My new layout

Looks like a good plan with a lot of operational features.  I like the crossovers and the double track main.  Looks good to me.

Art

I second Art. It sure don't look like it's the first one you ever did.

min 048 072 turn outs nice. Looks like you are certainly trying to get the biggest bang out of the space.

Larry

I wouldn't put the crossover on the lift out section. That makes things way more complicated. Just move it back to the "mainland" at the bottom of the plan.

Thanks for all of your comments so far.  I originally had the crossover at the bottom of the layout but moved it because I may want to put a small passenger station or platform along the bottom inner track. Yes I agree it does add some complexity to the lift out section. I plan on having it set up with one or more relay's that will cut the power to the blocks on both sides fo the lift out, set the signals to red and perhaps cut center rail power to the entire layout just to be safe.  I am thinking an 8 wire plug will handle it.  The switches will be wired so both switch at the same time to prevent any derailment problems with the crossovers.

papajohn

well done , try to incorporate a reversing feature which will add to the operating experience

steve

Steve,

thanks I have been thinking about that, I might add a second level later on and put the reverse loop on it. Then again I might try another design after I run this one a while.  I agree the reverse loop would add to the operating experience. Two reverse loops would make it even more fun then there would be no need to back up through the single reverse loop to change direction the second time. I will play with the idea, that is what make the design programs so much fun.

Steve,

Hmmm, interesting it seems I can replace the two sections of track on the inner loop, upper right corner, with an O48 right turnout and continue it on around to come back into the upper yard.  The O72 curve would be replaced with an O72 left turnout with the straight side meeting up with the reverse loop. 

I will need to look at the bench work and access to the track in that area but it just might work.

I have made a minor change to the layout, I changed the locomotive service area, as I studied the layout that area bothered me.  I replaced the right turnout with a wye which changed the angle of the sidings and allowed me to create two equal length sidings in that area. Now they are both long enough to hold the scale steam locomotives that will run on this layout.  I have also added the 6-22918 Locomotive Backshop. I am not sure I will try to find one of those or scratch build the locomotive shop.

okay sorry, I uploaded the rr track file.

Good morning everyone,

I have been thinking about the reverse loop and added it in today.  It turns out a minor adjustment I made yesterday made getting all of the track sections for the reverse loop to fit a much easier task.  I will add another image of the layout and a text file with the component list sorted by manufacturer part number.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and comments, they are always appreciated be they either good or bad.

I recommend that you don't use fasttrack and go with gargaves with ross switches. you will have more flexibility and it is less noisy. your scale locos will like it better and it comes in many more sizes.

Papajohn88 If you would go with the ross switches you could put in A double cross over and you would not have  to have the cross over on the lift out section. I have two that I'm doing on my layout 1 on the lower and 1 on the upper level I think they are neat. Hope you don't mind just adding my two cents worth. Choo Choo Kenny

Papajohn88,

Allow me to toss a wrench into the works. Take a look at this layout design for a spare room layout that is 8 x 9. The RR-track file is downloadable. MTH by Hikel. If you visualize the operation of this layout or run sim in RR-Track, you'll see it has a lot of operational fun.

Then you can mod it to use FasTrack and add the outer mainline. Elevated along the left and right top walls.

I like your design, but my first impression was there is too high of a percentage of track to scenery\accessories. (The yard stubs) While that may be your preference, you are not going to find much space for buildings or operating accessories. You can get the footprints on Lionel and websites as the RR-Track representations are not consistently correct.

Also, consider the large yard as hidden staging yard under the main level for pre-made trains that can be brought into play and another stored as a future expansion project. Elevating the outside line along the back walls would provide an entry/exit point for that.

I also have a Tom Tee thread on building the lift-out. He has a very sturdy and solid design that he uses. I'll add that later.

Again, this is just food for thought. This is a nice design, but you could build it to accommodate some future changes, like the r-loop, which would reduce the aggravation and time to make the changes.

Have fun!

Good morning everyone,

I have been thinking about the use of Gargraves track and Ross switches, that will be a project for another layout. The reason being I know this layout is not going to be a permanent layout. I doubt I will live here for more than one or two years and will look for a place with a large area I can use for a train room.

I found Tom Tee's thread on building the lift out.  I had seen that before but forgot to book mark it.  I like the method of alignment and will be ordering those alignment pins. 

You are correct there is a high percentage of track to scenery/accessories.  This layout is meant to be a place to learn and play. I plan on trying several different methods of elevating portions of the layout, building inclines, structures and scenery. I will be using Legacy to control the layout and perhaps TMCC or other forms of digital command and control.  

I also plan on trying both extruded foam and 440 sound deadener (homosote) for noise control.  

The idea of the lower level hidden staging yard has been on my mind too and is something I will be looking in to.  I want to try building a helix for greater elevation changes such as from the hidden staging area to the main layout. So much I want to try and so little time to get it all done.  Retirement is looking better all the time.

Once again, thanks for all of your comments and suggestions, they are all appreciated and will all be kept for reference as I begin this project. I am attaching a 3D rendering of the layout with the left side elevated.  It incline at the top of the layout is 4.5% the one at the bottom is 4.3% according to RR-Track.

More to come, Y'all have a great day!

Ooops, sorry for inserting it twice.

While you mentioned Fastrack I would promote something else for 2 reasons.

Price and NOISE level. It it the highest on both points.

MTH Realtrax is close behind on both as well.

I propose MTH Scaletrax, it costs less, it FAR closer to scale rail and much less sound because it is solid rail and has no plastic roadbed under it.

It also has the least visible center rail made.

There are those that complain the ties are too far apart but no one I know of has them any closer. They may look closer but that is because they are Much Bigger so they close the gap up with less ties! The problem there is they are way too big in scale.

There are those  who complain about the lack of different switches in Scaletrax, this is true, however, you can line up Ross Switches no problem.

I have a pair of Ross O-72 Wye's for my Scaletrax layout. Woodland Scenics roadbed under the track, 2mm cork sheet under the switch, the rails line up.

Also, Ross rails are proper shape as are the Scaletrax rails, so they look similar but the Ross rails are a bit bigger.

Just my $0.98, stuff costs more than $.02 nowadays

Papa John,

I moved the crossovers to either side of the lift-out and made the lift-out 25", which is close to a lot of standard truss bridges available.

Doing this lengthened the treack for the grade slopes. I was able to get 2% up to 5" on the top and 3.3% on the slope at the left & bottom left.

The curves are easements, or a mix of curves to create the desired curve. The switches set the center to center rail spacing at 6".

It all looked good until I discovered that you need about 9'9".

Here it is anyway.

PS. use the FasTrack

Thanks Moonman,

I had not thought of moving the xovr's to either side of the lift-out.  That would b a good place for a truss bridge.  I will make the changes to my drawing and see how thinks look.  The room is in fact 9'9" by 15'5". I most likely will stay with the FasTrack simply because it makes things much easier with Legacy and the train stores here have a good supply of FasTrack in stock.