OK guys I am finaly going to allow you to laugh at my work. All opinions are welcome! Just keep the laughing to a minimum please, this is my very first lay out. Oh and don’t mine the 105 year old walls. They are not it the best shape, I am hopping to buy a house around the first of the year and I will be out of this Apt. and in a house with my soon to be wife. Links to my lay out will be up in a couple of minuts so bear with me.
Baker
Here is the links to the photos. Oh also don’t mine the planes hanging from the roof. I have them out of my shop room for some remodeling. They will be out of the way in a week or so. Also in a couple of pictures you will see some track layed out. It is only a temp thing. I am trying to figure out what I want to do senery wise. Also Nothing has been glued yet. I am working table by table clamping and pinning things in place as I go along. this way if I don’t like it I can change it easy enough. Most of my foam is scrap from a construction site, so some thing are not long enough and I will be filling in some things.
The chunk missing from the pink foam is going to be a river. That is not the final shape, you just can not see what I have drawn on it.
Here is the pictures and I will leave you with this. My lay out is messy and I will post a drawing of my lay out some time tomorrow so you can see what my plain is!
http://www.photolocker.net/images/FrameLayN88/dcp7129.jpg
http://www.photolocker.net/images/FrameLayN88/dcp7128.jpg
http://www.photolocker.net/images/FrameLayN88/dcp7127.jpg
http://www.photolocker.net/images/FrameLayN88/dcp7126.jpg
http://www.photolocker.net/images/FrameLayN88/dcp7124.jpg
http://www.photolocker.net/images/FrameLayN88/dcp7123.jpg
http://www.photolocker.net/images/FrameLayN88/dcp7122.jpg
Baker
Can’t wait to see the plan. It’s hard to imagine more than a landing strip from the photos. 
give me 5 minutes and I will go ahead and up load the my plain.
Here is the Plain Stain!
http://www.photolocker.net/images/FrameLayN88/dcp7130.jpg
Feel free to ask any questions
Baker
Baker, did you use a template for your turnouts. I think there might be a problem with your yard design–meaning I don’t think it will fit like you have drawn it.
I used RTS 7.0 not the best I have seen but it’s FREE! Please let me know what you see wrong. I would like to fix it before I go any further. I am going to be working in that area tomorrow night!
Thanks for catching it
Baker
Looks like Peco turnouts, they aren’t listed on RTS so they may not fit when you lay them out.
I think the cross over bottom of pic should be the other side of the yard turnout so you can get out of the yard and onto the outer main.
Try drawing it again with Xtrkcad www.sillub.com it’s free too.
Ken.
Thanks for the new cad site. Well it is new to me, I know I will have to make some changes to the lay out because RTS 7.o does not have what I am using.
Thanks
Baker
I used RTS and used different than Atlas track. I ended up with a 4.5 x 8 layout.
If you have problems locating XtrkCAd, send me an e-mail and I will give you a link where you can download it.
Tom
Also I did not build the lay out in RTS just perfect. I just wanted it close. I will be changing some thing I am sure. I also wanted to be able to check my radius before I started to lay it out. To be sure what I was looking for would work.
I will have better pictures up by the weekend. I am getting my hotwire tomorrow. SO I will be able to give you a better picture of what I am after.
Also how to you figure out Grades? I need to go up and down 3"
One inch rise per 100 inches of track = 1% grade. IF you want to go up 3 inches (keep in mind what ever supports the track has to be higher than the tallest train you EVER want to run) at a 2% grade, you need 150 inches of grade.
I am not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean if I am going over another track?
Hmm. You think maybe dumping the innermost loop and getting more yard in the middle? Just a thought.
Yes, if you are going over another track. I guess I was forgetting the track plan.
Well here is thought behind my lay out. I am getting married in September. The lay out will be made up of things we hold dear to us. The church we are getting married in, her mom and dad’s place of work, some other things. I would like to keep it with #3 lines. Although I am thinking about the yard. It will not be that long and I would like to make it longer and like I said up top I am sure something will change.
Any ideas would be a big help.
Thanks
Baker
At this point I would like to ask you what the purpose of the layout is. Prototype railroads have a purpose for every piece of track they lay–it makes them money. What is the purpose of your railroad? It could be that you really want to watch trains run in a circle. It could be that you really haven’t thought about it.
If you haven’t thought about it, this is the time–before you drop anymore money into it. If you suspect that you will get bored with your layout, it is time to step back and design a layout that won’t bore you. If it takes 3 years to build your layout, what will your railroad interests be 3 years from now?
IF you have not done so, you might consider reading Track Planning for Realistic Operations by John Armstrong. It will give you a sense of what it means to design a layout with a purpose.
Ok so I will give in to more details tomorrow after I get home. I have alot to do tomorrow and I hope I will not be home to late as I am leaving about 6AM I should be home by 7-8 Pm or so. I will try and make it back before then if I can.
In addition to the yard that Chip mentioned, I see a couple things that might need addressed.
The innermost curve on the right end of your drawing eyeballs out to be about a 14 inch radius. That’s going to give you a lot of problems, derailments and uncouplings. Using very small locomotives, you can squeak by with 15 inch radius curves, 18 inch radius is considered the absolute minimum for mainline curves, 22 inch radius curves are still a little tight for full size passenger cars and larger locomotives, some people set up 30 or even 40 inch minimum radius curves so that the equipment looks more realistic.
You can’t get from any inner loop to any outer loop except by backing up. Trains tend to derail more often backing up than moving foreward, especially when crossing turnouts, until you get your trackwork finely tuned up.
If I was building this layout for my kids, I’d estimate that it would take at least three years to lay the track, wire it all up, rough in and paint the scenery and get some basic buildings in place. Figuring on $50 per square foot, you’re looking at about $5000 in expenses too. Given that, you may want to plan your layout in the long term, strategic view. Unless your future wife is as into this project as you are, a new marriage will take time away from railroad modelling, pushing basic completion back even further. Also, the space you are in looks pretty crowded from the pictures. I’ve worked in tighter spots, but I have to wonder if you can get that layout out of there when you move. If not, then that needs to be taken into account in your strategic view as well. One option might to be to use what you have for a oval with a few spurs, built for temporary use, while you put together a comprehensive plan and find out how much time you have to work on it after you are married.
Some other useful information in planning a layout can be found here:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=53175