Greetings all! My wife and I are getting back into the hobby after a long absense. (I’m lucky enough to have a wife that also loves the hobby!)
One of the things that has held me back for years is… I’m not a track-planning type person. So I’ve always looked for plans that suit our needs, and/or alter for our own use. We finally found a plan in the Dec 2013 issue that fit our needs and fit our space! Very excited! I’ve made a few alterations… but need feedback from more experienced planners.
Layout requirements:
- Continual main-line running (for my wife)
- Some switching (for me)
- 22" min. radius curves
- #6 min. turnouts
- 30" min. aisle widths (main aisle is approx 48")
- Code 83 Peco
- DCC (Digitrax)
The biggest change we made to the plan was changing the peninsula into a mushroom. Previously, the mainline passed through a scenic divider over on the left (where the wye is). I’m incredibly fortunate to have a wife who is into the hobby… she requested a longer main run. So, now we have the mushroom. (It’s the
You don’t mention your choice of era or what type of equipment you intend to run, so it’s hard to say if that 22" curve will be a problem. At 22" if you want to run small early 1900’s vintage steam or 4-axle first generation diesels with cars no more than 50’, you can get away with it functionally. The issue will be appearance - especially since you will view the trains from outside the curve where the effect of the tight radius looks the worst.
OTOH, it is OK to create a short choke point in your aisle. You can widen that turnback curve to allow you to run longer stuff without causing much trouble for walking around. Think of the width of the interior doors in your house. You wouldn’t people standing there, but getting through one at a time is no big deal. Just don’t put a feature of the layout in a position that would invite standing in the choke point.
Make sure you put a section of Atlas rerailer track inside tunnels and hidden track areas.
South Penn
You can make the circlular bulb in the middle pier wider and use 24 inch radius or maybe 26 inch radius. Other wise it looks good. Will there be much elevation or grade on the run?
Thanks Carl!
Oops… and here I thought I mentioned everything. 
The plan is for transition-era, likely early '60s.
I never thought about choke-points like a doorway… that helped immenesly. Maybe I’ll change that to a 26" turnback… I think I can keep the tight points in the aisle to 30"… certainly no less than 24-26"
Thanks for the advice! I’m going to redraw with a 26" and see how it affects the aisle-width?
Elevation is one thing I need advice on. I wanted to do a climb from the middle-bottom of the run and drop it back down at the top. (Due to the pass-throughs in the shared backdrop, both scenes need to be level…)
Would a 2% grade gain me enough for a hilly/mountain scene on the right side?
I agree with WVWoodman’s suggestion to widen the return loop on the penninsula. The lower aisle looks to be about 44" wide at the narrowest point between the loop and the lower (south?) benchwork. If you go to 24" radius and expand the loop towards the bottom side only you will lose 4" of lower aisle space, leaving 40" at the pass through. At 25" radius you will leave a 38" aisle, etc. etc. Even at 36" (= 26" radius) the pass through will still be comfortable for one person at a time. That will still leave you with about the same 4’ x 9’ lower aisle space which you have in your plan. That should be OK for moving past another operator, depending on peoples’ sizes of course.
The upper pass through is only 26" or so. I would do a mock up of that including whatever structures and scenery might be close to it to see if you are comfortable. Definately no telephone poles, crossing gates, etc. and consider leaving your structures loose in the area so that they can move if they are bumped.
Dave
To maintain the 30" min walkway, you can cut into the benchwork of the sides to match the mushroom, had to do that on mine.
I didn’t see what type of rolling stock or what era you are planning on but 22-inch radii in your original plan is going to severely limit what you can run. I’d agree with the others that you try to increase that minimum as much as possible. If you get get it up to 26-inches like you mentioned, it could make a major difference in your ability to operate a wider variety of rolling stock - including passenger cars, longer freight cars or even steam.
I’ve got a 10x18 foot room so it’s a smaller space and built an around the wall layout with 32-inch minimum radius curves to allow me to run 1960-1980’s equipment including autoracks, 89’ TOFC flat cars and of course passenger cars. Even on 32 inch curves, those long cars don’t look the best but they should operate smoothly enough.
My tightest is 22" (and I’m required to wear “wide load” flags when riding a bicycle), but I never have more than 2 people in the room at a time - usually it’s only me.
Remember also that you can squeeze the shelf against the wall down at that point as well. If you make a 3’ section of the benchwork 12" deep instead of 18 like you have drawn, you can probably get the radius up to 30".
Good to know!
I’m recreating the plan in AnyRail now, with the turnback curve at 26" or 28"… with the benchwork widening at the bottom as several of you have suggested.
Boy, punching it into the software is certainly more finicky that sketching. 
Flex track is a pain! LOL
I think you have a good start. The only things I noticed (because I like switching) is the lack of a yard lead and caboose/engine tracks in the yard and some of the runarounds look kind of short.
Maybe your trains will be short, but why not make the run around a bit longer, or add a passing siding where there are runarounds (long run around moves can get tedious). The runaround just above the yard (on the other side of the backdrop) isn’t on the main, if that’s an industry specific thing, that’s fine, but if not, it could be eliminated and that area could be a good place for a long passing siding (could also be used as visible staging). That way, you can stay off the main so your wife doesn’t have to stop running.
While the plan is pretty much to scale, it doesn’t look exactly to scale (some turnouts look sharper than #4? or is that just my eyes fooling me? As you refine your plan, use a bigger scale (you’ll have to tape several sheets together); for my final plans of small layouts/modules (2’x12’ switching layout and 10’x12’ module set) I like 1 square = 2 inches, so the track centerlines for passing tracks are easier to draw (and turnouts are easy too…1 square up and 6 over makes a #6. Don’t forget to leave a little ‘fudge factor’ space…make turnouts no closer than 4" apart; when you lay track, you might be able to place them closer, which will give you a little more space, but if you cram too much in, it’s tough to find extra space if you need it when you get around to laying track. But judging from your style, you don’t seem to have too much crammed in so you have about the right amount of ‘fudge’.lol
As far as grades, I’d leave them out…just for simplicity sake. You can put a little bit of a grade for scenery, but no need to for operations (trying to get one track over another). Construction will be easier (and quicker) and you can test run trains sooner.
I know a lot of people don’
Thanks for all that feedback delray! I’ve added a caboose track. I’m trying NOT to go crazy with track, as you’ve noted. All turnouts are #6, except for a few curved turnouts and double-slip I’ve added near my grain elevator.
I did add a double-crossover in the yard, where there was a couple of #6’s before. Too much?
I’ve also extended the passing track on the north wall, so that it’s almost the full length of the bench. My wife can run her passenger train while I zip by with freight.
I think I’ll take your advice, and keep any elevation changes minimal.