this is my first major layout. it is HO scale
1. how do you plan your track internet or draw it out
2. how big was your first layout.
3. how should i start my layout. like scenery.
In answer to your questions:
1. I draw track plans with graph paper, compass, ruler/straight edge, pencil, and lots of erasures.
2. My first layout, built 35 years ago, was a 4x8 foot rectangle, but I don't know why you'd care. It was soon superseded by a 5x10 donut shape, later replaced by a ...... etc.
3. I'd start a layout with the benchwork, after adopting a track plan and assuming I didn't need to modify the space to be occupied (appliances, fixtures, ceiling, floor, walls, doorway, lighting, electrical, etc.)
I suggest you purchase and study some paperback books on the model railroad hobby. Check out Kalmbach's books for a start.
Mark
railroaderSTL wrote:this is my first major layout. it is HO scale 1. how do you plan your track internet or draw it out2. how big was your first layout.3. how should i start my layout. like scenery.
1. I use the Atlas software. It's free, but I don't have the website link handy, I think it's www.atlasrr.com, but not sure.
2. Mine was Ye Olde 4x8
3. I'd probably start with the benchwork first, after deciding/designing it's size and shape first. I'd lay track, then do scenery last.
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
For my second layout, the one I am constructing right now, I used the free Atlas software and the link previously provided is correct. There is also XtrakCAD, another free software program which has a significantly longer learning curve. The Atlas program only provides Atlas track in its library (I wonder why) while XtrakCAD provides track from several different manufacturers. Nevertheless, I am pleased w/the results. I invested in about 5 different track planning and layout books and scoured the web for track plans and track planning advice. Took me about 3 months to finalize a track plan after I decided to junk my first 4 X 8 because it was designed poorly. I would point out that at some point in the track plan design process you reach a point of diminishing returns, and continued futzing around with it becomes procrastination.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
1. I prefer to draw it. Be sure to use a compass for your curves. Make sure you accurately draw turnouts - consider using a template.
2. My first layout was a 4x8 following a John Armstrong plan from "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" - a must have book. I had a lot of fun with that layout - it was a twice around with two passing sidings and a small yard on one side. It called for a turntable and round house on the other side; but I had to tear it down before I got that far.
3. Order of building after benchwork is track, wiring, scenery. (for larger layouts you can do them by sections, completing a section before moving on.) The reason is that it's easier to make adjustments. Each stage should be correct before moving on. Not to say you can't go back and make changes later, just that you'll end up redoing all three.
Enjoy
Paul
Although the traditional HO 4X8 does not require any cutting of the sheet of plywood, a lot can be gained by going to a slightly larger size layout, especially in width. Even a 5X9 or 5X10 offers significantly more room for engaging operating elements, larger turn radii, and/or scenery and will usually fit in about the same space in a room like a basement. Cutting plywood is not hard -- most lumber yards will do it for you. Alternately, portable power jigsaws are pretty inexpensive or you can often find one to borrow. If you build from foam instead of plywood, it's even easier.
Better still, if you are staying in one place for a while, is a layout designed to take advantage of the actual room you have.
Or if you expect to move a few times in the near future, a layout designed in smaller sections is a really good idea that is not recommended often enough to beginners. This will be easier to move and store and more of it will be usable in the future in a different-sized space.
If you are new to model railroading, choosing a quality published plan usually gives better results than using CAD to draw one up from scratch.
In my opinion, the best sequence is to decide on a track plan first, then build benchwork, lay and wire enough track to run a train, do a little scenery, then repeat.
Good luck and have fun
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Generally, the intuitive and first-thought ideas in this hobby are the ones that will leave you feeling that you short-changed yourself when you finally have a good and sober look at your first layout.
Everyone has to start someplace, and everyone needs to learn and to adapt, and to keep a heavy lid on expenses. But when these principles are used in synthesis, and when that synthesis is scrutinized with experience, the flaws become very clear. Keeping a lid on expenses starts with not wasting, or relegating to failure status, even one's first layout. So, we always go to some lengths to convince newcomers to the hobby to curb their enthusiasm for just as long as it takes to do some reading and planning. A delayed, but better, layout will cost you less than doing two within a year of each other because the first was decidedly a throw-away.
Therefore, as the others are suggesting, sometimes there are better ways to skin the proverbial cat. Sometimes it is prudent to take a leap and figure out how to cut up a sheet of plywood so that you can lay wider, less trouble-prone, curves for your chosen scale. Sometimes adding a mere 6" to one side of the layout works miracles in terms of a more efficient, fun, and interesting trackplan.
I like the idea of trying a much less expensive pilot module to get one's teeth cut, to learn what techniques yield the best outcomes...for you...and to include even that modest first attempt in a grander plan that fits into the greater space you have available....a learn-as-you-go way of doing things, and if the first bit of work is a bust, it's much cheaper than trashing an entire sheet of plywood in area.
cuyama wrote:Although the traditional HO 4X8 does not require any cutting of the sheet of plywood, a lot can be gained by going to a slightly larger size layout, especially in width. Even a 5X9 or 5X10 offers significantly more room for engaging operating elements, larger turn radii, and/or scenery and will usually fit in about the same space in a room like a basement. Cutting plywood is not hard -- most lumber yards will do it for you. Alternately, portable power jigsaws are pretty inexpensive or you can often find one to borrow. If you build from foam instead of plywood, it's even easier....
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I agree, in fact if you have the room for it a 2 sheet table top layout can be made by having the lumberyard cut each sheet across at 5'4". The 4 pieces can then be arranged in 5'4' x 12' layout. The benchwork could be done as 3 5'4" x 4' sections for moveability. The 5'4'' is 1/3 larger than 4' so you could take a 4x8 plan and increase the curves from 18" to 24" and stretch the length.
For a first step, I cannot overemphasize that you do a lot of reading. There are a lot of good books out there!
Check out Lynn Westcott's (newly reissued!) 101 Trackplans for good ideas. If you've been following the articles in MR and the 2 annuals: Great Model RRs, & Model RR Planning, you may notice that many packaged plans may be short of staging. No worry, it isn't hard to add at the planning stage. Sketch a lot before getting serious about actual placement, and try to draw in the earth-contours of your empire. I finally drew mine full size on the heavy paper that came in a roll of sheet vinyl flooring, using the actual turnouts I was to use... easier than fiddling in small-scale and learning that 1/32 of an inch is a pretty big error when blown up from an 8x11in sheet to 11x14ft full size when curves meet turnouts! If you are CAD savvy, use it, but I didn't have the time to get good at it.
Above all, it's "your" layout, so whatever you make it, it will be right to you. Have fun... George
I've always preferred to draw out my proposed track plans by hand. After deciding on a plan, I then transfer it to a full-scale drawing on the backs of large, aeronautical charts using a yard stick with holes for laying out the curves. It's a good way to see whether what I drew on the small paper will actually work. This full scale drawing can then be cut to use as a template for cutting roadbed etc.
I've built a number of layouts over the years. My first HO layout was 30"x50". That was followed by a 1x6' switching layout, then a 48"x60" layout. That then grew with the addition of 9'x3' piece to one end. Then came the big one - 13'x22'. Now, thanks to space restrictions, I'm back to the 9'x3' piece, being rehabbed as a switching layout.
Good luck and have fun.
Ted
For my layout, I ended up using Atlas RTS, which was adequate for the job. I've got XTrakCad on my computer now, and I'm slowly working on learning it and implementing a proposed extension to my layout. No time pressure, though, as I'm not really planning on making the extension a reality for a year or two. I spent a couple of months on the original design, by the way. It was time well spent, but be careful of "analysis paralysis," where you get so hooked in the planning that it's hard to break away and start building the real layout.
For "family" reasons, I have a 5x12 foot free-standing table, mounted on casters so I can roll it around the room. This has turned out to be a good size. I've been building the layout for a little over 2 years now, and I'd say the scenery and trackwork is about 2/3 done. However, if I had total control over the train room, I would have built around-the-walls, with peninsulas extending into open space, and bridges crossing doorways. The around-the-walls design paradigm gives you much longer runs. You can still "balloon" loops at the ends to provide continuous running if you can't block the doorway, even with a removeable bridge. If you plot out the square footage, you'll find that an around-the-walls shelf layout with narrow shelves (don't go over 30 inches wide, and stay with 2-foot width most places for reach) uses less lumber and benchwork than a free-standing table.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
May I suggest you try the Templot software package? It does have a rather steep learning curve but you can design your layout in great detail. If something does not fit you can easily erase something and replace it. Templot handles a huge number of scales & gauges (HO, OO, O, S etc). Best of all - it's a one-man operation (Martyn Wynne) who is very much a "hands-on" sort of chap. (and I've no connection with Templot other than as a very satisfied customer). Templot has its own website at www.templot.com
I prefer to let the track flop onto the flat surface and work out the issues "On the job" if you please. I am driving one of my hobby shops to grumpiness with the constant emails related to track and switches. I think it will be 6 months to a year before he recovers his good cheer. =) And im hammering on the other store with rolling stock and spare parts so between the two things are getting done.
But before that happens, mountains of graph papers, computer files and pencils are consumed. Almost like planning and studies for 15 years before a single brick is laid for a building.
Xtrkcad is a good program, I think it will be better once they improve the joining of track sections. Atlas is ok, but inadequate. But it's always back to graph paper and pencil for me.
Things like 31" radius curve takes a total of 62" plus 4-6 inches on the outside edge of the track for a 180 degree turn takes about 74 total inches to complete. That works out to about 6' 2 inches of wall space. Once you understand that you can move on to the rest.