trainmaster247 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I am working on pitching the idea of building a 2'x5' swithcing layout here is everything so far. I have figured in costs and just need to pitch the ideas to my parents. [image]http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/sites/model-railroad-hobbyist.com/files/users/trainmaster247/image(114).jpeg[/img] Still need to go to my parents about it but here it is Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire2865 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Track costs? Any track plan? 4x5 or 2x5? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Oh, sorry posted wrong second image, it will 2'x5' and I have track already Not perfect quality but here it is: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hesperus Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 If the cost of a sheet of board is an issue it would be worth trying to get an old internal door from your nearest Freecycle group. The track plan looks interesting, that headshunt on the right could be a headache though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamsRadial Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 It's nice to see something out of the ordinary, although I think without a run-round loop you might find yourself reaching in and shuffling stock by hand from time to time With two more points you can actually make a non-obvious loop: just to the left of the diamond crossing put a left turnout, and connect it to a right turnout on the topmost of the two lowest sidings. I think that would get rid of the headshunt problem Hesperus spotted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 I do have one, just farther to the right, and a slightly altered version, much more effective Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hesperus Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Are the two tracks at the right heading off-scene to a traverser or sector table? That would provide a loop and sort out the pair of short headshunts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 They head off to a runaround track I did some testing with this layout yesterday and it worked well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 The bottom right headshunt in particular looks very short, does it make the top left spurs into one car at a time switching areas, or is it the main which carries on off scene? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 It is a 1 car spot, That is a propane dealere, above it is a coal dealer and the top left is lumber bottom left warehouse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 Well, I have now finalized the design, just need to refine budgetign as much as possible and I can go to the parents wish me luck! Notes on what I did: added an extra leg to the runaround and swapped direction of tank car industry, now will add that to the coal dealer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightbe Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Is this N-scale? I'm worried that you may become bored with the layout as you have it in that picture--have you heard of Lance Mindheim? He's been in MR several times and has mastered the art of designing clever but realistic switching layouts. I highly recommend finding either a copy of one of his books or digging up some of the magazine articles. I personally think the design is a bit fantastical--It could benefit from some simplification. Out of curiousity are you floating this idea around any US-based forums? You'll undoubtedly find more helpful suggestions on budgetary matters there than on here. A number of general products are either priced differently in the UK, or may not be available in both North America and the UK. That said, I can tell you that your benchwork plans (and budget) may need to be revised. A 2'x5' cut of plywood will be insufficient--although it's unlikely this layout will have a long life, benchwork can be reused if it's well-designed and well-built. I personally went for the extremely durable option--I bought a 24"x72" piece of furniture board at Lowes. It's a higher quality wood, and is very resistant to flexing and warping. Also, it's around the right size for your project. In addition to that, I added a frame beneath the top board, out of 2"x4". The frame keeps everything nice and rigid ensures that the top board will NEVER budge. That said, plywood with a similar frame is 100% okay. Many layouts have been built that way. Whatever you do for benchwork, make sure you buy as high a quality of lumber as you can, and ALWAYS find the straightest, most unblemished boards. The same for plywood--if it's curling upwards at the store, leave it alone. It'll save a lot of woe in the future, and a good baseboard can always be recycled as tastes/goals/interests change. If you click the link in my signature for my layout you can see exactly what I did for my similarly-sized layout. It's British but built with what's widely available here in the US. Quentin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 It is HO the main swithcing area is on the 2'x5' while the rest (run around track) is on a removable section. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 Here is the fully revised version, the lower talk track on the runaround is one I am considering turning into a grain dealer, what do you think? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightbe Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Not a good idea IMHO--any cars being loaded/unloaded at the dealer will render the runaround completely useless. Runarounds are almost always kept free from that sort of thing. But if you put a long siding parallel to the runaround, that would be very effective. Why though, are there so many tiny spurs? That's not how railroads do it--outside of heavy industry and cramped dockside areas, that's a modeller's contrivance. Invented by modellers, then perpetuated by modellers under the impression that this was actually something the real railroads did. I do encourage you to visit Mindheim's sites: http://shelflayouts.com/ and http://lancemindheim.com/ He's posted sample track layouts and you can apply the same principles to your own layout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 I have seen his layouts (and emailed him personally) I am aware they are not exactly prototypical but they low most use of thsi space, if you have some ideas I wouldn't mid seeing those. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightbe Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 I was just on my way back to edit my previous post about this intriguing (and extremely simple) design, but I'll just add it here instead: http://mrhpub.com/2013-05-may/land/#/95/zoomed Though that design may be too simple for my tastes, and probably yours as well. I'd be happy to doodle with anyrail etc.--what's the total size of the layout, including the area you've described as storage? There may a more efficient way to use that space (or just some of it) as part of the layout. Also, what locale and what sorts of industries are you interesting in? A smallish layout like that could be designed to serve just one or two industries that see varied traffic. EDIT: Here's something I sketched out about 2 years ago. As you can see, it's a theme and variations. I liked the track plan but had no idea what industries I wanted (one of the many reasons I never tried to actually build it). It may be useful for your purposes. I designed it using a GP9 as the "average" loco and used the longest cars I had at the time. If you used shorter cars than what I allowed for you could shorten the layout somewhat. Right now it's 9'x18". The longest train that could arrive would have no more than 5 of them+loco, but the 5th car would have to be switched immediately because it can't fit within the runaround. Obviously there would be fewer cars on the layout at one time, they're just there to show capacity. I used a minimum radius of 54" and Peco #8 turnouts. If I were doing it today I probably would've used #10s Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 Thanks for the help so far. Here is a staged setup and a photo of all cars used on the layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainmaster247 Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 An updated version with longer sidings: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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