The first thing is to decide what scale of drawing you want to use....this being irrespective of the scale of the model trains you are contemplating. The drawing has to fit on your paper, just as your layout has to fit in your room. So, what can you draw on the size of paper you are using, how big are the squares on the graph paper, how are your drawing skills, etc., etc....?
I use large graph paper that measures 18" X 14", so even an 18' X 18' room should fit okay.
If your graph paper has 1/4" squares, you would probably be best to let two of those squares, across one side, represent a full foot. So, one square is 6" square. Or, you could tape two or more sheets of the graph paper together, carefully trimmed and lined up, and make four squares equal to one foot, with one small sqaure being 3" on a side. Whatever makes sense to you.
Then, you must use a compass...the kind with a needle point on one leg and a sharp pencil lead gripped in the other. You must keep track of the space between the two because that distance means something for your drawing. If you want 12" radii in N -scale, you'd want the distance between the lead and the needle to be four squares wide. Just make darned sure, checking twice, that all such radii around your layout are made the same. Meaure your tangents the same way. Learn how long the turnouts are that you are going to use. Draw them in to scale.
And so on....
Hi Trainsme1,
you tripped into a trap that I fairly well know - happens to me even now, after 45 years of model railroading. It is like that gorgous looking cake - the slice´s jut too big to eat it all!
Here is a way out of the trap - and a lot of this has been stated in that forum before. Get a track planning software, define the size of your layout and just do the planning. Now there are a lot of pro´s and con´s in using a track planning software, but they do help in staying within scale and within the "confinements" of the space available.
I had to learn the hard way - I planned my dream layout and than tried to fit it into the room. Either the door or the windows were inaccessible or the layout were to be built not higher than 30 inches above floor due to the sloping ceiling.
Again, a track planning software helped me to avoid expensive mistakes. XtrkCad and RTS from Atlas are free of charge, just download them...
Hi everybody, First of all let me start off by saying I'm taking a deep breath and starting with a clear mind,...inhale......exhale okay, Here's my story first then my question, I built a mock model of my new layout that will be in our soon to be remodeled garage turned into a trainroom, the problem is I tried to add too much gliitz to the glamour and now I found out I didn't have enough room, also I didn't ues ANY scale measurments!!!!!!I guess you can say I got a liitle carried away! I'm modeling in Nscale and our room will be 18ft x18ft. so now I have to draw my track plan and build my mock model all over again!!! The problem is I don't know what scale mearsurments to use to get the accurate measurments. I have grid paper and a artutacte scalerule, Where and how do I get started, please help..... measuring impared
Trainsrme1