New to Trains & Need Advice on Layout

netsurfrOGR Forum Member

Hi everyone. Completely new to trains here so please bear with me if I'm posting in the wrong place for this type of question. Story is that I bought the MTH Christmas Express 0 Gauge RTR kit for our 4 year old (and me) that we recently got and set up (LOVE IT) but the plan is to expand on this to create a basic layout by our Christmas tree. The overall area I have to work with is on wooden floor and it's 10.5 x 6.5 feet. I used MTH Railware software the kit came with to come up with the following design which should fit...

Basically I'm using 54" turns around the outside and our existing 31" turns on that inside oval track with 2 turnouts to get into and out of the oval. The oval will be "the town" where the train will drop/pick up passengers, etc... and the outside will have an elevated bridge on one side and tunnel (going under a piece of furniture) on the other straight away and also go behind the tree. I THINK my design is correct and would work but before I go and buy all this track I'd like to run it by here to make sure I got this right or see if I should change it up. I'm trying to maximize the track that came w/ the RTR kit.

The other part of my question is regarding the turnouts. I just have the basic RTR DCS remote and Z500 power supply included with the kit so I'm wondering if these turnouts can be operated manually to keep it simple and if not what would I need to make them work?

Thank you all for any help here!

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11/16/135:33 PM

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Steve MussoOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

Hi netsurfr. That 054 loop will bring the track pretty close to the walls unless your room dimensions are actually a little bigger than the 10.5 x 6.5 you mentioned. When the train goes into and out of the curve some cars and/or the engine may hit the wall and derail. You could try 042 curves with an extra straights on the 4 sides. Just keep some distance from the wall.

The switches come set to get power from the track with a controller for each and wires from the switch to the controller. The wires are only about 2 to 3 feet but you could extend them if you need.

11/16/136:05 PM

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netsurfrOGR Forum Member

Steve thanks for the info. The space is larger but not much so you make a good point that I had not thought about. I'll re-measure to see how close. Is there a recommended amount of space to be left between the tracks & walls to avoid problems?

Good to know we can use the switches without having to upgrade power supply & DCS controller. Was hoping that was the case. Thanks!

11/16/136:17 PM

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John D.OGR Forum Member

Rule of thumb (that I was taught) was 4" from the walls to the center rail. 2.5" if REALLY need the space, but check the overhang of your consist as it goes around the curves.

If you can give more space, it'd be better. If the train derails and hits the wall Same goes for near the edge of the table...falling all the way to the floor could really make you sad.