1st layout...ideas?

[beefmalone]

I'm about to start on my first layout after slowly gathering up stuff the last few months. I have a kline SF set with railsounds, lionel prairie 2029, old lionel scout (barely runs), about 20 other pieces of rolling stock, 100+ more pieces of o27 tubular, 1each left & right supersnap remote switches, and maybe 12curved/20straight kline supersnap track other than what's in use right now. Here is a pic of some of the rolling stock & the current track layout.



I'm not committed to the layout you see now. I have two 3' square tables and one 5' x 30" table to work with. The two 3' tables are against the back wall. The thing I don't like about the way I have them right now is that it's hard to reach that back corner. I was thinking about getting some bridges and moving the long table a couple ft towards the camera if that's even practical. I have the space for just about any other way or arranging them.

My main requirement is that I can run at least 2 trains at once. Other than that I'm open to any ideas. thanks!

[phillyreading]

Hello beefmalone,
I have my layout set-up on three sheets of 4ft. by 8ft. 5/8in plywood, also have 2 by 4's for
support under the plywood mounted to saw horses. I leave room between the walls and my layout for access to it, never know when an engine may have a minor derailment. I am using Life-Like green mats 50inch by 100inch(very close to 4ft by 8ft).
For power I have: a 275 watt ZW, a 250 watt Z and a KW transformer. To make things look better I drill holes to run wires under the table, say to wire a lock-on for power at a distant area from the transformer.
I would use the super snap track as a main run on the outside and use the 027 track on the inside, also keep at least four inches of spacing between the rails on corners to avoid hitting the other train, don't fasten the track until you run your trains and check the clearance on the curves.
Lee F.

[dwiemer]

BeefMalone, On your scout engine, have you taken her down and done a cleaning/lube job on her? It does wonders and usually gets most of these PW engines going. As for the layout, they have several sites including thoretrains, etc and even Lionel's website that have some plans that can easily be adapted to your requirements. As to what you put your tracks on, if you mount them directly to the plywood, you will have alot of noise. If you purchase the pink or blue insulating foam board from ie: Home Depot, you can mount the tracks to that and have much less noise. Do yourself a favor and do a search on the forum, you will find lots of information from guys with a lot more experience than I could give you.
Best of Luck,
Dennis

[Dr. John]

With a mix of the O gauge Super Snap and regular O-27 you should have no trouble having two loops of track for running two trains. Your challenge would be if you want the two loops to connect. It's possible to connect O and O-27 but it requires enlarging the track opening on the O-27 (or using Gargraves transition pins) to connect them. Plus the differences in turnout geometry can be a challenge.

Looks like you have a great start! Keep experimenting and have fun. Please post more pics so we can see your progress.

[jimhaleyscomet]

My only ideas are to go slow and enjoy the process. Be willing to experiment and tear out / redo anything that does not work.

I am currently on my third big layout (also did 2 portable layouts). I first painted the entire layout (dirt brown) surface to seal the foam. Then I set the track and ran a few days to make sure I like it. Then I wired up the switches and hid all the wiring. Now I am working on cuts (not tunnels) to hide the 031turnoarounds (the rest of the layout is 054). Tunnels were too imposing on the size of the room especially on the visible end of the layout. I little more running and then I will start adding roads and setting buildings in place. Then I will remove the buildings and landscape the rest of the layout. Reinstall the buildings, finish landscaping and be ready to go!

Jim H

[traindaddy1]

Hi! I have probably built AND torn down more layouts than the average guy over the last fifty or so years. (Seems that I enjoy building almost as much as playing with the finished product!) My two cents: GO SLOW. Decide on whether you want to be scale-specific or just a sort- of- permanent layout to watch and "play with" the trains. (I was the former with HO and am the latter with my O-27) Give yourself room around the layout to get to the stuff. (On a couple of my layouts, I had access from the center but this meant I had to crawl under and come up into the layout. (Proved to be hard on this older body.) Benchwork (layout support) is very important. (You don't want to have the whole thing fall down) There are a number of Web sites that give hints. GO SLOW. Oh, I said that before! For me, over the years, COST has been a priority. (Afterall, this is a hobby for me) I don't know your financial situation but, for me, I have spent a good amount of time in the salvage yard for pieces of wood. (Alright, as I am reminded, it is not a "salvage yard", it is a "dumpster bed".) I have used 1/4" 'salvaged' plywood covered with Homasote board and a 'salvaged' indoor-outdoor carpet. I have used 'salvaged' old matt-like carpet padding. I have used 'salvaged' foam board. BOY!, do I sound CHEAP!!!! What I am really trying to say is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Use this forum. These guys are great. GO SLOW and enjoy. THANKS FOR LETTING ME RUN OFF.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Beef,
Check out: http://www.thortrains.net/

[Anonymous]

Buckeye, I thank that site should be added to my favorites, although im not. Great site.

[beefmalone]

Thanks for the ideas. I'm 31 and this won't be my last layout (hopefully) so I can handle some crawling and ducking if necessary. Y'all gave me one idea though...I was thinking maybe I could attach plywood sheets to the tables I already have to really make a larger space. I got the tables at an office supply auction and they're all pretty solid & stable. That had been the big holdup before now...benchwork.

I like the scale look, but for now I just want to run the trains & make them do things. I'll worry about scenery later. :) I'm definitely going to move things out from the wall...had a derailment today right in that back corner. [oops]

Did I mention I had lots of track? I have about 50 curved & 100 straight 0-27 tubular plus some crossovers. Kinda went crazy on the track buying there for a little while.

[MikeSanta]

I'd get some 027 height 042 diameter curves for your mainline running and use the 027 curves for your industrial/city area. When you do scenery I'd do city/industry areas instead of rural because it can be hard to capture the majesty of mountain railroading in a 4x8 space. I'd put that 5'x30'' table between the two 3x3 tables and run it like a dogbone . But, the most important thing is to HAVE FUN!!! You won't do anythingthing wrong.

[jimhaleyscomet]

It looks like your last layout was K-line and the new one will be 027. Avoid S shape curves in 027 or expect derailments. Also, try to have a straight length at switch ends.

Jim H

[beefmalone]

I was looking through the march '05 CTT and they have a layout in there (p. 71 I think) in a dogbone shape. One long track that makes 4 different passes. No switches though. Think it would be open for adding some other action to it later on? I do like the idea of running the trains although I'm told later on I'll want to do alot of switching.

[Sturgeon-Phish]

I also have my layout (6' 6" x 9' 6") in a corner. I put casters on the legs and really braced the legs so I can easily roll (no carpet) to layout out to get to the back corner. A larger diameter wheel on the casters may work on the carpet.
Jim

[Birds]

Regarding the crossovers...

If you are using a 90 and/or 45 degree crossover with a design where two independently powered loops cross each other using a crossover, then you might need to modify the center rail of the crossover piece on the underside of the piece.

The crossovers have the two center rails joined under the track piece by two strips of metal that overlap each other and are soldered together. This provides power two all the center rail sections from one transformer.

Two run two loops with a crossover from two different power sources, and not have the center rails conflict, you might want to unsolder that joint on the underside and place a piece of insulating material (card stock, electrical tape, rubber strips, etc) between the two strips of metal.

Enjoy,
Birds

[beefmalone]

Eek, wiring! I was hoping to get by with a couple of lockons. :) This layout in the mag is a single loop that crosses back over itself four times. I assume it would need some extra power wires run to various areas to boost the voltage. Is that as easy as just adding extra wires to the transformer posts and running them to various parts of the layout?

[Birds]

Are these two loops both controlled by the same transformer, or are you using a different transformer for each loop?

Adding wires to the loop...

An easy way to do it is to "star wire" or "home run" the layout. This mean that one wire from your transformer go to an outside rail on the layout.

The second wire goes from the variable voltage post on the transformer to something called a terminal strip, or barrier strip. Here is a link to several that can be picked up at Radio Shack:

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=barrier%20strip

You connect the wire from the transformer to one side of the strip, connect all the points on that side together with another wire daisy chained between the screws, then run feeder wires off of the other side of the strip to different points on your layout.

[beefmalone]

It's actually one big loop so I guess I'd just be using one transformer. Would it be ok to scan the page and post it?

[Birds]

Here is a photo of the terminal strip with wiring attached:


Click Photo to Enlarge

The single red wire at the top of the photo comes from the transformer.

You can see on the top side of the terminal strip that there is a bare copper wire run between all the screws. This distributes the power down the length of the strip as far as the wire is run.

The metal plate between the top and bottom screws connects the top and bottom screws together and allows the power to run between the two screws.

The wires on the bottom of the picture each run to a section of track (yes the black one is a "hot" wire - I ran out of red wire at that point).

[Sturgeon-Phish]

The terminal strips make everything go smoother and easier. The crimp on ends are a real time saver. Using the strips and crimp ons costs a little more than wire nuts, but in my opinion worth every penny.
For my leads going to the track, I ran a bus wire around the layout then used the wire taps to connect the bus to the track leads.
Mark everything every few feet. Buy bigger spools of wire than you think you'll use and maintain a color code scheme. This can be done with as few as 4 colors. Black is base, yellow for constant power, red and green for on demand power (up/down open/close. Don't rush. Keep things neat and tidy. Test each accessory before hooking it up to the layout. Test each connection before moving to the next. Believe it or not this will save you time in the long run. But most important, have fun.

[lionelsoni]

For those who don't speak American Flyer like Jim, "base" is the name they used for what would be called elsewhere "common" or, speaking loosely, "ground".