Learning fast through mistakes - now thinking about new layout

[ITG]

Phil,

tried to incorporate some of your thinking - see below.

There's a limit (I feel) to how much I can bend the GY around the corner because (a) need to avoid making that top left corner a wider baseboard and thus a long reach and (b) keeping it all inside the sweep of the incoming line.

 

As it is, that would leave the outer exit through the station throat as connecting to the upper level circuit and back to the station, under the high level concourse and into P1. The inner exit X through the throat then drops at 2% to go back under that concourse but at a lower level obviously than the upper circuit. Or do you see any pro/con with reversing these two entry/exit tracks so that the inner one went round upper circuit, and the outer one dropped? Note, loco facilities branch off the outer.

[Harlequin]

Idea:

[Lacathedrale]

Yes, a thousand times yes @Harlequin - cannot emphasise how important it is to break this idea that all rails should be parallel to board edges!

[Zomboid]

And take the loco facilities off the back road (platform 1?).

 

No reason why the point that brings the two roads back together couldn't be part of the hidden curve (accepting that hidden pointwork isn't the dream, so it would have to be accessible).

 

With the junction and changing elevations, is something along the lines of the junction at Tipton St John rip-offable in this situation? I'd suggest Halwill Jn, but that looks a bit too ambitious...

Edited March 31, 2020 by Zomboid

[ITG]

IZomboid, 

 

13 minutes ago, Zomboid said:

And take the loco facilities off the back road (platform 1?).

 

No reason why the point that brings the two roads back together couldn't be part of the hidden curve (accepting that hidden pointwork isn't the dream, so it would have to be accessible).

I thought originally about the loco facilities being so, but reasoned that if that P1 was occupied (DMU  maybe) it would block access to/from loco roads? Maybe an alternative would be to take loco facilities off between the point just above X and the point leading to P1 & P2?

 

Possibility about the two roads coming together under the circumstances concourse. I was a little reluctant about that for the reasons you state, albeit my current layout has 3 such hidden points with very few problems, and 2 of those are Settrack insulfrog curved points! And none are currently easily accessible (one of my many learning points - no pun intended!)

Edited March 31, 2020 by ITG

[Zomboid]

I wouldn't use "P1" as a passenger platform personally, I'd just use it as the access to the shed. I think you'd be rather unlikely to have things as drawn with a facing connection from the running line (since it's a single line) directly running into the back wall of the shed. If you need 4 platforms then can you fit another line parallel to the start of P1 for access to the loco facility?

[Harlequin]

4 minutes ago, Zomboid said:

I wouldn't use "P1" as a passenger platform personally, I'd just use it as the access to the shed. I think you'd be rather unlikely to have things as drawn with a facing connection from the running line (since it's a single line) directly running into the back wall of the shed. If you need 4 platforms then can you fit another line parallel to the start of P1 for access to the loco facility?

I think the shed off the running line is OK but I agree that P1 should ideally come off the P2 loop because it would then unambiguously be a trailing connection.

Whether that's feasible in the space is another matter!

 

P.S. If we take away P1 as a passenger platform then there is nothing left of the former "terminus"...

Edited March 31, 2020 by Harlequin
P.S.

[ITG]

Still twiddling, but as my thoughts - not yet actions - turn to laying the layout out using Peco Points paper templates on rolls of wallpaper I’ve just found in a garage tidy-up, a question occurred to me. What do people use to fix/stick the templates to whatever surface (wallpaper in my case), in such a way that allows fine-tuning changes and repositioning? Something of a post-it note type of thing, I guess.

Ideally, it would be great if I could roll/fold up the finished article later, as I really have to do this exercise in the garage floor on hands and knees (believe it or not, a carpeted garage courtesy of previous house owner), as the layout room still has current layout in it.
I really want to do this at this stage, because it will inform the baseboard dimensions rather than relying solely on Anyrail on screen.

Edited April 10, 2020 by ITG

[Joseph_Pestell]

Blutack?

[ITG]

Bluetacks a possibility I suppose, thought the lumpiness may inhibit accuracy of alignment. Just browsing through adhesive double sided tape, with low tack on one side. Wonder how that would fare between 2 paper surfaces.