You probably realize that the yard as drawn has no chance of fitting in that space. Just looking at the shape of the benchwork, I think the best place for the yard is the upper right. The benchwork looks like it lends itself to holding a double-ended yard very nicely using #6 turnouts.
I realize the black yard is not to scale just showing where it will be going. I can only use 50 track pieces in my trial of of anyrail
Get XtrackCAD. The full function program is free.
Been watching from the wings for a bit and seems we’ve come full-circle.
Whether a donut or a dogbone, the only way to design your concept, with the grades and broad curves you want, in the area you are working in, is to do it to scale. If the terrain was flat and the curves could be sharper then you could just wing it. But not going to happen. Case in point- even though I missed it, the program pointed out the S-curve issue. If it wasn’t to scale then everyone else probably would have missed it too and when building you would have had a major problem.
So its hard to discuss the track plan much further without getting it all to scale.
I know you have got accustomed to anyrail. If you don’t want to spend the money to buy the program then switch to XtrackCad. It may not be as “pretty” and there is a bit of a learning curve. But for designing a trackplan it works great. One thing I like about it is that you can print the trackplan out full-scale. Then transfer it directly to the layout. That way you can be sure to get those tricky areas just right.
By the way I am 6’3" so have the same benefit of longer reach, but the same downside to crawling under a layout. I can do basic scenery work back to around 3’ but trackwork still gets difficult much beyond 2’. Being in my late 50’s the dogbone made more sense even though it is more limiting and made planning more difficult.
Duckundes long term are just bad.
I think you guys have convinced me to give xtrack cad a shot. If not I can always just save portions of the layout in anyrail and print them off then go to the next section. I also think the full donut duck under will work the best at this stage, I will get more of what I want and a more simple to design layout. I am going to start building the bench work on the top wall and the right since they are going to be the same no matter what design I go with. Thanks guys
I’ve been following along and there has been very much good advice. My advice for what its worth would be make sure you get what you want in your plan but don’t over wish itand if you want a dog bone then build it that way, build the proper type of benchwork that is going to work for your plan, higher is better although you need to get use to working off a solid 4 legged step latter working back to front, definately work through learning xtrackcad as I’ve been using it for years and have gone through 3 layouts and what you design and what you print for track work /benchwork will be 99% accurate. With those long cars you will defiantely have to be careful with the S curves as they just won’t look right, I model in the early era with steam and short cars so I enjoy my S curves.Please don’t build your layout around the need for a big yard, big yards can be over rated.
Thanks for the advice wickman, I am still debating on the height of the bench work, but it will probably be around 50" to get the table over the top of 3 electrical outlets that I want under the table. I will definitely spend a lot of time on the final track plan once I am ready to lay track to prevent the s curves.
If your planning any water ways keep in mind 50 inches is about where your water ways would be on there base and everything else would beup from there. Definately good thinking with the outlets, I made that mistake on my last layout and on this layout I’m raised quite a bit , probably starting at around 60" maybe less and I’m 5-8".
Is there a video tutorial that meets my grumpy requirements
a) It has sound
b) Is a screen capture video, not a camera positioned at an angle and too far away to see what buttons are pushed nor a video of some guy giving a lecture on how to use it.
Rant mode off, I feel better.
Hey Guys,
I have been MIA for awhile, but I have finished the preliminary benchwork for my layout. Here is a photo.
I have both a loop of HO up and a loop of O-27 as well so that i can watch trains roll a little bit as i work on models and designing the layout.
Here are the dimensions of the table
Now its time to get busy designing my layout!
You might want to check the reach, especially on the left and near the tool chest. Much more than 24" and getting to those spots may be an issue. Believe me, I know this from experience.
Thanks for the advice bearman. The reach is good everywhere i have checked thanks.
So here is the beginning of my design. I will be building the virginian layout first on the 4x8 then going to build the rest. I still need lots of planning on the rest of the layout with industries and operations needed, and potentially another yard. The main take aways from the unplanned section will be a mainline loop connecting to the virginian with #6 turnouts and a 30" minimmum curve radius. There is also a 18" min curve radius that will support industries in the foothills and wind its way through the mountains.
Here it is
“Duckundes long term are just bad.”
Amen, brother, amen!
Hey guys, can you take a luck at this latest layout, my issues with this is I know it won’t work, I just can’t figure out why it doesn’t and how to fix it. It’s the Virginian on the 4x8 then a mainline connecting into it. The problem I see is the incline leading out of the Virginian into the mountains loops around and enters the virginian in the wrong direction on the Virginian, which means the flow of electricity will not work correct? How do I fix this? I am trying to plan on which turnouts I need to buy. Thanks
Remember that the Virginian layout has a ridge diagonally that blocks the view to the other side. Its designed to walk around the layout. Your large loop blocks your ability to walk around it without ducking under the benchwork during operation. That could be a real headknocker.
Thanks for the advice, but the duckunder doesnt bother me, its about chest height. I can also see everything on the other side of the ridge except for one track in the yard. (I am quite tall and can see over it.)
Can anyone help on how to adjust the mainline or track leading off the virginian ridge to the rest of the layout so that it will re enter the viginian traveling the same direction around the virginian loops as it did before.
The way it is now a train would loop around the virginian go up the ridge then proceed out into the rest of the looped layout, however it would merge back with the mainline and enter the virgianian traveling the opposite way and never being able to get back on the track heading back up the ridge from this direction. This would also cause a short i believe correct?