Another track-plan

[InterCity110]

Attached is an improved track plan, based upon some measurements of the room I have to model (although there is some wiggle room, not included) How many coaches do would I be able to get in here, and how effective would this be, as a model?

[The Johnster]

If that's an improved plan, tbh I'm glad I didn't see the original!

 

Coaches are different lengths, (very) broadly speaking the more modern, the longer the coach, but a mk1 is 10" in 00.  You don't say what scale/gauge this is or what period you intend to model.  As to it's effectiveness as a model, I'm sorry but there is none.  All you can do is run backwards and forwards, there is no connection between the outer and inner tracks, and only one siding.  You don't say how big the room is or the radius of the curves (a lot of modern stock will not work on no.1 radius and is marginal on no.2) or what type of layout you envisage. 

 

I would advise you to spend some time (before you spend any money) in analysing 1) what aspects of real railway activitiy you want to recreate, 2) thinking about how you might achieve this, and 3) realising that if the answer to one is 'full scale-length express trains at scale high speeds thundering across the countryside' you will probably have to think again, very few of us have space to do this properly so we don't try (personally, I'd find it dull anyway, I like to shunt!).  Like the huge majority of us, you will need to compromise and the degree of compromise & the smoke and mirrors trickery involved in creating an impression that we have not actually compromised at all is one of the main skills that successful modellers develop.

 

I'd further suggest that, having mentally negotiated that process, you look at track plans for inspiration for your own layout.  Avoid the 'Hornby track plans' approach, very few of them are even remotely realistic and are designed to sell you as many of their products as possible.  Cut your cloth according to it's width and keep asking questions here; we can probably help you avoid most of the rookie mistakes and some of the experienced modeller pitfalls.  Rules of thumb for starting out; you need twice as much space and half as much track as you thought you did, there is no such thing as too large a curve radius, you can only operate one train at a time, and you need to be able to access all parts of your layout all the time, so open-backed hidden areas are essential.

[NS Peak]

Hello,  I see you are quoting Hornby OO track codes so that takes away people first question of what’s the scale.     Just a few thoughts on first impressions on the plan.   The curves look very tight and a lot of modern stock is only rated for a minimum of 2nd radius curve (R607) and will derail or get stuck on R605 curves.   Unless you are running very short wheel base stock you will struggle with running and the over hang will really look like a train set and not prototypical.

 

for the flexitrack that you have be careful as this takes some getting used to laying as you can create sharp curves without realising it and might have an issue of coaches bumping into each other and derailing when going round corners.

 

I have lots of cases where a plan looks great but not really practical and even some of the books with track plans don’t always work in real life.  My best advise is to try it first and see what works.  If you have them use 2 MK3 coaches as they are some of the biggest and if they go round a corner most other things will also.  Also don’t get carries away less is always more,  don’t be tempted to add an extra siding but think more like the real railway where nothing is done without a really good reason.

[Happy Hippo]

Once you have a a idea of the more detailed aspects of your track plan, please, please, please try and sort out the signalling before you start laying track.

 

The number of modellers who come up with a track plan that cannot be signalled properly (it depends on location and era) is legion.

[DCB]

Is that that the right plan     Looks like half a room  or less.  Try this.  Short straight beside the point not long  and 2nd 3rd and 4th radius 4th on the inside as the curve starts further back

[The Johnster]

5 hours ago, NS Peak said:

 

for the flexitrack that you have be careful as this takes some getting used to laying as you can create sharp curves without realising it and might have an issue of coaches bumping into each other and derailing when going round corners.

 

Flexi laid to radii below about 30" can cause problems and below 24" is prone to damage from the rails ripping out of the plastic chairs.  Difficulty arises from the tendency of track to form transition curves, so that you may have measured for a given radius between point a and point b but the track will naturally lie so that the actual radius is more at the ends and less in the centre of the yard-long piece, so that the average radius is correct but the actual radius is only correct at two positions on the curve.  Answer is 'tracksettas' to ensure correct radius.

 

When you are using flexi, you are not protected from fouling on curves by the geometry, and must take care to maintain the track centres prescribed by the turnouts.  To ensure that vehicles on curves do not contact those on the next track, try the following dodge from a 1960s Model Railway Constructor, it may have come from Cyril Freezer himself; do this before the track is permanently fixed to the board.  Taking your longest coach, tape felt tip pens to the end corners and centres of the coach, then gently push it around the layout so that the felt tips mark the baseboard alongside the track.  If you want to be clever you can use different colours for the ends and centres. 

 

On curvature, the ends of the coach will throw outside the radius of the curve, and the centres will hang in.  The pens will trace this, and when you do it on parallel tracks the traces will intersect.  These are your 'fouling points', at which collisions will occur, and will set where the clearance position is at turnouts.  If there are any such intersections of the traces on curvature, you will need to enlarge the '6 foot' gap between tracks to avoid collisions.  You will have an automatic safety margin of half the thickness of the pens to allow for wobble or centrifugal/pedal leaning.  The traces will also be useful for ensuring clearance for signals, lineside structures, and platforms. 

[Rivercider]

On 15/10/2023 at 18:55, InterCity110 said:

Attached is an improved track plan, based upon some measurements of the room I have to model (although there is some wiggle room, not included) How many coaches do would I be able to get in here, and how effective would this be, as a model?

Were any of the responses to your two earlier topics of any use to you?

You had previously asked about the suitability of visible or scenic fiddle yards - which can be successfully made to work.

You also posted a draft plan, which you said would be based on the southern end of the WCML, is this related to either of those queries?

 

Without knowing what you intend to operate it is difficult to give advice.

 

cheers

 

[Il Grifone]

My opinion is that you need at least five coaches to represent an express passenger train. That woud be about six feet including locomotive and a bit of breathing space. As stated, at least 2nd radius is necessary.

A similar length is necessary for goods trains (about fifteen wagons).

[RobinofLoxley]

Instead of the Hornby software, have a look at Anyrail, which has a free version where a maximum of 50 track items can be used at one time, but crucially it has track libraries where any kind of track can be used.

[n9]

On 15/10/2023 at 19:55, InterCity110 said:

Attached is an improved track plan, based upon some measurements of the room I have to model (although there is some wiggle room, not included) How many coaches do would I be able to get in here, and how effective would this be, as a model?

If you already own the track, a piece of string might be your best weapon for visualising how long your trains can be in your designs. Look up the lengths of coaches and locos you want to run (Hattons often has photos of rolling stock next to a ruler, and their database may also have this info,) add those lengths up, and then cut or mark a piece of string to that length. Add a bit of wiggle room too for the couplers. You can then lay that string out anywhere on your track to clearly see how much space a particular train will need.

[RobinofLoxley]

The space occupied by track in the original post seems to be about 190cm by 135cm, so 6'x4' - ish. There are track plans specifically for these kinds of space, or a smaller scale modelled, either N or TT.  The board area is just large enough for reach-over to be a problem. In OO its possible to have a loop, the small area means that a double track main line is going to look pretty ridiculous, it cries out for a rural station regardless of era, with some facilities but with a central well for access as I have drawn it below. This is not very polished! As per my point about Anyrail, I used Streamline  turnouts in order to have a doubleslip to save space and provide longer sidings on the 'goods' side. For corner track pieces setrack was used, minimum radius 2. Its hard to bend flexitrack that sharply, but for the odd length sections and the station flexi track was used (brown indicates section longer than a single track piece(91.5cm)). The station platform length is around 1M which would allow 2-3 coaches plus loco which i would consider plenty for this board size.