What is the most used approach to track planning with Large Scale

[piercedan]

I just went outdoors and started by throwing track on the ground, then I dug a 4 inch dee/6 inch wide trench where the track was and added weed block fabrick (this is to keep the 1/4 inch gravel from mixing into the dirt).  I filled the trench with the gravel and then ran trains. 

Then I expanded every year for 4 years. 

I started with a basic loop with a provision for a figure 8 via 4 switches.  This way I could run trains while working on the RR!!

 

 

[calenelson]

I bought a load of used track, laid it out on the ground....at least 1K times till I got what I had in mind, that would fit what I had on hand....and began.

cale

[Great Western]

Greetings Ralph,

The mention of you son (helper) and the bucket brought a smile to my face.  I can appreciate how it is.  Sadly my rwo sons are grown up and didn't help (well one was on the other side of the world) and his son, had he been here would have loved every minute of the work.  He is now 7.

But he may be here later this year an a small extension to the railroad is planned.

        
 

 

 

[kstrong]

"Most used" is a hard one to peg. The better question to ask is what are you looking to accomplish? If you're building a railroad with operations in mind, then start with figuring out what industries you'd like to have, what kind of tracks they'd need to be served properly, and then go from there with the space you have available. That's kind of the approach I took when designing my Tuscarora Railroad:

http://www.trains.com/grw/objects/pdf/tuscarora_plan.pdf

My industries were based on existing ones on a prototype railroad, which I pared down to fit the space I had available. An in-depth look at how I designed and built the railroad ran in the June 2006 through Feb 2007 issues of GR if you have them. If not, the series is available for download from Kalmbach http://kalmbachcatalog.stores.yahoo.net/grpdf030.html or by ordering those issues. (Disclaimer: I don't make any money from those sales.)

A few things to consider when designing a railroad, especially one with operations in mind. Yards and sidings need to be level, so the cars don't go rolling away. Use the widest switches you can, but balance that with the amount of space you have available. Long switches cut into siding length. I used #6 switches on mine. Also, keep things simple. Maintaining switches outdoors is a bit more of a hassle than it is indoors, so cleaning 50+ switches prior to each operating session can get quite tedious. Less is more, and in an operational sense, quite challenging in its own right.

Later,

K

[alamosa]

When I first started I just had a simple oval and siding that surrounded a water feature. After one season that was not enough, so I also used the old garden hose to lay out my expansion ideas, then I moved that hose around until I was pleased with the result. Then it was a question of figuring out my curves and elevations, which necessitated several changes to my plan to make it work. Must be blind luck but when it finally came time to put the track down it actually worked. With the space available, while I can have several trains going at once I did not have room for much more than very plain and short sidings.

[altterrain]

Howdy,

Sorry, I don't have any idea what or who the "LDE approach advocated by Tony Keoster". I'm guessing you have an eye towards operations since you mentioned car cards. Most garden railroaders do not run much in the way of ops for a variety of reasons - the size of land required, the physical work of building such a layout, maintaining a large layout, the price of track and equipping locos with battery/RC systems, etc. Our club runs ops sessions at a club member's layout who has a very large layout which we help maintain in trade. We run in 2 man teams with an itinernary of car pick ups and drop offs using the car numbers. Its a 6 hour affair and lots of fun. There have been articles in GR on running ops in the garden.

Layout design has a lot to do with what you want your layout to look like, the size of your space, types of rolling stock you will be running keeping in mind minimum track diameter, how much track you can afford, etc.

I fit my layout into an existing garden space and it initially was a simple double loop with 3 switches. I expanded last year, adding a loop extension and ten switches connecting the loops and adding industrial sidings with an eye towards some mini ops sessions. I don't have any yards in my layout as they take up valuable garden space. My layout is about 80 feet end to end, 25 feet at its deepest with 9 and 10 foot diameter curves.

 

-Brian 

[ttrigg]

I did my planning in a rather different way than most people here.  I have a 28ft x 32ft "upper patio".  I picked up a bunch af track, mostly "flex" and a couple of different sized circles of LGB brass track.  Went to the store, picked up a box of children's sidewalk chalk.  I drew out the outline of the availabe space where I was going to build my little empire on the concrete.  I started trying different "layouts" until I came up with one that I liked.  I also spent time running the trains on my "track plans" to see what I liked and didn't like.  Since the trains were going to go around the Koi pond (not dug at that time) and I knew I wanted the train to go under the water fall for the pond, I was able to position in some cinder blocks to form the waterfall substructure so that everything would work.  I went to the stone yard and got the stones that would form the top "ring" of stone for the pond and positioned them within the "layout" plans on the patio.  Then when I had the "layout" planned the way I wanted it, and the pond outlined the way the wife wanted, then construction began on both the pond and track at the same time.  I spent just about seven months modifying the plans before I began the actual construction.

Some folks here will tell you to get a bunch of penciles and paper and start drawing.  I have problems doing it that way in that I just cannot visualise the problems encountered along the way, curves, clearances, switching etc. 

 I have a friend who is also starting to design a layout.  In his case he has a chunk of baren ground that will become his "empire".  We are three months into designing his layout.  Flop the track on the ground, run the trains, see what he likes and what he does not like, change what needs to change until he gets what he wants. 

[cabbage]

Well I take a length of hose pipe, lay it on the ground, and kick it around for a few days... Then when I know where my track is going I produce a datumn point and work out levels and curves from that. A length of clear pipe with coloured water in it produces the level for the track that is then transferred to a row of sticks planted in the path of the track.

This is how I did it the first time and this is how I am doing it now (despite "help" from my young son)...

"Daddy -the water in the bucket looked low -so I topped it up for you!" (ETC!!!)

regards

ralph

[overall]

I am a life long O gauger with experience in HO too. I have become curious about Large Scale over the years. What is the most preferred method of track planning? Do you take an HO plan and enlarge it. Do you use the LDE approach advocated by Tony Keoster? I ran across an article about LS operation in the Dispatcher's Office magazine. Do a lot of you operate with car cards etc?

Thanks in advance,

 

George