I have designed this layout as an exhibition model and it's pretty much just a loop of track with a couple of sidings. The idea was to keep it compact, simple and reliable whilst still offering plenty of visual interest. Consequently, I will not be bothering with tunnels, hills or bridges.
However, there will be operating level crossings, signals, street lights and Tomix moving busses... and possibly a Fire Truck.
Allok...thanks for sharing. a really nice looking trackplan with evidence that it is well thought out and each space has been carefully planned. Looking good! As an alternative, the only other addition that might help is to create a two sided backdrop down the center of main street to create two distinct scenic views and keep folks from viewing the round to round oval.
kudos on a great plan!
sincerely,
Gary L Lake Dillensnyder
This was definitely at the back of my mind during my original planning, especially considering that most trackside scenes in New Zealand tend to be quite flat. The original idea was to have the CBD area three blocks wide with 3-5 story building in the center. Combined with all the light commercial buildings backing on to the track, this would help to mask the track from being seen from the far side of the layout. Unfortunately, there just was not enough room so in the end, I decided it wasn't going to be a big enough issue to worry about. Instead, I'm hoping that Trackside trees and fencing will help to break the scenery up. I guess I will find out as the building progresses.
If your planning on having the scenery mask the fact it's an oval, consider the height of the layout off the ground as a critical element. The closer the layout is to eye level, the less easy it will be be for anyone will see both sides at once.
Of course, (unfortunately) not all folks have their eyes at the same level, so there will be some some and take selecting an optimum height....
One other thing is considering not having Queen St proceed straight through. YOu can move the retail store on the North (upper in plan) side to abut the hotel or angle Queen Street somewhere in the middle (or even as it crosses Main St) so there's no easy one of sight from one side to the other.
Nice plan!
To camouflage the oval raise Bach Street so that the whole city is on a slope; lead Main Street across a bridge over the track on the LH side. Plant plenty of old, high trees in the RH residental section. i.e. keep the track level and let the terrain do the work.
I have now begun building this model using the plan and have had to make a few minor adjustments. I have also had a chance to play around with some of the other anyrail tools.
The anyrail planner has been extremely handy for working out where to put all the buildings.
After rigorous testing, the track seems to be running very smoothly with only a few glitches with regards to tight points and uncoupling.
I had to abandon the Kato automatic signals due to the lack of space between the rails. Instead, I have purchased some inexpensive signals from China. These will be operated using relays which simply switch the lights from red to green when power is applied to the track.
Unfortunately, I also ended up abandoning my plan to run a fire truck around the streets. There just isn't enough room on the roads to run all three vehicles. Luckily, the two busses run beautifully. I can't wait to get it all glued down an create a video.