Suburban Tokyo Themed Layout

[Philphil]

Hello everyone!

 

Today marks one of the first days that I've begun work on an actual (hopefully) N-Scale layout! 

As these first two pictures demonstrate, I finally arranged a deal to get some space for a small layout, which at the moment is 16' × 2' (really only 20", because of the upper shelf support poles.) 

Eventually, when time, useable space and family permit, I have plans to expand it into a reversed 'F' shape, through the use of additional shelves along a different wall, and a heavy duty wooden center island table left over from some HO-scale projects. The shelving on the rear wall will the be top part of the letter 'F', and will add about 11' by 2' (again, only 20" of that useable). Final dimensions of the center island table TBD. (Possibly 5' × 6'?)

          I'll try and post the potential track plan(s) later tonight!

          I am also always open to feedback, so please chime in, it might really help me out! 

 

Thanks for your interest!

 ~Phillip R.

 

 

 

[katoftw]

Will 2 feet deep really work?  With 600mm and allowing say 50mm from the track center to the edge. That leaves you 500mm.  So R249mm curves as you largest radi curve?

Edited January 30, 2018 by katoftw

[toc36]

Phil2, 

I built a 3600mm x 1800mm (12' x 8') L using the same Home Depot shelves.  I got the idea from Klein's/ModelTrainStuff . 

 

Home Depot sells these with either 24" width or an 18" width. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-72-in-H-x-36-in-W-x-24-in-D-5-Shelf-Plastic-Ventilated-Storage-Shelving-Unit-128974/100006678

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-36-in-W-x-72-in-H-x-18-in-D-5-Shelf-Plastic-Ventilated-Storage-Unit-127932/100010588

a.  You can double up the 18" to accommodate wider turns.

b.  Legs can be cut to customize height.

 

The Big El v12b.any

 

If you use this shelving system, you might want to consider:

1.  Use electrical ties for stabilization (band the legs together).

2.  Use double-side foam/insulation tape to anchor the foam surfaces.

 

Great way to get up and running.

Edited January 30, 2018 by toc36
Grammar

[Philphil]

16 hours ago, katoftw said:

Will 2 feet deep really work?  With 600mm and allowing say 50mm from the track center to the edge. That leaves you 500mm.  So R249mm curves as you largest radi curve?

Evetually, I plan to use two more shelves at this end of the layout, that way there will be space for a pretty decent sized double track reverse loop, hopefully it works!  

 

13 hours ago, toc36 said:

Phil2, 

I built a 3600mm x 1800mm (12' x 8') L using the same Home Depot shelves.  I got the idea from Klein's/ModelTrainStuff . 

 

Home Depot sells these with either 24" width or an 18" width. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-72-in-H-x-36-in-W-x-24-in-D-5-Shelf-Plastic-Ventilated-Storage-Shelving-Unit-128974/100006678

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-36-in-W-x-72-in-H-x-18-in-D-5-Shelf-Plastic-Ventilated-Storage-Unit-127932/100010588

a.  You can double up the 18" to accommodate wider turns.

b.  Legs can be cut to customize height.

 

The Big El v12b.any

 

If you use this shelving system, you might want to consider:

1.  Use electrical ties for stabilization (band the legs together).

2.  Use double-side foam/insulation tape to anchor the foam surfaces.

 

Great way to get up and running.

These are indeed the shelving system I'm currently using, so banding the legs together is a great idea! I didn't think of that, thank you!

[Philphil]

Just doing some experimenting for yard designs! At the moment, there are four mainline tracks, and 12 yards tracks. Originally I had 10 yard tracks in, but randomly decided to add in two more in the back, and if that design works, the rear two should be long enough trains five to six cars long. The main ten yard tracks will be long enough to hold 15-car trains. As for the other two rear yard tracks... I just don't know yet.

[serotta1972]

Very nice! That’s almost exactly what I would like to do and of course it has to be long enough to accommodate a 16 car Shinkansen.

[Philphil]

On 1/30/2018 at 12:34 PM, serotta1972 said:

Very nice! That’s almost exactly what I would like to do and of course it has to be long enough to accommodate a 16 car Shinkansen.

Thank you! And yes, yes it does, though that would require me to purchase another Kato E4 to get a train that long... It'll probably happen eventually, but currently the tracks just need to be long enough for 15-car commuter consists.

[Philphil]

This is a rough draft of what I'd like to do with a medium sized station on one end of the layout. Two main staggered platforms and one shorter one for local trains, maybe 4-6 cars long, if that. Decisions...

[Philphil]

Just messing around on AnyRail on potential designs for a couple parts of the layout!

Photo #1 is one end of the yard where it would meet up with the second loop and head towards the station. Hopefully I can extend the curves a bit more and push the yard back a bit, but that's a task for another day.

Photo #2 is the potential station layout.

Photo #3 is just the loop on the end of the yard, which took SO many tried to actually get right!

[Philphil]

Got a couple pieces of Unitrack in, so I can finally start to work on the yard!

[Philphil]

Got most of the yard tracks done! Inserting all of those catenary pole bases was the most tedious part of all that...

[Philphil]

The full layout might look something like this:

I tried to get as much storage space as possible by wrapping the yard around the inside of the return loop, but I can't say I like it.

[JR 500系]

WOW! 

 

Just the yard alone is enough to make me drool!

 

looking forward to the first maiden run video!

[gavino200]

8 hours ago, Philphil said:

The full layout might look something like this:

I tried to get as much storage space as possible by wrapping the yard around the inside of the return loop, but I can't say I like it.

 

What kind of space are you working in? Is your yard in one room and the rest of the layout in the next room? Going through a wall?

 

I agree about the curved yard extension. It's clever but it just looks a bit weird. Also, it's much harder to put cars on the track on a curve. You'd end up hating it.

Edited February 7, 2018 by gavino200

[Pauljag900]

12 hours ago, Philphil said:

The full layout might look something like this:

I tried to get as much storage space as possible by wrapping the yard around the inside of the return loop, but I can't say I like it.

I had the same issues with mine buddy.I wanted a lot of sidings to display my Trains but the inches soon dissapear once you start laying the points.I have one 8 car but most of my longer Trains are limited to 6 cars due to the space available,I m working in an area 8x8 ft.

I made a wish list of what I wanted on the layout and factored in my dodgy knees and hips,I soon realised that to achieve my wish list then the track plan would need to be simple,so I decided on just plain square loops,no inclines but crossing over at the front.

I m just putting the finishing touches to the support piers then hopefully I ll be able to track test with some Trains.

 

[JR 500系]

space is usually the main issue with track laying.... and hobby train requires a huge lot of space, which was why N scale was popularized in Japan since Japanese apartments are usually very small with minimum space... 

 

end of the day, try to work something out that is workable within your allocated space, yet enjoyable at the same time. that massive yard sure is impressive if you have the space for it... 

[Philphil]

Once I have a few spare minutes, I'll go measure my space and get back to you guys on dimensions, though my current problem is the yard in it's current form isn't big enough... I'm seriously thinking of cutting all trains down to 10 cars (or 11 in some cases) and then making the yard tracks long enough to fit two 10-car trains per track, which I've done on a couple tracks in these pictures.

[inobu]

Philphil,

 

Go into Anyrail settings

Change Grid size to 12.

Then change Length and Width to the number of inches of your room.

 

This will make it to scale. Each tile in Anyrail will be a foot and everything will be exact

 

Inobu 

Edited February 7, 2018 by inobu

[Philphil]

14 hours ago, gavino200 said:

 

What kind of space are you working in? Is your yard in one room and the rest of the layout in the next room? Going through a wall?

 

I agree about the curved yard extension. It's clever but it just looks a bit weird. Also, it's much harder to put cars on the track on a curve. You'd end up hating it.

Since you asked, here's a hand drawn picture of the space I'm working with:

 

There are two rows of shelves and one table, the dark grey shaded areas are how I'd like to connect them together.

Though only the shelf on the far right where my yard currently is is free, the table and shelves on the top of the image need to be cleaned off before I can actually expand.

6 minutes ago, inobu said:

Philphil,

 

Go into Anyrail settings

Change Grid size to 12.

Then change Length and Width to the number of inches or your room.

 

This will make it to scale. Each tile in Anyrail will be a foot and everything will be exact

 

Inobu 

Ah, thank you for the tip, I didn't know that was possible! 

[inobu]

Yes, make sure you change the Measurement system to English/inches.

 

You can then make your shelf via the rectangle from the INSERT tab. Entering the width and length will make the shelf exact as well.

This will allow you to place the track within these guidelines. You won't be guessing.

 

Inobu

 

 

 

[Philphil]

Finally managed to clear off some shelf space so I could take over this other row of shelves. Later tonight I'll try and drill the holes in the foam for the shelf support legs to go through, and then I'll cut some more foam and insert the supports to bridge the gap between shelves.

[keiichi77]

Do I see good old Athearn blue boxes, ah those were the times, when you could pick up a decent looking freight car for under $5 and have fun assembling it. ;)

[serotta1972]

55 minutes ago, keiichi77 said:

Do I see good old Athearn blue boxes, ah those were the times, when you could pick up a decent looking freight car for under $5 and have fun assembling it. ;)

 

I used to save my allowance and would go buy an Athearn freight car kit about once a week. Yes, the good ol' days. :)

[Philphil]

On 2/12/2018 at 9:48 PM, keiichi77 said:

Do I see good old Athearn blue boxes, ah those were the times, when you could pick up a decent looking freight car for under $5 and have fun assembling it. ;)

 

On 2/12/2018 at 10:47 PM, serotta1972 said:

 

I used to save my allowance and would go buy an Athearn freight car kit about once a week. Yes, the good ol' days. :)

Oh gosh yes! I have (had) tons of those old Athearn kits over the years! But recently they've been getting sold off, along with most of my other HO equipment to finance the new layout and N-scale equipment, so it does make me feel a bit sad to see all that history leave my life. 

[Philphil]

At this point I'm just doing some minor work, planning out how the main station on this end of the layout will go. Unfortunately I don't know exactly how wide the Kato platforms are, but the overall track plan will go something like this.

Orignally, all tracks were going to be JR East, but since I've aquired a wide range of busses for different railway companies, I decided to give them some track space, too.

Starting from the back:

2 Keio tracks.

2 Tobu/Odakyu/other railway tracks.

2 JR East tracks for 15-car suburban trains.

Now the first four tracks are a bit more complicated:

1 JR East track for whatever commuter line I feel like running at that time.

1 JR East track for the Yamanote Line.

1 JR East track for the Yamanote Line, opposite direction.

1 JR East track for various commuter lines, opposite direction.

 

I would love to work in two tracks for a short Shinkansen line somewhere in here, but I'm just not sure how, sadly...

(Maybe on a different level?)

Edited February 15, 2018 by Philphil