A basic SCARM design of my track plan

I'm liking it so far.

It has a nice flow. You can reverse directions.

What about crossing over between lines?

What is the purpose of the curved spurs or sidings?

The track to scenery ratio is about right.

Use Objects>Trees from the SCARM library and fill in some areas. You can find some buildings at SCARM Hi-Railers or place rectangles for the footprint size.

There is a crossover just below the yard it is not very clear on the plan. I am trying to figure out how to show the track plan it self when I do it will be clearer. The a lot of the sidings I put in are just for show right now I am just experimenting right now.

Rich will tell you that you don't have a yard lead and will foul the mainline.  I agree.

I would shift your sidings to start at the lower left instead of the upper left as they are now. This will allow you to add a yard lead and an arrival/departure track.  You'll now be able to operate three trains -- two on the mains and one working in the yard.

Are you planning any industries?

Will you post your SCARM file?

Jan

Jan' I'm trying to post the file without success , could use a little help from my friends!

This view is a little better for seeing the track plan.

I might add I didn't design this myself I got it off of you tube. I liked the layout & it was just about the size I wanted.  I made a few changes & still looking for improvements to it!

Jerry Del posted:

Jan' I'm trying to post the file without success , could use a little help from my friends!

Jerry,

At the bottom right of a reply that you are working on, you will see ADD Attachments - select that and point to the SCARM file wherever it is saved on your computer. It will upload, then select FINISHED.

Then, Post reply.

Carl; I have been doing that but when it loads as a SCARM ATTACHMENT BUT when I open the Attachment what opens is a page full of file numbers & letters so I delete it

Do "Save Link As..." and not "Open"

Jan

Jan posted:

Do "Save Link As..." and not "Open"

Jan

Yes, Jerry, you only have to upload it. One must download it to open the file. It is how the program is written. it appears as a text file to a browser.

Thanks for the help guys but it is mostly Greek to me. I am computer savvy until something goes wrong. 

Jan I don't know how to Save as Link,  Carl I thought I was doing it right.  I click on Attachments  it pulls up my  Files then click on file with the Scarm Logo where the plan is saved  it loads it to the forum page I hit Finish there is an Attachment under my Add Reply ,when I click on it, Hieroglyphics.

Jerry,

That was my fault.  What you described sounded like what happens when you click on a SCARM file that has been attached to a post.

Do what you have been doing.  You were doing it right.  Here is an Atlas file that Carl had previously posted.  Check it out.  If you click on it you get a screen full of text.  But if you right click and save the link you can open it with your software.

Jan

OK Jan Here Goes

jan,

sidebar - funny that you would post that layout- Leandro just posted his new train room is almost ready - He took that layout apart. You can see pieces in the photo. he lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil. That will be his new layout - sorry.

Jerry Del posted:

Track Plan

That's it! Oooh Rah!

Carl that's WHAT all I see is numbers & letters

Jerry,

Here's what I was trying to say earlier.  Wasn't much of interest on TV so I made a few (OK, a lot of changes).

Jan

Reminds me of this layout, one I have always thought was pretty nice for its size. at 2:00 is the initial plan, and 4:06 the fleshed out plan.I think you are on a good track. 

Try to lengthen yard tracks.

Straighten squiggles on lower left.

Made a few changes for you to consider. Most were just a little cleanup to make more joints fit.

Added a 1/3 O-81 curve in the red circle on the right, otherwise the tracks would not join without being forced too much.

Moved the siding in the other red circle to reduce the grade from over 8% to 4.2%, which I think it still too much.

Set the bridge on the left to 5" and reduced the length of tracks on the grade for the other bridge.

The other joints that don't connect look close enough, but I don't know if they'll fit once you start laying track. Either way, you're going to have to be careful or the rest of the tracks will be off.

The green is a 5" elevated track, the purple tracks are on grades and the blue tracks are at 0" elevation.

I also changed the yard configuration a bit and the yard tracks can be lengthened some.

I don't like the squiggles on the bottom either, especially if running longer trains. They look nice, but might be ripe for derailments.

Those loops also don't fit the table, but I didn't know how finite the dimensions are.

Another concern is the if the upper part is against a wall, it's going to be hard, if not impossible, to reach those upper tracks from the aisle.

Lastly, I don't know how you plan to landscape, but there isn't a lot of room where you have the 2 bridges alongside other tracks that are at 0" elevation. Bridges usually cross a valley, river, other tracks, etc. On the top there is less than 4" center-to-center spacing. While that's probably okay for 2 trains to pass each other, I think it presents a landscaping challenge to make things look right.

12 Monkeys ; That is the plan I used. I thought it was a great plan for it's size & one that would fit in my area, lots of action.

Jan ; I like the changes you made a lot, makes for a much better flow.  I put that switch in the lower right to feed the open area on the lower right. I think I would like to put a turn table & round house in there down the road what do you think? 

I tried until 1:00AM to get my layout to post but couldn't figure out how. Nothing I did worked, drives me nuts 

Thanks Daz The I really applicate the feed back & input from everyone. This is really my first big layout so any in put I get is well taken.  I just started working with SCARM a few days ago so I'm still getting use to it, but I like the program.   

That open area in the upper right is going to have a 30 x 30 access hatch it is about 8' from the isle to the wall. 

Jerry & Daz,

Made a few changes which show as plain track.

1.  Obviously, I added the Atlas turntable.
2. Move the mains away from the upper right corner to make way for an access hatch or popup hole.
3. Daz, how about starting the lower rise before the turnout and siding on the lower left.  I don't see a reason that the siding couldn't be elevated.
4. Another popup in the lower left corner.
5. I think that the only way to move the track away from the bottom edge is to move the mains and crossovers a few inches toward the yard.  The curves on the lower loops cannot be changes, on;y moves.

Jan

Moved the track away from the edge.  It was easy.

You might want to consider opening up the area between the mains in the lower left for a major industry complex.

Jan

One more time.

Jan posted:

1. Daz, how about starting the lower rise before the turnout and siding on the lower left.  I don't see a reason that the siding couldn't be elevated,

It's preferable to have the turnout on a flat surface, so if you want to do that, you can add grades before and after the turnout.

One other thing to think about is the center-to-center spacing on the lower loops and the curves coming out of the double crossover. Remember that a train running clockwise on the inside loop will overhang toward the outside while the cars, especially long passenger cars, on a train running counterclockwise will overhang toward the inside. I'm not saying there's not enough room, just maybe something to check.

I wish I knew how you guys post the track plan so easy. I hope it comes to me as I use the forum & SCARM MORE frequently.

Jan I don't think the turn table will work there  It is going to be in the middle of the access hatch. I was thinking down on the lower loop.  That upper island is 8' from the isle to the wall. 

In regards to what Daz  is saying about clearance. On my original plan I tried to use  as big of radius as possible. I was looking up the larger engines that Lionel has & it seems that all but the very biggest will run on 54" or 72" radius. I am not familiar with MTH engines but should I try to keep the outer main line at least 72", that should give me more room for Wall & Track clearance. I would eventually like to get a Big Boy & a Cab Forward  but I think I would be happy with the LionMaster  ones.  

One other thing How The Hell did you guys build that layout so fast and post it? 

And is there any way I can put it into my files to work with it in SCARM?

Jerry,

I have to ask, is the room size constraining the width of the layout? It seems a shame to take large radius and reduce it to O54 & O63.

Another 15"-18" in width and you could keep it all O72 minimum.

About the SCARM question - all of us have spent many hours working with the program to be able to do these things "quickly"(It still takes hours). So, for now, right-click on the layout files that they posted and select "save target as". Then. save it on your computer where you can find it.

You should be able to open it with SCARM and work with it. Save it with a different name.

Jerry,

Just saw your posts and had anticipated you concerns. I reworked most of the mainlines to maintain 4.5" spacing which is Atlas standard.  Your controlling curves are on the bottom table.  They are O63 and O54.  You woun't be able to run big engines,  Everywhere else the mainline curve are O72 or larger.  The yard area also has O54 curves.  Parts could be redone with O63.  You should be able to run Railking, Lionmaster, and most Williams engines without problems. 

I did need to cut an O81 curve (just SW of the turntable to make a clean closure of the outside loop.  I used larger curves (up to O90) in in the interior corners.  This should allow you to access the area where you plan to put a hatch.  That gives you a space 20" wide to fit through.  A few more inches are possible by sacrificing the large curves.

I'm not as experienced with SCARM as DAZ so that is why you don't see the informative colors and nice grades. 

Jan

This version has an O72" outer loop.  Thirteen feet requires that the loops be offset laterally from each other in order to maintain a minimum aisle width.

Jan

Depending on your PC software, when you right-click on an attached SCARM file, you should see an option to save the file. It might be called Save Target As, Save Link As or something similar. In some cases, when you save it, the filename extension might be changed to .txt, so you'll have to change it to .scarm.

(Technically you can still open it in SCARM if you have the Open option look for "All files" instead of just .scarm files, but it's easier to keep things straight if you change the extension.)

Jerry Del posted:

In regards to what Daz  is saying about clearance. On my original plan I tried to use  as big of radius as possible. I was looking up the larger engines that Lionel has & it seems that all but the very biggest will run on 54" or 72" radius. I am not familiar with MTH engines but should I try to keep the outer main line at least 72", that should give me more room for Wall & Track clearance. I would eventually like to get a Big Boy & a Cab Forward  but I think I would be happy with the LionMaster  ones.  

My reference to clearance had little to do with the radius you've chosen, though it's true that tighter curves generally mean more overhang. If you look at Carl's version, you'll see he still used O72 curves to the right of the double crossover, but they are staggered better than your original version in order to gain a 4.5" clearance as opposed to your 3.5".

MTH has the RailKing series of engines that run on O31 curves (some on O27), even a version of the Big Boy. A key to running such engines in a small space is to use larger curves where they can be seen and hide the tighter curves in tunnels, behind buildings, etc.

 I just got in and it's late but I couldn't wait to check out your in put. Thank you so much for the help guys you make it look so easy. See you later

Thanks

I adjusted Jan's last offering. I changed the angle of the lower end to widen the aisle. Also fit track joints to enable the ability to run the simulator.

I didn't know if you were constrained by the 150" end width, but did it anyway.

Just pointing out that the elevation of the bridge in Carl's version is only 2" and raising it to 5" results in grades of 3.4% along the lower side and 1.7% along the upper side. I also added a yellow 24" access hatch for this picture. And like Carl said, if the room size is limited to 150", this version will not fit.

If you can slip through an 18" wide aisle then this might work.  It is still 150" wide.

Jan