New layout for a newbie

"3) I haven't read up on block control so I need a good book or website reference to learn more about that.  Can anyone direct me to a reference here?"

Book:  Model Railroad Custom Designer.  It explains block control and conventional plus command.  Also, three rail wiring.  

Looks like a great place to start! 

Jim

So the first thing you need to consider is how you will reach that back wall in the event of a derailment.  Also, laying track or placing scenic elements isn't fun if you can't reach.  Ask me how I know this.

If it is all on one level, no matter how unworkable it might become as you learn more and experience its problems or lackings, it would be plenty easy to remove and replace. Being new to model railroading it is difficult to visualize the your ideal layout.

IMO, any layout that wants to approach the feel of a real railroad needs a purpose, i.e., why are there track on your layout. As you well know, trains don’t just run around in circles. Now if you just like to run trains, forget I wrote this paragraph.

I purposely like Command Control. It just makes multiple train operation very simple.

I would forget the reversing loops and use the available space for a small town and/or industrial area.

I put a lot of faith in what Eric from Eric's trains says about his layout.   One of his biggest mistakes was not putting a reversing loop on his upper level.  Now he is in the process of adding one.  So I think I would keep or incorporate at least one reversing loop.  And as he also shows.   Put a hatch panel somewhere towards the middle or back if you want.   Then you wont have to reach! 

Jim 

Thanks for the comments! 

In the middle of my reverse loops there is room for a 2'x3' hatch of some sort.  I could also simply not push the table all the way against the wall and leave maybe a foot and a half gap.  But this necessitates crawling under, which I can manage for now.  The reverse loops I'll start with in Phase I and see how I like it.  It does take up a bunch of space that I may want for a city/industry as TM Terry stated. 

So if I do get rid of one of my two return loops then I can only reverse once, right?  Don't I need both or is there some trick to this that I haven't discovered?  I suppose I could simply back up which might be okay for a small consist.

The next thing I discovered is that my trestle bridge is 7" high.  At a 3% grade this'll take about a 20' ramp.  I can always sink my trestle into the layout a few inches but still!  How is this typically handled in other layouts?  What's an acceptable grade?

Kirk

IMO, the absolute first decision you need to make is whether your ultimate vision is run trains or operate trains.

John C has written some comprehensive comments on this forum about running trains vs operating trains

Block control resources:

Starting on pg 29 https://ogrforum.com/...83860657/Booklet.pdf

Pg 16 and 19 https://ogrforum.com/...ruction%20Manual.pdf

I agree that the question of how to wire conventionally with the plan to convert to legacy / D.C.'s warrants its own topic, if there isn't one already.  I think  the block wiring translates well, as legacy / D.C.'s gets wired in blocks  as well. 

TM Terry posted:

IMO, the absolute first decision you need to make is whether your ultimate vision is run trains or operate trains.

John C has written some comprehensive comments on this forum about running trains vs operating trains

I've enjoyed reading John's thoughts on purpose and planning. I hope he posts them here. Even though I have more of a toy style loop to loop, it's better to have destinations for goods and people even if it's not exactly prototypical. 

Part of my vision is to be able to run trains on a loop, AND have commerce in mind.  I think its as enjoyable to watch them run a bit as it is to build outbound trains from a yard to deliver them to some other town..or business across the room : ) 

Jim 

JD,  those Lionel instruction manuals are priceless!  Plenty of layouts to try out just to get the hang of block control and wiring.  It also covers the use of the Lionel trestle set to better understand grades.  Thanks much!

For what they may be worth, here are some of my thoughts:

John and Terry are right.....to a point. IF you want to model a somewhat prototypical railroad, you need a reason for tracks to be laid. That can be picking up a commodity (oil, lumber, coal, corn), taking it to a processing plant/factory and then taking products to delivery points.

One way to do this is to go from a turntable on one end to a turntable on the other end, turn the engine and return to repeat the process. If you drop off and pick up cars along the way and swap engines on each end, you'll always see a variety of consists and have something to do besides just watching trains run. This is probably the most like how a real railroad operates.

Another similar way is using reversing loops at each end to either turn the engine or the entire train. Or use a wye or a combination. Some will even suggest using none of these in favor of a large loop, like around the room, where scenery is used to break the layout into the different destinations.

All have their pros and cons. However, the biggest con is often the size of the layout. While you can incorporate operation into very small layouts, you end up picking up a car, moving a short distance and dropping off/picking up others. Oftentimes operators will design their layout with a large loop on the outside and the industries on the inside. That way they can run around the outside multiple times to simulate going long distances between stops. This seems to be what you have, the ability to run around the outside and then go inside to drop off/pickup.

The main problem I see is access. You say you plan for a 2'x3' hatch in the middle, but I only see room for a 16"x20" hatch, if that. And once you add buildings, etc., reach there and some other places might be more difficult than you think. It's one thing to have to deal with a derailment and quite another to have to repair/replace a switch, etc.

I'm not sure what track you're using, so I wasn't able to reproduce your design to play around with it. I can say I don't see any way to raise that trestle bridge 7" unless you move it to the other side of the layout. Right now the grade from the switch to the trestle is over 16%. And moving it to the other side would still get you something like an unacceptable 7%-9% grade. From what I see, to get to 7",  you'd need something like in the photo where the purple tracks are 3.3% grades to the bridge in the middle on the left side of the layout. BTW, what bridge do you have?