Door layout

Mo-Pac Mar 29, 2020

  1. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    Well, due to current situations my wife and I are delayed departing from over here in France. No problem for hunkering down for an extra 15 days indoors by the order of the French government. Supposedly the borders will be secured for 30 days total no if's and's or but's! They will see how the aftermath, if it proves to be effective.

    In the mean time we found another house. I was granted the lien of une des chambres. Though the house is a little over 2000 sqft. I am not sure the exact size of the largest extra bedrooms. I should get this information tomorrow from my Realtor. Depending on its size I will use the layout in which I have been planing for all of this time in the largest spare room.

    Just incase the chambre is a little bit small. I have came up with a door N scale layout using Tomix track. Yes I am planning to run DCC. Preferably the newest version on the DCS52 Digitrax Zephyr express. I still have a few DC locomotives so whenever I plan to run them I can do this without the hassle of hooking up the old MRC power pack The Blue is the mainline. The Red is the yard. To my calculations this should hold up to 35 cars. The Green is the old interchange used as a siding with three industrial spurs. Here I can run three trains, one on the main and run operations in both the yard and the industrial area. Yes, I will have a divider also on the door layout. This will be about a half of an inch south of the turntable.

    The right spur is higher due to the extra 33mm connecter track. No it cannot connect to the crossing. I will have to shave down some of the tail end of the bumper track. Plus cut a slot into the big curve just to tweak it to align it to match the crossing. This will remain a end of track. Yes, once again I will have no extra tracks leftover after all said and done. I did also design another door layout. Whenever I get this one completed and decide to add another Door to this one. I created a holding yard layout. To keep most of my other rolling stock out for ready use. This will connect to the left diamond crossing. This will have intentionally three extra pieces to connect the big curve. I will also have to slice a slot into the track so I can tweak it to connect to the crossing. This in turn will allow the train to cross onto the other door.

    Let me know what y'all think.
     

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    Last edited: Mar 30, 2020
  2. Chops

    Chops TrainBoard Member

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    Doors make great baseboards. Will this be in N? And will it be SNFC? Congrats on making lemonade from lemons!
     
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  3. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    Yes , I hear that doors make great baseboards. I did mention it in my post that it will be in N scale. It will be a fallen flag American railroad. I can give you the recipe if you want?
     
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  4. french_guy

    french_guy TrainBoard Member

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    Hey,
    Where are you "stuck" in France right now?
     
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  5. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    We are "stuck" on the island of Corsica. Taking vol á Paris c'est très difficle. Plus our flight was canceled and getting paperwork to travel together could land us in trouble. The way it's going now, we are very ok to stay here until the travel ban has been lifted. We have about two hundred known active cases and three hundred total on the island. Right now it's best for us to stay put. Because the USA is in a world of hurt now. With an approaching 250k cases and rapidly rising everyday. No thank you.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2020
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  6. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I went on holiday to your next door neighbor, Sardinia. It was a very memorable trip. Incredible seafood!
     
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  7. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, Sardinia has great seafood! I was stationed on the island of Sardinia for three years in the late 1990's!
     
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  8. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    Well, since I have plenty of time. I went and designed a couple of different door layout designs. Here are some of the designs. The #1 and #5 have future connecter to another possible door layout design. I attached two future connecting layouts also.
     

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  9. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    Also, I have made an French door design. It's a little bit different in size It's 93cm or 36.6 inches by 204cm or 80.3 inches versus the common door slab in the USA of 36inches by 80 inches or 203.2cm by 91.4cm. Yes, I took advantage of every inch that is available.
     

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  10. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    Here's the layout with a twist, literary.
     

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  11. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    I went back and deleted some excess track. Turned it from three industrial spurs to two.
     

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  12. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    My last layout was built entirely on hollow core doors and they worked great.
     
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  13. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    I like that design. Looks like it would be really fun to operate.
     
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  14. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks @BNSF FAN It's between that one and these two.
     

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    Last edited: Apr 7, 2020
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  15. RailMix

    RailMix TrainBoard Member

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    Seems to me that Model Railroader published a plan for a door layout quite a long time ago, maybe in the 70s or 80s. I remember being quite taken with it as the illustration was scenically very interesting, but I don't think it was quite as good operationally as the plans shown here. Anybody remember this?
     
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  16. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    @RailMix

    Thanks Tom! In your honest opinion which one should I build?

    I like them both. If I have room I will build up the 4x8 version of this. Now I am at a decision.

    Yes, I unfortunately am stuck in France until the containment is done. Once I am stateside I will be heading to lowes.
     
  17. RailMix

    RailMix TrainBoard Member

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    Myself, I like the plan in B, mainly because I like local freight operation and that one has several spurs, but also because that plan has the two curves in the main line. I would make them slightly unequal. However, you should do what suits you. After all, you're the one who has to build and operate it, so do something you're going to like. I should note that If I was going to build any one of them, I would place a backdrop down the center as BNSF FAN has done to very good advantage on his layout:

    https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/jpt-sub-my-new-layout-project.123955/page-8

    In fact, I would recommend checking out his whole thread. There are some really good ideas there.
    I would also try to "turn" the track plan on the door at least a small amount. It's surprising how much larger that little visual trick will make a layout look and feel.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2020
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  18. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    @RailMix Thanks Tom for your response. I am assuming you are talking about the design with three spurs? I keep going back to this design also. I posted it below.


    Yes, I too will be placing a divider/backdrop somewhere in-between. Just to give it two different areas of operations. Between @BNSF FAN (with I have been following) and many others layouts have made this more appealing.
     

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    Last edited: Apr 8, 2020
  19. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    I like the first of the two.

    In this post, I also like the first of the two plans. My current layout will have the scenic divider. I have had a blank one in place and I think once finished, it will add a lot to the look and feel of the layout.
     
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  20. Mo-Pac

    Mo-Pac TrainBoard Member

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    @BNSF FAN Yes, the second one I didn't like the top spur and I was able to relocate the switch to where the 1123 would be. With me doing this I was able to eliminate the 1123's altogether. So in contrast the turnouts in the two switches would become the mainline and the straight as the entrance to the spur location. I like this version of it better because it will give me more room to add larger if needed structures for trackside businesses. Plus it will allow more room for town structures in the pocket area and do a rural area between the divider and the industrial/town area. Here is the modified version the second one.
     

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