I’m building a 18" x 42" layout and I need a track plan. I’m building it in N scale, because of the size. Here are some things I want on my layout:
*I want to be able to operate.
*I want a small yard (3 tracks) or so.
Define what you mean by operate?
What I mean by operate is that I can run trains, like around a loop.
Unless you are building a trolley or logging layout, with an 18" width, your curves will have to be smaller than 18" wide (less than 9" radius) and are going to be too sharp a curve for all but the shortest equipment, even in N scale. Expand your width to 24" and you can have two loops, one with 9 3/4" radius (18 1/2" diameter) and 11" radius (22" diameter). These should be adequate for most equipment, although longer passenger cars will look a little odd. Forget about articulated locomotives on curves this sharp.
Hope this helps.
Darrell, quiet…for now
My $.02 is to purchase an Atlas “N” scale track planning book and cut and paste what you like. The copies of the plans are cheap to make and you can work away at making it fit or not in your space.
Here is one with 9 3/4" inch curves so it is probably 20" wide. You could easily substitute tighter curves I believe Bachmann even made 7" radius at one time.
Anyway it has three yard tracks and a switch back industrial area for interest. The yard uses the main line as part of the ladder. There is no run around so one must use the entire loop as a run around. That shouldn’t be a big deal. My first N-scale layout was much more simple than this and I had a ton of fun with it. There are a couple places you could add more track but then it begins to get crowded.
Hey Texas, very nice post. Better than mine for sure.