12 inch grid, #6 turnouts, 20 inch radius in tunnels and 24-30 inch radius’ elsewhere. I kept the track perpendicular where it crosses the benchwork lines so I can dismantle move out if neccessary. Benchwork lines are where it would be seperated.
I was planning on running 4 axle power (Geeps etc) 60-70s era or maybe transition era to run some small steamers. I have it setup to pull 5-7 40’ coal hoppers. Plan is for having a coal mine at the upper left and some kind of logging operation to the right(in the blob) with 2% grade leading to it just to provide more vertical seperation from tunnel exit , some kind of small town near the river (no depot) maybe with a little spur for a small mill or warehouse. I planned to add a small tail track (like on the Beer Line) for the runaround in the yard and am not concerned about a long yard lead, all movements in the yard will have to be 2 cars max. I am going to shift the yard to the left a little more to fit a turntable in if I decide on steam power and probably add a turn table in the logging area. I will also fine tune the track in the coal mine when I know what size the stuctures will be.
Keep in mind that this is going to be freelanced mom n pop operation that might even have a freelanced road name, with scenery based on Wyoming or Montana.
I like it. Good and “roomy” with expansion capabilities build right in. Others here will have more elaborate answers, questions, comments, etc. I wish you the best!
Access from all 4 sides? Show the room with the plan so we can see all problems.
You’ll want your best work in hidden tunnels. Your 20” min radius should out in the open. With that equipment you’re going to want 24” as min radius if at all possible. Place a re-railer just inside each tunnel, before and after each turn on hidden track, and every 3’ on hidden track……… trust me on this.
NO curves AND an incline on hidden tarckage at the same time – EVER!
Speaking of tunnels you have like 7’ reach from either end of the tunnel on the upper right. How will you get the train car that derails from inside? It will happen, just a matter of when.
The length of track for the grade will be a little over 20’. I used MS Paint to mark the locations and are not exact. The actual percent is 2.289 and should have stated it as 2.3%
I am not sure what you mean by having the 20" radius in the open. I put the smallest radius on the layout in the tunnels to hide them. The smallest radius that is viewable is 24" From what I have read, it looks more realistic to have wider curves. No?
MR 102 Realistic Track Plans page 17, written by Andy Sperandeo states “sharp curves in HO as 18” and “Matching rolling stock to curvature - Sharp: small steam steam engines (2-8-0, 4-6-0), most four-axle diesels, short (60-scale-foot) passenger cars, freight cars under 60 feet in length.” I thought I would be in good shape with a little bigger curve and 40’ hoppers. I have no experience with model railroading at all! However, I am watching a Kato SD-70MAC pulling two 50’ long box cars around my kids 36"x48" track with 18" curves at full throttle with the horn going non-stop. It doesn’t look very good and I imagine not good for the lifespan of the wheels, but has not derailed or uncoupled yet.
The tunnells will be open from below the layout.
I did not bother to add the room demensions, as I did not feel it would be relevent. The room is 36 feet from left to right and 30 feet from top to bottom with the stairs going up at 8 feet away, straight down from the “blob” on the right. It will have an exterior wall to the left of the yard and at the top of the plan and an exterior wall 15 feet away to the right. I stopped the layout at 21’ from the left because of a window just short of 22’ from the left.
There are several plans listed in MR 101 track plans and MR 102 Realistic
Why a logging operation? Seems there are lots of other industries that could provide more traffic and more interesting mix of equipment. Where will the mill be? Generally log boggies were not allowed to go through interchange.
So the tail track (to the siding on the far left) is also going to have a crossover to one of the other tracks to the right?
could be cool but turntables consume quite a bit of space. I suppose not so bad if you don’t consider a round house too.
So the interchange with the real world is going to be the most important spur on the railroad. Which one is that? Maybe you could run the interchange railroad down to hidden staging under the loop on the right (an out and back type thing).
Have you chosen an interchanging railroad? For Wyoming I thought of C&S, CB&Q, and UP. For Montana there is CB&Q, NP, GN, CMStP&P. Mostly just curious…
For the layout itself. Seems there is a lot of track that is straight and even with the edges of the bench.
Logging camp because I thought it would fit with the time and location. Plus, I have have seen a lot of nice photos of logging ops in MR. I am open to suggestions, I just need it to fit with a “out in the sticks” kind of theme.
I thought maybe a lumber mill to bring all those logs to, near the river in the center of layout toward the front.
Turntables only, just for turning the steamers around. I like the deisel engines my self, only reason I would do steamers is because I know my dad likes them and think he would enjoy coming over to play trains with me.
As for the straight track, I planned to manipulate the track on the table to flow with river, terrain etc. I just like the CAD for getting a good idea of critical placement of curves, exact height and location of risers for the grade and fitting turnouts. I feel my eye can produce a more natural look then I can with the computer.
As for the interchange, that will be the yard. If I where to go all out and fill the basement with track, I would start by expanding the yard another 10’-12’ long, then GN or NP mainline from there. For now the yard will be visable staging.
My goal is to build something a little bigger then a 4x8 yet be able to dismantle and move when the time comes. I only plan to stay here until my youngest kid is in middle school. This is why all the bench work lines do not exceed 8’ lond or 4’ wide (hence the reason for tail track on yard)
The length of track for the grade will be a little over 20’. I used MS Paint to mark the locations and are not exact. The actual percent is 2.289 and should have stated it as 2.3%
You stated 2% in the OP and 2.2% for a 6" elevation gain in picture. It’s a math thing that’s why I mentioned it
I am not sure what you mean by having the 20" radius in the open. I put the smallest radius on the layout in the tunnels to hide them. The smallest radius that is viewable is 24" From what I have read, it looks more realistic to have wider curves. No?
In the open as opposed to hidden in the tunnel. While it looks better to have wider radius, the reason I stated this was that they also perform better too. You don’t want the lesser performing track in a tunnel. While you might be able to get to it from below, do you really want to work on it from there? (or worse, replace it) See the reference below
MR 102 Realistic Track Plans page 17, written by Andy Sperandeo states “sharp curves in HO as 18” and “Matching rolling stock to curvature - Sharp: small steam steam engines (2-8-0, 4-6-0), most four-axle diesels, short (60-scale-foot) passenger cars, freight cars under 60 feet in length.” I thought I would be in good shape with a little bigger curve and 40’ hoppers. I have no experience with model railroading at all! However, I am watching a Kato SD-70MAC pulling two 50’ long box cars around my kids 36"x48" track with 18" curves at full throttle with the horn going non-stop. It doesn’t look very good and I imagine not good for the lifespan of the wheels, but has not derailed or uncoupled yet.
There is an earlier thread - My First Tunnel - worth looking at.
Rattled has good advice, your best track work needs to be where ever it is hidden or otherwise inaccessible. It’s a one of the variations on Murphy’s Law specifically for model railroading.
As to the curve radius, larger is better especially in hidden areas. There is an article in the Jan 2009 Model Railroad Hobbyist by Joe Fugate on the effect of curve radius on rolling stock that is worth reading as is the one on S Curves by Tim Warris (the videos are interesting). You can find the back issue [here].
The S-Curves article is a little misleading, IMHO, because many of the examples are of someone gripping one of two coupled cars in the middle and shoving the two cars through an s-curve.
This is not a real-life model situation, except for BRIO layouts. In my experience with different scales and gauges, the build up of forces as a loco shoves cars of mixed lengths through an s-curve is complex and can lead much more easily to derailments than is suggested by the videos. Builder beware.
Without going into the specifics of the original design, I’ll say that an experienced designer would probably make different choices in this much benchwork and particularly in that much space in the room.
I think it’s often very difficult for one to come up with a satisfying design with little model railroading experience and exposure.
An excellent resource for someone wishing to design their own layout is John Armstrong’s book Track Planning for Realistic Operation. It takes time to build a foundation of knowledge in the hobby, but this leads to a more engaging and satisfying layout.