Track Planning

[cteno4]

few months back i started fiddling with some ideas for a small tram layout. was thinking something small and portable, an urban street scene and not few like a loop if i could. double tracking would be nice, but would require more room so i settled on single track and a folded figure 8 to mix things up. basically gives me three blocks of buildings and a odd maybe park scene with a diagonal cut off. for now i have put it aside, but it keeps calling me... too many projects too little time!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Concept Model Trains]

Insert Quote

few months back i started fiddling with some ideas for a small tram layout. was thinking something small and portable, an urban street scene and not few like a loop if i could. double tracking would be nice, but would require more room so i settled on single track and a folded figure 8 to mix things up. basically gives me three blocks of buildings and a odd maybe park scene with a diagonal cut off. for now i have put it aside, but it keeps calling me... too many projects too little time!

 

There are some good ideas in your layout design.  The use of three city blocks is most appealing.  It has given me so me new directions to explore! 

[cteno4]

cool, glad it stimulated some neurons! i wanted to keep it simple to one track and small, but not a loop, and use the super mini radius track to keep the streets smaller. the double track sections may be larger 4 lane streets and the single track ones only 2 lane and narrow and maybe the one shorter single track a narrow tram right of way only. the fun thing about the folded figure 8 is that the train kind of doges around the layout more unpredictably. this works better with lots of things in the way of seeing the whole track plan well on the layout so some taller buildings in the center will really help.

 

only problem is that on the double track section the tram runs the same direction down both tracks on that strip...

 

other idea would be to not connect the loop but do some corkscrewing like this with a reversing circuit! with the ru21 you could have sensors all over and have it loop or reverse! could also do texas joe's reversing system with the trains dioded so that two trams could be run on the same track with one going one direction while the other is parked in the siding, then when reversed the other tram runs in the opposite direction while the other is parked in the other siding. very cool trick.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Bernard]

I really like Jeff's track plan. At second look you can actually break it up into 4 city block areas and folded figure 8, it gives the impression that the tram will have changed direction.

What dimensions did you have in mind for the track plan? How is your RU2-1 unit working out?

[Mudkip Orange]

few months back i started fiddling with some ideas for a small tram layout. was thinking something small and portable, an urban street scene and not few like a loop if i could. double tracking would be nice, but would require more room so i settled on single track and a folded figure 8 to mix things up. basically gives me three blocks of buildings and a odd maybe park scene with a diagonal cut off. for now i have put it aside, but it keeps calling me... too many projects too little time!

 

cheers

 

jeff

Now that's a Linn Westcott plan if I ever saw one.

 

You ever thought about picking up this book? Or maybe this one?

[cteno4]

i think i have thumbed through the 101 plans book. should pick some up to look through for my own layouts! just no time right now! the 101 does look interesting.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Mudkip Orange]

101 is great because it's an ANCIENT book, all the plans are from the "spaghetti bowl" era of model railroading, many are from the 40s or even 30s.

 

Of course the "spaghetti bowl" is perfect for Japanese prototype layouts, much more so then the "single track that goes around the walls" that all the layouts in Model Railroader seem to have gone for the past 10 years.

 

Two things on most of the 101 trackplans you need to modify/delete for Japanese operation. The first is there is an abundance of short freight spurs. This is cool if you're modeling JNR circa 1935 but for modern Japan it doesn't work. The other thing is that almost all of the 101 plans are designed for steam-era modeling, and so they are VERY heavy on return loops. Of course Japan has probably the least proportion of return loops of any country ever, even the streetcars are double ended.

 

If you cut the return loops out of a Linn Westcott plan a lot of times you'll free up enough space to add another continuous-run option for EVEN MOAR spaghetti bowl goodness. Plus if you grab one of the "medium" sized layouts (say 6x12 feet) it is very easy to reduce it to a 4x8 with broad curves in N, and you can delete the "access holes" that were so common in 30's/40's track plans (replace them with shinto temples or something)

[Mudkip Orange]

Here's an example of some frankensteining I did on a Linn Westcott plan. First I scanned it and pasted into AutoCAD, scaled the image so Linn's "broad curves" (30" in HO) were set to 381mm (largest Kato singletrack size). That's the first pic.

 

Then I took the track and squished it together in a couple different iterations (picture two).

 

Eventually I got it down to a 4x8, with an extra 1x8 addon if you want a big yard to display your trains in. The yard tracks are long enough to hold a good mix of 8-car, 10-car, 12-car commuter trains. This is the third pic.

[Mudkip Orange]

I'm just gonna keep posting track plans in here and wait for the moderators to split off another thread.

 

Did I mention I love spaghetti bowls? This one I designed for two 4x8s, then I took out the stations to "condense" it to 6x8 and then a single 4x8.

[Mudkip Orange]

Here's some more spaghetti for a 4x8

[Mudkip Orange]

Here's a flat layout that replaces the spaghetti with extensive yardage. In this one you've chopped off the corners of a 4x8 to make a 4x10.

 

This one is entirely Unitrack.

[Mudkip Orange]

Another flat Unitrack layout, this one fits on two cheap Ikea desks.

 

It creates a makeshift spiral curve by using the 414/381mm "easement" curves with the new 282/315mm superelevated curves.

[Mudkip Orange]

Here's another Ikea/Unitrack layout, but for three desks instead of two.

 

This has two "reversing loops" that take a train from the outside track to the inside or vice versa, preserving two-way double track operation. With DCC you could run several trains on multiple routes this way, taking care to make sure there were no T-bone collisions at the level crossings.

[Mudkip Orange]

And here's another 3-desk layout, with the maximum amount of yard tracks that I could possibly cram in.

 

Basically this would be good for the modeler who wants an entire layout based on Shinagawa Yard, or perhaps someone who has jummamit's rolling stock collection but only a corner of a room to put it in.

[cteno4]

LOL there is room for 5 buildings here one in each corner!

 

basically a display for all your trains!

 

jeff

[to2leo]

And here's another 3-desk layout, with the maximum amount of yard tracks that I could possibly cram in.

 

Basically this would be good for the modeler who wants an entire layout based on Shinagawa Yard, or perhaps someone who has jummamit's rolling stock collection but only a corner of a room to put it in.

This one is looking like my existing layout which I am proposing to turn into 3 levels for existing 2.

 

Upperlevel: Viaduct portion of the double mainline, a Kato viaduct station and a terminal to fit 7-8 trains.

Mid-level: 'Ground' portion of the double mainline, a Kato Overhead suburban station and a terminal to fit 7-8 trains.

Ground level: Mostly underground on the inside portion, Unitram on the outside portion and train storage.

[Bernard]

Mudkip - Here is a request, how about some small space layout plans?

[Lawrence]

Mudkip - Here is a request, how about some small space layout plans?

 

Might be able to help you out here Bernard, although these are all based on USA themes, they should give food for thought, http://www.cke1st.com/m_train2.htm#topopage

 

If you download Atlas' Right Track software (free download at http://www.atlasrr.com/righttrack.htm ) you can save all the layouts and play about with them to your hearts' content 

[Mudkip Orange]

Might be able to help you out here Bernard, although these are all based on USA themes, they should give food for thought, http://www.cke1st.com/m_train2.htm#topopage

 

What an excellent site!

[Mudkip Orange]

Mudkip - Here is a request, how about some small space layout plans?

 

Is 2 1/2' by 5 1/2' small enough?

 

This one squeezes a folded dogbone around a doubletrack figure-8. The figure-8 has reasonable grades (3%), but to get the dogbone to work without level crossings it needs to go as steep as 5% in places. Of course with a larger layout you could reduce this... but I've found that my E531s seem to negotiate 5% grades without too much difficulty.

[westfalen]

The out of print Kato 25-012 Kato Collection of Layout Plans has lots of interesting plans for smaller layouts.

[David]

The out of print Kato 25-012 Kato Collection of Layout Plans has lots of interesting plans for smaller layouts.

 

A couple of the plans are on the Kato uk site. Any ideas on how to get a copy or other terms to search with (ISBN?)

[scott]

I'd like to try the opposite of a spaghetti bowl--lots of straight-line distance. I'm thinking an along-the-walls point-to-point layout in an abandoned airport terminal.... 

[ToniBabelony]

And don't forget this legendary website for track plans! http://carendt.us/

[CaptOblivious]

I'd like to try the opposite of a spaghetti bowl--lots of straight-line distance. I'm thinking an along-the-walls point-to-point layout in an abandoned airport terminal.... 

 

That could be really awesome. Seriously, I'd pay to see something like that (if it was well done). I imagine when I have space for a real layout that I would aim for something like that so I could fit a full-length station. Just at home, not an airport :P