Hi, I've just posted in the Inspection Pit forum about my website and forum and I've been told it might be a good idea to post my track plan and see what people think. Well, here you go, the URL for where I've put the first draft of me layout design is:- http://www.shaunsmodelrailway.net/TrackPlan.htm and then click on the image to load a full size version. Let me know what you think. Shaun
Shaun - dont see any way of getting form outside circuits to inside circuits and thence to the yard! Shortliner(Jack)away up here in the Highlands
Shaun: You've done a nice job with your new website. Have fun planning your layout. Stay cool and run steam.....
Shaun to TRAINBOARD and the Layout Design forum. You've got a good size area to work with. I'm assuming this will be along a wall. 2 1/2 feet can be quite a reach (depending on layout height) to get to the rear track. I'd like to know a little more about your opperating plans. What is it you want from your trains? What I'm seeing is 4 ovals of track. If you want to watch 4 trains go around in circles at the same time I supose that would be fine, but to me that would be more of a train display than a layout. Most model railroaders find that after awhile going round and round gets boring. I don't feel it takes full advantage of the space you have available. However that depends on what you want from your railroad.
Where your track plan will do relatively well is in passenger train runs, but you deprive yourself of many switching opportunities which can bring the layout alive. I agree with John that running circuits can get boring very fast. Instead of starting with a track plan, why don't you start another thread with a list of given and druthers, and then work the track plan from there. Givens are those items you must have, druthers are items you'd like to have if you have the opportunity. You have a good space for an N scale layout. Here's one example. If I were working that space, I'd probably have a two or three level layout (the bottom level in a three decker for staging only). You have enough room for a helix and I think you could easily run a double decker without problems. Next, what is inhibiting the width of the layout? Can you bump the ends out so that your curved track will have a larger radius, thus giving you room inside the curves for a small town or an industrial switching area. You given and druthers might go something like this: Given - industrial switching areas - passenger trains - minimum radius of 17 inches (around 37 cm) Druthers - larger passenger station & one other one - area for servicing the engines - a tunnel - some signals Of course your list will be different. From that list then begin to develop your track plan. But first have you maximized your space in terms of bench work arrangement- the basic foot print of the layout? For example, instead of a long rectangle, could you instead have a stretched out water wings design?
The others have pretty much covered it and I agree completely. Over all if you are looking for mostly a passenger train setup consider some of the following: Use Kato Unitrak because you will want to change it eventualy and this will alllow for full recovery of the track. I like the idea of a 3 level with a helix if you can. If not then I'd suggest a: Double track main line with a passenger station since it appears you would like to run a lot of passenger The station should have bypass in both directions A staging / container transfer like in your "what if" scenario. This should be on the inside of your loops. You should also include a modest industrial area for switching An engine terminal Other than this, consider a folded dogbone aproach with a single track main line.
In your space, I would go to double track mainline around the room, with the double track expanded out to four tracks at the station area. Perhaps arrange it for 3 tracks to serve passenger platforms and one through track. Crossovers at each end of station area to allow either mainline to reach any platform track. There is a way to put crossovers where tangent double track goes into curve to avoid S curves. See my article on crossovers and S-curves in Model Railroad Planning 2005 On side OPPOSITE station track would be a good place for hidden staging tracks, toward the back of the layout away from central operating aisle. Then a switching branch line could come off the mainline near the passenger station and run to some industrial spurs IN FRONT of the hidden staging. Do you intend to have any freight yard as such? You might consider your layout a model of the downtown area of a city with passenger station, switching of express and mail cars and LCL freight house by local switch crew, through long-distance freight trains just going through and NO YARD AT ALL for those through trains, simple run through from staging and disappear again.
Kenneth, "arround the room"? Unless I missed something he is bound to 2 1/2 x 14 feet. I personaly think for passenger trains a "staging" area could just as easily be a passenger terminal.
Hi all, Thanks for the suggestions that you've all made, I'll certainly be taking them on board. Just a couple of things. The area at the back of the layout is where the fiddle yard is going. I haven't added it yet as I haven't decided how I want to approach this. It certainly won't just be 4 trains going round and round as the initial track plan would seem to hint at - that would get boring in fairly short order! I'm also now thinking of shortening the station - it currently is designed to hold 12x65' carriages and I've realised that the largest passenger train I'm likely to run would be 8 carriages long - and moving it more to the right of the layout with it, perhaps, even being on the curve going round into the fiddle yard. I would then have the main station building plus a car park and bus station across the top of the platforms at one end to hide the entrance into the yard. That way I get the station, which I want, but without it dominating the layout as it is at the moment. Then I could have the MPD, carriage sidings and container terminal more in the centre and more of a focus for the layout. I could also make them far more extensive than in the original plan, thereby upping the operational variety of the layout. I'm also thinking of upgrading the spur at the bottom of the current track plan. What I think might be a better idea is to have that carry all the way round the front of the layout into a scenic break through to the fiddle yard. I would then have a bit of freight traffic coming off of this spur (scrap trains going in and steel trains coming out). Another thing I'm thinking of doing is to have another spur coming off of this spur going to a car loading facility as that is how Sheerness - the town the layout is based on - has it's freight handling facilities and access to them set up. So how would that look? I'm currently working on another track plan to try and accomplish this and will put it up on my website when I've finished it.
That does sound like an inprovement. I do question having the fiddle yard in the back against the wall. That is the spot with the furthest reach. You also mentioned having the entrance hidden. Those two factors make it hard to use for "fiddling" doesn't it? I know I need to be able to see the wheels on the car to get them on the track.
Would it make it better if I referred to it as a scenic break and hidden sidings? Luckily, as it's not an exhibition layout, I can place the rolling stock and the locos on the track at the front of the layout where I can see what I'm doing.
OK. From the concept page on your website, I see you have an idea of what you are after. But, it dosn't look like you have an idea of how to get it! (That is NOT a put-down, everyone starts there! I am probably still there, but learning.) Have you read John Armstrong's book "Track Planning for Realistic Operation"? If not you should buy, beg, borrow, steal, or otherwise procure, and read it. It will be worth the cost, since you are trying to build, as you say, a "proper" layout. There are ideas in there that will keep you thinking for years. Also, it would be good to get one of his layout design compilations. I see Amazon.co.uk has "The Classic Layout Designs of John Armstrong" available within a couple weeks, so that would be a good choice. Since you are in the UK, and even if you were not, Iain Rice's books would also be good references. You are NOT looking for a design in any of these books that is what you plan to build. What you are looking for is ideas, and elements that you can draw together for your layout. One thing I noticed (besides the Indy 500 feel) of your first cut is that there is no elevation change. Changing elevation can really help to separate things that are physically close together (as the front and back of your layout are). Also, while a four track main certainly fits your desires, I don't think I'd take it all the way 'round. It takes a lot of real estate. I'd be tempted to split it up over part of the run, or cut it down to two track. I'd have to think a lot more on that. The other question is, do you want to be able to turn around? You've got the space to do it, and you could hide a lot of it. Also, and maybe you said it elsewhere, is this size absolutely fixed? Could you cheat a few inches more, maybe just at the ends? And where are the walls? That will help when it comes to figuring out what you can reach and where the human operator can walk. Jeff OK, I looked at you site a bit more. So what are the finished dimensions of the shed (inside of course) planned to be? And is there anything else that has to live in there? And where are the door(s), and window(s).
ok...I agree totally with what all the others have said, but I;'d jsut like to add something extra to it. Loads of people talk about hidden sidings / staging. What they dont mention is the inherent extra wiring required ro achieve this. If a yard is hidden, you have absolutely no diea which direction a turnout is facing unless you use direction indicators of some type on the control panel. Generally, this is going to involve more wiring, and potentially more expensive equipment to be purchased. I'm all for hidden staging, but just thought I;d point that out. Think of the 'real life' scenery you see while driving around. I personally think its a whole lot more interesting looking at a yard with 1 train moving through it than looking at a double mainline with one train on it. Yards are neat, so why hide them Bear in mind that I have a bit more room than you, so the illusion of going somewhere isnt quite so hard to pull off on my layout (10x10 double deck).
