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Example of older design redone in Z

Started by Rockytop, February 28, 2023, 05:29:10 PM

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Rockytop

Took an older design from the 101 Track-Plans book by Linn Westcott (No. 28) and laid it out in Z scale using Marklin track. This is a loop-to-loop design. The objective was to see what could be done on a 2' x 4' table (~610 x 1220mm). Also wanted some reversing loops, a little switching capability, multi-train operation, and didn't want a flat layout. This will also provide a chance to build a little scenery.

The challenges are keeping the slopes 3% or less and keeping the curves from getting too sharp. This design hides a few sharp curves in tunnels so the visual effect is minimized. Also trying to minimize the "bowl of spaghetti" look. If this gets built, it will be DCC/JMRI control and may try to automate some trains.

Taking these older layouts done by seasoned designers and putting them down in AnyRail is very educational. (Flex-tracks are your friends.) You can see in the attachments there are a few modifications, but not many. This is proving to be a good way to learn more about layout design, not to mention a good way to learn AnyRail.

Just wanted to put this out there for comment. I'm new at layout design and having a lot of fun. AnyRail makes that possible.


BadBanana

Nice.  If you haven't yet bought the Marklin flex track, I would suggest also taking a look at the Peco SL200 flex track.  It's the only Z gauge track that Peco offer.  It's quite similar in appearance, but has the benefit of being rather more flexible out of the box.  With the Marklin flex, you need to cut some of the reinforcements between the track ties (under the rail) in order to get tighter curves to work smoothly.  As for the gradients, it depends very much on the locomotives being used.  The steam locomotives have relatively poor traction and they might struggle with a few cars behind them, whereas diesel or electric types tend to have all wheels driven and can manage relatively severe gradients.