I have scoured the web, Trains.com and my library for the most suitable track plan for my HO layout. I don't have the creative ability or the time to start form scratch and I have homed in on plan #56 in the '101 Track Plans ' book. It is the right size for my space, it has broad curves, it has a loco depot, it has a yard and some industries. It is a basically uncomplicated layout, busy without the spaghetti I like continuous running to show my trains to visitors and I like to kick back and watch 'em run myself as 'therapy' I like to be able to set out a few cars and make up a train. #56 lets me do all this. The one drawback is that there is no obvious way I can see for a bit of hidden staging which will allow me to remove a train from the main line and allow me to bring a train on to the main. If I could have a small hidden yard with mainline access I think #56 would be perfect for me. Can anyone offer any suggestion on how I might achieve this element in this track plan ?
Not too hard. Add one more turnout (anywhere you like would be good) that brings the track perpendicular to the front edge of the layout. Make a detachable box with the staging yard that would plug into the front of the layout so that you can stage and make up trains, bring them onto the layout through your added switch, and then you can detatch the box cartridge and store out of the way while you either operate the trains you made up, or after you are done with your operating session
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Thanks TJ. I will doodle with the track plan and see where best location for a switch is. I had not thought of a detachable staging yard.
lyctus I have scoured the web, Trains.com and my library for the most suitable track plan for my HO layout. I don't have the creative ability or the time to start form scratch and I have homed in on plan #56 in the '101 Track Plans ' book. It is the right size for my space, it has broad curves, it has a loco depot, it has a yard and some industries. It is a basically uncomplicated layout, busy without the spaghetti I like continuous running to show my trains to visitors and I like to kick back and watch 'em run myself as 'therapy' I like to be able to set out a few cars and make up a train. #56 lets me do all this. The one drawback is that there is no obvious way I can see for a bit of hidden staging which will allow me to remove a train from the main line and allow me to bring a train on to the main. If I could have a small hidden yard with mainline access I think #56 would be perfect for me. Can anyone offer any suggestion on how I might achieve this element in this track plan ?
Say, I just started looking at this plan, too. I think I found a layout that will accommodate my big steam needs. I think detachable staging would be a big plus.
lyctus I have scoured the web, Trains.com and my library for the most suitable track plan for my HO layout. I don't have the creative ability or the time to start form scratch and I have homed in on plan #56 in the '101 Track Plans ' book. snip If I could have a small hidden yard with mainline access I think #56 would be perfect for me. Can anyone offer any suggestion on how I might achieve this element in this track plan ?
I have scoured the web, Trains.com and my library for the most suitable track plan for my HO layout. I don't have the creative ability or the time to start form scratch and I have homed in on plan #56 in the '101 Track Plans ' book.
snip
If I could have a small hidden yard with mainline access I think #56 would be perfect for me. Can anyone offer any suggestion on how I might achieve this element in this track plan ?
If you have enough space for this layout and access, you probably have space for something else that would be more interesting to build and operate in the long run. Taking the time to learn about layout design now and to develop a plan that best uses your space may seem like a waste of time, but finding out that this layout doesn't satisfy you after you've built it would be a bigger waste, IMHO.
But nobody ever wants to hear that, so I'll move on to your question. As others have noted, it would be easy to repurpose one of the existing corner industry tracks to connect with a staging yard. Like a number of the turnouts in this plan, some of these would have to be handlaid to fit as-drawn, so you'll need to do some tweaking to use off-the-shelf components throughout. That means that everything might not fit as shown on the track plan, which is based on custom turnouts. The 2-inch track-to-track spacing might be adequate for the 30' and 32" end curves, but you'll need more space for some of the side-by-side industry tracks that are more tightly curved.
There seems to be only about 14' of useable yard length (once you allow for clearance at the turnouts), which may a little on the short side depending on how you plan to use the yard and the length of the rolling stock. If you need the broad curves for big steam, note that the turntable as drawn is only about 100' in diameter. This won't handle some of the larger HO engines. Likewise, the roundhouse is a little undersized for the larger HO steam.
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cuyamaIf you have enough space for this layout and access, you probably have space for something else that would be more interesting to build and operate in the long run. Taking the time to learn about layout design now and to develop a plan that best uses your space may seem like a waste of time, but finding out that this layout doesn't satisfy you after you've built it would be a bigger waste, IMHO.
Never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over, eh?
My comment is that I've always considered this to be a simple double track oval that is basically a traditional 4x8 plan (see #20, #25, & #39), blown up to have broad curves. There aren't enough crossovers to even pretend it is a single track and get facing-train passing-operations on it. It is basically for two trains running independed. I like that it has an internal yard lead so one can operate a drilling operation in the yard without interfearing with the two trains on the main.
As I recall, as drawn #56 is a 10x6 layout. I believe I would put the staging under. Break off a track, or even use that industrial siding on the lower left side to make another curved that desends around down and under. That might make it 10' 3" long to fit the extra 38.5" radius curve there. If one doesn't mind backing the train in/or out of staging this is all that would be needed. One could even duplicate the entire loop on a lower staging area. If one wants double ended staging it would be trickier but still possible by using the industrial track that is on the upper right.
Is this filling a 10x6 room? If not, since one has to duck into the control pit anyway it seems it might be better to duck into the whole room and expand it to be a 10x9 or whatever the room size is.