Well for a guy that has no skills working with wood, tools, etc…heck, can’t even read a tape measure, i sure did somthing stupid. My friend built a layout for me years ago which he designed on his CAD. Through years of moving and storage it sure needs some tlc. So i thought well, now is the time to make a bigger yard, put in some better track, and give it an upgrade. So here i sit with only wood modules and a few thoughts in my head. I tore all the track up and ordered new track and disconnected the wiring. Now i’m really stuck. Drawing a plan on paper seems to let you add more stuff than you have room for and i tried useing my old track to layout a new plan for a yard but that seems to not give you the best picture either. Then i thought of just building as i go but i will use foam and we all know too many nail holes will ruin laying track. So, where do i start? What do i do now? I have read some forums here about curves (which also i need to know as far as space goes) and you might as well talk greek to me cause i don’t know what they are saying. Is their anyone that would be a good guy and mentor me and guide me one on one on how to start with a design, curves, etc. I would be so thankfull. Let me know.
Thank you.
Brian M. BHC, AZ
You need to wipe that clutter clean in the head and start over.
What sort of trains do you want to run?
How do you want to spend your time with the space availible?
What time period are you modeling?
Do you have a favorite engine or rollingstock?
Curve Radius doubled equals total space needed for a circle of track plus a few inches.
Drawings and plans always are a little too tight, need to allow for room to wriggle, literally as you find industries etc.
Plan main, yard, engine facilities, passing sidings (Ideally train length) and towns etc. Scenic features and industry are last. If you already built a few industries like I did then you need to map out precisely how much space (Length and width) plus height if needed and THEN learn how much track length you will need for that industry.
Go easy, go slow. Learn as you draw.
back to books, websights and lots of information related to planning.
Take a little peice at a time and work it out. DONT allow yourself to be buried in so much information that you get paralyzed and unable to function.
One other little thing. We buy way too much train stuff. Pick what you will use every day on the railroad and store the rest.
Going along with what these two have said, Spacemouse’s Beginner’s Guide to Layout Design will help point you in the right direction.
Chip has some really good pointers in there so that you can start to flesh out your givens and druthers (the stuff you’re stuck with - eg a pipe on that wall there, and the stuff YOU want - eg the NYC 20th Century Limited). With that in hand, you can start asking more pointed questions, and get much better answers from the guys (and gals) here.
Two starting thoughts. 1. Since you have the wood modules and track (both old and new), setting it out in the actual space is probably the best way to visualize things. Don’t connect it together with the joiners, just lay it on the surface. I must have laid out 10s of designs before I started getting ones that looked right. I remembered the good things from each and encorporated those into the next. I always keep a flat section of board and wide selection of track pieces available so I can layout ideas I have.
- Many people now glue the track down rather than using nails. That will negate your nail hole issue. In fact, unglueing from foam is much easier than unglueing from wood or cork.
Then along the vein of what the others have said. What space are we talking about here and what sort of a railroad do you have in mind?
Often a new person doesn’t even know what some of the things in the model railroad planning books are talking about, so I might recommend getting a book of pre-designed railroad layouts (try the library). Look at them and start finding the elements of those plans that you like. I have two almost memorized: Custom Line Layouts HO Scale Railroads by Atlas and 101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders by Linn Westcott. It doesn’t even matter if you are NOT doing HO scale, the elements and concepts in the plans are universal.
Space Mouse’s site mentioned above is interesting since he was a newbie just a couple years ago… I guess almost three now.
It might also be interesting to follow a couple other people whos layouts started from ground zero like Grandpa Coyote
Well, i model the CNW in the late 60’s early 70’s and i have a 5 stall roundhouse i want to add and instead of a turntable i want to use tracks. CNW used tracks when there was no room for a turntable and it was too costly. Plus i will put the coaling tower on the mainline which CNW did to keep trains on the move and it will help me with space. Thank you for your opinions. Are their ways to have everything you want in little space?
I found some layout planning software to be invaluable. There are some you can buy, but the free one from the Atlas site is simple to download and use.
http://www.atlasrr.com/righttrack.htm
You don’t really need to buy Atlas track to make it work. It can show you the possibilities of fitting different radii in chosen spaces.