Escher posted:Added another long siding tonight... considering one more at the far end off the inside loop.. Yes - I want to be able to park a lot of trains!
Yes, that adds play value, parking one and bringing another into action keeps the interest for the run session.
Now, you made the switch control panels larger! 
Escher posted:Another day - another layout change...
Turns out I didn't have the correct side switch to put a siding at the far end... so I expanded on the area with the other siding... Makes wiring simpler as well - shorter runs.
Backing in or out through #6 & #9 or any of that route (#2 thru #9) could be an area for derailment - pushing through wiggles that could be a mess. If a car just won't cooperate use it in another train that doesn't back through there.
A switch can be on the curve of the red line on the inside elbow - put the turn-out in the curve and the thru starts the siding
Move the siding to the right side again
You are running counter-clockwise, aren't you?
I think I understand what you are saying - I'll have to see if I have room. The area where the two mainlines travel from center to far right is pretty narrow..
As to running direction - no idea - I'm making this up as I go! I've been Gomez Adams of late and running two trains in opposite directions - luckily no fiery crashes though!
No joy moving the switch to the other side - that curve is 054... and its quite narrow through there..
Ahhh, I couldn't tell which size curve, worth the try
Don't mean to butt in because I have no experience with these switches and the space needed for the motor, but I thought I'd offer this alternate configuration. Note the different locations for the 1-3 and 2-4 crossovers. This allows you to enter/exit the red/green tracks from either side. Also note the new location of the 9 switch. Even if you can't make the other changes, you should make this change to ease the transition to the spur.
Thanks for the suggestion - I'll have to play with that - luckily I held of wiring those...
Ok - so I had it drawn a bit wrong.... When I installed the switches, I offset them a bit... here is the updated drawing. No more wiggles - at least not nearly as bad.. Sorry for the confusion... I hadn't looked at it in a while and realized today when I went to look at it again.
The reason for the location of the switches being all on the back side - is the distance between tracks - its set up tighter in the front - and wider in the back...
Been a busy week... First the trackplan update - showing sidings and power..
All wired except for the last two switches (9&10) and power for sidings A and B.
And then pics of the layout with a few trains.. and we have been buying up all the trees we can find.
I think I may want to isolate part of siding C so I can hold a train at the end and bring cars into the siding with another.
Adding power for "E" allows for a nice passing siding - I may put a depot there.
Wiring is *DONE*..
Timelapse of wiring the last two switches..
What is a "Proper" layout? We all have opinions and I would bet they mostly unique.
For me a proper layout has the following features:
1. I like a layout that represents a purpose. Therefore I like it to have a lot of industrial switching. For that purpose I want some sort of directed switching such as switchlists, car cards, or some system to route cars. There has to be some system to tell me where to move the cars and I prefer a system that has variability. I use a computer system to generate switchlists based on industry routings and requests for cars.
2. I want the modeled railroad, ie layout, to have at least one connection with the outside world. That means it should have some tracks that represent connections to other railroads. These could hold entire trains or just strings of cars. They might be visible, or hidden staging tracks.
3. I like more focus on a prototype area and/or railroad. I currently model a Pennsylvania Railroad line that ran from a connection with the Pittsburgh Division Mainline at Greensburg to Brownsville Pennsylvania. There was "in the day" a large yard at Youngwood Pa and the line ran through Connellsville where the B&O ruled. In the later years, this was a single track mainline with passing sidings, and lots of industry.
4. I prefer a single route where an operator can walk along next to his train. Or possibly if a junction is modeled and a second route it make some sense based on items 1-3. This implies a trackplan/layout that is probably narrower and along the walls with a peninsula or two rather than a large table type where the center is way out of reach.
5. Based on the above features, then the trains that run should have a purpose to support the things represented on the layout. For example, through freights would run through and stop at the yard to pickup cars bound to destinations off the layout (staging) and setout cars for industries on the layout. Perhaps one in each direction. Then there would be locals that originate at the yard and run to towns or areas on the layout to deliver and pickup cars. These locals would then go back to the yard. Passenger trains could be locals that work express cars on the layout or through trains that just go through and do a little work at a main station such as picking up or setting out pullmans, coaches, or express cars for other trains.
Escher posted:Wiring is *DONE*..
Timelapse of wiring the last two switches..
You made "quick" work of that task
Looks good! I used that expanding foam before. It can really fill in some shapes fast. It takes experience to not get too much of it where you don't want it, but it is easily cut away from where you don't want it.
Sharp tools are nice for final shaping of the expando foam- I visited a thrift type store or two and found electric carving knives for small money - they are a very nice weapon on that foam - a cutting wheel on an angle grinder really makes quick work for primary shaping.
Attack the foam with whatever weapons you have
Long time no posting...
Long story short - I burned out in a major way. Was deep into plaster and scenery on about 1/4 of the layout and just lost interest. I realized I had cut so many corners with the wiring it was just a mess - and my access holes under and in the middle of the layout were not quite large enough - so I hated ducking under. Then we hit the biggest frustration - lots od derailments and small radiuses wouldn't allow us to run the trains we want (we love big steamers).... So it has sat for the better part of two years. I had planned on selling the majority of my engines and regrouping while I figure out what to do next.
Fast forward to yesterday... and a dream engine came up for sale.... An older Williams Brass 611 Class J in good running condition but with poor paint - and of course - it'll only run on 072 radius or larger.
So I sat my son down and asked what he wanted to do (He's 12 now, approaching 13)... he says "Whatever it takes to run that engine and the bigger steamers". Good boy..
So - it looks like I'll be taking all this "experience" and starting over - *again*. Higher benchwork, and O72 radiuses.
Our basement area is a bit odd - basically 10 foot by 18, but it narrows to 6 foot at the far end.
So I came up with this - all O72 curves and switches.. Should allow two train operation and some passings as well as a small staging yard. Also solves the clearance issues with much larger access holes.
Any suggestions?
I think it is good to take all you have learned and start over! Most of us have done it at one point. I have thought from time to time that I could have gone with 072 curves instead of 054, but it is working, so I continue on.
Have you figured what grade you need to get high enough for the overpass? Just glancing, I think it would be doable. The curve closest to the yard looks a bit close to the furnace, but you should be able to adjust to make more room to pass through and allow access for furnace maintenance. I am not good at figuring out the best use of space for functionality in yards. Maybe someone else will chime in.
@Mark Boyce posted:I think it is good to take all you have learned and start over! Most of us have done it at one point. I have thought from time to time that I could have gone with 072 curves instead of 054, but it is working, so I continue on.
Have you figured what grade you need to get high enough for the overpass? Just glancing, I think it would be doable. The curve closest to the yard looks a bit close to the furnace, but you should be able to adjust to make more room to pass through and allow access for furnace maintenance. I am not good at figuring out the best use of space for functionality in yards. Maybe someone else will chime in.
Nope - no overpass - This is all flat - I think what you are seeing as overpass is two back to back switches.
That was another thing I learned in the process - I'm not really interested in grades - it really messed up running conventional trains and is why I ended up moving to legacy in the first place - trains were nearly running into each other on the grades.... I want dead simple operation... nice roundy rounds.... Maybe a siding or passing occasionally. I way underestimated the whole "operation" thing.. I ended up spending all my time fixing derailments in the switches. Honestly - I probably wont add the switches for a while, and may just run a couple of loops for a while.
Ah ha!! Yes, now I see what you mean about the switches! No grades is good. That is good to keep things simple. You and your son want to run trains as trouble free as possible. Troubles take away from the fun.
I wonder if you could figure out a way to build a hidden yard under the main platform. There's no such thing as too much yard space. I know I'd like more, even though I just added a good sized yard in addition to my smaller yard tracks. I had space over in that corner to just expand on the main level, but if you didn't, you could go to the lower level.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:I wonder if you could figure out a way to build a hidden yard under the main platform. There's no such thing as too much yard space. I know I'd like more, even though I just added a good sized yard in addition to my smaller yard tracks. I had space over in that corner to just expand on the main level, but if you didn't, you could go to the lower level.
I agree - I would dearly love to have a large yard space - simply for storage... Over the last 3 years I've bought all the "good deals" I could find and now have about 15 engines and 20 or so cars... and no place to store them. My office shelves are all small display areas with loco's strewn about. 
We had hoped to move by now and find a place with a full basement instead of the half basement we currently have. But although the housing market is excellent for sellers - it also has priced us out of all the homes we would want.. Houses we were looking at 3-4 years ago for $250k are nearly $350-400k now.... so that dream (and the dream of an acre of land with a pole barn) are again on hold. My parents also both passed away and I inherited their vacation properties in northern lower MI so the taxes and upkeep are a bit of a drain on the finances as well... Long story... but we knew all this was coming and have been preparing for it. Life changes! Now you see why the hobby has been on pause for a bit...
How wide is your yard area John?
@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:How wide is your yard area John?
It's 36" wide, track spacing is 3.5" center-to-center.
I like this concept a lot better. You can easily run two trains at once.
I think I'll bite the bullet and fix another problem while I'm at it - Going with Gargraves this time and all manual switches - I'm ready for "real" looking track... . The "Yard" on the right is more of an experiment and won't be in the initial version.
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