Gavino200s new layout

[gavino200]

I can’t wait. My son lit up when he saw the junctions moving by just clicking on the screen version of the tracks. He’s as wide-eyed about the automation as he was about the trains themselves when he was little. I have to say, it’s bringing out the kid in me too!

Edited February 3, 2021 by gavino200

[gavino200]

So, after a long wait the floor guys finally came back and finished the job. I'm quite happy with it. Next step will be to put the legs on the tables and bolt them together. I may alter the length of the setup a bit. Originally I made room for a shelf rack to store my trains. I'll probably end up making a shelf on the back wall of the adjacent room instead for train storage. So I may need to make a short bridging segment.

 

I really need to finish with a small Raspberry Pi project before I get to this though. I also need to think about furniture for the room.

 

Empty room

 

 

Modules roughly in place.

 

 

The wall on the right is where I was planning on storing trains in shelving units. But I've changed my mind. I'll leave it roughly as it is here.

 

 

The pink foam sheets mostly protected from the cats. I'll probably use this wall for train storage.

 

 

This is how the workroom looks now. Though there's a lot of upstairs that needs to be stored down here.

 

[Kiha66]

The new room looks great Gavin, going for a finished look before building the layout was the right way to go.

[JR 500系]

I'm so jealous! The new room or mancave looks like a great way to spend an entire weekend!!! Cant wait to see the layout beiing done up! 

[Pauljag900]

Wow,looks fantastic Gavin,can’t wait to see this develop👍👍😀

[Martijn Meerts]

Looks better than my living room 😄

 

[gavino200]

It's time to put the legs on these things. I'll pick up some bolts this week and do the assembly next time I have a weekend off call. Still in two minds about whether to use the same bolts. The current prototype is very sturdy but the bolts are probably overkill.

 

1. I think I'll use carriage bolts again. They simplify assembly (If placed with care) and have an nice low profile.

2. I could probably go one size down on the bolts. The current ones are 9/16.

3. It's possible I could use three bolts only per leg. But likely I'll stick with four. Haven't decided.

4. I won't use those awful nuts with the plastic bits inside to make them tighter. I'll just use the plain metal nuts.

 

 

 

 

[VJM]

The bolts look good, and if they are easy to fasten/unfasten while holding well, I wouldn't call it overkill at all.

[gavino200]

Thanks VJM. That decides it. I'll stick to this pattern, except for using plain metal nuts. Your train table is an inspiration to me btw!!

Edited September 13, 2021 by gavino200

[gavino200]

I finally got around to putting the legs on the tables. The first table took a long time because I was using an all purpose drill bit that took forever to go through the 3x3 inch legs. After the first table, I went and  got a more aggressive drill bit. I also got a pair of giant clamps that were perfect for the job. Tables 3, 4, 5, and 6 went very fast. Fortunately everything came together well with no problems.

 

Bolt locations marked. I just took the positions exactly from the prototype table.

 

 

Countersinks for the Carriage bolts.

 

 

These are the giant clamps.

 

 

The closest drill bit is the one that took forever. The one next to it went through the wood like butter. I could have used the "spade head" bit next to that, but I didn't know what it was at the time. I bought it originally thinking it was what I needed to counter sink. The final bit is for countersinking. Also aggressive and fast.

 

 

A very basic but quite sturdy construct.

 

[gavino200]

This is the fully assembled table as it is. It all fits together quite nicely.

 

 

[gavino200]

I have one last bit of building to do. The original design took into account a set of shelf racks that used to live against the wall on the right. The idea was to store my train collection there. But I've changed my mind. I'm going to put shelves against one of the walls in the adjacent room-half for the trains.

 

 

The table in front is in the approximate final position. There'll be a 2 foot walkway all around the train table. So the back stretch of the table is about 3 feet short. I'm planning on making a final 3 foot segment as a hanging segment. ie. it won't have legs but will bolt on between two of the current tables.

 

 

[JR 500系]

Oh wow... I'm just green with envy Gavin! Great work on the carpentry! I can see the vast space created is superb for a really nice long layout! Judging from the length, i guess running a full 16 car consist is no longer a dream! 

[gavino200]

4 minutes ago, JR 500系 said:

Oh wow... I'm just green with envy Gavin! Great work on the carpentry! I can see the vast space created is superb for a really nice long layout! Judging from the length, i guess running a full 16 car consist is no longer a dream! 

 

Thanks. It's fairly long but even on this a 16 car consist is ridiculously large. I'll probably run trains around a 10-12 car length. Right now I'm just looking forward to being just able to run any train!!

[Madsing]

That's really nice Gavin! Although I love my compact layout, I could do with a bit more space.

Do you have a track plan already? Sorry, maybe you told us already but I lost track of the progress.

 

Marc

 

[Kamome442]

Fantastic work Gavin, those tables look spot on. I look forward to seeing this one taking taking shape. Oh to have a train room as good as this!

[gavino200]

8 hours ago, Kamome442 said:

Fantastic work Gavin, those tables look spot on. I look forward to seeing this one taking taking shape. Oh to have a train room as good as this!

 

Thanks. My progress will be a lot slower than yours. I'm definitely more the tortoise than the hare.

 

10 hours ago, Madsing said:

That's really nice Gavin! Although I love my compact layout, I could do with a bit more space.

Do you have a track plan already? Sorry, maybe you told us already but I lost track of the progress.

 

Marc

 

 

Thanks. I do have a general plan. I worked on it a few months ago. I've let it settle now for a while so I can go back to it with fresh eyes. Likely it'll change a fair bit before I settle on it. Your track plan is amazing. I was thinking about it recently. You've used every inch very cleverly and it doesn't have a small feel when looking at it. I think one of the challenges of a mid size layout is to not get lazy. It's easy to make a boring plan as you don't have to work hard to make things fit. I'll show you what I have in mind so far.

[gavino200]

One of the main ideas is to have two main levels, and a hidden storage. The storage yard will allow me to automated different trains entering and leaving the layout. The idea about the two levels is that one line will be ground level one the "west" side and will be an elevated line on the "east" side. Likewise one line will be ground level suburban line one the east, and an underground/subway on the west side. They'll meet in the middle at the station. I'm hoping to have an above ground and subway elements to the station. That part is beyond my ability at the moment. I'll have to develop some new skills for it.

 

 

There'll be a mountain on the west end. It has a couple of purposes. It will hide the hidden storage area. It will house a "visible tunnel" I made a few years ago and want to re-use, and it will break up the loop and make it less obvious (I hope).

 

 

This is a basic sketch of how it might all come together. The Orange area is a container yard, with maybe a Sawaga depot. The east end is the least definite. In this sketch I was playing with "hiding" the loop but having it go through a peninsula rock. I also thought of making a small shipping area, or fishing village. I'm really not sure.

 

I want to break up some of these right angles and parallel lines. I also have a little tram line that I want to fit somewhere.

Edited September 19, 2021 by gavino200

[ianlaw]

Gavin,

As you have quite a bit of space to play with, are you sure you don't want to ease some of the visible curves. To my mind nothing beats watching a train passing through a long realistic curve...

[gavino200]

2 hours ago, ianlaw said:

Gavin,

As you have quite a bit of space to play with, are you sure you don't want to ease some of the visible curves. To my mind nothing beats watching a train passing through a long realistic curve...

 

Thanks. I try to not be sure about anything. In general I cultivate a sense of doubt - that something else may be the case. I find that keeps the door to learning open. Specifically with model trains, I'm no expert at all. The art of layout building is mostly unknown to me, and a lot of what I think I know, is I'm sure mistaken.

 

I agree with you about how good a long realistic curve looks. I'd like to incorporate long lazy curves when possible. What I'd like to avoid is being able to see the track taking a full 180 turn and passing it's own tail going in the opposite direction. I find that's one thing that can burst the realness illusion.

 

The layout is very long in it's main section, but the end tables are only 4 feet wide, which is a very common dimension to deal with. It will be a challenge on this layout as much as on any other. Making them deeper would have avoided this problem, but at the cost of creating spaces that can't easily be reached. I have the space but convenience became a constraint. For now I'm happy with this compromise. It will be a long time before my modelling skill develop to the point were this will be the weakest point. I am, however making all my modelling modular and removable, so that reforming the base area should be possible in the future.

[ianlaw]

My boards are only 60cm deep, which is really the max for good access from one side. To fit a wide curve in I need to move the track 30cm back from the front of the board, which isn't a bad thing as it allows you to build scenery in front of the track and really see the train in the landscape instead of it nearly falling off the world. You could consider adding a backscene board along the middle of the board (now or later) to avoid the two lines being visually to close as it seems you have the space to walk around most of the layout.

[MeTheSwede]

 

21 hours ago, gavino200 said:

I agree with you about how good a long realistic curve looks. I'd like to incorporate long lazy curves when possible.

 

When I read this and see your mountain plan I think you should consider to replace those sharpish curves with a long sweeping curve section that then tunnels into a mountain wall and goes around all of your hidden storage yard.

 

 

Maybe your upper right corner is a better place for your tunnel construction?

 

 

Overall I see your trains spending a lot of time on straight sections next to the edge of the layout. Usually trains passing in front of scenery produces less of visual interest than trains passing through scenery (and even less visual interest when viewed as passing behind scenery in front of an edge of the layout) although all that's of course a subjective thing.

 

Have you considered placing the station at an angle with regards to the table ages? That would do a away with a lot of the parallel lines and right angles, as well as push trains away from the edges of the board.

 

 

 

[gavino200]

2 hours ago, ianlaw said:

My boards are only 60cm deep, which is really the max for good access from one side. To fit a wide curve in I need to move the track 30cm back from the front of the board, which isn't a bad thing as it allows you to build scenery in front of the track and really see the train in the landscape instead of it nearly falling off the world. You could consider adding a backscene board along the middle of the board (now or later) to avoid the two lines being visually to close as it seems you have the space to walk around most of the layout.

 

That's a good point about setting back the track a bit. Buildings and scenery are a good way to break up the track a bit. I've thought about a center divider. I agree that "circular" layouts, where you can see one pass of the trains only, look a lot more realistic/better. I'm not a big fan of backdrops in general. But I'll continue to consider it. I also like to sit away from layout and watch it from a distance sometimes. A divider prevents that. But I'm still early enough in the process. Nothing in written in stone.

[gavino200]

1 hour ago, MeTheSwede said:

 

 

When I read this and see your mountain plan I think you should consider to replace those sharpish curves with a long sweeping curve section that then tunnels into a mountain wall and goes around all of your hidden storage yard.

 

 

Yes, I think that is an excellent concept. However there's a reason for that bizarre shaped loop. It fits exactly, a tunnel I spent some time making and wanted to reuse. That's the only place on the layout where it will fit well. The dimensions of the loop were dictated by the end section of a previous layout. It's a kind of "visible tunnel". I'm as much interested in seeing the train inside the tunnel as I am with just providing a way for the train to disappear and reappear.

I'm planning to make the tunnel visible also as it runs behind the hidden yard. That also provides and access point for derailments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

 

Maybe your upper right corner is a better place for your tunnel construction?

 

Haven't fully decided what to do with that corner. I could make a second tunnel. I definitely want to play with elevation. I really like different levels, and I love bridges and underground trains. However I despise gradients as model train don't handle them in a way that I personally find satisfactory. So, if I have any gradients they will be much more slight than even the extended Kato gradient. The main idea is to have the tracks stay level (at different heights) while having the "ground level move up and down.

 

I will unfortunately have a gradient as the trains leave the hidden yard. But since this is the starting point, the trains will be going slowly so it probably won't matter much. Having said that, I plan on building this part first so I can test that concept before going any further with the idea.

 

 

Quote

 

Overall I see your trains spending a lot of time on straight sections next to the edge of the layout. Usually trains passing in front of scenery produces less of visual interest than trains passing through scenery (and even less visual interest when viewed as passing behind scenery in front of an edge of the layout) although all that's of course a subjective thing.

 

Have you considered placing the station at an angle with regards to the table ages? That would do a away with a lot of the parallel lines and right angles, as well as push trains away from the edges of the board.

 

 

I agree 100%. That track isn't really a "design" as such. It's a super basic estimate that I was using to decide approx where to put the break in the ground elevation and to decide on my woodwork plan. The only part that's really accurate is the tunnel loop. I was also learning how to use anyrail (or scarm? I can't remember). I don't really have much talent/patience for designing that way. I'll probably use it after the fact to create a digital representation of the layout rather than using it to design.

 

Personally I prefer drawing and improvising. I'm also going to leave unitrack for the most part and start using mainly Peco flexitrack. I hate parallel lines. The station will go at as much of an angle as I can make. Below is a previous drawing that I made of a previous board iteration.

 

 

The station itself is something of a fixed element as I started building it while waiting to get the floors done in the room. But it's built in a "modular" fashion on it's own board, so I should be able to move it around until I like it's location and then connect it to the flextrack.

 

A tougher issue will be to arrange the station so that I can have my subway/commuter passing underneath it.

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by gavino200

[Kamome442]

On 9/19/2021 at 5:35 PM, gavino200 said:

Thanks. My progress will be a lot slower than yours. I'm definitely more the tortoise than the hare

 

😆 Nothing wrong with a tortoise, we all know it will finish its layout before the hare. I tend toward the snail as my go to animal when modelling.

 

Awesome to see the inside of a tunnel modelled, loving the viewing windows to see inside too.