Hello everyone,
First, I would like to thank everyone that gave suggestions for my “How-to” book. I just ordered it yesterday. While I am waiting a few days for it, I thought that I would start brain storming layout ideas.
Here is some of the things I have in my head:
Would like to have a small coal industry scene.
Would like to have a small town as well.
If possible a small freight yard.
&nbs
If this is HO, your crossover and one turnout will be hard to reach. I would solve the problems:
With hardshell scenery, make the mountain hollow so you could crawl undernieth to service those areas.
With foam scenery(My choice) i would make the center of the large area removible.
I would also add to the diagram, where the buildings will go to make sure there is room.
Keep us posted.
It isn’t too bad for a first try. I am guessing the three tracks to the center of the loop near the top are the small yard, while the three tracks under the turntable and to the left is the small town. That leaves the track on the far right to be the coal area.
I don’t understand the pinching of the passing sidings on either end. For that little amount of space you might just as well make the whole thing double track - but then I don’t know the objective of the two sidings either.
The first thing I would do is to move the turn table into the center of the loop somewhere. It seems most of the space there is wasted. On that same theme, I would move the mine up to an upper layer and snake the track through the center of the layout to get it up there.
I think you could get a lot more track onto the island if it was approached via a crossing rather than the angle from the outside track.
Now that I think about it. This does have some resemblence to the “Jerome & Southwestern”. This was a 4x8 with island layout featured in the 1982-1983 Model Railroader magazine. It now also has its own book something like “A railroad with a personality”. It might be worth your time to hunt it up.
Can you walk all the way around the designated area, or is some of it going to be shoved up against a wall?
Here is a really great web site for small model railroads and shunting puzzles, it may help you with your RR design.
Is it just me or is it really impossible to get to the left inside portion and the right outside portion of that track?
Unless I am misreading the schematic and what I think are turnouts at the top and a crossover at the bottom (?), it works for me, Chip.
I would drag the two turnouts at the left of the main leading to the yard and TT down by one segment so that the lead to the TT bridge can straigthen. Curved approaches to a TT are not considered a good idea due to the tendency for the locomotive to want to nose outward along the curve. As it meets the bridge rails, it will still pressure the bridge outward and derail…at least that is likely.
IF those are turnouts and not a crossover, good. Optical illution I guess.
If this layout is against the wall, there is a reach problem on the left side of the upper set of turnouts. If it is in a corner, then the reach problem is much larger.