The Grey and Grandure in HOI has come to pass that I have a 12'x14' dedicated train room AND Time to build a layout. I hope this thread will explain the processes I went through that others can use. Abiding Rule: Keep it Simple 'Druthers' aka 'What do I Want?' Basic Parameters / Table Footprint Scale: HO Track: Kato Footprint: 8'x8' Square using 2'x8' foam sheets Wiring: DC, Power Routing turnouts with some 'blocks'. Construction: I Hired a handyman to help Budget: Use your judgement open budget Track Plan Requirements / Features Point to Point Operations Continuous Running in loop Yard for twenty 40' cars and 3 locomotives Include all elements from my first, (1972, I was 16yo), layout Elevation differences but no inclines Bridges over valley Mountains, cities, industries and more Drawing the Track Plan 'Almost to Scale' Using 'MS Paint 3D' Just to get something down I drew a rectangle that 'looked' about right. But, what made it look that way? Never mind. Time to fix dinner, (rice and beans). Rice Ratio: 1 cup rice : 2 cups water, wait! Of course! So, I got the rice started and then back to the train room / computer. So, just for 'trial' I drew a rectangle that was 2:8 ratio, (like the foam sheets) Uh Oh, what is that smell. What's that hissing sound. Hmmm, time for order in. Scrubbing that pot was a pain!That is how I got 2'x8'. It was then easy to bisect it down to measure curves and such. The result:
First Drawing: Crude but effective. Next up: Making Sure aka Measure 3 Times Making sure the footprint fit the room Making sure humans could fit Making the storage sill fit In doing to I found a few mistakes in my footprint. Correcting them gave me an extra 2'x2' space, (upper right). Now I could get started designing the track plan. Results: Edit: Green Western and Southern Tables: 39" High Grey Northern and Eastern Tables: 35" Hight This allows for bridges over valleys Blue area is for humans Door bottom right of center.. Putting that in helped envision how others would see the layout as they came in. Putting the curved 'viaduct' across the Northern table made it clear that it violated the 'Keep it Simple' rule.
As much as I love the curve on the Northern board projecting south right now it would be a little more complicated than I want so it will be a straight across the Grandure Valley. I quickly, (read: crudely), added the switching area on the Western board. I'll have to clean that up. With one exception it is the same as my first layout. Viaduct straight across the Grandure Valley. Much more pactical for now. Door to bottom right. When you enter you might see the yard area first but sound will draw your eyes / attention across the room to the viaduct. The sound will be forest sounds sent to a bluetooth speaker in the mountain. 'Nook' to the left holds computer My desk which extends under the Western board. Below is the original plan I built in high school circa 1972: As you can see I have expanded the yard and omitted the crossing. Next up: I clean up the plan and start doing profile views.
Nice plan! I would lengthen the yard lead, separate from the mainline, by extending the run-around beyond the lower left corner. This will make handling longer cuts in the yard easier without fouling the main. This also makes the run-around more convenient to the industrial area's facing point siding. Running the right side track at an angle, rather than parallel to the right side edges, adds more visual interest. I like the way you ran the viaduct across the top.
@BigJake Excellent thoughts. I was actually afraid someone would suggest something that. I will have to sacrifice the 'exact' reproduction of the '1972' plan for the sake of functionality. Pushing square pegs through round holes at my age is a waste of time. Changes to Plan Changed the industrial area to be practical. Final 'design' will be done with left over turnouts and other pieces of Kato track Industrial area accessed via yard leed. Removed engine house. I never liked it in that position. Will likely have a 'facility' in the industrial area. Removed scenery ideas as I don't want to get psychologically committed to any aspect except location of yard, viaduct and two level tables. Removed 'shortline' on the lower level. Maybe someday or possibly a point-to-point in the grey area. Added significant yard lead. This will allow mainline running and yard / industrial switching. Added an 'interchange' track in green area of Eastern board. Current Plan as shown is 'Approximate'. Final Plan will be done in 'real time' with Kato track being fitted together and foam cut for support. The yard is very close to exact as I did a mockup and measured everything. Industrial area and interchange are done in separate colors and not shown as attached to the main line so I can easily remove and adjust them as they will change in the future..
Will you position yourself in the center while operating the layout? If so, you might want to think about ease of access as you age. For me, I find it increasingly difficult to crouch or crawl under my layout for wiring maintenance. Just my $0.02.
@Hardcoaler A very good question and a good point. I can still do about 5 hours on mountains trails. While I have a minimal bit of arthritis Advil takes care of it. The plan is a 'tunnel' under the yard area. Worse case situation I will alter the Eastern board with either a 'lift out' or cut 2 feet out of it and run the trains point-to-point. Current plan for the Easter board, (which is 4' long is a 2' bridge of some sort and a bison / long horn ranch. So, the bridge could become a lift out and the ranch could be compacted. There is also a plan for a 2nd power supply to run the main line from in or outside the yard or Eastern board providing 2 train operation.
I like this concept a lot. I think it would be helpful if you start using a track-layout design app (I use XTrackCAD, which is free, but it takes some getting used to.) Others may chime in with their favorite layout apps. The proportions in the real layout are dictated by the available track pieces (assuming sectional track, at least for switches), so your yard and industrial center will likely differ from what you have shown. I would probably extend the right end of the yard tracks closer to the mainline curve, to give you more yard capacity, if for no other reason than to display as much of your railcar collection as you can. Don't have that much of a collection? You will... I'd consider extending the doubletrack up the right side of the layout could incorporate the industrial switching lead as well. You could put a crossover about where the doubletrack ends now on the left side. Depending on which way the crossover goes, it could be an escape from the yard if the industrial lead is occupied, or provide access from the main to the industries without having to go through the yard. Or it could be a double crossover and do both. Just for interest, I'd add a facing point stub off the base of the industrial lead. Extending the double track per above would make serving that facing point industry easier by facilitating a run-around.
@BigJake Thanks Andy! Those are great ideas. You will find that the track plan is a very accurate 'estimate'. The exact placement of track will take place in 'real time' with various adjustments. It is just a place holder as is the interchange track. Yes, the industrial area is not exact right now. It is close but I will probably change it entirely. The yard is spot on as I did a mockup using actual track from my first shipment. The corners are deliberately looser estimates but are based on simple math. Tables are 2' deep and 8' long. It is easy, (for me anyway), to 'eyeball' 14", 16" and 21"s using the 2' depth of the tables. Yes, I will have left over pieces of track but you can be sure nothing will go to waste. There is a chance they handyman will be here tomorrow. You will see the results by Sunday. The only time limit will be how fast I can get the track. Thanks again for the ideas.
Ah, now I get it. You wrote "Unitrack" but I missed the "HO" and assumed N scale. N scale Unitrack turnouts have 15 degree diverging routes, whereas HO Unitrack turnouts have 22.5 degree diverging routes. Thus yard track spacing in N scale (with #4 switches) is narrower (moreso than scale would indicate), so it looked odd to me, as did the angle of the ladder track. My bad; I apologize.
@BigJake Thanks It's all good. ☻ But your suggestions got me thinking. I *might* do a compound ladder track to eak out a few more inches. ☻ Edit: And I *knew* you meant well. No worries.
Stages and Phases Phase 1) Acquire space, Check Phase 2) Design 'Foot Print', Check Phase 3) Build table, 1/2 Done Phase 4) Acquire track, 1/4 DoneNow, the Hard Part Phase 5) Lay Track Questions: P5-A) Do I just do the main line at first? P5-B) Do I do a small area such as the yard? P5-C) Do I do a little of both? P5-D) Do I play around with the Kato track and see what it can do? Now i know, thanks for watching. By trying to explain it to you, (the unknown reader), I was able to analyze the options. Since I typed all of this out , formatted and spell checked it, I'm going to leave it. ☻ Play Around with the Kato Track Spend at least a day calculating what pieces to order. Straight Track: Tables Length: 8'+8'+4'+6'=26' Yard Tracks (including run-a-round): 6'+3.5'+3'+2.5'+2'=17' Main Line: ~18', (26'-curves) Industrial: ~8'+left over pieces, (we shall see) Interchange: ~2'? 4'? (depends on practical) Turnouts, (manual): 1 Right Hand #6, 1 Left hand #6 Curves: 2 Packs of 19" Put together an initial generic order with a couple of turnouts and lots of straight. It will take 4~5 days for the next shipment of track to get here. That is it for now.
Another advantage of a layout design app is that, for sectional track, they provide a Bill of Materials for the specific track pieces you used in the design. Import that into a spreadsheet with the track inventory you already have, and it can calculate a list of what you still need to acquire. The spreadsheet can also give you a list of left-over pieces (since the track pieces are not sold individually, unless they are switches or bridges, etc.). With that, you can go back and substitute some existing pieces in your design (e.g., substituting a set of 7.5" & 5" pieces you have, for a set of 10" & 2.5" pieces you needed in your design), to economize the new track you need to buy. And you don't have to own said track pieces while you are experimenting in the layout app.
Handy man came today. All 4 tables are now in place. Pictures tomorrow maybe. I have stacks of stuff everywhere. Home depot did not have the sheets I wanted so I told them to get a 2"x4'x8' sheet. The leftover pieces might just be perfect for a couple of scenery modules or such.
@BigJake Yes, and in truth the track list would be great! Knowing what to order and where to put it. Ain't gonna happen. Maybe I'm being stubborn, (I preferer 'decisive'), but my plan is simple enough that I can pretty accurately estimate. The track I have now does exactly what I thought it would. In Particular: The yard fits exactly as I drew it The 21", (mainline) and 19" (yard lead) curves run exactly where my drawing shows them. I know I will screw up at some point and when I do I'll admit it. But: I would screw up with software too. ☻ As always, thanks for the ideas / suggestions and comments.
Ordered the track to complete the loop, the yard and most of the industrial area. While waiting for that to arrive I'll paint the ground. Once that is down I'll: Do some quick wiring Run trains. Start on two projects Ginormous 'Monster Mountain' Super tall K-Cup box building. @BigJake I took a little more of your advice and with some left over curves I extended the 'yard lead' east, (to the right). Most likely it will end there at my wife's 'Bison / Longhorn' dude ranch. It will be a destination for the excursion train.
@BigJake Yes, ironically I invite advice / ideas / thoughts and humor but I am frequently reluctant to apply it. ☻ So, @ Everyone - Please keep them coming. Some of you might remember years and years ago when i used 'Dunkin Donuts' cups as bridge supports. Here is another spin off I'm exploring in an effort to re-use: And the 'Super Tall Tower'
