Trouble is curvature, I tried a donut scheme with 24 radius curves, they ate about 2ft 8in of shelf leaving very little room for stuff, now if instead of a curve I put something that adds operational interest like a switchback, requiring trains to back or pull into the tail track and then change direction to round the corner then maybe...
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
24" Radius may be "nice", but 22" for a small switching layout will be just fine. You're looking at slow speeds, smooth track, and operation. Not running a bulllet train....
Quick image - 6x8 area, 18" maximum depth on layout surface, and displayed 24" and 22" curves. It's totally doable if you don't visualize things as "straight lines", and understand that even in the real world, things are curved to follow property lines, roads, etc. Adjusting your scenery, structures, and plan to account for that will help you greatly.
This space reserved for SpaceMouse's future presidential candidacy advertisements
Also - thinking out loud again...
Limiting yourself to perfect 90* angles in the corners of the "pit" greatly reduces the available space for scenery due to the curve of the track. Radiusing the pit edges with a curved facia would gain you a few inches outside of the curves to help break up the impact on the scene.
SeeYou190 No more than 4 turnouts...
No more than 4 turnouts...
Steven,
.
It has been two weeks since an update on your layout. I hope this project did not "derail", and there is progress to report.
Let us know.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Plan has not derailed, the track plan is still in the works I'm hoping to have it done this week.