After some trials and tribulations with XTrkCad, I finally managed to create to scale what I had drawn on paper. Now I’ll attempt to post the picture of the layout for your review and suggestions.
Layout notes: The room is accessed through the bottom left corner of the drawing, with an aisle along the bottom of the layout to the aisle marked 36.500". The yard actually extends another 3 feet below the drawing. HO scale, before I forget tomention that. The outer most 2 tracks are my mainline, minimum radius is 24". Inner 2 tracks are for branchline railroad, limited to 4 axle power with an 18" minimum radius.
I know I need to add more customers for the mainline to service. On the left side of the drawing, there are 3 30 degree crossovers. The crossovers lead into a 5’ by 2’ alcove that will be heavily industried. At the blob end of the layout, the circle is supposed to be a helix climbing to a second level…to come later.
Thanks for any insight or advice you can throw my way. I am going DCC from the get-go, in case anybody was going to ask.
Don, nice looking plan so far. I take it from your comment about industries that one of your goals is a layout for operation. If that is the case, then an awful lot of your real estate has gone into the helix and the roundhouse. I have scrapped plans for a modelled roundhouse on my layout because it was using up too much space. Anyway, just a thought.
Reaching the yard tracks in the corner behind the turntable could be a problem especially if you are putting in a roundhouse there. I have my turntable and roundhouse in a similar position, inside the curve. My tracks going into the corner are a double track main line but I have a lift out section for emergency access. Can you fit an access hatch in the corner behind the yard tracks?
The way the branch line terminates in the roundhouse looks funny. It almost seems like it is designed to run trains through the turntable [;)] I guess it almost looks narrow gaugeish. I would think that if this was the end of the line, then there would also be a run-around, rip track, and caboose set off track.
Either way the forthcoming heavy industrial area is accessible only via switchback. Was that intentional?
By the way, I really like the way the industrial area access looks like the crossing of two railroads with a small interchange. I think that will be really photogenic when completed.
Thanks for the comments! I guess I need to clarify the plan as I see it in my mind. The horizontal track directly above the roundhouse tracks will be my RIP track. The branchline doesn’t terminate at the roundhouse turntable; it originates there. Here is my operating scenario:
At the beginning of the work day, the branchline power leaves the turntable out onto the tracks situated at about 10 or 11 o’clock in respect to the turntable. At the first turnout, they will take the needed track to get them to their duties. The straight leg of the branchline will deliver them to the 30 degree crossing interlocker, where they will cross the mainline tracks into the industry alcove that isn’t shown to retrive loads from the previous night shift. The loads will then be taken back across the mainline and staged while the power does a run-around. The loads are then taken past the peninsula industries towards the bottom of the layout, proceeding around the outside of the helix and back up along the outside of the mainline. The branchline will have track rights from that turnout back to the yard, entering the yard on the 2 innermost yard tracks to drop off. (I just noticed I need a cross-over from the outside main to the inner mainline)
If their duties have them working with the peninsula industry, (which has its own dedicated switcher) they will take the leg of the first branchline turnout to go to the peninsula and receive loads or deliver empties as needed. There is also a grain elevator below the peninsula to be serviced. These cars will also make the loop back around to the inner yard tracks.
The branchline has permission to use the inner mainline track to travel the helix to get to the branchline operations on the upper level. Both the mainline railroad and the branchline railroad have customers on the upper level.
I hope this helps everyone understand the plan a little better…oh yeah, I know I’m asking for trouble with the yard swe
I like it, especially the industrial section on the left. The previous post is right about the round house, i is a destination, not a thruway. If it were me I would add another track in at the Right bottom of the roundhouse and loose the tracks in at the top and maybe shave off a stall or two from the top of the round house. That would free up room across the top to add in more industries.
You could double your fun if you switched to N scale.
I know I could have a much bigger empire if this were N scale, but since I already own over 950 pieces of rolling stock, I don’t see that happening! Perhaps if I win the lottery, I could have the best of both worlds and add an N scale layout in a separate building…
Ok, yes that helps. But brings up another fuzzy point.
So the locomotive pulls across and takes the train to the “straight leg of the branchline”. Where it cuts off and runs around on the “leg of the branchline”. Now the train is pointing the other direction, but I don’t see how it is going to get onto the track to get past the peninsula industries, without backing the entire train past the first turnout of the branch.
I guess one could see-saw into it by pulling across the mains, back into the elevator siding, pull forward into the “leg of the branchline” track, and then run around.
Boy, it is hard to describe movements … Hope that (question) is clear as mud.
Thanks for your help! I see now that I had the run-around in my mind, but i forgot to include it on my drawing…thanks for keeping me pointed in the right direction, so to speak.
By the way, I forgot to mention the the mainline power leaves the turntable towards the lower right to go to the yard for outbound trains. I couldn’t find a double crossover in XTrkCad so I left them off of the diagram.
Besides the curve behind the roundhouse, I see a lot of other areas where reach will be a problem. The traditional “maximum reach” is 30 inches. With a 60-inch wide walkaround table layout, I just hit that number all the way down the centerline. From personal experience, it’s tough to do scenery and particularly trackwork, even with a 30-inch reach.
You might want to consider re-aligning some of the foreground trackwork so you can add access hatches. If they go in before the track is laid, you’ll have an easier time of it down the line.
Thanks for the tip! I found what you were talking about and did the same…used the measurements from the Walther’s catalog and created one. I guess I need to upload my edited design with the corrections added.
Great looking drafting plan. I see that you have a helix. If I were you, I wouldn’t go more than a 2 percent hill down that helix. People have had problems of the slack on a train sliding in and derailing it on the helix so becareful there. Other wise the whole thing looks great. Give us some pics when it first gets coming along.
Don, from what I see you have a great plan to go by, like bukworm said. it would be nice if you could go to "N"scale you would have more room for an empire. By the way if you have any more questions please feel free to ask, and any of us will be more that happy to help. HAPPY MODELRAILROADING
I just wanted to say ‘Thanks!’ for all of the helpful comments and suggestions. I’ve started construction on the benchwork, having completed all of the framing for the lower level…now, time to get the gameroom cleaned out and claimed as railroad territory. Lucky for me, the wife agreed the gameroom would be mine when we built the house! I’ll try to figure out how to add pictures online to share the progress with everyone.
