Hey guys, just getting back into this hobby after a 25 year or so break while flyin round the world for Uncle Sam. I am going with N for now while I am in a small apartment, and just picked up a hollow core door today. I am loosely following the trackplan of the Carolina Central from the book N Scale Model Railroading. It also appears in Model trains step by step.
The the plan calls for a 28 by 80 door. Well I have a 32 by 80 door, so I plan on modifying it a bit by using a bit broader curves etc. I am going to attempt to post it here in a sec. I used xtracad with the sectional track components, but I really want to use atlas code 55 flex track and turnouts instead. My question is, would the # 5 turnouts be ok to use instead of the #4s called for in the plan. I can’t see any problems myself but I want to make sure I am not overlooking something before I mail order all the track components.
I am brand new to this software and haven’t figured out the ways of using flextrack on curves etc. It seems kind of finicky, but that is probably user error not the software’s fault! With the extra width I have on this door, I shouldn’t have a problem, but just wanted some opinions or tips. I am also trying to find a place in the east bay area of N cal that sells the blue or pink foam. No luck at Home deopt or Lowes. I’ve read they have it down in San Jose, but that is a bit of a drive for me.
Just picked up an atlas GP-40 and a set of athern BethGon Coalporters as my first rolling stock. I wanted to stick to a 4 axle unit for now until I see how the curves and turnouts workout. Great Forum by the way, I have learned a ton since starting to read it for the last month or so. Thanks in advance for any help.
Ed
PS If anyone can tell me how to paste a bitmap or jpeg into this forum I would be greatful too!
Yes you can use #5 or #6 the larger the better. The blue foam board should be at Home depot or Lowes both carry it here in Kansas.
When I post pics I open another window and goto the pic I want to post. Right click properties hylite location all of it copy then on my post new reply the icon on format line with mountain (insert pic) click it put cursor between brackets( img here /img) right click paste. (img http://www.railimages.com/albums/earlfrye/aae.jpgDBgy1J.sQd /img) I took out brackets so you can see what I meant.
Derail NTRAK corner
Sorry, the link doesn’t work for me. I get a ‘page not available’ error. Could be the server, could be my ISP, I never know!
For posting pictures, you will need to use a hosting site for your pictures. The two most popular are railimages.com and photobucket.com. I use photobucket.com and prefer them. This forum requires a special syntax to display a picture, which I can never remember! Pictures on photobucket have three different URL’s listed below each picture, each with a different syntax. The third line is the correct syntax for posting to this site.
Log on to one or the other, sign up for a free album. Follow the host site’s instructions for uploading pictures from your computer to your online album.
When you want to post a picture here, open your album in addition to this site. In photobucket, click once on the third URL, then right click, then click “copy”. Come back to this site. In a reply box, right click once, click on “paste”. The URL will be listed in your reply. It’s that simple. Takes more time to describe how to do it than it take to actually do it!
Railimages is a little different. I haven’t used it much and don’t remember the posting procedure. If you use railimages.com and need help, post a question here and someone will be able to help you.
Hope this helps. Everyone (almost everyone!) here likes to see pictures.
If you choose to use Railimages to host your pictures, the procedure is much the same as Darrell has explained.
Open your Railimages link in a separate window.
Find the picture you want, right click it and select properties.
You will see a line called Address (URL). Highlight and copy this.
Paste it in a forum message between the words (tags) img and /img as follows:
img<-paste your link here->/img
Put a left bracket [ before the tag img and a right bracket ] after each tag img. Be sure the left bracket on the last tag includes the /. Should look like [/
Sorry this stuff is so geeky [:)]
It becomes second nature once you do it a couple of times.
Yours is very similar to my N-Scale layout, vintage 1981. Except I had two levels. The town and staging on the lower and the mine on the top.
If you are going to use the back to tracks as staging, I would add a third track.
Minimum radius on mainline 11". Radius on mine spur 9 3/4".
This is not quite to scale since the track loop extended right to the ends of the 8’.
That is a very flexible trackplan. MR featured a version of it called the Jefferson and W Memphis and it has always been one of my favorites.
Let me tell you how you can operate it in a very prototypical manner. If you keep a eastbound and westbound trains in the tracks at the top, you can run them to the town in sequence to do work or together to do a meet or alternate between the two. One other option is to “narrow” the plan back again and use the space in the foreground to add a 2nd (or 3rd) yard track that doesn’t go all the way to the edge of the table. You might even want to move the switch to the off layout connection down 5-6" and put a left hand switch to the left of it with a short spur track for an engine pocket. Then you could base a switcher a your town and have the two trains in the back come around, set out cars, pick up cars and go back to the “staging” (the tracks in the back) Then the switcher could switch up the set outs, spot the industries and deliver the interchange, the track off to the right could be an interchange track to bring new cars on and off the layout.
You know, if you want to plan with the Atlas code 55 templates all you have to do is aownload the Atlas track planing software and the code 55 templates are all there, including the wye turnout. It’s free, so the price is right. Here’s a link;
