Layout plans...

[Anonymous]

Heres my latest layout plan...

12x8, O27 profile track, with two loops of O42 and one loop of O27 with an O27 trolley line.

Critique it please :) Also, any advice as far as wiring and power is appreciated.

One loop will be command for now. I have a Cab 1 and a Command Base. What else will I need? I was thinking a 135W PowerHouse and a Direct Lockon would get the job done?

Then I would use a Postwar ZW to power the other 2 loops for now.
Heres the link to the trackplan...

http://www.aniprofessionalstaffing.com/greg/12X8RECT.gif

[brianel027]

Your layout looks good to me. Personally I like more sidings for industries and switching cars. I know nothing about all this command stuff. I use the old fashioned hand-on
-the-transformer-throttle approach with insulated blocks for sidings and on the mainlines, so I can shutoff power to one loco, while pulling out another from a siding. I also alternate between AC and DC current to the track, since discovering some of my lesser-expensive can-motored locos run much smoother and slower on direct DC current. You may want to do a reverse loop cut-across on one of your larger loops so you can change direction of a train, and back it up to go in the orginal direction. You could elevate your inner loop for the trolley. You could also move the elevated trolley line to the back or a corner, using a board for some of the elevation and create a tunnel for the lower trains. Also by having some kind of flat surface for the upper line (versus just elevating it with trestles) you could also have a small station for the trolley - maybe the operating platform by MTH where the passengers disappear. If you went with just trestles, K-Line makes some new elevated trestles that are taller than the Lionel ones, allowing more clearance.
Anyways, just food for thought. As I've said countless times, this hobby should be for everyone. And I always find it interesting how folks can make such different layouts using the very same stuff we all use.
PS: also don't be afraid to rip things up and change them as you go along. I swear, everyone I know who has built a layout and said they'd never change it, eventually changed their mind when they had a better idea hit them. That's all part of the fun!
brianel

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I do like having trains run under one another, and I would like the trains to dissapear into a tunnel for a few seconds, so I'll have to see how that works out.

In the store I work out we have a makeshift tunnel made out of cardboard/wood for the framing and crumbled heavy duty tin foil which is painted and covered with trees and whatnot.

I don't have many operating accesories, but plan to add quite a bit in the future, and I plan on leaving the operating accesories right on the main lines for their usage, with some on sidings.

Oh and about being afraid to rip things up and change...I'm not. I just got done building a 12x8 layout in an L shape with 2 4x8s. I've only had up a few weeks, but its coming down now so I can build this. This will be done right and stand permanently for years hopefully. In time it will fill in, and it'll also let me run engines and rollingstock that require the wider radius curves. And the trains look and run better operating on the wider curves anyway.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I think I'm going to leave the trolley line in the middle there, and build a town around and inside of it.

I've also been thinking about slightly elevating the track furthest to the rear about 2 inches or so, very gradually from the left corner to the right corner with it peaking in the middle so that I can fit my extension bridge in. It'll be a shallow grade, so the trains shouldn't react much going up and down.

[Anonymous]

Dear gkrangers,
If you like running trains in a series of classic tinplate concentric ovals, more power to you. But this plan might get a little boring after awhile. But that's just me-if you like it, go for it; show the rivet counters what an O gauge layout looks like[:)]! The only other problem is that I don't really see room to get to the trains if one derails in a hard to reach place. Rerailing trains might be a problem, and so you might want to find room for an access hatch in the layout, possibly a few buildings in the town which you could lift out. I agree, though, that you might want to put in a reversing loop, and turntables can be also fun.

Other than that everything looks great[:D],
Daniel