I wanted to accomplish several things for this layout, which has to be 2.5' X 4' maximum.
1.) Run two trains at the same time.
2.) Have a trucking station like that of a typical St. Johnsbury trucking terminal in the early '90's.
3.) Small main street town (like my hometown of Lima, NY)
4.) Rail yard.
5.) Two-three switching side tracks.
6.) Two grade crossings.
One of the mainline tracks will either be slightly higher or lower than the other to make it look like there isn't that much of an obvious flat terrain on this layout. This layout, as some of you may remember in the December 1994 issue of Model Railroader, was loosely based on Soo's Red-Wing division in that article. I actually built this layout when I was a kid in HO scale, but now I'm moved on to better things in N scale. I also plan on adding rolling hills between the tracks to make the trains "disappear" as much as I can.
I left either the top left side or the bottom right side open for extensions if my wife lets me have more room. But for now, I like it!
Yup! That'd be the one! Like I said, a necessary evil.
There's also an "S" curve just above the yard.
You know, you could build in an escape to the inner circle so you don't have to back out. It'd unfortunately create another "S" curve, but I guess you aren't going to be going 80mph through here anyways, are you? Anyways, you could do it by adding a couple of turnouts where I drew the red line.
1. There is only one crossover between the two main tracks. This means a train can cross from one to the other in one direction only. To get back to the original track the train will have to backup through the crossover.
2. The switches are concentraded on the front and back of the layout. These areas are where most derailments will occur. This means reaching over the layout (regardless of which side is the "wall" side) to correct the problems. This is probably not avoidable with this size of a layout but I think I would definitely power the turnouts on the "wall" side.
3. I don't think I would spend valuable layout space on an engine house. I would make this another industry. The layout is heavily yarded and sparingly industried. Or that engine house track could have another turnout that turns tightly and runs another industry spur across the road into that area South-East of the truck terminal. That way there would be an engine house and another industry.
Are "S" curve generally bad? I know they're not prototypical, but that's not what I'm going for here.
I could create the escape like you said, and, in fact, probably would be a good idea. I believe that's what they had in the track plan in the December 1994 issue.
That's true. I think I will visit the local hobby shop again and pick up another couple of remote switches. I plan on putting this layout on a table built specifically for the train. I already have glued two 3/4" thick extruded styrofoam boards together that are 2.5' X 4'. It's the beginning!
Besides the engine house, what other industry could I have there? I would need an access road off the main street, parking, etc.
New track plan, however, this has some weird sections of flextrack that I don't know would work.
The s-curves may well be problems for performance (derailments), not just appearance. It's still an s-curve above the yard for a train going through the curved side of the turnout.
A simpler design that doesn't require the s-curves may be a better choice for a first layout, if this is your first.
As others have mentioned, you seem to have relatively a lot of yard for the actual usable length of the industry spurs.
For crossovers, consider an angled crossover instead of a straight crossover. This is not typical of main lines on the protoype, but will perform better if you keep something like the current configuration.
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gatrhumpy wrote:Hmmm. INteresting. I don't think I have the space for two #6 turnouts. I think I have to stick with #4 turnouts.
That's the point. You can use #4s if you don't put them in the classic straight crossover configuration you have now -- instead use the angled crossover. Using #4s in a typical straight crossover plus leading into them with an s-curve (as you seem to have now) is likely going to be a problem.
Just because CAD lets you do something doesn't guarantee it will work, unfortunately.
gatrhumpy wrote:Wait. I don't see how you can avoid using the #4 turnouts. What track piece is the angled crossover for Atlas in N scale?
It is a normal #4. It is just a right instead of a left.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
I think I just figured it out.
The angled switch would not work because I still need to outer mainline to stay straight, not angle up torwards the top (and out of) of the layout. In other words, if I used a LH #4 turnout and then a RH #4 turnout on top, the mainline would not be aligned with the rest of the mainline coming from the right (the outer mainline loop).
Besides, I don't plan on going very fast through these curves.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
I'm afraid that you will have some significant trouble building and running what you have drawn.
The original design you are trying to copy (from MR Dec 1994) was an HO 4X8 that did not have double track at the right side of your design. You are trying to add double-track in about the same relative space in N scale. That probably just won't work, and that's one of the reasons you are running into trouble with the crossovers.
I hope you won't press forward with a problem design just because you have already purchased the track. You might be able to get the original single-track-with-sidings HO 4X8 design to fit into your space in N with some modifications, but this double-track version seems unlikely to work unless you reduce the radius so much that the smaller radius begins to cause other problems.
For future reference and for others who might want to try angled crossovers, here's how it would look at the upper left of your current design.
But again, this change alone will not resolve all the issues you will have in trying to cram ten pounds of sugar into a five-pound sack. Lots of folks are led into thinking that anything they can draw in CAD will work well, and it's sadly not the case.
Oops, sorry, you had the crossover going the other way. Still works with #4s, just watch the track-to-track spacing.
The advantage to the angled crossover is that it eliminates s-curves. The disadvantage is that it routes the main line through the diverging portion of the turnouts, which is very rare on real-life railroad main lines. You also have to be very sure that you maintain sufficient track-to-track spacing so that trains passing one another on the inside and ouside lines don't sideswipe in the crossover area.
Thanks for the tip.
I still think it will work. The radius of the inside loop was 9-3/4", while the radius of the outside loop was 11". Those are minimum radii according the N scale, and I think they will work.
I'll play around with it in CAD once I get home.
gatrhumpy wrote: I still think it will work. The radius of the inside loop was 9-3/4", while the radius of the outside loop was 11". Those are minimum radii according the N scale, and I think they will work.
You'll still have to eliminate the s-curve above the yard if you want the best chance of reliable operation. Good luck.
gatrhumpy wrote: Besides the engine house, what other industry could I have there? I would need an access road off the main street, parking, etc.
Or don't like that idea, make an industrial track roughly parallel to the locomotive house (and street) and have the existing structures there just use rail service out their back loading docks.
I have a question. I'd like to keep the center of the layout relatively open for my town and trucking terminal. However, I have no idea what industries to put on the two sidings...
Any suggestions?
I'm trying to model the 1991-1993 timeframe before St. Johnsbury went out of business and before Santa Fe merged with BN.
gatrhumpy wrote: I have a question. I'd like to keep the center of the layout relatively open for my town and trucking terminal. However, I have no idea what industries to put on the two sidings...Any suggestions?I'm trying to model the 1991-1993 timeframe before St. Johnsbury went out of business and before Santa Fe merged with BN.
Nobody?
Would like some more input on this. The track plan is on the first page, and would like some more ideas on what industries I can model on the spur tracks in the center.
What buildings can I model?