A recently posted about a possible layout I was going to model based on the meeting of Snyder, Union and Northumberland counties in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately I just don't have enough space to fit everything I want, and feeling like I could be putting a ton of work and money into something I could quite possibly resent doing, I decided to go another route. My previous layout was a small portable one, 3'x4' with the ability to turn it sideways and place it in a closet. Unfortunately this really didn't leave me with enough room to run larger diesels. I also had derailment issues inside a tunnel due to a sharp curve on a grade. So this time around I really wanted a long double-track mainline to watch my larger diesels do their thing, as well as a bit of a yard for a small Geep to push cars around. I am looking to do a bit of a coal industry, with a sizeable town and plenty of scenary. So I've been messing trackplans and I think I finally am happy (and excited) with a recent one: I will be using a combination of Atlas Code 80 Snap Track as well as Flextrack. I was using RTS 10.0, but its setup for code 55 so bear with me, the mainlines will be tighter together. I might have gone a little crazy with turnouts, so that will require a bit of money. But I'm in no rush. Afterall I still need to build the second half of my bench. Also I tried my hand at weathering for the first time the other day... Before paint: After paint and weathering: Overall I don't think it turned out bad, but I will be looking for a darker rust color to dress it up a bit more. Opinions welcome!
Will you have access to all sides? or at least to the left side? Otherwise Uncle Pythagoras says 53"+ reach from inside to outside corner: quite a stretch even for Elastagirl. And if you do have access to the left side, consider putting a scenic divider (backdrop or mountains or?) in the middle of the left leg so the left scene is a far distance away from the right--lengthens the layout without lengthening the tracks. What is the purpose of the trains on your layout? Trains are used to haul goods from one place to another. Have you taken a pencil or little slip of paper to represent a train and "worked" your layout (bring in a train from off-layout point A, distribute cars to industries 1,2 & 3, pick up cars, assemble outgoing train & watch it go)? Where is the yard, and how do you work it? (does it's form fit it's function?) Having a long double main (bottom right is single, though) is nice to watch trains go round & round, but I'm guessing you'll want more to do while & when you're done building. What length trains are you thinking of running? A single mainline with passing sidings will look more "lost" in the scenery as well as be more challenging to operate. To get an idea of track to scenery ratios, check out John Leaders' Marias Pass (4'x10'). If you're having trouble with getting the correct track in a software program, try sketching it out by hand to get closer to your vision. The more you share the more we can help. Hope this helps.
Glad to hear you settled on a track plan. Nice job weathering the bridge. Send more pictures as your layout progresses.
Figured it would easier to just answer questions one-by-one... Will you have access to all sides? or at least to the left side? The left side yes And if you do have access to the left side, consider putting a scenic divider (backdrop or mountains or?) in the middle of the left leg so the left scene is a far distance away from the right--lengthens the layout without lengthening the tracks. I was planning on having hills and a river valley in the are of the right-half of the layout, so that should break it up decently What is the purpose of the trains on your layout? Coal mine, coal power plant, misc small industry, mainline operations Where is the yard, and how do you work it? Small sidings on the curve upper left side Having a long double main (bottom right is single, though) is nice to watch trains go round & round, but I'm guessing you'll want more to do while & when you're done building. Yes, I don't necessarily want to run two trains at all times, but will be toying with DCC so it will be possible to use one side to pass with small diesel hauling coal, etc What length trains are you thinking of running? Not sure how to answer, 20 cars? Basically if the engine picks up cars from every siding on the layout A single mainline with passing sidings will look more "lost" in the scenery as well as be more challenging to operate. To get an idea of track to scenery ratios, check out John Leaders' Marias Pass (4'x10'). Very nice layout! If you're having trouble with getting the correct track in a software program, try sketching it out by hand to get closer to your vision. The more you share the more we can help. It started with a sketch, used software to make sure it all fit in dimensions Hope this helps. Thanks!
Above pictures of tressle were moved in my albums so here it is again Before: After: Also mostly done with Walthers coal tipple: Second attempt at weathering... will be adding darker rust once my order from Bragdon arrives Thanks for looking/feedback
Thank you. Folks are helping me tweak the trackplan in the layout discussion forums... Bench work to come...
More photos of the Coal Tipple. Now completed and weathered, still waiting on Bragdon products to arrive before I can cross it off the list... Added a nice coating of "dark earth" to each window to, as I doubt a busy coal operation has time to hire window washers :tb-biggrin:
So my trackplan was tweaked by RhB_HJ and he made some much needed improvements. I finally managed to put the finishing touches on my Bench. May be adding more braces to the center to add support. Foam work to come...
Nice "final" track plan (in this hobby, "final" is relative of course). The benchwork certainly looks sturdy enough to hold foam, but I would consider a few more braces in case you need to lean into (or climb up on) the layout for some reason. Weathering of the mine looks really good.
I didn't get to finish my foam work recently, but I did manage to get a little time to work on my SD70M's. I purchased these locos seperately off of Ebay and managed to get pretty good deals on them. The most I paid for one was $58 shipped. Before: After: I am waiting on some miscellaneous items from BLMA. I'm not going for "super detailed" just sprucing them up a bit. In reality, these locos have yellow step sills, but my hands are far too shaky to even attempt that...
Foam work is done. Slowly working on mocking up track Also discovered one of my SD70M's (2599) has a sound decoder!!!! For the price I got this for on Ebay, the seller must've had no idea. SWEET!
Before you too far have you thought about sealing the wall behind? Paint or something like that to keep the moisture out. It's just one of those things that would be easier now than later and might help the health of the layout.
I've neglected this thread a bit. I've done a lot of work in the last months, but have mainly been posting my progress in my blog. Thought I'd give an update here... More trackwork, WS roadbed down, etc Viaduct complete
I got about 3/4 of the way through getting my track laid, and by about 3am last night... I had to walk away. I am currently working on soldering the flex track and electrical joiners, and I am having derailing issues. I am trying to remedy the problem BEFORE I glue all of the track down, and it seems like on one specific curve, everytime I fix one issue the other one gives me problems. The two joints in particular: As you can see, I've soldered and re-soldered enough to pit the foam as it is not very tolerant to the iron's heat. To the naked eye they look pretty much dead-on, but for some reason the Loco's trucks jump the track just enough to pull the first axle off of the rail, sending the loco clicking on its way. I have invested about 2 hours between both of these joints and will continue to plug away even if it kills me. I won't allow derailing issues. The turn is about a 21" radius. Don't mind the roadbed, it will be adjusted once I am ready to glue track down. I also somehow tapped my SD70 with the soldering iron taking some paint off, and at some point the loco took a tumble off of the layout. I touched it up, but that was it for me... I packed it in for the night. Would gluing the track down help to remedy this issue? Currently none of the track is glued down and is held in place by tacks. But with the foam roadbed, the tacks move if meddled with. Thanks in advance. @#%*&!!!!! Also I've though about finding room for a turntable, I think it would make things more interesting for switching, but on the other hand I don't want to clutter everything up... hmmm
I realize you have your track nailed down already, but if you solder the flex track pieces together before you curve them, that will help keep the rails in gauge through the curve at the joint. In that last picture the right side track does appear to a slight jolt in the curve right at the joint to me.
