Layout Design Assistance? - Twice Around the Tree

It's not unrealistic at all.   Here's the basic design in Atlas Track:

- Greg

That looks pretty good.  Do you think there is a way to add another 10" in straights?  Maybe on the blue lines here?  Would that left joint allow for that?

Looks like it works!  That top spot where the inner circle and outer part get close has me a little nervous.  hopefully that's just an artifact of the track width in the software! 

That should give me a little more room for scenics.  I wonder if I can play with track elevation on one this small.....

Thanks for the start Greg!!  That was tremendously helpful!

Hi There

I put a Letter A next two spots to add Atlas 1-3/4" straights Then rotate layout 5 to 6 degrees  down on right side .

I think you're right to be concerned about how close some of the tracks are. I don't know what software others used, but this is the best I could do using SCARM. The large rectangle is 4x8 and the black line shows where 4x5 would be. If this is going to be a floor layout, then it will fit a 4x8 space. However, if it's going to be on a raised table like the Halloween layout was,  then the table would need to be a little wider to be safe.

Did you add in the 1.75" sections that they have to give it some extra wiggle room?  I am actually going to be cutting some of the 10" track I have purchased already to make the 4.5" and 5.5" stuff, so I should be able to make some custom lengths as needed, too. 

Its def going to be a floor layout.  Man, I need to get my hands on SCARM.  That's free opensource stuff, right?

WRGMILW posted:

Hi There

I put a Letter A next two spots to add Atlas 1-3/4" straights Then rotate layout 5 to 6 degrees  down on right side .

Ack, somehow I missed your reply before!  And I see you were talking about the 1.75" stuff I just asked about too.  Lol, good timing. 

So when you say rotate the layout, that is so it would still fit in the 4x6' area then?

Thank you all for the help!

I like the look of a 22.5° cross in the front to show off the side of the train as it passes. This gives you 43 x 36 in the center, about 7" between the loops on the sides and of course the outside front.

The small curves are O36 1/4 and a mix of short stock straights ( 2-1.75 + 1- 1.25 top) + (2- 1.75 x 2 at the cross) for fitters.

scolba posted:

Its def going to be a floor layout.  Man, I need to get my hands on SCARM.  That's free opensource stuff, right?

IMHO, SCARM is worth installing just to be able to play with the life-like simulation feature. And, yes, it is still freeware/shareware.

scolba posted:

Did you add in the 1.75" sections that they have to give it some extra wiggle room?  I am actually going to be cutting some of the 10" track I have purchased already to make the 4.5" and 5.5" stuff, so I should be able to make some custom lengths as needed, too. 

Yes, they are the 2 small sections without a length displayed (SCARM file attached).

Ah right on! When I get my computer desk back (currently on Halloween layout duty...lol) I'll get that program going. That's pretty slick that it does modeling. 

Thanks for the additional ideas, Carl! I actually like the asymmetry that comes with the other one, plus the added space on the left for scenery. 

I was able to put those 1.75" sections in here finally. They updated the software today, so I had to relearn a bit:

Now im trying to decide if I should venture into tunnel land for the rear. Might be a bit ambitions for the timeframe! Haha. 

Thanks fellas!