How much space would this require?

[Staffy]

I'm thinking about japanesifying this plan, with a few simplifications to bring cost down. It requires 8ft6x5ft4 (259cm x 162cm) in peco OO. Could I get it into 6x3 with N scale unitrack?

 

Hope the link works:

 

https://flic.kr/p/JeBn5o

[tossedman]

If OO is 1:76.2 and N scale is 1:150 then I'd assume you ought to be able to fit it into about half the space. I'd think it'd fit into a 6X3 space. But that's just me. Others with more experience may have another opinion.

[kvp]

Seems more or less doable with some tweaking:

The smallest radius is R282, the double track main is 315/348 and the outer is 282 again. (the top left curve ends in two 315 sections to compensate) Otherwise it's pretty straightforward, except the missing crossing/double slip as Kato Unitrack doesn't have them. (btw. Tomix Finetrack does) The sizes are almost exactly half of the original OO plan.

[Mudkip Orange]

I'd either do this with Peco N Setrack or else cut out some of the switches so you can use Unitrack #6's and/or the 20-230/231 double crossovers. That many #4's in close proximity will just be a forest of derailments.

[Staffy]

Yes the freight yard is a bit silly. I was going to rationalise that into either a much simpler TMD (handy for storage and as a scenic fiddle yard) or even just lose the sidings completely and rural or bridge it.

[Das Steinkopf]

With the freight yard you could chop out the inner two sidings and replace it with a concrete pad for a container storage area, I would add a couple of stub sidings for either a shunter to sit in or a couple of wagons, the two sidings at the front of the layout could be rejigged for a small locomotive depot with a one or two road shed.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Das Steinkopf

[kvp]

 

 

I'd either do this with Peco N Setrack or else cut out some of the switches so you can use Unitrack #6's and/or the 20-230/231 double crossovers. That many #4's in close proximity will just be a forest of derailments.

I would like to say that Kato #4-s are almost as reliable as Peco code 55 turnouts, but using Peco is really painful. Not only you lack a ready made roadbed, but you have to add ties by hand to every turnout and rail join and thanks to the retro design of the Peco turnouts, you have to cut and file most of them to fit. Not to mention, that peco code 80 plastic frog turnouts are rather stall prone, so only their code 55 electrofrog line is usable, but both require under table drives and electrofrogs also need external frog polarisation control. Doing it with peco code 55 is possible, but it will be a much harder task and one that is very hard to make 100% reliable. (Soldering joiners is a must, with dilatation gaps planned in, otherwise ballasting will kill the conductivity.) Building with Kato Unitrack is easy and fast and only Tomix Finetrack and (Rokuhan in Z) are similar. Sadly unitrack #6 are huge and would throw off the geometry and result in a 50% larger layout with no matching parallel curves. The only viable alternative seems to be Tomix Finetrack that even has the crossing/double slip missing from the plan above.

 

For the freight yard, i would use it as a passenger depot, but you could add two 64mm straight pieces to the two side tracks and that would leave enough space for two roads (or two platforms).

[ToniBabelony]

Wouldn't using Tomix track be easier? Having curved points and crossing points would improve space useage and increase useable track length. Let's see if I can come up with something later if anyone is interested.

 

Not my proudest layout design, but that's because of the badly coded curved points in RailModeller.

 

 

Size is about 1400 x 1000mm, but can be increased in length to suit longer trains. It's a nice layout design, but I wouldn't really recommend using it as a closed table, but rather along walls or get rid of the straight pieces in the curves to make the layout thinner.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Kabutoni

[Staffy]

It is nicer but difficult to get tomix track in the UK. The OO plan does have the operating well in the centre, which is idral but was hoping to avoid that in N as I literally only have 6.5x4 feet, accessible from one side.

[Mudkip Orange]

Tomix through HS ain't *that* expensive.