laying track

[Anonymous]

Done with my benchwork, done with my foam board. I am now vaporlocked, what first? Do I sculpt my landscape and do all of that work, or do I lay track before I design terrain, paint, and detail. I am afraid I'm gonna mess up really bad, and have to tear it all down. [:(]

[Anonymous]

I am by no means qualified to answer this question but I would have an idea as to what your layout will look like.

Marker in where you want a mountain, river, whatever to go and lay your track...build your mountains and whatever unless of course you are doing a river in which case you cant lay your roadbed and track down without having dug where you want it to go and a bridge of course.

What I am doing is laying some track down then do some scenery in that area like hills, rock formations etc. My layout will be fairly flat because its a 6 x 8 but yours might be different. It may sound stupid but do what makes sense first. But maybe you should sculpt your landscape then lay the track around it...whatever works for you.

[Anonymous]

route your track, with all it's rises and such, then go back in and fill in the details of hills and such. it's best to get the track working and everything, than to have to go back and detroy parts of the terrain to make the track work right.

Jay.

[dave9999]

Lay your track, make SURE your trains run with no problem. Then work your landscaping
in around the track work. Example: http://home.bellsouth.net/coDataImages/p/Groups/179/179121/pages/445631/IM000426fw.JPG
Dave

[Anonymous]

Hello Bishop,

Just like the big boys, get the track down and worry about cleaning up and making it pretty when you have trains running. A few extra hours making sure you have perfectly aligned and laid track will save you days or weeks of anguish later. Everything is more fun when the trains are running.

[Jacktal]

First,you have to decide what you absolutely want on your layout.Let's say you want an operational feature like a train coming out of a tunnel,then you'll need a mountain.You want your train to croos a bridge,then you need a bridge.Simple isn't it?At first glance may be.You'll have to picture your layout in your mind,then a good thing would be to put your ideas on paper and then...that's when the fun begins...put measurements on your paper.Taking into account the dimensions of your benchwork,you install(on paper) your curves with your minimum radius standards,your main layout goal(industry,bridge,mountain,town,river,etc.)and see how they'll all fit together.Don't be surprised if you run out of space in no time,having to settle with compromises here and there.

Once you've pictured your layout and drawn a reasonably accurate plan,you can start temporarily installing your trackwork(I use masking tape for this) so that you'll be able to actually see your trackplan "live"and picture the yet missing elements like your mountain or else.You'll be able to evaluate your grades,clearances,etc,if any.

Now that this is done,bring out your power supply and yes,do operate your train(s) for a while on your temporary trackwork.First it will give you a sense of progression in your work and even more important,it will reveal to you the flaws and goodies of your plan.You'll be able to pinpoint what you like and what you don't,and correct your trackwork along the way making the best of all the compromises involved.

This is the way I did it and I'm now working on my third layout design,wich I know will be much more satisfying,even though not perfect.It's the best I can have within the space I have available so I'll satisfy myself with it for a while.

Like the other posts say,your trackwork is the element that will dictate what you can and can't do so have it performing flawlessly to your operational standards and then install it permanently and start filling in with scenery My idea....for what it's worthed.