Another take on Suburban Station And Train Depot on a hollow core door 27" x 78".

[Rez]

Hi and I hope you are all well!

 

I don't know how it happened by I accidentally got interested in model railway. The video below may have had something to do with it. I have done some research and I would like to build similar layout on a hollow core door 27" x 78" (6858mm by 19812 so marginally bigger). Now the problem is that my knowledge is very limited and after 2 hours with XtrackCAD I can only build a simple layout. Not even remotly close to the one in the video. I simply lack experience, knowledge of software and KATO rail pieces not to mention electrics behind it. I also don't know much lingo/names of rail elements. It would also be amazing if I could do a DCC version of it. Can someone help me building a shopping list or recommend a simpler sofware? I was considering getting a KATO's big set with a Turnatble 20-912 but it's too huge and I would end up not using most elements. Help me JNS forum, you are my only hope!

 

 

 

[cteno4]

For the layout software are you Mac or pc?

 

Slow down don’t need to panic yet! xtrakcad takes 2 hrs just to figure it out, it’s not all that intuitive of an interface. So you are going to have to expect to spend a bit more time at it and it’s what will help you learn all this stuff. It’s always a bit of bumping around when getting started, so don’t worry about using some time to just keep plugging at it some more. It’s best to take notes on each of the things you need to do like selecting track, attaching it, duplicating, selecting multiple pieces, etc. as I find it’s easy to forget how to do the basics when starting out or away from it for a bit.
 

The other issue is I think the Kato Unitrak data set in xtrakcad shows things in the Kato Unitrak part numbers not by their radiuses if memory serves me right. To help this download the Unitrak track sheet off from katousa’s website and you will have a cheat sheet to help figure out the radiuses, lenghts, and points for each part number. The part numbers have no relationship to the physical parameters unfortunately it’s like part number 20-170 has nothing to do with measurements in its numbers. Its size is R216-45 which is the thing that tells you all about it. R (for radius) means it’s a curve, 216 means it’s a 216mm radius, and 45 means it’s a 45 degree piece of track (ie you need 4 to make a full 180 curve). Similarly part number 20-000 is a S248. S means straight and length is 248mm.

 

to do your track planning you estimate a radius you want and find the track radius near it to play with.

 

also do things one at a time. DCC is another can of worms you can get into down the line. I would figure out the layout track needed and get the track (or just the mainline but don’t have to get all the points and yard track right away if money is tight) and just set it up on the door freestanding. Then play with that and make sure it’s what you want and tweak it some. This will also let you plunk down some buildings on it to see how that feels. Many time small layouts with tons of track leaves little room to fill in buildings and scenery and you usually don’t notice this until you are playing with the track and buildings and it’s hard to figure that out from a 2d plan how the 3d will feel in real life.

 

just give this some time here, your trying to do a lot fast and I think what is leading to your frustration. 
 

cheers

 

jeff

[Rez]

Hi Jeff,

 

Thank you for you message. I should have provided a bit more detail to explain the urgency. I'm ging to Japan in 2 months time and I plan to buy most if not everything needed to buil this layout there. I played few more hours with CAD but I'm absolutley new to this hobby and I played with a model train about 35 yeras ago. I can see that this hobby has progressed a lot! I know little to nothing about curves, types of switches, crossings and so on but I really enjoyed the look of the layout in the video. I can tell that it has been planned to perfection and not a single piece is placed randomly there! One 33mm piece (I'm building in KATO)and the entire layout goes to hell. Nothing matches. So I was hoping that someone can give me some advice as it is all very technical!

[Junech]

Layout planning needs its time and it is better not to rush that step. It is not only about the track fitting together but mostly about you liking the result. It would be sad if all the tracks were fitted down and the scenery started only to find out you no longer like the track plan.

 

And you are not really in a rush. There are enough online stores to sell Kato track with international shipping and maybe your country has some online stores that already import it. The price difference shouldn't be that big to really justify rushing the layout planning phase. If you want to get some cheaper stuff in Japan I would rather choose some nice discounted trains.
Besides that, the guy in the video mentioned that the Tomix track system was used and not Kato Unitrack. So a layout with Unitrack will look differently and might not even fit in the same way that is shown in the video. So I think it is better to do the layout planning with all the time it needs and later order track online (if the plan is not finished in time).

 

Since you already have the theme you want to model the next step would be to think about what trains you want to run on your layout. This is important to ensure your longest train would fit at least into your longest platform/siding. After all, it won't help you to have platforms/sidings that none of your trains would fit into. The other reason is to see what your minimal radius can be.

[cteno4]

Hi Rez,

 

Where are you located? It might be easier to first get a starter set and few extra packs of Unitrak and play some with it first. You may be able to save some shipping on your track buying it in Japan, but then you’ll have to lug it around on your trip. I think if you just play some with the track you will start to get an idea of how it all works and start to figure out what you want to do for a layout. Fortunately you can import Japanese train stuff from all over easily. Yes some places will have duties to pay and shipping has gone up, but Japanese trains are usually a very good value and the yen is still very low to many currencies.  I find it’s currently cheaper to buy track from plazajapan and ship it to the us than buying Unitrak from a us shop (katousa distributes Unitrak to shops in the us).
 

The layout is done in Tomix finetrack, not Unitrak. Tomix and Kato have slightly different geometries with different track spacing (37mm for Tomix and 33mm for Kato), different lengths of straights (long straight 280mm Tomix and 248mm Kato), and different increments of curved track radiuses due to different track spacing (37mm Tomix and 33mm Kato). So this means you need to fiddle some with the layout plan to get something close but not exactly the same.
 

You are kind of trying to go from 1 to 100mph right away. I would not let your trip rule your process here. Trying to rush the process usually leads to a lot of frustration fast and not learning the basics first and trying to skip ahead also can lead to issues down the road.

 

Are you pc or Mac based? There are other software programs that are more intuitive than xtrakcad, it’s probably the worst to begin on for track planning. Jumping right into doing track planning on the computer without playing with track first and understanding it well is not a good idea.

 

The hobby has not really changed in terms of sectional track concept in 35 years, still basic sets of straights, curves, and points to play with just a better selection of pieces and much better performance. Really it important to play some before you settle on a track plan. I’ve seen so many people jump into a track plan with no or little playing around before hand and not be happy with the plan once it’s running. Playing around with track physically on the table is the best way to learn all the geometries, pieces, concepts, etc, then move to track planning software to play with the details and try ideas you may not have all the track to try. But usually if you have a decent selection of track built up you can physically prototype parts of the layout at a time. The big bonus in playing with track physically some and trying different things is you really learn what you like to play with and you can’t learn that from a video or from track planning software. There is no perfection in track planning, it’s a fallacy as it’s a big tradeoff in variables and wants and needs, it’s more about optimizing for your wants and needs and resources.

 

The more important thing to look for in japan would be trains that may be in shops there that you may not be able to find online easily.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Rez]

Thanks Jeff. What you are saying makes a lot of sense. However the margins on KATO in the UK (where I'm based) ale simply crazy 100%+ versus the prices in Japan. So I was hoping to buy most of the parts while in Japan. I have to agree that I want to go from 1 to 100 right away as it would save me a lot of money right from the get go at the cost of the frustration. Get some lose some. My first set was an Oval so not many things to get wrong! I feel like I got the basic grasp of the sofware but I struggle with geometries and logic of building a layout. I might go for  20-912 set (way too big for my aplication) and get an assortment of turnouts, straights, curves and buildings  to play with and experiment. Oh and trains, all of them! Below are my mismatched efforts after 4 h of playing. What I should add is that I'm not scared of the model building aspects as I've been building plastic models for 7 years now (you can check my insta at @ifailallthetime).   Best REZ.

[Kingmeow]

Any possibility to contact the YouTube author and ask him/her for a track inventory list?  Also, if you are going with Tomix Finetrack, make sure it's readily available in the UK so you need a small piece here or there because of modifications.  In the US it's next to impossible so we only build with Unitrack if you want to go Japanese tracks.

 

I was shocked at Japanese track prices in the UK.  When I was there in September I bumped into two chaps in Tam Tam Tokyo who were from the UK and struck up a conversation with them as we were all tourist buy trains stuff.  They were like kids in a candy store marveling at the availability and more importantly the prices.  They told me they were going to "load up" before going home!  🤑  Even though I'm in the US, I know your situation!!!!  😃

[cteno4]

Rez,

 

check out the resources up on katousa’s site. A number of track plans to look at along with sheets that show the various track pieces, geometry, etc. but again having some track in hand to play with is really the best place to start.

 

https://katousa.com/n-track-plan-examples/

 

jeff

[Rez]

Hi Kingmeow. I'm going with KATO as it's possible to buy in the UK at huge mark ups. I have already reached out to the Youtuber and my goal is to substitute Tomix pieces with kato. Or I will get that huge set, then add 4 of each possible R/L turnout and start playing! Even If I end up not using half of the stuff in process it is still going to be cheaper than getting only the right pieces in the UK! I've been a good boy and saved some money to do a little shopping spree in Japan!

[Rez]

14 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Rez,

 

check out the resources up on katousa’s site. A number of track plans to look at along with sheets that show the various track pieces, geometry, etc. but again having some track in hand to play with is really the best place to start.

 

https://katousa.com/n-track-plan-examples/

 

jeff

I will get some extra track to play with that's for sure! I learn the quickest using the hands on method! 

[cteno4]

Rez,

 

you might look at ordering directly from plazajapan as even with shipping and some duty it may be cheaper than within the uk. I can get track shipped from plaza cheaper than from a us shop and prices in the us are not horrible markup as we have katousa bringing track over.

 

i would loose doing the x over in the bottom right. It’s going to be hard to get that geometry right in a small layout. The crossovers is where Tomix geometries work a little better than Kato. It’s nice to bring trains directly into a yard from the outside track but it pushes things out of line there on the main lines and requires a lot of tweaking to the main line loops to work. Maybe replace with a Crossover point or a double crossover from the inside to outside tracks. 

 

I would start first by looking at a double loop that is all parallel and just a radius for the outside that is near the edge of the layout (maybe and inch in) and the inner loop the next radius down. They even have double track sections like this if you prefer. The work on engineering in some passing siding/stations and your yards/stations. Usually best to start with the main line then add sidings then you will end up fiddling back and forth some.

 

there are some more track plans on Kato Japan’s website, but not quite what you are looking for but good to look at to get ideas for yards, sidings, mainlines and how track goes together.

 

https://www.katomodels.com/unitrackplan/index

 

Unitrak parts https://katousa.com/n-unitrack/

 

Don’t panic here you have just started and have a couple of months to get closer to track needed. Folks may spend dozens (or even hundreds) of hours fiddling with track planning software for their layouts. If you can get a rough plan together you can get the vast majority of the track in Japan and maybe some extra as so cheap to play with as well. Never hurts to have some extra track to play with. Again best thing about Unitrak is you can keep fiddling with a layout like this until it’s the optimum for you before nailing stuff down. 
 

sounding like even with shipping and duty it’s cheaper for you to maybe buy Unitrak from Japan right now if you find you need some extra bits later. Points are the most expensive bits of track.

 

Are you Mac or pc? There are easier track design programs out there, xtrakcad is about the worst one to start on. This may help with a lot of the frustration. 
 

Kato track spacing geometry is 33mm meaning all their radius curves are in increments of 33mm. Also double tracks are 33mm apart.

 

there are two sizes of points #4 and #6. #6 points are longer (186mm) and have a very wide radius turn (718mm radius). These work the best in most all situations and rolling stock. #4 points are shorter (128mm) and have a sharper curve (481mm radius). #4 can be a tad crankier than #6s in some situations (right next to curves usually), but are much more compact and can make stuff fit easier in tighter layouts. They can be tuned some filing the track a little at the blade points to work better. Many love them and some hate them, sort of thing that you need to evaluate. But to pack a lot into a smaller layout they sometimes are necessary.

 

Just remember layout planning is all about tradeoffs! It’s not finding the perfect layout it’s usually more about finding the optimal on your set of needs and wants. I don’t think anyone is absolutely happy with thier layout designs as there are always some tradeoffs and losses for gains.

 

jeff

 

 

[Rez]

HI Jeff,

Because of space constraints (the reality of living in the uk in a sub 1 ml GBP home..) The layout needs to stay fairly compact and possibly be stored in a vertical position  that's why I found the video very attractive. While the prices of straights and curves aren't terrible in the uk the pricing of points and trains is insane for KATO. That X over at the bottom was absolutely killing me. I couldn't get it right. I'm going to add a Crossover point as per your recommendation. There are also some very sharp turnouts 20-240 and 20-241 that look very sharp and similar to #20-220/20-221 but at 45 degrees and a tiny radius? 

 

I'm on a PC. 

 

Thanks for all your advice so far!

 

Also, can other forum members recommend where to go shopping in Tokyo for the best pricing on KATO? I don't mind buying second hand trains and I'm not looking for anything rare at this point, just bread and butter of JR?

 

[Junech]

Did two quick plans with a similar layout in mind.

Note: I adjusted the frame size to 680x1980mm and whatever is outside of that would be landscape. There might be places where it is possible to remove 2 parts and add the next longer one or go with double-track pieces. I didn't look into that. Also, just the 680mm size is centered.

 

The first plan is the closest I was able to get sticking as close as possible to the Tomix track plan:

Some notes to the plan:
The red parts are marked as not 100% fitting. You would need to shorten the track parts a tiny bit (a few mm). The blue part would need to be the Flextrack from Unitrack since it needs to be a really light S-curve (or my software is stupid and you can do it normally). Green parts are just triple 248mm parts and grey parts are double 248mm parts. I just ran out of possible part count in the free version. The distances in the curves change so it is not a real double track.

 

The second plan is more in line with the Kato spacings and so on:

Some notes to the plan:
The red parts are marked as not 100% fitting. You would need to shorten the track parts a tiny bit (a few mm). Since we moved more to the right I changed the position of two sidings to the other side. So you would need to change the direction of the train in one of the 2 sidings that give access to them. It is possible to add more on the left side for the cost of the landscape area.

[cteno4]

@Junech nice job!

 

@Rez what length trains do you want to run? That will set the length your yard tracks need to be.

 

the second you could move the crossover points more to the right and have the inner loop point out to the yard slid all the way to the curve at the left to get longer yard tracks if needed, just means you need to run trains around the inner loop once when you take the on or bring them off the outer loop.

 

for the little blue piece not in alignment in the first from the same radius curves on the ends and points and curve ins it should all align up, but in a loop that big you have several mm in wiggle room for alignment and length. 
 

making shorter straight tracks is very easy with a razor saw. You just cut out a chunk of roadbed in the middle of the track the length you want to shorten it by, then slide one end of the roadbed down to where your cut edges meet. Then epoxy the two ends together under the roadbed and clip the rails off flush at the one end with extra rail now.

 

jeff

[Rez]

@Junech Thank you so much for your plans. Would you mind sharing a track list for the Kato laoyout (I can't see the SKU numbers on the image)? I will add them to my shopping list. I have to say that the Tomix based plan looks spot on. Would it be possible to make the yards in the KATO one a bit longer just like in the Tomix? I'm absolutley rubbish at planning and not familiar with the track pieces!

 

@cteno4 I would like to run the trains that are between 4 and 6 cars long. I have abbandoned the dream of running 130cm Shinkansen trains long time ago due to space restrictions. 

 

Thanks all for your help so far!

[Kingmeow]

17 hours ago, Rez said:

Also, can other forum members recommend where to go shopping in Tokyo for the best pricing on KATO? I don't mind buying second hand trains and I'm not looking for anything rare at this point, just bread and butter of JR?

 

 

There's an entire section on this topic here:

 

https://jnsforum.com/community/forum/43-hobby-shops-where-are-they/

 

Having said that, I was there last September, before joining JNS Forum.  I didn't do too bad doing research myself on the internet.  If you are going to be in Tokyo proper, there are a few places that are good for first timers.  Just a warning, you will faint the first time you go into a Japanese train store/department.  I lost my senses the first time I went in one!  🤣  And, railroading is so embedded into the Japanese culture that you are almost guarantee to find a model shop in whatever city your visit!

 

If you are looking for normal stuff and nothing special, I would advise Yodobashi.  Yodobashi is a multi-storied "department store" for electronics, household good, etc.  But usually on the top floor there is a toys floor and a huge model train section.  The good thing with Yodobashi is that anything over 5,000Y you can claim your VAT tax on the spot.  No need for the airport hassle.  Be sure your passport have the entry stamp when you come into the country.  They look for that.

 

Supposedly Models Imon also has a VAT tax refund program.  Other big stores like Tam Tam and Popondetta do NOT but may have better variety in stock.  There's also Hobbyland Pochi that has favorable ratings but I'm not sure if they participate in Duty Free.  But if you are looking for track, buildings, common locos and rolling stock (current production), then pretty much any store can satisfy that.  If so, why not go to the ones that offer you back the VAT tax?  😎

 

I have not been to Imon or Pochi personally so I can't say much but they are on my list for my October visit.

 

For used items, Popendetta really impressed me!  There is another store but the name escapes me at the moment.  I've heard that used items in Japan look and run literally like new as people there take care of their stuff and the shop owners won't won't used merchandise unless it's pristine.  I did not tried the used route but it's worth a try if your funds are limited or you are looking for stuff that is no longer made.

 

EDIT:

If you are going to Tokyo I'm sure you'll be going to other cities as it doesn't make sense for a long flight from the UK you're going to visit Tokyo only.  For first timers, they usually add Kyoto and Osaka (like we did).

 

If Osaka is on your list, BE ABSOLUTELY SURE to visit Joshin's Super Kids Land in Den Den Town.  It is THE ULTIMATE model train store in my opinion.  I ended up buying all my stuff there.  An entire floor dedicated to trains and all on display to entice you to buy!  They also participate in Duty Free to make it easier for you.  Plus, when I was there, if you use VISA to pay for your purchase, there's an extra 5% discount.  From reading on the internet it seems that VISA program has been around like forever.

 

Here's HALF of the Kato trains on display in Joshin's.  They also stock Tomix, Green Max, Micro Ace, and all associated tracks, accessories, parts, etc.  Just look at those bookcases on the bottom shelves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Edited August 10 by Kingmeow

[Junech]

3 hours ago, Rez said:

Would you mind sharing a track list for the Kato laoyout (I can't see the SKU numbers on the image)?

 

I can do that. But I would finish the planning first until it looks nice.

 

It was only possible to lengthen some of the yard tracks a bit (56mm).

 

I played around a bit more and if you would feel comfortable shortening a common Unitrack 15° crossing to fit into the yellow/orange space you could come even closer to the Tomix layout. Alternatively, you could go with a Roco/Fleischmann 15° crossing + a bit of Flextrack but would need to ballast that section. You would need to raise that part to the level of the Kato Unitrack too. I don't know how good or bad the crossing is. I only know that it would fit into the space.

 

With that crossing in place, you would get the standard 33mm distance between the track that Kato uses.

[Rez]

@Junech It looks absolutely amazing in both variants. I think I prefer the first one (my understanding is the orange straight parts need to be shorten a bit to get a different crossing between the 2 main loops and keep the 33mm spacing between the tracks?) but I'm also keen trying the shortening method. I would imagine there are just few parts of difference between both variants? Or does it throw out the entire build?

 

Anyway I would appreciate if I could have the parts list and potentially the plans for both builds?

 

Thank you so much for this amazing piece of work!

 

@Kingmeow Thanks for your input! It's going to be my 4th trip to Japan but a first one with my daughter age 6! I've been always interested in models of all sorts but I would like to have a piece of Japan in my own room! I love Yodobashi and I have spent there a small fortune buying all sorts of stuff! I'm mostly interested in getting the best pricing. I got the entire Tokyo map with every major model railway retailer mapped and I have done a lot of research. However, nobody seems to tell you where the best prices and deals are!

 

Edited August 10 by Rez

[Junech]

Thank you, I will look into the list of track parts tomorrow and wanted to reduce the units needed to buy (since they mostly got 4 of the same track pieces).

 

The main difference between the two variants is that the track in the curves is actually running parallel in the version with a shortened crossing. It isn't too complicated and I guess someone has a link to a good tutorial at hand. You will get a tiny bit more track length in the yard as well.

 

[Junech]

For the first layout option without shortening the crossing:

I needed to do a screenshot to make the numbers on the track visible. The left curve is the same as the right one. Grey track parts are 2x S248 and green parts are 3x S248 pieces.

The red areas:
The red straight track on the platform is 1mm too short but should still be doable.

For the red parts in the staging yard, you will need to remove some ballasting to make the track parts fit together.
 

The list of the individual track parts:

A short explanation for the list. I will list the amount and number of individual parts as they are marked underneath the track (just turn it around and there should be that number visible somewhere) and in brackets, I will put the article number with which the items are listed by Kato and how many you will need.

Curves:

• 8x R315-45 (2x #20-120)
• 6x R282-45 (2x #20-110)
• 4x R282-15 (1x #20-111)

Straights:

• 2x S29 (1x #20-091)
• 2x S38 (1x #20-092)
• 11x S60L or S60R (included in the switches)
• 1x S62 (should be a spare part from the bumpers, otherwise it is 1x #20-040)
• 8x S64 (included in the switches)
• 4x S124 (1x #20-020)
• 46x S248 (12x #20-000)

Switches:

• 7x EP481-15L (7x #20-220)
• 8x EP481-15R (8x #20-221)

Crossing:

• 1x X15L (1x 20-300)

Bumper:

Here you have some options that depend on which bumper you would like to get. You can choose between #20-046, #20-047 and #20-060. If you choose #20-060 you will need to get additional S62 track pieces. In total, that would be one or two #20-040 sets). All three bumper choices come with 2 bumpers.

• 11x bumper (6x #20-046/#20-047/(20-060 + 1x or 2x #20-040))

 

 

There is one thing left that will need to be decided. That would be how you want to drive on the layout.

You will need to get power to the track and Kato offers 2 options. The first one is an S62 track piece with a cable connection (#20-041) and the second option is a cable attached to the rail joiners (#24-818). With my personal preference to connect a cable to each section, you would need 18x of your choice. If you chose the S62 track piece you will need to change some of the S248 track pieces to S186 track pieces to fit in an S62 track piece. If you don't want to bother with that just go with the rail joiner method.

 

Will need to get a look on the other possible layout tomorrow.

Edited August 12 by Junech
removed the R249-15 parts since they weren't in the layout after all, added 2 missing switches

[Rez]

@Junech 

You Sir are my hero! Thank you so much for all the help! Can I at least send you a "thank you" postcard or something ?

I've done some calculations and added some extension cables and point switches (You know the blue lever things - sorry I’m still learning the lingo!) and it still looks pretty affordable when purchased in Japan. 

 

In terms of driving the layout I've been told to go DC. I think this would require 2 power adaptors and 2 controllers (like seen in the video?)? In terms of feeding the track I will go with feeder joiners. One thing which I don't fully understand is how controlling 2 different ovals and trains work? Do these need to be isolated? Do trains park on the yard can be controlled and called out by manipulation of points (sections opened and closed)? How do you prevent all the parked trains from moving at the same time? How do you move just one?  

 

That said, while I like the idea of DC - this style layout would really benefit from being DCC? I can see the parked trains being "called out" and controlled from a DCC controller. This would require DCC control boards for the trains (preferably DCC friendly out of the box) and a DCC controller (like KATO D103 DCC) am I right? 

Please forgive my limited understanding of this as I have only seen this type of layouts with yards controlled with DCC.

 

Wishing you the very best and thnaks again for helping a newbie out!

[cteno4]

Rez,

 

yes two dc throttles will work well on a small layout like this, one for the inner loop and one for the outer loop. You will need to put a couple of insulated rail joiners on this layout plan so you don’t have a situation where both power supplies could get short circuited. I’d say on each loop you could put 4 power drops to its powerpack. These would go at the ends of the curves. You might do with 3 or even 2 per loop, but 4 would ensure good power to all tracks. The plan shows power drops outside in blue, inside in yellow, and the red are the two rails that need insulated joiners to isolate the two power packs from ever cross circuiting.

 

id suggest starting with dc to make it simpler to start and if you want later move to DCC. DCC requires installing decoders in trains and Japanese trains don’t come with preinstalled decoders. Many of the newer Kato trains come in with drop in decoder slots, but not all and those not, older Kato, and Tomix trains require hand wiring the decoder into the motor chassis. Not horridly difficult, but not to everyone’s tastes or skills to do. Dcc is not big in Japan so why it’s not a big part of modeling world there or trains. Kato is moving that way some as they do all their katousa stuff dcc, but not clear if it’s growing a lot in Japan. It’s always an option to add later.

 

Luckily to make doing fast dc power control Kato and Tomix points are power routing so which ever way the point is throw only that side of the point get track power. This way if you have a siding and a train on it won’t be powered when the point for the siding is set to the mainline. That way the train can be parked on the siding while you are running a train on the mainline. With a yard you can have all the tracks but one full with trains and you can then run a train on the mainline, then switch into the yard ladder and run the train into the one open track, switch to another yard track and run that train out and play with it on the mainline.

 

this makes it so you don’t have to do the old isolate track into blocks with insulated joiners and a control panel to switch power from the power pack to each block of track needed. The Unitrak power routing lets you do a lot of operations without any control panels and isolated blocks, just the point do all the work.

 

jeff

[Junech]

Thanks @cteno4 for the electrical plan. The second layout would be the same I think.

 

Layout with the shortened crossing:

The left curve is the same as the right one. Grey track parts are 2x S248 and green parts are 3x S248 pieces.

The red/yellow areas:
The yellow straight track on the platform is 1mm too short but should still be doable.

The yellow crossing part is the space where the shortened crossing will be.

For the red parts in the staging yard, you will need to remove some ballasting to make the track parts fit together.

 

The list of the individual track parts:

A short explanation for the list. I will list the amount and number of individual parts as they are marked underneath the track (just turn it around and there should be that number visible somewhere) and in brackets, I will put the article number with which the items are listed by Kato and how many you will need.

Curves:

• 4x R282-15 (1x #20-111)

• 8x R315-45 (2x #20-120)

• 8x R282-45 (2x #20-110)

A small note: Since the curves are parallel you can swap out the R315-45 and R282-45 track parts against the double-track ones (4x #20-183) but keep in mind that instead of wood sleepers, they have concrete sleepers.

The R481-15 curves in both layouts come together with the switches.

 

Straights:

• 2x S29 (1x #20-091)
• 2x S38 (1x #20-092)
• 1x S46 (comes together with the S29 tack)
• 13x S60L or S60R (included in the switches)
• 8x S62 (2x #20-040)
• 1x S64 (included in the switches)
• 4x S124 (1x #20-020)
• 2x S186 (1x 20-010)
• 47x S248 (12x #20-000)

Switches:

• 7x EP481-15L (7x #20-220)
• 8x EP481-15R (8x #20-221)

Crossing:

• 1x X15L (1x 20-300)

Note: can be replaced by Fleischmann #22245 and some Flextrack. That way you don't need to shorten the switch and instead raise the crossing/flextrack and do your own blasting.

 

Bumper:

Here you have some options that depend on which bumper you would like to get. You can choose between #20-046, #20-047 and #20-060. If you choose #20-060 you will need to get additional S62 track pieces. In total, that would be one or two #20-040 sets). All three bumper choices come with 2 bumpers.

11x bumper (6x #20-046/#20-047/(20-060 + 1x or 2x #20-040))

 

I also changed to mistakes I just noticed on the first list:

1. you don't need to buy the R249-15 curves. Forgot to remove them when I changed those parts against the R282-15 curves.
2. There were 2 EP481-15R switches missing. I edited them into the list.

In total, you will need roughly the same parts, so you could combine the lists and buy the parts for both set-ups and decide at home with your hands on the track which one you will build. You will have some spare straight parts in both layouts that you can use to try to lengthen the yard tracks and the dead-end platform track to your liking.

 

For the shortening of the crossing:

I would get 2 double-track pieces. It doesn't matter which ones and they can be secondhand, they just need to hold the track while you do the fitting of the crossing.

You then need to build the following setup and secure the track in place. The S248 track isn't necessary but could help you to align the crossing better. After that, you can mark where to cut the crossing and fit it into its place.

Edited August 16 by Junech
missed 2 R282-45 track curves

[Junech]

12 hours ago, Rez said:

 

You Sir are my hero! Thank you so much for all the help! Can I at least send you a "thank you" postcard or something ?

 

Thank you for the offer but it was a welcome break to work next to finishing some university projects. There will probably be a time I visit the UK again and a nice drink while meeting up would be good enough.

[Rez]

@Junech If you are ever in Bristol or London let me know! I've done some calculations and the whole layout in Japan will cost me an equivalent of about 11 turnouts in the UK.

 

I'm also not sure if I fully understand the trimming of the crossing but I suppose once I have everything in hand it will become more clear.

Edited August 13 by Rez