Hey guys, new to the site, been reading a lot of good stuff on here. I am getting ready to build a layout, in the past i have only had room to build a 4x8 layout, now I have a huge basement and have room to build a big layout. my question is i would like to have some nice passenger cars on my track what type of radius do you need and how can you figuer out how big to build your base, i guess my question is how wide of a table do i need to fit a nice radius?
Thanks,
Craig.
Craig
To answer the radius question first - there is both an NMRA RP on recommended radius at http://www.nmra.org/standards/sandrp/rp-11.html and a Layout Design Special Interest Group Rule of Thumb at http://www.macrodyn.com/ldsig/wiki/index.php?title=Curve_radius_rule-of-thumb. For full scale passenger cars, the recommended minimum radius is going to be between 32" and 40", depending on which recommendation you use. Bigger radius will yield improved appearance. In practical usage, 30" radius is generally an accepted minimum for full length passenger cars. But at 30", chances are sooner or later there will be a car or combination of cars that won’t work without some modification. Diaphrams are unlikely to work at 30" radius on full length cars.
The second bad news is that reaching to the center of benchwork more than 60" wide - requires aisles on both sides - is almost impossible for a layout at reasonable height. A 60" wide layout with aisles on both sides has a maximum possible radius of 28" at the ends. Which is why you see most large layouts go around the walls with aisles in the middle instead of the outside. I strongly recommend you leave the “train table” concept behind along with the 4x8. John Armstrong’s Track Planning for Realistic Operation or Iain Rice&
Concur 100% to what Fred says.
Hi,
Fred told it all. However you could have a look at the Heart Of Georgia.
The footprint is a donut (doughnut), and it could be constructed in the corner of your huge basement. Radii are between 24" and 27", pretty small to “Fred’s” standards. Especially have a look at the last two pictures. The passenger train is not really looking good on those tight radii and turnouts.
BTW John Armstrong advised to leave 4" at least between the minimum radius and the edge of the layout, so a parallel track could be added if needed. With a minimum radius of 30", table width would be 68". Even with aisles at both sides reaching in might be difficult.
Smile
Paul
LION had some nice brass 85’ passenger cars that he bought in Japan (while in the Navy). I could never run them on any layout I ever built. The were and will remain “Station Queens” they look good but they are not scheduled to leave the station just yet.
And that is of course one way you can model a long passenger train on a smaller layout.
To have 32+" curves they need to be in the corners. Since this is in a basement, you could run around all four walls since the stairway comes down in the middle somewhere , and the train can tunnel past it.
Of course you also need room for boilers, washers, driers, water heaters, and a workbench. Some of these can be under a train table others cannot, but neither can they be blocked in by a layout.
Look at the basement, picture different elements in different places. Consider a long loop of 2’ wide tables with the 30+" curves with the rest of the layout elsewhere.
LION did an arrangement with the main station in the middle of the room, and the long trains ran on and off stage from staging tracks not too far away. If this is a mid-route station, trains will just pass through. If this is a terminal then you will want to break up trains and re build them for their next departure. This alone is a very fine operation. It does not have long trains sweeping across vast vistas, but for that you need a really big basement.
Give me a picture of a room, and let us look at it to see what features will fit where. Do not forget the locations of basement utilities.
ROAR
Craig,
As big as you can get away with. For a absolute minimum, I would settle for nothing less than R30" for running passenger cars. R36" and larger curves will make those passenger cars both look and operate better.
For table width, it’s best to minimize your reach to 30" or less for access on one side. That means that if you have access on two sides that are opposite from one another, your maximum table width will be 60". Subtract 2" minimum for your track from the edges and the largest curves would be R28".
Now, this can be maximized substantially if you are planning an around the wall shelf layout. The curves can be greater because your access is only on one side. For any peninsulas, a backdrop can dictate how wide your benchwork will be and allow you to maximize your curve radii.
Tom
Thanks guys, I am very excited and at first i was going to build a layout that was huge, but have decided not to due to my lack of building, might be overwelmins and stop, so I am thinking smaller now and thinking of a U-shape the bottome of the u would be about 15 feet long and the ends would dog bone out with a big radius. I am heading to the hobby store today and pick up my DCC system and a Loco with sound. Should be a fun start to a great project with the kids, they are excited to help build. Thanks again.
Craig
Thanks Paul, i did take a look at this, I do like the H.O.G. but i think its the square one right? this looks like a good size, not to overwelming. and looks like has a lot or room for growth. Plans for bench work are very nice. Might just go that rought.
will do, and thanks for the advise.
Merry Christmas and Happy new year to you folks!
Craig
Hey guys, hope everybody had a GREAT Christmas.
Well i got started on my bench work, just like the hog, only diffrent, instead of 10 X 10 with 1 foot wide track area, i went with a 13 X 8, with 2 foot wide track area. I can not figuer out how to post a picture other wise I do thank you guys for the input and i am sure it will only be one of many questions to come.
How to post a photo. You will need to host it on a 3rd party site.
Create an account somewhere. I use Photobucket An account is free.
Upload your images to your new account.
Copy the [IMG] link to your photos and paste them in your post.
Add more links (or text) to make your post. The forum software will automatically adjust the size for you.
Brad
Good morning Gents,
As noted i have the benchwork completed for my HO set up, i tried laying some track last night and after looking at many model RR mag issues, i have not been able to come up with a good layout not as easy as i thought, my layout is a 13’ X 8’ track area is 2’ wide, center is open, Do you guys have any ideas of a good layout? would like to have a switching yard on it somewere.
Thanks Craig