maybe throw some idea my way about track plan!!

[streettrains]

I like my track plan, but as always I think it could be better... so I am hoping some of you could throw me some idea my way....
at the moment I have a main outside loop with track road bed halfway done, the layout is 15 X 22. I have a lift out section, so you can walk in... the mainloop also ducks under so the train disappears for a few then come back up. I picture having trains run on the outside mainline, but able to run some off it on a secondary or reroute some trains. Nothing complex, just fun and throw in some sidings and business. I have my idea and its on paper... but jsut curious, what you guys could throw my way..

as always thanks

Mike[8]

[rolleiman]

Do you mean you have a (basically) 15x22 oval that you have to lift out a bridge to get into??

Trying to picture exactly what you have..

Jeff
[8D]

[streettrains]

A lift out section to get into.. it is a along the wall layout with a lift out section.....

[Anonymous]

Do you have a sketch of your room and layout ideas you could scan and email to me?
I have also been working on fitting a lot of train into a little space... but I'm wrestling with designing something I can walk into rather than crawl under or lift out.
I have solved a few problems in my layout plan by having a double-deck type set of loops in the same landscape (not up-and-down-mushrooms), but these days I'm finding that I have more trains than space.
The biggest problem you and I are likely to face is curve radius - and trying to make something that's quite tight look realistic. I try not to go less than 30 inch radius curves, but I know that there will be a few 24s hidden behind some hillside...
Write me back; lets talk small spaces, curves, double-track main lines!
[e-mail]

[streettrains]

If I can I will send you basic idea... right now my minimum radius is 28....I might download atlas track planner, do a rough one of the layout and send it.. maybe by the weekend...

[Texas Zepher]

15x22 is pretty good sized. Can you get a peninsula into the center of the room? How about a peninsula that can handle 180 degrees of 28" curve track?

[Anonymous]

I have a 17x21 around the walls, continuous loop doubletrack mainline with a peninsula in the center of the room. What I did, was find a couple of 2x6 switching layout plans, expand them and adapt them to the long walls of the room, and then used a fairly complicated 4x8 layout as my peninsula. Of course, textbook track plans should always be personalized, so I added a four track coal mine, a six track online staging yard (appx 35-40 car capacity) with a three track carshop, an eight track car/engine servicing and rebuilding area. The switching sections include 11 industries in one area (heavy industrial), 4 in the other (rural), and the branchline (4x8 peninsula) has 7 smaller industries. I've crammed ALOT of operation into this layout because I love switching while working around mainline traffic, I wanted as many different types of cars and industries as possible, with at least 3 major industries that are interrelated (coal mine to power plant, gravel quarry to cement plant, and grain elevator to flour mill).

15x22 is a huge area to work with. Just remember, you can have as much or as little planned in as you like. It's VERY easy to get overwhelmed though, so my advice, pick a section (on my layout, the 4x8 peninsula) to start with and get it 80-90% complete before starting on another area. If you try to tackle everything at once (all the track first, all the scenery next, all the structures next) you'll find that you've got a layout that's going nowhere fast, and it's easy to get burned out. Starting small on a section at a time helps you to see your progress and is a heck of a motivator.

Good luck! Oh yeah, and I use Atlas Right Track v7.0 exclusively as my track planning softwhare, and I've got no complaints. It's so easy to use, and even easier to modify if your plans change.

[rrinker]

I second what others have already said. WIth a 15x22 area, you could build a C or E shaped layout around 3 of the 4 walls and have no-stoop access to the entire thing. You can probably even come out part way along the 4th wall just leaving the room entrance clear.
If you don't already have it, I highly recommend you get a copy of Johm Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operation. That book is worth its weight in gold - I've worn out one copy and have my second. There are also plenty of good ideas in Creative Layout Design, also by Armstrong - although there the ideas a presented more to the point of a specific plan for each different idea. Doesn't mean they can't be applied to a different plan, location, or even scale though. But TPfRO is the one you should get first.

--Randy

[streettrains]

It is inthe shape of a C with the lift out section.. along the wall ( the back section is about 4 ft wide), the bottom of the C is about 6 X 12 and about a 3 ft or so for aisle space..