Need Help building a Fastrack layout

Well I have been looking for a layout plan after seeing one on here. can't remember the username but I liked the plan a lot. but I added a few things to it to make it mine. 2 spurs for my passenger trains and added an extra inner loop. built the bench work today and spent the last few hrs laying out track in the configuration. the bench work is 6X10. what do you think ?

What didn't you like about the first layout? It looked nice for the room.

Using the givens and druthers approach (see attachment) will help you focus and break your design block. You will also end up with a design that you should be happy with for a while.

From your original post:

Givens                  Druthers

odd shaped room                    ?         

run multiple trains   continuously?         

O gauge

conventional & command control operation

bridges & tunnels

passenger & freight service

use track already acquired

I would have turned the lower reversing loops back on themselves. The location of the third small radius loop seems to be giving you problems. I didn't like the location on the first layout. It hid some train views.

The new setup will cause electrical issues without isolating the lines into separate power divisions, which introduces problems with switches crossing power divisions and/or crossing from a conventional to a command division.

So, what type of feedback do you want now that you have torn down the old and built new benchwork? Need a layout for a 6' x 10' ?

the old layout early on I found issues with my design with the upper line. the lower worked great and I could run long trains on it. the upper basically consisted of too many bridges. I did get it all to work but buying off the shelf stuff was out for a lot of it. and my skills are not perfect when it comes to making certain things so the upper was a constant issue. My wife wanted tables she could reach across to work on stuff well that left me with limited options. once it was all built I was limited on the 2 tracks that had been laid unless I went up to a third level which I did . I wanted a passenger station. but had no room for it so I added table 3 the green one in the photo in the post but it turned out the length of the spur track for the passenger train ended up being to short so one train sat on 2 spurs and my other passenger train sat on the shelf. what I like about trains is I like to run them and work on the scenery. I have a ton of pics of this old layout as it progressed but from the start I wasn't completely happy with it. as for the new layout plan it meets a few more requirements , multiple trains 5 if the passenger trains share the same line . 6 if I add a spur to the upper line. it has tunnels and bridges and a lot more area for scenery and buildings. the upper part of the table isn't built as of yet . maybe today I 'll get to it . my feed back that was wanted is does anyone see any inherent issues with this layout. I will be switching all of my engines over to command control using the electric railroad stuff.

this is just a few pics of the old layout. Christmas messed me up I think I built a 4x8 for my daughter and grand daughter and it turned out a lot nicer than mine did and was very simple.

this is my daughters

Thanks for the reply. I understand now why you didn't like the other layout. It's nice that your spouse has an interest.

The new layout appears to accomplish your givens, which should include room for buildings and scenery.

I will try to recreate the new one in SCARM to get a better feel for it. There are two areas that stand out initially. The first is the switch to the innermost line. The "s" created by the turnout and turnback may cause an issue. You can see the effect in the old layout photo where a passenger car is straddling the "s". The second is that you may eventually want another switch pair on the other side to enable a train to leave or return to the outer mainline from the inner loops. 

I'll give it some thought and see what I come up with. Looks ok, using the track that you have. (a Given)

Ok, I have the outer loops and the sidings. The inner loop is a pain and I haven't started on the elevated loop.

It still looks good. I am not concerned about the "s" effect. I can see your operation. Clockwise running, back out onto mainline after entering inner loop. back into switches for sidings. No room on the opposite side for another pair of crossover switches.

Would you post or email your SCARM file to me? What elevation will the big loop need to be?  I mostly have some wiring suggestions and want to display them on your 2D layout. Are your switches remote? What power supply do you have? 

here it is

I was also fiddling around with this layout last night. untitled10 if you go into 3d mode the side with the trestle is the front.

Try this one untitled 6 with changes the front is the switches side The 3D looks nice. I rearranged the long elevated section to clear pylon and arch supports.

The long straight in the back is all arch to clear lower. Two bridges, one on each slant of elevated, standard Lionel 25" trestle. Mountains and tunnels in the corners.

10 lost some fun with all of the loop only.

I have the library for the 24 inch bridge so I added them in there position I like that

here it is with some structures

HI,

Like you I struggled for a few years designing my Joliet & Western before building. And I agree with rockstars1989 statement "Come up with a track plan you like and don't think about the track you have now. Your intentions to use the track you have is just going to tangle your mind."

Be a Jim Hill Empire Builder. You have a great space to work with. BTW your original track plan was cool.

Case in point: Attached are two files, the J&W original design and the J&W As-Built. The J&W grew organically as my very unusual room space allowed. I was not even thinking of a triple track High-Line till I was building and presto, a triple track mainline.

I suggest: Lock-in a baseline design, then go from there. Then when you see where you can insert track without over cramming, create operational interference or making a spaghetti bowl of track , then just do it. Be  jay Gould or an E.H. Harriman! 

There came a time for me to stop designing on the computer and start building to see what worked, what did not and test fit it all. Now I only go back to the RR-Track to update the As-Builds.

Also buy the track in bulk boxes, like I do. It is cheaper. You would be surprised how fast a several of boxes of 30" or 10" straight tracks go.

Cheers,

I like that, too! I haven't tried those libraries yet. I 'll have to download them now that I see how they add to the 3D view.

BTW, I added a few more 1 3/4" to the bridge areas of the elevated loop to move the front closer to the front to achieve the pylon\arch clearance and keep the rear straight over the lower straight. That was really the only track change to untitled 6.

in the libraries theres a b-54 Bridge I built and submitted I added it to the layout also. then called tw trainworx about getting one custom for a train to run under it  

The b-54 bridge is nice. Ok. I am into this.

The mountain as you come in was blocking the view. It's now a hill or small mountain.

The sidings bugged me, so changed them. A little kink to get in but you are moving slow. Could use an uncouple track at the front.

The inner loop had to be changed to accommodate the sidings.

I think I like 6a better

well did some more layout changes made it alittle simpler but covers more wants. here's the latest. also ordered a bridge from TW Trainworx. B54 custom to have a train run length wise under it to.

Keep working on it! It's looking better each time. You can put the outer crossovers in later if you find they are needed.

This looks like a 4x8..Is it ?

If so that is awesome. So much is going on.

I also am starting to pre-build on the floor to see if my 9x11x5 Lazy L is going to give me 3 separate layouts.

Great Ideas. Thanks

One question what is the best way to paint the b54 bridge to make it look like a concrete/stone bridge

6X10 layout the room it is in is 11'9" X 11' so I have room for expantion but this way I have room to walk all the way around the layout except the short 6' side to the right it is against the wall so on the side with the b54 bridge I can go out 27" more for growth and if space gets tight I can go out another 19" in length  that would still leave me a walkway on the front side of the layout. about 3' wide.

Well I rearranged the track on the table to match the Scarm layout. put a few trains on and ran the sd90 on the outter loop tonight. I think I like it. the plan is.

I have ordered a b54 bridge from trainworx. to put on the layout already. I will be getting there elevated bridge piers and there railings on the snapshot there in black and solid but they don't come solid.

get a can of Design Master effects paint in Quarry or Flurry and test it to see if it provides the texture that you want. These are very nice rattle can paints.

updates

You really like creating a nice 3D view. I like for elevations and such, but I don't have the patience to spend all of that time. I can visualize it.

It looks like it will be fun to operate. Plenty of accessible scenery building for the spouse to work on.

 I just noticed the tunnel control buildings behind the window!

You are moving right along. Looks good! SCARM works really well from plan to layout. It needs a little tweak for the width of the roadbed clearance.

I was reading a thread in which this company mentioned, Azatrax. I think you'll find that they have an elegant solution for the signals and other trick detection triggered actions. IR sensors hidden in the roadbed or some adjacent piece of scenery. They have everything to wire it up.

Also, search here, JC Studios. Dale H., a forum member here also, posts how-to's, or email him with your idea. He's great at this stuff. I like the IR solution.

I like TWTrainworx approach of blending realism and fantasy. I thought if you want water on that corner, make a culvert under the tracks(realism), a lake (corner), a stream that feeds it and another culvert on the other side. You could even have a stream /waterfall come off the side of the hill. Photo and SCARM attached.

here is some more updates since Georgia is shut down because of snow.

Please be careful of your clearance with these tunnel portals.  If they sit on the surface of the board, lower than your roadbed, an auto-carrier or other hi-cube boxcars will not fit.  You need to have 5.75 inches from the top of the railhead to the lowest point about for an auto-carrier to clear.  It is much easier to adjust now than later. 

well HMM tunnel platform is 7 1/4 the openings are 5 from the top of the rail what I did is looked at most premade portals and they ranged from 5 3/4 up to 6 1/4 if I remember correctly. so mine were built at 5 3/4 then with fastrack I just measured it and it was at 5 but I did have to cut about a 1/4 off the bottom when I placed it .

today I have a pretty good update. My bridge came in from TW Trainworx ! after sitting here for about 10 minutes had to temp assemble it and see how it fits on the layout . here are the pics of it

also built this on the wall to hold the trains. this is 3 of the 4 shelves.

thinking concrete but not sure yet how to go about it

Ok, checked out 1 idea today. TrueColor T-06 is concrete color that looks good. primer first. But, you'll need to air brush.

If you want a texture, you could:

1. Use a brass wire brush to create a brushed detail in the wood.
2. For a rough look, get a belt sander belt(because it is cloth backed and flexible) of a grit that you would need to determine, perhaps 100 or 120, then press it into the wood and lift or tap it with a rubber mallet and lift off on the surfaces that you want the effect on. Then paint.

You could test this on some wood that you have around first before touching that very nice bridge.

 the half finished weird looking bridge thing in the pic has the textured rattle can paint. but scared to use it and mess up.

Where the pressure aided cars are?

Not close enough to see the texture, but the color looks right.

Which paint did you use?

I guess you'll have to just go for it if like the finish.

yea that thing LOL it's gray like concrete but the texture was to much more like the green part of that texture wise but the concrete color