12x6 U layout

I don’t know where you found that photo, but the dimensions of 21” and 36” don’t add up to 72”. However, even if they did, 72” is not enough for O-72 curves. The gray sections are the ones in your photo, the blue outline is 12’x6’. As you can see, the O72 curves need at least 78” to fit safely on a layout, especially if against 1 or more walls, and that doesn’t leave much space for placing your bridges and other accessories.

Dave,

Thanks again for the info so I need to go at least 14x8  solid rectangle to be safe.

How many pieces of track did you use?

Very much a novice at building and trying to figure out the best approach.

what software did you use for this?

paul

I used SCARM. You can try it out free for up to 100 objects (tracks, etc.). This has 30 tracks; 16 O-72 curves, 12 10” straights and 2 5” straights. I used the FasTrack library, but there’s not much overall difference with other brands. When it comes to what kind of bench work you need, it depends on how much space you have to work with, how far you can reach and how much access there is to all parts of the layout. An 8’x14’ table can mean having to reach 4’ if there is access all around. Most people can’t reach much more than 30” without a climber, access hatches or crawling on top. If you have space for an 8x14 table, you might want to consider an around the room design with a lift-out or lift-up bridge over an entryway. The place to start is to post the dimensions of the space that’s available to you, detailing any obstructions, like walls, furniture, doors, windows, etc. You can see some basic bench work designs on the Mianne website (http://www.miannebenchwork.com/walk_through_kits.htm).

The bench work picture is from Drawing 2 on

http://benchridge.com/index.html

Has anyone used them before?