newbies new layout

[wickman]

can someone tell me the advantages and disadvantages between say a dog bone style to say a double loop one inside the other connected with spurs off it ? When would the dog bone style be better I'm working with a 5x9 and an 3x6 L shape extention . Would the dog bone be better for having structures on the inside ? I would like to get at least 2 trains running on different cabs and at least one over under bridge and I'd like to have the yard on the smaller extention.
HELP

[SpaceMouse]

I'm not sure there's a good answer to your question. A lot depends on how you plan to operate your railroad. Certainly a double loop won'r look as good if you are planning scenery.

If you want a railroad with a lot of action, look at your railroad as a series of scenes with a industries that you can supply and pick up goods. You have room for 3 really nice areas. Divide your 5 x 9 table in two with a vertical back drop and put an industrial switching area on each side. Your yard will be the thrid. It will not have your bridge, but youcan do more with operations.

IF you just like watching the train go around, then loops and a bridge are fne. But then why the yard?

[wickman]

I like the idea of long runs and a couple tunnels and tressels. I get what your saying about if I use the loops the structures scenery and probably inndustries will not be as well defined and will probably look cluttered
Thanks for input
Any more good input out there ??? I sure appreciate the ideas and input

[ARTHILL]

I like running trains and scenery. I have a basic dogbone, two mountains connected by some desert. I have 5 bridges planned and two in. I will add a big yard when I get bored with this. I can add a second loop but probably never will. My industries will include logging, mining, quarry, and farming. All but the farm will be in the middle of the dogbone loops up the mountains. I also built a switch back up on mountain just to have it. I buried a helix in the other to get the height to put a train under my big bridge. All the ideas can from MRs and memories. So far it works. Its been a blast. Will be for you also. Keep asking questions, some of these guys seem to know what they are doing.

Welcome to your forum.

[MisterBeasley]

The whole idea of a dogbone is to get 2 parallel tracks without having 2 independent loops. The idea of loops is to have trains running continuously, without having to really "operate" them. With a pair of loops, you can have 2 trains, and about halfway around each loop they will meet and pass if they are going in opposite directions. A double loop is nice for a "demonstration" layout, but after a while it gets boring. All of this, of course, was invented before DCC.

Now, with DCC (I am a recent convert. I love it. I think I'll start a church, so I can proselytize to the analog heathens, and take a tax deduction for decoders.) you can run more than one train on the same track. Suddenly, you can have a pair of trains on that dogbone, and you can keep running those 2 loops while hopping on and off with a switcher to service your industries.

I personally plan to have a train running on each of 2 loops, with a second one hopping back and forth between them on long crossovers. A switcher can also be servicing the yard and industries. That's a lot for one operator, though, so maybe I'll need a second throttle.