Can't remember where I saw the posting, but David Smith drew some track plans using sectional track. I'm helping a new Z scale family get started in Z and they need/want a simple starter layout. Can someone direct me to the link that shows David's track plans? Thank you.
David's plans were on his jamesriverbranch.net blog. Unfortunately he took down the blog a while ago. A new version is up now, but it no longer has the track plans. The internet archive didn't capture any of the photos associated with the plans, but did capture the text. The text is practically useless without the photos. Rokuhan has some track plans on their site: http://www.rokuhan.com/english/layout/index.php
Curn, thank you for the link. That is exactly what I was looking for. The folks that want to get involved in Z scale are retired and perhaps somewhat limited in abilities so I thought an easy track plan with sectional track would be best. The Mrs got more excited at our recent local train show than did the husband, but since they are both retired and have more time than money, I want to help them not make 'early on' mistakes, otherwise they may get discouraged and lose interest. Budgetary restraints are a factor, but they seem eager to get involved. Their immediate thoughts are a small layout in a coffee table that would be both entertaining and protected from visiting grand children, cats, and dust. I looked at the site and think plan K might be a good choice. Question......can a track plan be expanded with a bit of creative track additions? I've never worked with sectional track so I am kind of going where I've no experience. Any thoughts from anyone are welcome and would help me help them. I told them I would help them make the pull out panel that the layout would go on. The scenery, and such I can easily assist them with. The wife seems interested in assembling some kits. First thing I told them was to go home and do lots of reading on the different sites and to thoroughly peruse Z Monster train site to get ideas and a general understanding of what is possible. I also cautioned them to 'not' buy anything quickly until they had their track plan in mind and basically understood the steps that would be necessary to make their little empire come to fruition. If they do indeed get involved with Z this will be an exciting adventure for me to be able to tutor some new folks. The fact that they are retired and in their mid 70s tells me they may have caught the Z bug. Never too late even though they will have their limitations. I asked them if they had good eye/hand coordination and they said 'yes' The one thing that really peaked their interest was the silverware box layout I did back in 2005 and exhibited at this years Thanksgiving show. I'll report back later if there is forward progress on this.
Loren, I sent you and e-mail with a link to a Zip'd file with many small layout examples. You'll have to experiment with Anyrail or other free Train Layout CAD software to figure out what pieces of Rokuhan or Micro-Track they would need.
If your are planning to use Rokuhan track, a good starting point might be the Rokuhan Track Set C, R062. This could be put down on a board sized about 1000 mm by 500 mm (approx 40" by 20"). In addition, there are examples on the box about how it can be expanded using Rail Set B. It can be laid as a temporary layout without permanent fixing, but perhaps cross braced using the A007 double track fixture. Of course, this would also require controllers and turnout switches and some rolling stock. I have a couple examples of track plans which I based on those from the James River site and drew up using AnyRail. My thanks to David Smith for posting these plans. South Richmond UnionAndPhillipsburg Rob Pearce (aka ViperBugloss)
Another possible track plan is the one which was posted on the What's On Your Workbench thread earlier this year. This would fit on a 4' by 2' board. Rob Pearce (aka ViperBugloss)
A pretty close approximation of that plan Rob, but I built it much smaller to fit in a 36x18 space. It has 2 45° 145mm radius sections in the inner curve. The two flex peices (R016) in the plan are actually a 26° 195mm curve cut down from a 30° section, and a 110mm straigh cut down to 85mm. Here is the as built plan: If you want a 170mm minimum radius and not to have to modify any sectional track you could do this in 38x18:
I happened to find a printed copy of the Grey River and Northern Plan from David K. It fits on a 48x24 table. Here it is: I had to simplify it slightly to fit the 50 part maximum of the free version of AnyRail. Parts: R001, Z Rokuhan R001. Straight 110mm. 6 R002, Z Rokuhan R002. Curve radius 195mm, angle 45º 8 R004, Z Rokuhan R004. Curve radius 220mm, angle 45º 8 R009, Z Rokuhan R009. Straight 220mm. 7 R012, Z Rokuhan R012. Curve radius 490mm, angle 13º 9 R016, Z Rokuhan R016. Flex 51.31mm.(r=490mm, a=6º) 1 R016, Z Rokuhan R016. Flex 85.08mm.(r=195mm, a=25º) 1 R016, Z Rokuhan R016. Flex 119.03mm.(r=220mm, a=31º) 1 R016, Z Rokuhan R016. Flex 209mm. 1 R032, Z Rokuhan R032. Curve radius 195mm, angle 30º 2 R039, Z Rokuhan R039. Left turnout 110mm. 13º (remote) 5 R040, Z Rokuhan R040. Right turnout 110mm. 13º (remote) 1 Matt
