First piece of advice : Never build the benchwork before you design the track plan.
You benchwork is over 5 ft deep. You will never be able to reach the back 1/3 of the layout to switch cars, uncouple cars, rerail cars, etc. You can roll it out into the room to do track work and scenery but the whole back of the layout is inaccessible when the layout is against the wall. The max depth needs to be about 3 ft.
Here is my son Andy's layout, its about 19x9 against the wall. This is the short leg that has a couple industries.
Here is the long side with a yard in the loop.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Good morning Jim
Maybe someone else will have the exact figures, but IIRC it takes 101" to make a 2% grade for a cross over.On my cross over I dropped the bottom track 2% and raised the top track 2% to keep the transition as short as possible. I didn't see this brought up in the previous posts.
Enjoy the process.
Lee
I took a look at your plan and I think that I have a general idea of what you want. Since you will be running full length cars and modern locomotives, you will need 22" radius curves as a minimum, but you should be able to use #4 Atlas turnouts. 4 foot wide benchwork would be too tight for double track curves with 22" inner radius (22" + 2" track spacing * 2 = 48"). Adding another 4 inches or so to the inside of the L would help. I see what you want with the up-and-over, but splitting the double main line like that will cause problems in operating sessions as engineers try to keep up with their trains. you might want to consider just adding a large hill for your tunnel, or at least double-tracking the overpass.
Your layout will need staging, but because of its small size, I would recommend having the staging at a lower level if the grades will fit. I'd recommend making the layout into a walk-around design with a center backdrop and having the whole thing be at least 5' across. You then would roll it out when you are ready to run trains and then roll it back after you've finished (remember to lock the casters after you finish moving it - "earthquakes" can be a real hazard to model trains!) Because of your limited space, I'm thinking of a twice-around plan with the yard along the 12' side. The train length will probably be about 5-6 feet, but I'l see how long I can make it. Linear staging underneath with a return loop at the end will probably work best.
I use CADrail to draw my plans, and I can have a preliminary plan ready for feedback in a day or two. If you check out the photos I've uploaded, you'll find an S gauge track plan that I designed for another community member.
S&S
Modeling the Pennsy and loving it!
If you've been lurking you have probably seen all the good advice I have been given here on my layout during the past week. Glad to see that you are giving the computer program a shot. I don't know Anyrail but imagine that it should have similar features to the XTrackCad program that I am using. Even though I know Acad quite well it still took a few weeks for me to figure everything out in the rail program, so suggest you keep on playing and it should get easier after a while.
In many ways we are in a similar position- I built a 4x8 many years ago too, and this time working with a bigger area with the goal of improved reliability and operations.
One comment- you are showing a loop with a crossover. I have an elevated loop bridge crossover in my design that looks very similar. Building grades takes a lot of space and in order to keep it at a reasonable 2% around the loop I had to make the radius of the circle 30" (60" diameter). So if you are thinking of an elevated crossing you will need to open it up a good bit and work around the corner to get more length. The program should be able to help you accomplish this, and also keep your curves at a reasonable radius, etc.
I'll leave the rest of the design comments to the experts here. Good luck!
Huntington Junction - Freelance based on the B&O and C&O in coal country before the merger... doing it my way. Now working on phase 3. - Walt
For photos and more: http://www.wkhobbies.com/model-railroad/
You mentioned that you wanted elevations. Is that planned as a crossing or overpass in the center?
The plan I am working on now is in a slightly smaller parimeter area, will be a shelf, but having trouble getting enough length for reasonable grade for overpass.
Good luck,
Richard
The benchwork is on casters and can be moved whenever needed. My basement space is limited so I need the layout against the walls when not being used and can be pulled out for working and operation. Everything is braced and bolted so moving around shouldn't be a problem.
Thanks for looking - Jim
Welcome aboard. Is that proposed layout to run against the walls? There is some serious reach issues as the plan is now w/o having access to the sides. If the 3 walls are available to use, can you allow the layout to run down that rt side wall? If so, you can stagger the return loop ends for isle width and this wouls allow you to narrow the remaining potions of the layout for better reach.
Many other will undoubtable weigh in and a good disscussion can be had once all your "givens" are known.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
I've been reading the forum some time now while I've been planning my HO layout. I built a 4x8 layout 20 yrs ago for my boys from an Atlas design. This time around I wanted to create a freelance layout but I'm not very good artistically or with CAD programs. I know I want a double main run around with some elevation for a tunnel and then I'm planning on 3 industries (electric generating plant, dairy creamery, and an animal feed producer. I'm also hoping to add a river and an Amtrak station in as well. I've built my benchwork in the basement with limited space available (L-shaped 11' by 12' with the ends at just over 4' to accommodate at least 24" radius curves). I've tried a couple of the track design programs but CAD type stuff is not my bag. Below is a link to my first attempt with Anyrail and I was hoping some of you design gurus could take a look and maybe advise me if I'm going in the right direction. I'm going to want some crossovers in the mains and the yard is going to be larger than what I have done so far. Anyone want to take a crack at improving this design and showing me where to best place the industries and spurs? Know it's asking a lot but I've been playing with this for weeks and just getting frustrated with not having a good idea on how to lay it out.
Thanks for reading - Jim
http://mytrainlayout.shutterfly.com/pictures/8