5'x9' Plan help

[markpierce]

cuyama

As you probably know, the #6 turnouts are not the ideal match for 24" and smaller radii, sicne sharper turnouts will work fine and take up less room. But if the tool is on hand, I can appreciate the reasons you would want to use it.

#5s are a better match for 18/24-inch curves except where they create S-curves as in crossovers where #6 should be good.

Mark

[cuyama]

Thanks for your service to our country. I grew up in the High Desert and worked (very) briefly at the base one sumer, so I'm always glad to see a "local" interested in model railroading.

First question: I think it's great that you are looking at 5X9 instead of the tired old HO 4X8, but are you really sure you want a 5X9 monolith? These are hard to move and hard to find space for in new quarters. A sectional layout like the MILW Beer Line in the recent issues of Model Railroader magazine is a great option for folks who know they will need to move.

Second question: is there a particular place, era, or theme of railroading that interests you? The current design could probably be tweaked to look and work a bit more like something in real life.

As you probably know, the #6 turnouts are not the ideal match for 24" and smaller radii, sicne sharper turnouts will work fine and take up less room. But if the tool is on hand, I can appreciate the reasons you would want to use it.

Byron
Model RR Blog 

[stilson4283]

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I need a little help with a HO scale plan. A little background, I am in the Air Force currently located in the desert of Southern California at Edwards AFB. With the frequent moves in mind I am starting a small layout to refine my modeling techniques and run some operations on. I am working on a few different 5'x9' plans, one of which is pictured below. The layout would be set in the 1960's, 4 axel power and 40/50 foot cars. The layout has a continuous loop option that has a 24" min radius, the inner branch has a min radius of 18" with all switches using the Fast tracks #6 turnout jig I own. The will be a slight grade of no more than 2% to add some elevation differences. Comments, questions, concerns?