5x9 Revised Track Plan Advice - Thinking outside the rectangle

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Hello Everyone,

I’m back for more opinions on my track plan. I posted a 5x9 N scale lay back in November for review. One of the comments was to think outside of the rectangle. Another suggestion was to include my physical boundaries, to show what I have to work with.

Below is what I came up with. It is a rough draft, mostly main line and yard. I haven’t worked out the sidings, spurs or industries yet. I just want to know if I’m heading in the right direction before I spend a lot of time working out the details. I’m not tied to any particular shape, only limited by my physical boundaries. I have also considered an L shaped dog bone.

My main concern is operation. I do not want to build an operational nightmare, because of trying to pack too much into too small an area. I want easy access. My yard is in the back, against a wall. It is only 18" wide, so I hope that this is not an issue. I am trying to maintain a minimum radius of 11" w/ easements. I am planning on #5 turnouts. I am modeling the late 60’s early 70’s around the RF&P in Richmond, VA. Most of my motive power will be GP-38’s or equivalent. I do have an A-B-A E8 unit. It will be used to haul freight. I like engines and maintenance so the layout will be heavy there.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have also posted a request in the general discussion form concerning my track options. Any help there would also be welcome.

Thanks,

Paul739

2

I don’t have time to take a big look, but I like the direction you are going. I would think about bringing the yard forward and the loops back, maybe under somehow. I’ll try to look more later…but that might be a little while!

3

Don’t take this the wrong way, but does your layout have any other purpose than to fit track on a table? The reason I ask is that everything seems so regular and flat. I say flat because if you have any elevation you will obscure your yard.

Perhaps you might take a different approach. Naturally I suggest reading my “Beginner’s Guide” below. What I suggest is to pick a road and location, then keeping the landscape in mind, design several scenes in which you link them with track. Then you have a reason for your railroad to exist.

4

Hey Chip,

You’re Right - This is only a very rough draft. As of now I am only committed to my available space. I want to utilize the space that I have available, and not sacrifice operation. I will be looking for ideas all along the way. First I wanted to develop a working main line and yard with the allotted space, and work from there. I already have some of the structures that I will be using, which will help in determining spurs and sidings.

I would like the yard in the front so I could have different elevations, but am sure how to do this because of the geometry of the room. I do not want to have to crawl under the layout every time that I want to operate or maintain it

The era will be late 60’s early 70’s along the RF&P in Richmond, VA. (Which is flat) including the CSX merger. This allows a lot of different motive power.

As I mentioned earlier, I would appreciate any and all opinions.

paul739

5

Hi. I like it so far, although I share Mouse’s worry that what you have presented to us is a bit ho-hum. Ho-hum with lots of potential, that is.

A first observation, and this was among the first that made me feel you were very early in this process; your inner curves, on each side of the alleys, are much too close to the table’s edge for safety. Add gussets as a minimum.

Also, your yard, at upper, needs crossovers/run-arounds/double slip or two…something to aid in switching so that a switcher doesn’t have to go all the way back to the lead. This is by no means critical in your plan, but it would add variety and ease of use if the lead is occupied by an ingressing freight.

The inner space of the long “tongues”, or peninsulae, should have more industry, switching, spurs, whatever. Please do not take this to mean shovel in the trackage…no! Just use some of all that room to add some lenghts, turnouts, and a warehouse or two. The trains need things to haul, and one long spur down each tongue seems spartan…to me.

This is modern era with diesel? So your maintenance facility will be simple. If steam, you need all the usual stuff: turntable, coal, cinder pit, sanding facility, oil for those steamers that burn it, roundhouse or enginehouse, backshop, etc. That should be near the yard so that steamers don’t need to wend their ways down a tongue to find remediation.

Perhaps you can flesh this plan out a bit for us to help you to decide what needs to be, and where.

6

One thing that will help is that you can use that 16" to either side of the layout. You really don’t have a reach problem, except maybe the corner. You can then widen the center peninsula and get some more industrial switching or a town or something out of it. The two sides can also bulb out a little. When you are thinking outside the rectangle, also think outside the straight edge.

7

Paul, for help with the yard, check out Byron Henderson’s page on “A little love for the yard”

http://home.earthlink.net/~mrsvc/id19.html

And, since you are in design mode, also check out “The 10 Commandments of Yard Design” by Craig Bisgeier.

http://www.housatonicrr.com/yard_des.html

Regards,

8

I would take that loop on the left-hand peninsula and twist it into a semi-figure-8. You could do this easily enough by starting a grade on the middle peninsula, which would get you up and over the left-hand side of the loop. Alternately, you could put in a reverse loop by adding a crossover. Right now, your only options for reversing are the wyes.

How about a lift-off bridge between the center and right peninsulas?

9

Perhaps to piggy-back and expand on some of the earlier thoughts:

Consider some “gently sweeping mainlines” instead if straight track sections…

If you look at a John Armstrong trackplan, usually the only straght tracks running parallel to the table edge are staging or locomotive servicing yards.

Consider using a “balloon” for any or all three of the peninsulas…

An easily identified track balloon (actually two balloons) is the beginner train set over & under figure eight. That being said, this is not a suggestion to include a figure eight in the trackplan.

Question: What if you could elevate your staging yard by apx. 6 inches at the back of the layout, and provide access to it because of a just one track planning balloon that has the appearance of 1/2 of a lop-sided figure eight?

Let’s look only at a left peninsula balloon…

1st - the switch on the left side is eliminated.

2nd - the innner mainline track begins an eventual grade increase to 4-6 inches by wrapping around to where the outer mainline track now is (where the eliminated switch currently is) then continues on to the now 4-6 inch-elevated rear staging yard. There will be a girder bridge overpass of that inner mainline track “that now becomes” the outer mainline track.

Here are two new planning opportunities inside & beneath the left peninsula balloon…

1st - an industrial yard, or locomotive servicing facilities including a turntable & roundhouse would easily fit inside the balloon.

2nd - the new yard will have a lead track coming from the upper righthand side of that same left peninsular at a cross-angle from northeast to southwest.

3rd -