I am planning on building two 3 x 4 ft modules for a club layout ( for a total of 3 x 8 ft). I would like to try to incorperate John Allen’s timesaver track plan into it by coming off the inner track of a double track mainline and entering into the timesaver inside the run around track. I am figuring that I will have about 28 inches by 8 ft to work with. I am using Gargraves track.
My questions are:
Has anybody attempted this in O scale before and if so did it work? Will it fit in my space requirements? And does anybody out there have the ability to do a plan up on a CAD for me?
I am not worried about doing it exactly like John Allen did in the reguards of using it as a switching “game” but more so to be able to do some switching without tying up the mainlines during public showings. That being said as long as the concept remains the same, there can be some fudging.
Would you be using Gargraves turnouts too? I might be able to use RR Track and see how she goes… the plans I’ve seen in the past usually had some large radius curves involved on a few of the spurs. Interesting concept…
Yes it was. That is what started my thought process. The diffeance is mine will be on a module for a club layout and i would like to be able to “work” it without interupting the mainlines.
The first attempt is below. I’m not too keen on it myself. The problem is keeping certain areas/spurs long enough for the number of cars in the original design. We’re close except the bottom run around really doesn’t have length for 2 to the right of the switch points. The grid lines are at 6" spacing. I have forgotten what little I knew about that RR Track program! [sigh] I was using 031 and 042 Curtis/Ross turnouts… If I get a chance I’ll play with some wye switches and see if they don’t help. The details of the time saver can be seen at:
Thank- you so much for the drawing. This is just what I was looking for. If you could dp it with some wyes it would help but this is a GREAT starting point.
Okay I spent a little more time getting reacquainted with RR Track. It is a cool program. This time I used Ross switches which did make a difference and did try to use some wye turnouts. They made for a much more pleasant looking space. I guess that John Allen fellow knew what he was talking about. [bow]We still have a few instances where we don’t quite meet the requirement for 2 cars but these occur at the ends (use some old Marx box cars) or maybe you can beg a few inches from the next module ( yeah right). We did get almost 2 cars (barely) on the bottom of the run around. Anyhow we’re close and you can have some fun. If you want more info please e-mail me.
