Ian B Lanacshire

Thanks Ian, that's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I've tweaked the plan and as the other have pointed out that code75 is probably a goer I've updated the plan with some double slips (which apparently aren't available in code100) and made the station into a wedge shape.

Cheers John, I'm going to do that.

Thanks John. Yeah I should have mentioned it will be DCC, I'm opting for code100 because I have a decend collection of older rolling stock in a box and a few existing trains which I'll convert to DCC. In terms of going big from the off the intention was to put in the mainline base, cork roadbed and track so that I can get trains running and ensure that the grades are ok. I was then going to build and scenic the station before moving around the layout doing roughly a 4 foot section at a time installing the branch line and fully scenicing before moving on to the next section. Only if/when the whole top deck is complete would I start on the helix and lower deck. The lower deck contents will be influenced by which elements of the top deck I enjoyed foing the most. Urban vs rural etc. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

Hi all, I'm just returning to model railways after 25 years. I'm planning to build an around the wall layout in the loft of our bungalow. My last layout was as a teenager and on a 6*4 sheet of ply on the dinning room table. Everything had to be removable for storage which I found really limiting and I longed for a larger space where I could have tracks on different levels with tunnels and build really detailed scenery. Now that I have the space, or will have next year when I've finished making the loft space habitable, I know that building this layout will take many years and so I want to come up with a concept and track plan that I won't regret in years to come. So here is what I've come up with, please everyone, pick it to pieces, don't hold back, really tear it apart :-) The usable space is about 3m by 5m with a loft ladder coming up in the middle. I need access at the right hand side to get to the gas boiler and some storage space with a lower ceiling height so the bridge at the right hand side has to be removable. I want a parade route to run trains on whilst I work on other bits of the layout or whilst I perform shunting operations in the yards. I don't envisage multiple operators, just me and the occasional spectator. The scenario I've chosen is late 90s/turn of the millennium, before electrification of the mainlines. The centre of the layout, on the left hand wall is the station with a double main line which runs up a 3% slope in either direction from the station around the walls to the highest point which is the removable bridge at the right hand side, crossing other smaller bridges and tunnels as it goes. This will be the parade route. Both north and south bound mainlines have a platform track and a passing track at the station. There is then a branch line which services the docks, where I intend to build a working container crane to unload containers from a ship, and a general purpose yard for serving an industrial estate and acting as a classification yard. I'll keep a small shunter stationed in each yard and transfer completed trains between the arrival/departure tracks of each yard with a larger diesel engine. The branch line can access the mainlines at the station so that goods trains can be given a few laps around the layout on the mainline and mainline trains can use the branch line to access the future staging area. The bottom right corner may get left at scenic countryside but I'm debating butting in another industry, quarry/mine/logging etc. or putting a small railway museum there so that I can have a heritage railway sharing the branch line and justify running the occasional steam train. That little lot should keep me busy for a few years but I want the option in future to expand by putting a helix in the storage portion of the loft (bottom right) to drop trains onto a lower level where they would travel through various unrelated standalone dioramas to get to a staging area roughly under the main station. Ideas for which include a model of my local station (300 yards from my house which was closed by Dr. B) in the 1950s and possibly an American wild west scene. The lower level is all up in the air but I'd like to have options in the future. I can only really fit 1 helix so I'm thinking double track (one up and one down) with the track on the lower level roughly imitating the brand line on the level above with a loop at the top right so that I can send a train off towards the helix and if I forget about it then it would eventually reappear on the top deck rather than have it run into the buffer in the staging yard. I'm also planning to put a subway platform under the main station with an automated shuttle train going in and out of the station just for some added interest. This is all in OO code100 pico track with minimum 50cm radius curves. large points on the mainlines, mediums on the branch line and arrival/departure tracks and small points within the yards where only the shunters should go. I've attached a jpg image of the proposed layout and also the anyrail file (with the file extension changed to .doc, to view it in anyrail just change the file extension from .doc to .any. I'd really welcome any feedback that can stop me from making errors with the track plan that I'll regret later on. Thanks in advance, Ian Single Helix top deck.doc