Got a track plan, now what?

[tcf511]

Ok, so I now have what I believe is a good quality track plan that matches what I want to accomplish for my first layout. What is the best way to go about transfering the trackplan from paper to benchwork? Also, is there a particular order in which to start building? Install some turnouts first, then add in flex track, start at one end, mainline first then sidings? Should I lay out as much roadbed as possible before laying track? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[leighant]

First stage is train room. Is it finished? have walls, ceiling, lighting, power outlets. Do you need floor covering? Paint sky background? Hard to reach and work AROUND layout when layout is there.

Then benchwork. Will it be solid top, cookie-cutter or open frame/spline, etc.

Are there any complicated nests/configurations of turnouts that can only be fit in a certain way? Those would be priority in laying out.

My plan when I start my next layout will be to lay mainline around the room with the turnouts that are cut into the mainline. I want to be able to watch trains run AND get the bugs out of my mainline before filling everything up. As I get time and money toi buy tracks and materials, I will build and lay the track that runs OFF the mainline. My plot is the FILLING IN THE DETAILS order of construction as opposed to the BUILD ONE SECTION COMPLETELY before going on to the next section method.

[tcf511]

Thanks for the response. It points out that I should have been more specific in my questions. Benchwork is complete and will be flat plywood throughout with cork roadbed. The backdrop is up. Lighting is adequate but I will probably upgrade to tracklighting later when I know where to point it. I will be using DCC.

My thought process was similar to yours, get the mainline in first so that I can run trains. I have a general thought process where scenic elements will go but I'm going to do much of the work based upon what building kit I just acquired.

Do you lay all of your mainline out temporarily with roadbed and then start laying track or do you do sections of it as a time?

[Scholten]

I have found the best way to transfer the track plan to the layout base is through use of a layout design computer program. I used Cadrail, but there are several others you could use. After completing the design on the computer, I printed out the plan using a full 1:1 scale. The many sheets of paper were taped together and put on the layout base. Enough marks through the paper were then made so the track plan was easy to follow on the layout base. For my layout I used 2" foamboard for the base and marked out the trackplan using a small spiked wheel my wife uses for transferring her sewing patterns onto fabric. This worked very well. I then glued the roadbed to the foam. Installing the track on top of the roadbed went smoothly thereafter, as the computer-aided design assured that everything would fit.

Good luck!

Paul Scholten

[camarokid]

Since you already know what you're going to do, start with placing all your mainline turnouts where you want them. Then either nail, spike, pin or glue them down and lay all your track from either end to the next turnout and repeat the process until your mainline is complete. Don't forget your feeder drops as the track laying progresses. This is the fastest and easiest way to go as you don't need to cut short pieces of track all the time. If possible, lay all the long pieces first and cut all the short sections last. Hope this helps some. Have a good time.
Archie

[TurboOne]

leighant has a good idea. Get the mainline down, so you can run, then add. I stll have the benchwork to complete. Should be this weekend. Then I have to decide whether to add foam board. Then I will drop in the double mainline, and go from there. I will have running trains, so the kids and I can play, while we add on.

Tim

[MisterBeasley]

Before I bought a single piece of wood, I took all my track, buildings, trestles and such and laid them out on the floor. It gave me a much better sense of how it would look than a track plan on paper. I didn't try to connect track sections or anything, so this whole effort only took about an hour. The first thing I noticed was that everything was lined up running parallel left to right, which looked wrong so I ended up modifying the track plan slightly. This also gave me the opportunity to plan where I could put roads. I wanted to make sure I could avoid grade crossings on top of turnouts, so again there were some minor tweaks.

[tcf511]

Thanks for all of the great feedback. I know that is definitely want to get the mainline finished first so that I can run something. I'm lucky in that I belong to a local club that has a large layout so as I acquire a locomotive or build a car kit I can go there and run them. But getting my own mainline up will give me the energy to keep going with everything else. Starting out with a 17 by 14 as my first layout attempt probably wasn't my brightest idea but getting feedback like this helps me figure out how to eat this elephant one bite at a time.

The concept of building turnout to turnout makes sense and I think I can pull off the 1 to 1 printouts if 3rd Planit supports that.

Thanks to everyone, I'll post photos of my progress.

[Anonymous]

I too have my trackplan in hand(from12/03 model railroader). I am lengthening it cus I have a 25' x 20' long basement. It's a 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 layout. I have my era in place and thanks to all of you I now know how to lay the yard tracks. I am lost to how much this layout is going to put me back monetary wise. I will deal with that as it comes. Any ideas of what I should add as far as industries and structures.?

[dehusman]

The depends on how many buildings, how many switches, how much you will scratchbuild, how much you will kitbuild, and how much detail you want.

Figure every "big" building will be $40-50. Every smaller building $20. Switches run $12-20 a pop. Add up the length of all your tracks and and divide by 3, then multipy that by the price of a stick of flex track. Start with $5 a square foot for forrested areas (a package of Woodland scenics ground foam and plaster or foam mountain, plus glue and paint), maybe $4 for open fields. City areas can go as high as $100 a square foot (more buildings and details.)

Dave H.

[dehusman]

As far as locating the trackplan, I start with the major curves, then locate the major collections of switches.

Dave H.