Help with Yard design

[Haubenschild]

[Anonymous]

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[Haubenschild]

I am a newbie to model railroading so bear with me.

My layout will be a fictional Southern pacific branch set in the Mojave sub area in the late 60's early 70's. I want a yard that is functional and somewhat realistic , but not too over the top since I am working with limited space. Here is my general drawing

[hon30critter]

Haubenschild

Welcome to the forums!

There are several people here who can help you design your layout.

My suggestion is to start by reading John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation". If you are not familiar with Mr. Armstong's work let me say that he was one of the most knowledgeable modelers ever. His book clearly explains how railways work, including yards, and offers many suggestions on how to maximize the use of your available space. You can purchase a copy through our forum hosts by clicking on the "shop" button on the upper right of this page. You can probably find it cheaper on eBay. Just watch out for eBay shipping charges.

I would also offer a second suggestion, although there are many modelers who say that it is not necessary. That suggestion is to get yourself some track planning software. There are freeware sources on the internet. Atlas has one. Others can provide details on what else is available without cost.

I use 3rdPlanIt, which comes at a cost but it has helped me create a workable plan for the space I have available. I started with Atlas's freeware but as I learned more about design I realized that it wasn't giving me the detailed information I wanted. However, even with 3rdPlanIt I first designed a layout with multiple flaws. Some of those were exposed with help from these forums, but John Armstrong's book really gave me an understanding of what I had done wrong in my design and how to fix it. Had I gone ahead with my plan before reading Armstrong's book I would have been sadly disappointed with the layout's functionality, or lack thereof.

Please keep us posted on your progress!

Dave

[lifeontheranch]

Designing a layout can be a lot of fun, but.... it can also result in a lot of design errors that later you will regret. Do you know the name Byron Henderson? He owns Layout Vision. His design work is renown. You might consider employing his services to design your yard or even entire layout. For the few dollars spent you will be guaranteed of having a layout that operates correctly and is fun to run trains on. I did and have no regrets.

http://www.layoutvision.com/

 

[Doc in CT]

I'm not sure if you are a subscriber, but your layout reminds me of the THE BENEDICT & WEXFORD which is found in the track plan data base (http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/207352.aspx)

Also, if you have access to a copy, Vol 1 and 2 of John Armstrong's track plans (available as digital downloads or as part of a DVD - better buy) has some smaller "room sized" designs.

Other thought - unless that continuous run loop is critical, you would be better served by a walk-in, around the room type of point to point design.

[Paulus Jas]

hi,

the Salinas comes pretty close.

I am not sure about the brand of tracks you have chosen, be careful about what really fits in. With a different brand you could build a layout like the Salinas.

Smile
Paul

[Doc in CT]

Correct link to the track plan data base http://mrr.trains.com/How%20To/Track%20Plan%20Database/2007/08/Benedict%20and%20Wexford.aspx

[peahrens]

Welcome.  I spent quite awhile (3 winters) deciding whether to actually build.  I found several reference books worthwhile as mentioned above, plus trying options on track planning software. 

I used (free) XTrackCAD. It has a bit if a learning curve (there is an online tutorial) and a couple of quirks to overcome (you can get answers here or on the yahoo user group).  The software has libraries of various vendors track pieces which you can piece together to see what works for you.  In my case, for instance, I used Walthers-Shinohara turnouts, Atlas crossings, and Walthers-Shinohara curved track as a surrogate for flextrack curves I would lay.  Just to give an idea of how it works.  A search for track planning software will yiels prior threads on folks' preferences for such software (or pencil & paper and zeroxed turnout templates). 

http://www.xtrkcad.org/Wikka/HomePage

Good luck!

[CTValleyRR]

Not to hijack your thread, but if you don't want to invest in (or use) a computer-aided design product, you can use the more traditional "by the squares" method.

Take a piece of paper (you can buy engineering tablets ruled in this manner as well) and, using a ruler, draw a 1" x 1" grid on it.  Photocopy this a couple of times so that you have a set of grid sheets where you won't erase the lines.

Assign a scale to each square (usually 12" or 6" work well).  This will help you to get a feel for what will actually fit in a given space.

Now start thinking about what you want your yard to do on your layout.  Is it primarily staging, classification, or a combination of both?  This will help pull your thinking together a little bit.