Ideas on beginning a layout

Beautiful layout Don. Just gets me more revved up! How did you start it? I’ve got a carport coming so I won’t need my garage. Very inspirational thanks for sharing.

I was thinking of making only 1 level in the back but now after seeing yours just makes sense and looks great with 2 levels!

AdamG,

It depends on what you want in a layout. Do you want realism or lots of track? As it is shown, I think it has too much track in the center and could instead have more scenery in the form of rivers, bridges, industries or a town. Your track plan has two outer loops that would give continuous running of two trains. The inner loop could be elevated and you could add a siding to each loop and crossovers between loops. Would that be enough? Or, you could elevate a third independent loop. But my suggestion is to leave space for scenery and buildings at the center of the layout. I think it will look more realistic if that's what you prefer. It's a matter of preference.

MELGAR

I agree Melgar. I love to to run trains as well as include scenery. Didn’t have trains as a young person just got the bug about 6 years ago. Started collecting pre war stuff then discovered newer MTH locos with ps sounds. Had to relocate and totally destroy my last layout so just trying to get started again. I promised my wife I wouldn’t start till this new/old house was ready to her standards. 1 year later I’m ready to get back into a layout. Just looking for ideas. I could eliminate one of the center lines but need to keep something to run my prewar trains.

Biggest problem is I’m in Texas. Not a lot of train enthusiasts here, at least I haven’t found any. No stores have to get everything online. Found a store last month but it closed. COVID-19 is very tough on small business.

AdamG,

You could also design the layout and track plan so that you could build it in sections. Complete one section, then add on and build the next one. There is satisfaction in having an operating model railroad with scenery and buildings and then expanding it. I used Mianne (a Forum sponsor) benchwork on my layouts. It could save you a lot of carpentry work.

MELGAR

Adam, there isn't even a hobby shop where I live. I have to do everything by mail or make it myself. Very limited on materials. No hydrocal to be had so had to use plaster for mountains. Don

My L-shaped O-gauge layout is 15x19 as measured along the outer sides of the "L." I created an upper level with a Christmas theme with holiday-décor trolleys and placed 35 Dept 56 lighted porcelain buildings of the North Pole Village collection.

Track plans are attached for reference.  The curves and switches are O42, which is as large as I could fit in the limited area within a room addition to the house.

I "second the motion" of those who advise placing scenic features, operating accessories, and buildings and figures on the layout.  IMHO, it's a good idea to avoid "cramming" a layout with track and not much else. My layout surface of the lower level is covered with green patio carpeting. Although not very "scenic," it creates a uniform "ground" surface and absorbs some sound. The upper level surface is painted-white wooden boards mounted atop  MTH elevated piers.  No cotton batting or fake snow, which would be a struggle to keep clean. The Dept 56 buildings create a Christmassy environment; some of the Dept 56 buildings are animated - fun for kids to watch.

Carry on ...

Mike Mottler   LCCA 12394

In my point of view, the stage should always be much bigger than the actors. Don

Hello All, hope everyone had a great Christmas and looking forward to getting 2020 behind us. Sorry for the late reply i've been building the benchwork for the new layout. I found this layout on the forum but i cannot figure out where???? Someone posted it as a new layout and actually had an animation to simulate trains running on it. I really liked it so here goes nothing. For power i'll be using 1-ZW with 2 180 watt bricks for inside section and 1-ZW with 2-180 watt bricks for outside loop. I've soldered all outside and center rails from each section of track. At this time i have 10 track drops ready and i've changed all switches to AUX power and prepared the drops.

Question: i plan to run conventional and command controls on the layout. Should i use Buss wire or Star wire configuration? Is 16 AWG good enough for the power distribution wire?

Does anyone recognize this layout from the forum?

AdamG

The larger cities in Texas have some great hobby shops and also train shows and TCA meets where train gear can be bought.  I used to got to Houston from LA to shows and meets to buy trains and lived in three places in Texas, none a big city.  Texans measure in hours away not miles!  My brother's and daughter's families still live there.

I have a L shaped layout that allows continuous loop running or switching with a $10 homemade turntable, a Wye, and several reversing loops.  I built it in sections to be moved and has been in 5 states and Jamaica.  You can check out my post on how I built it for ideas at link below and page 1 has an table of contents.

https://ogrforum.com/...ra-027-layout?page=1

I really like the picture of the layout diagram on you last post since I favor active track plans.  It has loops, a dog bone, reversing loops and two Wyes and allow continuous running and switching.  I would find a place for a TT.  I have saved a copy of it.  Thanks for posting.

Charlie

AdamG,

The wiring scheme (bus or star wiring) you use depends on the command system you choose. If you are running Lionel Legacy or TMCC, use bus wiring. That's what the guys at Lionel recommend. I use Legacy on my layout, and the bus wiring set-up is simple to wire and looks neat. MTH DCS (so I've read) works better with the star wiring scheme (same as a home wiring set-up). You can use both Legacy/TMCC and DCS together, though I only use Legacy.

For a smaller layout like yours, 16AWG wire is adequate. I use 14AWG on my layout, but 16AWG will work.

Since you plan on running conventional engines, the Lionel ZW-Cs work like the Powermasters, allowing you to run all your trains with a TMCC or Legacy remote. I have a Legacy Powermaster on my own layout, and it is very fun to operate my old conventional steamer with my Legacy remote. DCS will run conventional trains as well.

By the way, great layout. I wish I had the space for a new layout (hopefully in the next few years).

Thanks guys, Charlie I do have a turn table and plan to install in the future.

Dylan when powering the fastrack remote switches do you need to run a ground or does it use the outside rail for ground. If you do need a ground is it okay to use same ground as track power?

AdamG,

I'm pretty sure that the ground comes from the track. If the switches don't work, then hook up a ground feeder to each switch. If you phase your transformers, the ground is all the same, so it's ok to use track ground.

MY help on building layouts

use a plan made for the type of track you will use

plan the fasteners to attach track to boards

do a decibel check

realize the pros and cons of each type of track

set up a workbench with shop  vac early in process

stick to a timetable to finish

limit rework if possible

run trains as soon as possible in the process

have the scenery match the track don’t lay track around the scenery, learned that today! A plan helps with that

pick an operating system and purchase accordingly

limit purchases to what you can run (IMO)

use the resources of this forum

keep it fun

Hey guys just an update on my progress and thank you all for the information. I ended up wiring both the ground and power for my fastrack switches. They work great. After a little maintenance the older K Line switches are working great. Was planning on using Realtrax O-31 switches on the back big loop but they're not working correctly so I'm gonna use more K-Line switches. They seem to be much easier to maintain. Going a bit slow having to unpack and repair parts as needed but finally able to run a train on the layout and it actually runs pretty smooth.

How do you know where you need blocks for controlling trains? I've got my inner section almost complete and i'd like to be able to run 3 trains on it. 1 on the big loop and 1 on each of the smaller outside loops. I've got many different locomotives, Lionel old and new blue tooth, MTH PS1 PS2 PS3 and Williams conventional.

Adam, I just saw this topic.  It looks like you are moving along very quickly even though you are wisely taking time to make sure all the track components work correctly.  That plan looks like it will provide lots of different routes and switching to boot.

Thanks Mark, I did get tired of making solder joints for the fastrack so i got smart and made jumpers and used the terminals in the track sections to make sure my voltage stays the same. More to come........

Adam, that was a smart thing to do on the Fastrak connections.