Here is my latest revision of my track plan. N Scale, 18' x 18' benchwork, using suggestions from earlier posts (in the wrong place, obviously from lack of comments either for or against). The Yard / Industrial tracks are just placeholders for now. I have a walk-around where no turnout is further than 28" from the edge, and only 1 place where the track reach is 38". Max grade on the west side is 1.9%, the east is 1.2%. My perception is to be able to run continous when alone and to run ops as point to point using the yard as both the north and south terminus. I know that the yard needs some filling out, and that is one area that I would appreciate some suggestions. If you have ideas about other improvements that I could make, please do so.
Bob, It looks cool. You'll really have a nice long run. I'd try to narrow things up a bit, especially near the door. 28" is a long reach, 38" is a really long reach. Or plan on getting something like a Topside Creeper: . That's me on my Topside Creeper Other suggestions: Make all the sidings long enough to handle your longest train. I'd probably turn the siding above the yard into an arrival/departure track, long enough to handle your longest train. And tie one end of it back into the yard lead. I'd leave a nice long switching lead at whichever end of the yard you plan to switch from. (Or both ends if you're switching from both.) I'd probably try to narrow the peninsula up, and swing the main lines closer to the outside of the bench to give me a nice broad curve there. I'd try to throw in a couple of reverse loops. I'd try to add some hidden staging. MOST IMPORTANTLY. I'd continue to ask people here at Trainboard, because you'll get a lot of great suggestions and more than likely some very detailed analysis. Good luck,
ACCES Hatch!!! If you'd like very deep sceneries as it seems to be:tb-biggrin:... don't foget trains allways get in trouble on the less accesible portion of the layout. Manage to add hatches (big enough for you to stand up trough) before building the benchwork. btw nice track plan:thumbs_up:
Depending on what you're planning for scenery, it might be worthwhile to sneek-in a reverse loop and/or a crossing-over connection on the left (north) side of the plan. Mainly for your solo running. You could reverse that continuously-running train once in a while, and/or you could turn the layout into two loops (instead of one), such that you could leave a train continuously running on one loop while you run another train and do some switching on the other. Just thinking aloud... Something like the attached, maybe, with the red being a reverse loop plus connector, and the blue adding yet more options. Obviously easier to do if you are planning mountainous scenery.
