mlehman Motley There's no way now to get the trains to run counter-clockwise. What do I do now? Can you fit a full double cross-over in the upper right area where the single cross-over starts to lead into the loop?
Motley There's no way now to get the trains to run counter-clockwise. What do I do now?
Can you fit a full double cross-over in the upper right area where the single cross-over starts to lead into the loop?
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
MotleyThere's no way now to get the trains to run counter-clockwise. What do I do now?
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Well I just tried to use the peninsula on the right side. And it won't work. Then there's no room for the river/bridge scene. (which is my favorite scene by the way).
Another issue now I'm having. Is the reverse loop. Right now its a one way reverse loop. There's no way now to get the trains to run counter-clockwise. What do I do now?
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
I think around the walls is the only way to go of course, in that space. I have a basement room of 10x18 feet and thats what I did, but no penninsula - just decided around the walls only and my minimum radius is 32-inches for long rolling stock. Looks like you've done about as much with the space as can be managed.
Two levels suggested by Rich is intriguing. I actually have two levels in my 10x18 foot space but in my case I put an 11 track staging/storage yard under a main yard on the bottom level, and the other side of the room has 2.9% grades up to the main level is all. But Motley's has more switching - only switching on my layout is off the main yard.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Michael, let me offer a suggestion.
You love to run long passenger trains over long stretches and you do it well.
You also love freight operations and servicing industries, the coal mine, the coal flood loader, and the ethanol plant, and you do it well.
Given the constraints of an 11' x 13' room, you need to build a 2-level layout, one level for passenger operations and one level for freight operations.
No need for a helix or lengthy grade change. Just operate each level independently. Just think of the space that you could devote to each type of operation.
In my opinion, the 2-level around the wall layout, with no peninsula, and no helix or grade change, is the clear winner.
Think about it. Plenty of open interior space to maneuver.
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I really appreciate the help.
Yes I have all the mountain backdrops, easy to remove. The mountain loop, coal mine, coal flood loader all co-inside together. So I want to keep it that way.
The Ethanol Plant is a large facilty. I was never able to build on my old layout. So I need room for all the buildings. I will add a back drop in between the 2 staging tracks, and the ethanol plant, for a viewblock.
Yes, much better rendering of what space is there.
Got two suggestions. I agree with doughless on relocating the TT/shop to inside the loop if the loop is a keeper. It could go between the access hatch and the aisleinside the loop. You can push the access hatch back toward the upper left corner. One option is to conceal that under a mountain as a liftout.
Know you were leaning away from more than one deck, but here's a suggestion. I also think the aisles are on the narrow side. I used to be a skinny guy, but things change
I tend to think you'll be happier in there if the aisles are wider. I suggest double-decking the penisula while making it narrower. Staging can be on the bottom deck, accessed by a ramp the curves up toward where it currently follows, along the top wall, then surfaces near the upper right corner to connect along the right wall whever is most appropriate.. The track that is currently along the top wall may have to be shifted forward 3" to accomodate the last part at the top of the grade.
That way you could make the entire top level of the penisula dedicated to a single industry, or put one industry on each side of a view block on it.
I think the space is a challenge for fitting in everything you want to do. The peninsula makes entering the room a very tight squeeze.
I know that you like to photograph long trains, and have some nice mountain scenes on your backdrops (I hope you saved them). IIRC, you also have a nice collection of locomotives.
I really think the mountain loop takes up too much space. You'll probably want a reversing loop to turn trains to head around the other direction, so I'm suggesting that you keep the loop and I'll stick with with my suggestion of putting the turntable in there and make the entire north wall a yard scene.
Hopefully, your backdrops and some creative scenery will make the east and south walls a more rural mountain scene.
You might try originating the peninsula from the east wall and making it shorter. It will give you more space near the door for popping up into the room.
- Douglas
I had no idea my demension were off so bad, geeeezus!
I'm using Anyrail for the first time, and I just figured out how to enable the size and gride demensions. I was using Atlas RTS before.
Sooooooo, now that I have the correct demensions, with the 12" grid line enabled.
I can still fit the peninsula in there, and still maintain the curves. The Mountain loop will be 32" radius.
I even found a place to add the diesel house next to the turntable.The diesel house is three tracks, and I can just go straight through to the turntable.
Also more imporantly, I found a better spot for Cheyenne Depot Station and the train shed.
I can deal with the tight widths, I'm skinny guy.
Might work? What y'all think?
Tradeoffs can be hard.
Is the return loop important enough in your scheme of things to justify the space devoted to it? I say that as someone who has 4 turntables, 4 wyes (when the last one has track laid on it, anyway), and 2 loops on my narrowgauge, but only a single loop on my standard gauge. And the SG loop isn't used a a loop, but rather as a double-ended industrial siding now.
I do my SG turning in staging as needed and found little need for it then. Motive power gets turned from time to time by hand, mostly, along with some passenger trains.
That could be space for your Union Station.
If you're going to have a reverse loop with a bit of a tight radius (for a modern layout with longer cars) I prefer to have the turntable located in the middle of the loop as well as the station nearby. I'd put the turntable and station on the north wall and the flood loader and sand transfer facility along the south wall, and reconfigure the tracks a little.
I'll be the contrarian. That's about the size of my previous layout space (after you subtracted for having to keep the one side away from the wall because of the sloped ceiling). I had one side 2 feet wide where my yard was, the opposite wall was 18" wide, and the penninsula was planned at 18" wide, which left the aisles at 3 feet each, plenty.
34" radius curves somewhat cramp the possibilities in a smaller space. You mnay have to cut down what you model by a great deal. A shorter length passenger terminal, with shorter trains, on the penninsula and supporting trackage around the walls, rather than trying to simulate and entire railroad. Most other switching, besides the passenger trains and RPOs would be company service cars bringing supplies to the commissary and so forth, so you'd be mostly giving up freight operation. Or take a completely different tack and cut the curves down to 26-27" and ditch the passenger trains and go freight.
My room size layout modeled a specific freight branch, somewhat in detail although all tracks were not exactly arranged as per the prototype.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Skip the peninsula in the middle and concentrate on an aorund-the-walls layout.
Your drawing is not to scale, it show one wall twice as long as other. Give us room dimentions and opening dementions.
I've been building my current layout new for about 5 years. I'm moving into a new house. It doesn't have a basement (like my current layout), but I will use the master bedroom. The room is 11' x 13'. About the same as the main room layout.
HO Scale Peco code 83Min radius 34"
Its gonna be around the walls with a penisula. I was planning on using a lower level for staging. But that just seems like too much trouble. So I will have a visible staging tracks, and use a viewblock with a backdrop on the peninsula to seperate it from the ethanol plant.
I'm cutting chunks out of the current benchwork. So I will be re-using some this for the new layout. Also this layout I'm going a little higher, like chest hieight. Instead of waist hieght.
I'm moving next weekend. Been deconstructing the layout now for the last 2 months. I still have a lot of wood and pink foam left over.
I started working on the design. I need feedback, suggestions, etc. One delima I'm having right now is the passenger depot. I don't have enough room for the 4 track train shed. Any suggestions where to put it?
Here's the plan so far.