New job, new state, new house, and you guessed it new layout. I have a 20' x 12'6" area that is trappazoid. It is squared in the back but angled in the front. This is part of a finished basement, I maybe able to add a staging yard behind the wall in the unfinished part of the basement. My trains run a lot of second and third generation deisel with auto racks, auto box high cube, and passenger trains. So I would like 28"-32" main line curves. So do I plan the layout first or the table? I have built 4-5 layouts, and I have always used the room constraints to determine my table. Then I would design the layout from there.
I would not plan the table first, otherwise you might find it limits the track plan.
What I do is draw out the layout area to scale with all the walls, doors, etc. included. Then draw out a track plan on that to what will fit keeping in mind ailes and pinch points etc. Then you design the benchwork to fit the track plan.
Here is mine as an example:
Notice the area's outlined in red are benchwork sections that were being built to fit the layout after the track plan had been drawn.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I've done a number of layouts over the years (decades) and always figure out what space I want to use, including aisle space. I don't use computer porgrams, so the pencil and graph paper for starters. I did use kraft paper on the floor to give me an idea of the space I can use. It's a great visual of things to come.
Once I have the area, space decided, then I build my layout.
Sounds like you can have a nice sized layout. Post some plans when you're ready!
Good luck!
Neal
Edit: Looks like riogrande beat me to some things, so a little repititive..
I do the same as Jim and Neal. Drawings first, framework second.
Rich
Alton Junction
If your doing a around the room shelve layout then whats it matter what you do first, I would just build the shelve first. Most like 24in wide. Then draw out your plan on the shelve,
You can certainly build a shelf, then draw out the mainline. But you will not maximize the space by doing it that way. I would reproduce the room on paper, like Rio Grande suggested upfront, and draw scale circles in the corners, and connect them. Your preferences for yards and infrastructure should dictate how the mainline will look like between the circles.
You need to make a decision whether you want a liftout or point to point. You will find some good threads on liftouts on this forum (search using Google...). Two return loops would be difficult to manage because of the reach issue. Point to point using diesels can work well, using escape tracks. I opted for a liftout myself - it's not rocket science if you learn from others. As for the peninsula, I would avoid a plan where the track is close to the edge - elbows will become your worst enemy. You might have room for a circle within the peninsula, to allow a mainline going in the peninsula, going around a loop, then exiting the peninsula without turning around. Only a paper plan can tell you if that fits...
Simon
I start with basic ideas on paper and then lay it out on the floor with junk track, real and paper turnouts etc. to see if things really fit, cardboard cut outs work great too. Since you have a larger space you will only be able to do a smaller bit of design before needing to use stuff for the next section but this way you can discover what really fits and how a slight change can change a whole area and avoids proublems like too short sidings or passing tracks.
Well, I'll be the contrarian. After not being able to come up with a track plan due to a huge window, three doors, a large opening into the room, and a fireplace, I gave up and on paper filled the room with benchwork and then drew in the track plan. All of a sudden by doing things backwards I was making great progress. I tweaked both the benches and track plan and have been delighted with what I ended up with ever since.
First, I bought this huge pad of graph paper at Staples for $7.00 and drew out the room. The 1" squares equal one foot. With one-inch squares, it was easy to ballpark radiuses using a pencil compass. My main line radiuses are 34".
Once I got the benches built I made these radius guides out of appliance cardboard. I made several different sizes.
The layout would have been much different if I had not had to leave access to the two rooms on the right, one of which is our guest bedroom. The wife was concerned with the width of the passageway thinking it should be wider, I told her it was the same as the doors and if they can't get past the layout, they won't be able to get through the door. Made sense to her.
Note the notch for the door on the right.
The room is not ideal but I'll take it. We are sort of house hunting and the wife dismisses any house without an appropriate trainroom. My kind of gal.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Hello All,
Congratulations on your new endeavor!
John Allen the "Wizzard Of Monterey" on planning:
"A model railroad should probably start with a concept. Why? Because much knowledge about railroading, experience in model railroading, and thought are required before a proper concept for a model railroad can be formed. These requirements are seldom possible on a first pike. Mine was no exception." - -John Allen; Gorre & Daphetid Railroad.
Approaching your design phase from the perspective of what you want to model might aid in how you model.
NILEMy trains run a lot of second and third generation deisel (SIC) with auto racks, auto box high cube, and passenger trains. So I would like 28"-32" main line curves.
Many might consider the following suggestion a, "Cart before the horse" kind of thinking but...
Think about beginning your track plan by laying out the industries in your given space on paper. Then figure out how to link them via rail.
Once you have this "concept" then you can work out the details of track and benchwork to achieve the pike that will give you the most satisfaction.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
So fast forward two months and the table part of the layout is built, well mostly. It is framed and table top put down, but not all of it is fastened. There are some parts where I want to model roads or a river under the main line, so I plan on cutting into the table so that I don't have to raise the mainline very much.
I have covered the entire table with packing paper (saved from the recent move). I have found this paper makes a great surface for drawing the layout right on the table. I also took JJ's advise and unpacked my industry buildings and arranged them around the layout. This is providing some great ideas... also generating more questions.
For operations, would industries be found on both sides of the mainline? For industries with a spur or two off the mainline. Is it plausable for all or most switches to be facing the same direction?
For Benchwork, I do want a little bit of elevation changes. Modeling Michigan 'like' area so no mountains. I want to raise a branch line to go over a mainline. As previously mentioned, I want to put a road way under the mainline. That road will be an interance into a city. I'd like the city to be below the rail line. I have a good idea on how I want it to look, I'm having difficulties on how I would transistion it from the 'depressed' city back up to table height. Any suggestions?
Regarding industries - yes they could be on both sides of the main. Switch direction depends in part on your operating scenarios (as it does for the prototype). Facing point vs. trailing point, location of nearest runaround track etc. Yes it makes sense to have all or most switches in the same direction - for example several trailing-point sidings so the local freight can drop off cars at a number of industries without having to do a run-around to push cars into a facing-point siding.
For benchwork, foam board or cardboard strips with plaster can be used to raise the scenery above track level. To go below, the track or adjacent area can be "cut out" and raised/lowered relative to track/scenery level. Joists etc. that support the plywood would have to be modified or lowered accordingly. Lowered and raised flat plywood areas can be blended together using the aforementioned foam, cardboard and plaster techniques.