Working on my first ever layout... other than an oval track I used to play with as a kid I used AnyRail to create this loop for a 5x8 table I built, that I'll add a side table or shelf to later for the trainyard, and grow from there. Any comments or ideas for what I'm working on? Tips for a newbie? I'm going with Atlas code 100 flex track for most of it, and will be adding some water features and mountains and an industrial section too if I can fit it all!
Ah I think a mod moved it, to which I say thank you! Making some progress on my tabletop, added some 1" foam that I'll start building the scenery on. I'm opting to not use a railbed, because I want my track to look more in the ground and overgrown in some areas when it's done. That's the plan anyway, and it could possibly change as I go.
Welcome aboard, rye! This is a layout for watching train(s) run! Do you plan to integrate industries into the existing track plan, or add on (like the yard section) separate sections for them. That makes a big difference for some features. For instance, if you want industrial sidings, you need to know what track switches you want to use, and determine if they are compatible with your loops' radii. Otherwise, you need some straight, ground level tracks in which to insert track switches. If you want to serve any industries inside the loops, then you will need curved turnouts, which are less common and more expensive. The layout has multiple reversing wyes (roughly triangular sections of the tracks), which are challenging to determine how to wire up. Have you decided whether this will be a DCC or block-controlled DC layout? That makes a big difference how you wire the layout, and handle reversing wyes and sections. DC would involve block control, where you divide the layout into "blocks" of track and then you use a (electrical) switch panel to connect which blocks, with which polarity, to which throttles. DCC is simpler to use, since reverse sections can be wired to auto-reverse controls (as long as you observe a few principles.) But DCC has its own costs, and your locomotives will need DCC decoders in them. Your yard could be much higher capacity if every track did not have run-around capability. You could keep the two longest yard tracks double-ended, and make the rest stub lines that run straight to the end of the board (more or less). This would be easier to use, and is more typical. Enjoy the ride!
That's some awesome feedback, thank you I appreciate it! I think you're 100% correct about those middle wyes being difficult to control, I'm going to axe those and do something different there. For now I'm just doing a DC setup, with a potential to convert to DCC in the future.
Made it a lot more simple operationally, but more fun with some mountains and tunnels, water, and a bridge.
I think you will be much happier with this new plan! One thing to think about whenever you have a water feature is that the "water" has to flow off the layout somewhere. I would include onto the layout too, except the water source could be a spring-fed lake, melting ice-cap, mountain spring etc. In this layout, I would add a creek/river from the lake, along and inside of the front elevated track's base, and under both tracks at the trestle, and then off the layout near that corner. Even if it is a (seasonally) dry creek bed, it will solve the question of why that lake doesn't continue to get bigger and flood the whole interior. Water's gotta go somewhere... Now you also have given yourself plenty of room for a spur from the inside rear track, towards the interior, where you can place your industries, a town, etc. You could decide to include a passing siding (which then allows trains to run simultaneously in both directions) that also feeds the interior spur. The empty space between the yard & wye could hold a large industry, or town, or it could he used for a second (back-to-back) yard ladder with stubs pointed back toward the wye. That's what I would do. You have to figure out what you would like to do.
Yeah I thought about putting a little yard inside the loop as well, we'll see how it works out while the landscape starts to take shape. I may make this 5x8 section all forest and mountains and water, and the smaller section with the yard the industries. We shall see! Made my own 2.5% graded foam cutouts, will see how these end up working out.
Wow! Coming right along, making some great progress right out of the gate. Dig the revised track plan, will be a fun build to follow.
Is this another switching yard, or an industrial district? If the former, there's not much room to extend the stub tracks for the capacity expected of a switching yard. I would flip the switches to the other side of the lead, with the stubs pointing downward and to the right, with more room to extend their length. I like the run-around ability of the yard. I would also extend the lead around the left end, and tie to the mainline there. This gives you a lead from which to work the ladder that does not foul the mainline. If the latter (industrial), the stubs are pretty close together for separate industries, unless it is a single industry. You might try alternating them to either side of the switch ladder.
Made some more progress on the table today, used a utility knife to cut some slits in the foam for the inclines that will be used on the curves, cut some 1/4" plywood to use as a base for the bridge, and started gluing everything in place.
I've made a little more progress, got the hills for the grades started, and laid down some plaster on one half so far, then worked on the waterfall/rock face/tunnel for the corner. Still some more rock carving to do before I use some modelling compound to fill in some holes and make it look less like foam. I plan to paint just that, and then start laying my trackwork down on the board.
Looks great! I would suggest if the gaps in the rock strata are too big, to fill in between with a plaster product like "Sculptamold" (https://www.amaco.com/products/sculptamold-sc-3-3-bag). This is a photo of my layout in progress. I installed plaster rock molds (made of Hydrocal), and blended them into the scenery with Sculptamold, mixed thick like oatmeal. When the material dried, it looked like rock. And a semi-finished scene view: Mostly finished scene with snow:
