Large N-scale layout

[RhB_HJ]

Over on TrainBord.com a member presented a "challenge i.e. fit N into a large space.

Here's the basic suggestion I came up with. Min height of the visible portion is 54", with staging tucked under each Division point. Height at the Summit is 73". Max grade is 2% climbing out of Town A all the rest is less. The operating challenge will be the bottle necks of the single track in the locations where there was no room to put in the second track. I know a lot of places like that.       

I left lots of room for many operators as well as being able to shoot good stills and/or video.

PS No, the mainline will not be that straight, this is more or less a schematic rendition, rather than a finished trackplan.  

[glakedylan]

very well done!
i like the large radius curves throughout.
i agree that the single track mainline in places will make this an interesting challenge for operators.
the different heights of trackwork also add to the visual interest.
you have quite the creative gift and i appreciate you sharing it!
peace,
Gary

[RhB_HJ]

Added a few more items.
Mining town with either the old-fashioned tipple loading - lots of fun doing all the car shuffling - or with a flood loader to load unit trains. Busy place either way!
Since roundy-round continuous running was desirable I also added the connection between the two division points, hinged to be swung out of the way, just like a gate.

Note to Jeff:
How about you add all the good stuff for the two division points and the industries? 

[Jeff]

I don't know, HJ. I think you're leaving out some goodies all over the place and there are some really big areas of the room that aren't used at all. Still, I'll throw in a few odds and ends at division points (yes, I DO mean engine services ). It sounds a lot like he wants to run long trains and I can think of a scenario or two that would fit well with your track plan IF I throw in just a few things. I'm going to look at it more closely tomorrow, if I get the chance. I think that in that big a space, we could hand him a lovely piece of either the C&O or the N&W in late steam / early diesel days. Did he specify locale or era or what kind of traffic at all? Or we could call it one of the larger branchlines of those two roads... I feel like the single-track main idea will still work, then, with a junction at one of the division points (like the Pennsy at Altoona).

[Jeff]

Umm, you didn't drop the link to the challenge. I found that there are a LOT of challenges on that board. Does it specify/require code 55??? I find that I can't do nearly enough of what I want with the limited selection of code 55. Specifically, the available turnouts don't match well with the 10 degree-and-up crossovers . p.s. especially if it's #5, #7, or #10 turnouts? The only one that you can get to match the crossovers is a #5...

[RhB_HJ]

Jeff,

Here's the Link. Lots of specifications, wishes and such. Yes, Atlas C55 is one of the druthers. The first two pages of that thread sort most of the "must"- amongst them a "Walmart".

I purposely left LOTS of ROOM for operators - at least four foot aisles even more where I know people will congregate. I have operated on some very large layouts - apart from having my own 29x29ft HO NG empire - where aisles were too narrow and people were constantly in each others way.
In addition to that it's a "teach the man to fish", he has a copy of AR and getting some of the basics down was the intent.

And there is: 
"Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple."
― Woody Guthrie


PS Always liked Woody's philosophy (from songs, to books and on)

[Jody]

Hey all. Hans let me know there was a discussion going on over here. So here I am. I'm the one that going to be building a 40' by 60' train room. Some details:

Will be freelance with real world scenes
Base bench height will be 55" (I am 79")
Will be using atlas code 55 track( mostly flex, #10 switches on main, or anywhere my longer cars will run, #7 in those areas adjacent to main,  #5 will most likely be reserve for spot for my smaller cars/locos will be)
Not planning more than one level at this point, however there will be staging below the main level.
Will be modeling 70's to present, I like big power, nut a few steamers may make it on the layout now and again.
I don't care what it costs or how long it takes me, its a hobby and I will build as funds and time are available.
I am not looking for this to operate as a real railroad, I want it to be fun but challenging.
Not modeling any particular road or area, if I see something I like and it will work on the layout it goes in.

What hans has done is amazing so far and has given me the motivation to proceed with planning this layout in earnest.
I have at least three years until ground breaking to finalize(or be very close) the trackplan and to build my inventory of locos/rolling stock/scenery/ect. This I have a good start on already as I have been purchasing item on and off for the last ten years, just never had the space or time to put something totally together.

This will be DCC, I have a digitrax chief. Eventually I will have it computer control thru loconet.

Anymore question feel free to ask.

Jody

And yes I want a walmart ( reason is that Walmart was very good to my dad for alot of years) anyone have an N scale walmart truck?

[RhB_HJ]

Hi Jody, welcome to the forum!

Here's another thing about large layouts: they take a lot of time, effort and perseverance to build. Planning building in stages gets some results without having to look at the whole big enchilada. If I would tackle this project my stages would look like this:

Green is the first stage
Brown the second stage
Attach a temporary balloon track to each end as work progresses. Not only does one get to watch trains roll, one is troubleshooting/proving at the same time. The other thing I firmly believe in: when proving the layout have a note pad handy and write down every snag or fix it right there and then. "Getting around to it" items tend to accumulate very rapidly.   

[Jeff]

Welcome to the battlefield, Jody

40 x 60 feet... I wish I had 4 x 6 feet! Anyway, one of the reasons we love AnyRail is that it will handle designs of any size, in all scales. I'm going to do two designs for you, one will be an expansion of HJ's design and one will be more of my idea of a big railroad. I do want to ask a few questions that should make your desires a lot clearer for me.

First, you say you want code 55. Do you realize how much extra work that can be? You're limited in the track items available, for one thing. You specify Atlas code 55, but that one system may not have items you need (like a crossover to fit in with your #10 turnouts, putting parallel double-track at the proper distance for clearance). Also, you will need to go over every piece of rolling stock to assure that the flanges are small enough to run reliably on code 55. I can imagine that running back and forth to deal with derailments in a 40x60 space won't be fun! You'll also need to check the gauge on every wheelset and adjust or replace where necessary.

Second, do you have any druthers on the railroad theme? You've nailed down the modeling era, but what kind of a railroad is it- granger railroad (mostly flat-land and rolling smaller hills)? Coal hauler? General freight? And how about passenger service?

As for the Wal-Mart, I'm not aware of anything specifically Wal-Mart, except, I think I saw a model of the original Wal-Mart store in Bentonville once. It might be available through Walther's. If I had to model one of their ubiquitous trucks, I'd get some blank 18-wheelers and then look for Wal-Mart decals.

That's about it, right now. I can't think of much else to ask, though I'm sure others will occur to me.

[RhB_HJ]

Second, do you have any druthers on the railroad theme? You've nailed down the modeling era, but what kind of a railroad is it- granger railroad (mostly flat-land and rolling smaller hills)? Coal hauler? General freight? And how about passenger service?

Jeff,

Did you read the list and explanations in the thread I linked?

10. Varied scenery from mountains to flatland
11. Got to have a Walmart
12. A farm or two
13. Lots of bridges
14. A few tunnels
15. Mix of modern and hometown buildings

20. Must be fun to operate, challenging but fun
22. Passenger service and the occasional steam powered excursions

And a bunch more as that thread progresses.

BTW on the turnouts/switches, how about mix and match? More than one C55 system on the market.

[Jody]

Jeff,

My vision so to speak is to have some large industries, autorack yard, intermodal yard, grain elevators and a seaport that'll have room for container ship, oil tanker and cargo ship. I see a some smaller coal mines, a logging industry. A big classification yard that'll divvy up all this cargo that'll be coming and going. I'll have alot of room just on one level, and in time it may go to two, but I want to stay away from helixes if I can, with the length of the building I think I can pull off a nolix with the trains peeking in and out around the mountains on one side. Staging will be underneath the opposite side.

As far as track, code 55 it is, I may either make my own turnouts for those spots that need something custom or figure out some obstacle that needs to be inserted so we get some track separation. Gotta love flex track. The dual main will have alot of long sweeping turns. I will plan for passenger service, Maybe at some point a high speed bullet train may come to the layout.
I am pretty much open for anything as space will allow.

Jody

[Jeff]

Thanks, Jody, that makes things a lot clearer (without being TOO clear, if ya know what I mean...). Ok, I like the way you want to go- heavy-duty railroading and no nonsense. I also agree completely with the idea of staying away from helixes. It's not hard at all to construct a 2%-or-less ramp down to staging. If you want to see what I did in the way of a 'large' layout, take a look on the AR home page under 'Examples'. It was a while ago, but I still remember how (I think ). In the four-track main areas, express freight and passenger is the two middle tracks (right-hand running). So, if you want challenges, you can run those long freights (I figure 25-40 cars, maybe) while trying to do doodle-bug freights and local switching (and playing piano?). I figure that being in 10 places at once is enough challenge for weekdays, at least. Oh, and for high-speed runs, consider the European TGV. They're considering bringing them here in Ohio, for one.

BTW, is this a detached garage or part of the house?

[RhB_HJ]

Jeff,

I looked at that huge layout before and I still think you missed some elementary things i.e. which parts are layout and which parts are aisle ways?    And where exactly are the scenic deviders?

[Jeff]

Getting one thing out of the way... "BTW on the turnouts/switches, how about mix and match? More than one C55 system on the market". True. There are two. Neither of them is engineered to complement the other, unlike Atlas c80 and Peco c80.

As for my Heavy Rail, It is a pure track plan, not a landscaped layout. Also, I engineered it to be flexible in a very literal sense- you can take sections and bend or twist the connectors. It's very much a series of LDE's, though some of the connectors represent important LDE's themselves. And, of course, it's almost 3 years old-ish. I suppose I could revise it to take advantage of all the tools that have been added to AR, but that would be a lot of work. As it stands, everything was laid parallel 'by eye' instead of using the parallel track tool.

I do wish I'd had that tool for ALL of my layouts!

[Jody]

Thanks to Hans for the ideas!!! I've worked the bench plan a bit, well quite a bit. I don't expect throngs of people coming over so I added a bit of benchwork. I still kept the aisles at around 48" for the most part. I need to add back in the grain silo piece from Hans along one of the longer straight sections. I tailored down my Auto rack facility (took away the 6 track storage yard) and extended the loco area to make sure I have room for an off track fueling tank. Also added a grade up to the facility to seperate it more from the mainline. I need to come up with a good set of tracks near the autorack facility to house the car manufacturing plant. This plant will be recieving car parts (still need to research and see what all comes by rail and what rolling stock I'll need) and the finished cars are then moved to the autorack facility for shipment.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.