Track Plan Review

[sallesublime]

Hi Folks. 

After a false start and some delay, (having a baby and moving) I’m back at the track planning phase for a garden railway.  I’ve attached the plan as I have it so far, and would appreciate some feedback.  Just a few explanatory notes:

•  The plan represents a free-lanced shortline RR running from the fictional town of Asgard, British Columbia, to a junction/interchange with the CPR at Vallican, B.C.  It is laid out to operate as a point to point, but I’ve put a return loop at either end to turn trains and allow for continuous running.  The CPR “mainline” and interchange track (bottom left) will serve as a fiddleyard, as there is a man-door out of the back of the adjacent garage, making it convenient for loading and unloading trains on the layout.
• Traffic will be freight and passenger.  Freight will be fruit, creamery products, livestock, general LCL traffic, and coal and sand for the engine terminal at Asgard. Era is 1930s.
• Return loops are 8 foot diameter.  Other mainline curves are 16.5 foot diameter.  Curves on sidings are 8 foot or 10 foot diameter.  Equipment will be small (40 feet or less) to compensate for the tight curves. I already have the 8 foot loops from my first try at a layout, so I’ll be reusing that track.
• I’m still roughing in details for the towns, 1 or 2 tunnels, and probably a small river.
• The ground slopes somewhat from the back fence toward the front of the house.  The railway will be slightly above ground level at Asgard, but a little over 2 feet high by Vallican.  I’ll still have about a 1 or 1.5% grade.  Eventually I’m hoping to get a small live steamer, so I want the grade to be manageable for it.

If anyone has any suggestions or comments, I’d appreciate hearing them.  I can’t eat up too much more of the yard, as our son and dog need some lawn space.  I’m lucky that Sheila (my wife) is encouraging and enthusiastic about the railway, but she’d still like some “normal” garden too.

Thanks!

[View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/:550:0]

[sallesublime]

Also, if someone can tell me how I can get the image to show up, rather than just a link, I'd appreciate that too

[Greg Elmassian]

I was not able to get your link to work... since there is the https:// part, looks like you may have to find a better "share" link... there should be a "share" button in picasa which generates a link to copy and paste here.

Greg

[sallesublime]

Replaced the original link with one that seems to be working (with much help from tech support, AKA the missus).

Thanks for your patience everyone, I'm new at this!

[Greg Elmassian]

Looks nice, what is the diameter or radius of your loops?

What length trains do you intend running?

I'd be tempted to have another passing siding at the other end, but I always think of running more than one train on the track at a time.

Greg

[sallesublime]

Return loops are 8' diameter. Which end would you add the passing siding at?

[Greg Elmassian]

Town of Vallican. You could make the passing siding closer to the property line, and have the town spur come off the siding.

If you do run 2 locos at the time, it will help to be able to pass in 2 locations.

Greg

[vsmith]

A couple things I noticed:

On your mainline I see 2 reverse S curves, one just as the track leaves Asgard and the other where the track curves back just before it enters Vallican, I would add a12" straight between the changes in direction to allow cars to track thru the change in curvature, this is very important if you going to use body mounted couplers as reverse S curves are a big cause of derailments.

The same reverse S condition applies to turnouts, if you can add a small straight section between the change in directions at turnouts where the track parallels the mainline like at passing sidings. Even a small 6" straight section can be enough to keep body couplered cars from pushing off and derailing.

I also assume that due to the reverse loops your going Battery/RC as your power and control method? Otherwise looks good. Hope you dont need to mortgage a small country to buy your track.

[sallesublime]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Greg, you asked about train length.  The passing siding I have right now will fit a freight consisting of a loco, three 40' cars or four 33' cars, and a caboose.  This is about as long as I'd likely want to run anyway.

My original doodles included a passing siding where you suggested, but I decided against it for now, as I thought that might make the trackage seem a bit too luxurious for my frugal little shortline  Plus, I figure it'd be easy enough to add a siding there in the future, should I decide I need it afterall.

Vsmith, I had read about adding straights to S-curves, but wondered if I could get away without.  I think based on your comments I will add them, since I want to body mount my couplers.

I'll be running trains with a Prodigy Wireless DCC system with booster. I've got the requisite auto-reverse circuits for the return loops.

Luckily I have a lot of the mainline track already, but I'll be building the yards etc. as budget allows.

I'll make the changes to the plan and post the updated version in the next few days.  I'd still appreciate any further comments anyone has.

Big model train show in Calgary this weekend!  Looking forward to the inspiration, and maybe a little shopping for my son and I

Thanks again!

[Greg Elmassian]

Sounds good, and what's better, you have thought through a number of issues and are not trying to run 50 car trains or a big boy!

Have fun with DCC! I'm all DCC and loving it!

Greg

[vsmith]

Greg just curious but how do you DCC guys deal with reverse loops?  It wouldnt be an issue with battery RC power but with DCC theres still a polarity change since your pulling power out of the rails.

[sallesublime]

The easiest way is to use insulated rail joiners to isolate a section of track in the loop as long as your longest train. Then you install an auto-reversing circuit to supply power to that section. When your train hits the end of the isolated section, the auto-reverse detects the short circuit, and switches the polarity quickly enough that the train and power pack don't notice. Direction of travel is independent of track polarity in DCC, so the train just keeps going. All that's left to do is realign the switch, but there are circuits to do that too, or you can use a rubber throw. 

[Greg Elmassian]

What he said.

They are called auto reversers because they do indeed work automatically.

The short-term short is used to align the polarity of the rails (if needed) when the train enters the reversing loop.

The direction of a DCC loco is irrespective of the polarity of the power fed to it.

this is what makes it simple. Also, most auto-reversers are powered from the rails, so you can mount them right next to the insulated joiners, 2 wires in from the main, and 2 wires out to the reversing loop.

Greg

[vsmith]

Thanks I'm an electronics luddite so I think I would rather spend a little more on track and double track the mainline were the track runs parallel, but that's just me.

[Greg Elmassian]

To each his own of course. The best autoreverser I have found is about $45, way cheaper than doubletracking. The nice thing is designing a layout with a bit more operational challenge, it becomes part of the fun/challenge.

Regards, Greg