Small (2x4) B Train layout

[Polkadot]

Thanks for the feedback, I might have to see what I can do with 3x7 to potentially run full size stock if B-trains become too scarce to reasonably collect.

 

I suppose this would be a good time to show off how I design layouts.

Edited December 7, 2018 by Polkadot
impending XTrackCAD mini tutorial

[Polkadot]

Well I have a bunch of screenshots of trying to fit it into 3x7 without success, so no tutorial this time. But I measured the area I have to work with and I can squeeze 7-1/2 feet in.

 

So after a whole afternoon of struggling with it, I present "VJM_Mini_plan_b" (VJM_mini is the 3x8 version)

 

I also left room on the bottom to expand with a super steep mountain short-line (like VJM's original)

The pink spots are spots that exceed my set maximum grade (I set it to 4.0%) This version has a 6.7% grade

Then I decided to see if I could cram in a little switchback station partway up À La Hakone Tozan, this is the result

This version also has a 6.7% max grade, but only 4.6% up to the switchback, so it's slightly more accessible.

 

Let me know your thoughts

 

--Carolyn

 

[kvp]

These are pretty rail heavy layouts. Imho fitting scenery onto them will be a real challange. Some rolling stock will probably go up the hill even on a 8% grade. Mainly Tomix Hakone Tozan stock comes to my mind as good climbers on tight curves.

[Polkadot]

Thanks for the input kvp, I've pretty much accepted that there's a tradeoff between trackage and scenery when you're confined to a small space, and I've pretty much chosen trackage.

I've got some more idea's from my poor sleep deprived brain that don't really solve that issue, but are novel to think about nonetheless.

 

This one I like to call "There is a line where we should have stopped and we've clearly passed it, but let's keep going and see what happens"

The rationale was that if I'm going to try to cram a Hakone Tozan in the left 1/3rd of the layout, I might as well go all in. This completely prevents all but the barest of scenery.

 

I've also completely redone a large portion of the layout to fix a few little things that were bugging me, and that resulted in a track that will take a little more fudging to get everything to connect properly.

 

At this point I'm probably not going to do a mountain line of any sort so I can a least fit a little bit of scenery.

 

--Carolyn

[Polkadot]

Success!

 

I've cleaned up the layout and removed the mountain line, which gave me this.

At this point it is time to put my tortured mind to rest and resolve to not change it any more unless there's glaring flaws.

With this resolution in place, I've started to block out general scenery sections to see how everything fits together, as seen below.

And lastly I thought now would be a good time to lay out the first buildings, starting with the station platforms and engine shed, to make sure for the first time that the spaces I left for island platforms are actually big enough to fit them. I also threw in some kind of mountain setpiece, which in retrospect probably should have been laid out in the last step.

That's all for now, feedback is always appreciated. I'm excited to be nearing the end of the planning stage.

 

--Carolyn