit your layout and not the other way around. The bonus here is this can grow into a larger layout. Not a bad deal.
I am looking at you drawing and will have it soon. Peco switches are power righting switches. Being that the way some of the switches are set up will make some interesting wiring in 2 spots.
Ahh Rick, The table is there already, my modeling bench !! And it has walls on the 48" ends !! I have 3 inches to spare at each end from layout edge to walls. It is in a small closet that is long but narrow. Long story but dont even know how much longer i'll be in this house so things could always change. I do like the idea of a small layout anyway. Rather have a small jewel than a big monster that will never be really finsihed. Justin,? don;t really know about these things that;s why I am asking. !! The wiring is gonna be a test of my abilities for sure. Thanks Tony
The green spots are insulated jointers and the red ones are power leads spots. Peco stitches are power routing, which means that which ever way you have the switch going is where the power goes. So the two tracks on top you can have a engine parked on the track that is not being used. That said you need insulated jointers between the switches that face each other. This is because the polarity coming off the 2 switches will be reverse and will create a short. If the switches do not face each other then one switch will feed power to the other.
your welcome i once did a part of a layout as complicated as that is but these days i try to make it as simple as posible.
I'm surprised that the designer didn't include an electrical plan. DC or DCC, it's just as important to consider power feeds and control as it is determining the track plan. You will want insulated joiners at both ends of the storage tracks so you can shut one or both off irrespective of turnout position. Also, what are your plans for the two main lines? It looks like thru trains would be problematical <G>.
Oh shazam Tony, Next time build the room to the layout...I said shaking my head and wearing a big grin. Restraints, restraints, restraints. Looks like you need a layout to fit the room and the track plan you shared is not the one. Sorry about that.baffled: If you can add to the table you should be able to move it to the left and down. Any chance you can add to the present table?
Hi Tony, To pick up on Mark's comments about your track plan not fitting in the available space, here are some specific examples. On your track plan, the switches are shown as being only about 4 inches long, maybe even a bit less. In reality, a Peco Small switch is nearly 5 inches long and a Medium is almost 5 1/2 inches long. The crossing near the letter B on your plan as drawn is about 2 inches long. The smallest Peco crossing is a bit more than 4 inches long. These seemingly minor variances quickly add up and make a HUGE difference when you try to implement the plan with actual pieces of track! I speak from direct, personal experience. I am currently constructing a small N-scale layout almost exactly the same dimensions as your plan. I avoided the mistake of too much layout in too little space by using the free XTrackCAD program to make an accurate diagram of my track plan. This problem is common with hand-drawn track plans. Switches and crossings always seem to require more real estate in reality than what is shown on hand-drawn plans. This happens even with plans published in books and magazines. This is not meant to discourage you but to make you aware of a likely problem with your current plan fitting in your available space. In my case, the solution was to reduce the complexity of my track plan. Sometimes, less is more, and I am very happy with the changes I made, even though they were forced upon me. - Jeff
Hi Tony, Are you sure this isn't a Z scale plan? jdetray explained the trouble of the plan exactly. Too often, things drawn on paper dont allow enough room for turnouts. Peco does make a tiny turnout that when used allows everything to just barely fit. However, believe it or not, I have experience using one of the tiny turnouts. It was not pleasant and is so tiny that even a 44 Tonner will look goofy on it, not to mention those curves are pushing 7" radius. The brown box cars in the attached drawing are 50' cars. They are about as long as the long side of a credit card, which means that even the structures drawn in the plan are way under-scale. Again, the plan seems more like a Z scale plan than N. Nonetheless, I've been running some virtual trains on it. No doubt it would be a fun plan in Z, however I dont think I'd use it for N. Just too congested for my taste, but thats just me. At least we've discovered that with the Peco Tiny Turnout, it is possible in N.
Good thinking, Mark. Using those teensy Peco Setrack Turnouts never occurred to me. Those guys are really small. They are clearly not what the track plan designer had in mind, but at least you've should that the plan could conceivably work in N-scale. It would not look very good or, I fear, be very enjoyable to operate. - Jeff
The problem here is that you have an all but ... questionable plan to start with. One that has restricting limitations. To tighten it up will only work against you. May I suggest? You might want to reconsider using this layout design. Why? Because, right out of the box...the curves are unusually tight. If you opt to use shorter and tighter radius switches you aren't going to be happy with the performance of your train equipment. You can expect unplanned derailments. Not to mention, extreme hang over of your train equipment. That's not because you or the train has been drinking up the hooch. A lot of modelers here on TB have indeed built small layouts in N scale. I'm not sure why the tight radius curves appeals to them or the fact that they can carry their layout in a suitcase. It just does. If you like having a compact little layout...then may I suggest giving Z scale a hard look. You see N scale affords us the opportunity to have those wide radius curves. For many of us it's those wide curves we wanted and didn't have room for in HO scale. On a personal note: I like for my railroad to appear to be as prototypical as possible so those long switches #7's and # 8's appeal to me. Did I mention? Moving train cars around my layout is a joy and pleasure. Loads of fun! One more consideration, compromising on the plot plan will only add more headaches and problems. I'm not sure that when it's all said and done and you have the layout in place... you will be happy with it. Just food for thought. Take what affirmation you want from here, (wrong or right) and leave the rest of the advice, (good or bad)... behind.
Tony, There are plenty of small N-scale track plans on the Web. There are a bunch of them here: Mike's Small Track Plans Mike shows more than 30 N-scale track plans that will fit in a 24x48 inch space, or smaller. Increasing the depth to 30 inches will only improve these plans. From what I can tell, they are accurately drawn using Atlas track pieces, so you can be confident that they will actually fit your space. For many more ideas for small track plans, I strongly recommend the following site: Micro Layouts for Model Railroads This site is a tremendous source of ideas for those of us with limited space to devote to our model railroad empire. - Jeff
