Space: There you go again. I had put two tracks down below, where that shed is, then thought, nah, overkill. Silly me. I can easily add a second track there. It would lead right from the yard though, yes? But I guess it would just be the switcher pulling cars in anyway. As for the edge, I was planning on having the foam flush with the top, but I can easily shorten the legs bit and move the 1.2 bracing down 1/2 inch. That should provide for enough of a lip. I have a four year old and am expecting a second born in January....the lip should provide useful!
Chris: Explain about the Right side stage? You're talking about if I build a cassette, yes? Or are you saying add track on the right side, vertical from yard to top? As for divider/scene change: that would work except for location. It will not have enough room on the far side to stand...thus, the divider would only inhibit my view from the bottom. Good idea though, and one that I'll hold on too for future, when I have more room.
A6
If young children are involved... such as 2,3 or 4 year olds. Having the layout isolated in it's own room behind a door that can be secured against entry will safegaurd your labor until said child grows a bit more.
I did some damage in my time and I can never make it right at that age.
Crews,
XTrkCad has been awesome! And yes, once you get rolling, it's easy. I would say this, under the manage/command menu....switch from details to select. You'll understand as you do more. The other nice thing...at least from my standpoint, is you can print out 1:1 scale. Place the pages on your layout, and trace the center lines. Haven't done that yet, but looks decent. I have printed some test pages with great results.
Thanks for the look. And trust me, I look at all advice and try to meld that with my own ideas. I'm so new at this, the first couple of responses made me think, "why would I want to do that". Then, I thought about it more, and thanks in part to Space Mouse's comments on paddle balls (good analogy), the rethought and recreated. Live and learn....bring it on!
Falls: Yes, it is in "my office". It does have a door, and could easily have a lock installed should it be needed. Thanks for the advice. My four year old has plenty to keep her busy.....but....4 year old's can be deceiving. LOL
Artisan6 wrote:Chris: Explain about the Right side stage? You're talking about if I build a cassette, yes? Or are you saying add track on the right side, vertical from yard to top? As for divider/scene change: that would work except for location. It will not have enough room on the far side to stand...thus, the divider would only inhibit my view from the bottom. Good idea though, and one that I'll hold on too for future, when I have more room. A6
I actually was not recommending a cassette. I am trying to engineer one now for my current layout and its been a bit of a hassle so far. I was suggesting the "add track on the right side, vertical from yard to top " option. However, if you cannot access that side, then its not such a great idea.
Are you going to be able to access the right side and bottom at all? If not you may have reach-in problems.
As for the backdrop.. while your needs may vary, it can be an advantage to have a viewer only able to see a scene from one direction. I am using that on my current layout to hide a dissapearing track that represents another railroad. It dissapears behind a building (or will when I finish the building!) when viewed from the "bottom" of the layout, but if a viewer could see from the right hand side they would see the track abruptly end.
cregil wrote: Yesterday, I investigated and XTrckCad is now on my system
Yesterday, I investigated and XTrckCad is now on my system
I use Xtrkcad too.. its a great freeware program. My only real complaints are a lack of smooth image scaling (you can only zoom in fixed steps) and the way it does the easements.. I would prefer to be able to specify a fixed easement length based on the length of my longest car rather then set an easement ratio which generates a length based on the radius you are entering into. If this is gibberish to you don't worry.. its a great program and works well.
Regards,
Chris
Here's the latest. I start with benchwork next week. I'll keep the forum informed, if anyone cares. Thanks for all the input and advice. I'll be sure to ask more questions late. Thanks again!
Okay, now make sure you have roads and parking for your industires.
You might need more soace between your engine service tracks for the fuel and sand facilities.
Maks sure you have a coherent plan for your scenery.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
Arisan,
I bought a train set for my son approx 30 yrs ago and in between I built 50 Layouts and never finished one. My son's layout never got built.
I was always coming up with bigger and better ideas.
My advice, start building and finishing your small layout, you will love it and will be able to add to it later.
You can create some great scenery and learn from it.
I am now 61 yrs young and one of my biggest regrets is that I never built my sons layout!!!!!!!!
God bless, Alan
A
I read thru the whole thread today. Like you, I'm just getting started on my layout, 1/2 the size of yours, and recently finished the bench work. I think you came up with a good initial idea and the feedback has helped you put together a really good plan. I'll look for yourupdates.
markalan
Portland Terminal RR
SpaceMouse wrote:Okay, now make sure you have roads and parking for your industires. You might need more soace between your engine service tracks for the fuel and sand facilities. Maks sure you have a coherent plan for your scenery.
You get a kick out of this, don't you. At this point...I'll take that all into advisement. I'm gonna start building and see where I end up. I appreciate the help, and all the advice. I'm gonna take a page from Alan here and get to work. I'll learn as I go.
Coherent plan for scenery - yep, I'll have scenery. That's about as coherent as it's gonna be for now. Space between sand and service tracks...no problem. Simple tweak before I print the plan.
Roads? Where we're going, we won't need roads! - Doc Brown
I'm sure I'll do that as well....but not right now. Now, I want to play with wood, foam, glue, bolts, screws, cork, glue, track, ballast, and ELECTRICITY! Scary ain't it.
Thanks for your advice, and you'll be sure to hear from me later.