First Attempt

[Chris]

Well, for better or for worse (as they say), here is my first attempt at a track plan. I have ignored all special tracks (power feeds, isolators, etc.)

All the best,
Chris

PS Reposted as image was of whole screen and FAR to large!

[David]

Hi Chris,

Looks good for a start. I'm not sure about visually going round in circles all the time though. I think you could improve by leaving one 'station' out, and use it as an automatic hidden yard. Of course, that means getting rid of all the sidetrack there.
If you put the station under a slight angle with the edge of the table, I think it'll look a bit more natural.

Good luck!

David.

[Chris]

Thanks for the comments David.

Looks good for a start. I'm not sure about visually going round in circles all the time though. I think you could improve by leaving one 'station' out, and use it as an automatic hidden yard. Of course, that means getting rid of all the sidetrack there.
If you put the station under a slight angle with the edge of the table, I think it'll look a bit more natural.

Maybe I should have indicated that the 6 roads at the bottom are actually hidden sidings with the red and green being used for continuous running when required. Thus there is a background behind (below) the branch line. My maths must be a bit off as I originally calculated that the branch would be high enough to clear the hidden spur to the turntable so it looks as if that will have to go.

Notes.
1. At some point I must have accidentally moved the entire layout to the right, after which I drew in the small branch station and goods shed. This highlighted the fact that I could not find a way to move a surface other than to move each individual point defining it.
2. I could find no way to hide the 'snap to' circles and squares so reduced them in size so that they were not so obtrusive. However, in the exported image they are back to the default size. Is there a way to hide them?
3. I named the individual track colours (Up Main, Down Main, Relief, etc.) but the position of the words appeared to be arbitrary and the size very large so I removed them.

As I pointed out, this is my first usage of AnyRail. I don't know if all these points are actually my errors or part of the program. Definitely AnyRail does have advantages over the other program that I have been using (Train Set Builder) though the latter does have the advantage of being able to run (albeit very crude) train simulations (which are quite hypnotic). I have to concentrate on other things now so will not be able to do much more on the layout for thw time being.

Best wishes,
Chris.

PS. I just noticed the comment re setting the station at an angle. I totally agree, though I would like a gentle curve as well. However, I am constrained in the size of board (180cmx61cm) as I want it to fit inside my car. Maybe when I get going on my N scale layout, I can do that.

[kimbo]

For your point 3 there is a way to make the size of text smaller or larger. I have done it on my own design. My laptop's battery is about to die but I will post how to do it when I recharge it!

[David]

Point 2 really seems to be a bug. -- solved --
For the others, we've added them as feature requests. Of course, we're very much aware of the limited possibilities to draw scenery now.

David.

[Chris]

Hi All.

Just a short message to post the latest version (with turntable installed) of the layout. Buildings still be reinstated after rotating the layout. This will be incorporated into my website later today.

Best wishes,
Chris

[Chris]

Hi All.

Well, since my discovery that the Marklin turnouts don't switch the current to the selected branch, things have ground to a halt. :o( Instead, I have been working on my website, adding lots more data - very time consuming.

Anyway, I have appended two alternative station plans. Both have advantages and disadvantages. E.G. The top one will let me use a train shed over the adjacent red and yellow tracks. But it probably negates the use of my signal box which spans 3 tracks. The bottom layout has the opposite problems. Also, the top one brings a track right to the edge of hte board.

I have put in one-or-two electrical feeds, isolators and uncouplers in the top drawing but, lacking any operational experience, I would like comments on the order of the items. (The one on the outer loop is to allow locos to uncouple so that a second loco can come in from the short spur between the yellow and green tracks and pick up the train to go back the way it came.

Red track is clockwise, yellows are bidirectional and green is anticlockwise.

Any comments about positions of uncouplers, isolation breaks (some are at the changes of colour) and feeds would be helpful. (This layout is going to a rat's nest for wiring! Am investigating multiplexing.)

And, David, you will be delighted to know that I haven't found any more track problems, but it would be nice if the libraries could be saved with the layout, especially now that Marklin Z is off the bottom of the screen on my PC.

All the best to Anyrail for a 1st class product and the rest of you for a great forum,
Chris.