Track Planners- Can you help a 12yr old?

First, tell Thomas he did a great job with the drawing, he's got a lot of good ideas.  My first question for him, is this going to be a walk around layout, if so, then all is ok, if not, then there is the concern for access to whichever portions of the layout would be furthest from anyone's reach.

My next suggestion would be to eliminate some of the switches, especially the top, smaller yard, if I estimated correctly there are approx. 40 switches, his parents will go broke!  Keep the bottom yard, make this the main yard, with only three yard extensions instead of five.

I like the double main line, and depending on if he wants to run more than two trains at once, he might consider adding a third inner loop and eliminating more switches, he could add this loop above the yard and have it connected to the second loop via a crossover switch configuration.

His building ideas are good, and I like the idea of a city type theme in the middle to divide the layout, visually, place the city in the middle, industries on the outsides and he can have a mountain and small lake in the remaining areas.

Sorry, I do not own layout building software, and like Thomas I have been drawing layouts on paper since I was age.  He can download SCARM for free and plug in Atlas track, trust me, if he's half as good with computers as my 12 year old is, he'll be teaching us stuff about the software we didn't know, lol

Darren

Hi PRR,

I tried some easements on the end of mains. Gives a better sweep, but creates center rail spacing issues with the switches.

What kind of switches will Thomas be using? The Ross Ready aren't that far from the Atlas with motors and non-derail.

The 7.5 high speed sets a 4.5" and the Ross Dblx 11° and Atlas or Ross 072 set 5.5".

The inner main may have to be all 063.

Here's the concept to ponder.

Ask him to choose a North for layout reference.

My first question for him, is this going to be a walk around layout, if so, then all is ok, if not, then there is the concern for access to whichever portions of the layout would be furthest from anyone's reach.

Unfortunately, the top of the page [where it was ripped out of a notebook] is against the basement wall. The right side is against another wall with the lower edge at a doorway. esstentially, there are only two sides to view. Access hatches have been discussed because of the 7' depth.

What kind of switches will Thomas be using?

I strongly suggested 072 switches as the Atlas O HS switches are too big and really unnecessary. Only an ES44 Diesel is being contemplated in the future. a possible centipede as well but the centipede is really articulated and I don't see issues of an ES44 diesel traversing on 072 or even on 054 switch.

Moonman, I like the loop ends with the different track radii. Would anyone suggest on the back stretch[ against the wall] a stating yard for each main?] This could be covered by a mountain range so the end result could be two trains on one track with a hidden yard that appears to be a really long tunnel.

No problem with the walls, inside the third loop I suggested just design a three sided city and have an access area inside the city, this way there is access to the back wall area and it is hidden as well.  If Thomas needs more access areas maybe he could use the ceiling tile light panels as lakes and make them removable.  They are light and inexpensive, I have seen other forum members use these as water substitutes.

I know everyone always promotes O-72 or greater switches, and curves etc., and that is all fine and good, and will work with anything made. However, if they are planning only diesels, the O-54 switches would be just fine. I don't know about the Ross switches, could be some savings there? With Atlas switches there is no difference in MSRP between the two, or at least not at the last price checking I did. Ross would be easier to get right now, but Atlas is supposed to have switches again by near year's end, at least that's their estimated time frame.

I have diesels only and that's all I will ever have. I just completed a 6' x 16' layout using Atlas track and O-72 and O-54 Atlas switches with O-63 outer loop and O-54 inner loop. Personally after completing the track, I found I liked the O-54 switches much better as far as fitting everything together and maintaining the 4.5" track spacing. Am thinking about selling my O-72's and replacing them with O-54. So far no problems with any of thee switches, O-54 or O-72.

Thomas has quite an ambitious track plan, looks like a nice layout plan. Hope he gets something at least close to what he is proposing. Also while access is very important for the sides against the walls, for a 12 year old it's not near the problem it is for a 60+ year old. And at only 12 now, he will have many years left of accessing tight spots with little problem. Parents may be a different story. Not suggesting to ignore access, but the younger folks can very easily access many things that many of us can no longer even get to (me included). Just something to consider. Good luck with the layout. 

I would suggest that all switches, specifically industry switches, be reachable from the isle way. Most derail problems will occur at or on a switch. Also, the 3-rail couplers can be problematic, sometimes sticking, and sometimes not closing properly when coupled. if you can reach the engine & cars at the switches, most operating problems will be fixable from the isle way.

Looks like a good switching layout!

Joe K

I like the way Thomas thinks. This presents an interesting challenge.

Since he's running only diesels and traditional sized rolling stock, He should be safe with O-63/O-54 on his loops. I like his selection of 7.5 turnouts for cross-overs but that's overkill. #5's would be a better choice.