Well, it looks like I am back

Tagginbac....great photo, great load and beautiful "blue" cart.  It looks like you are going to have a busy New Year.  What a way to bring it in, sharing layout building with your son.  Thank you for posting and take photo's as you go.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

Welcome back!

 

I'm confident someone will have the answer you're looking for in regard to switches (don't know the answer myself), and in the meantime I hope there are a number of ideas for a layout that are already running through your mind.

 

Allan

Best New Year's resolution I've heard yet.  Have fun...  Keep posting your progress.

Is that blue insulation foam sheets?

I never saw them that thick.

BTW, the look on your sons face can only be described as "Total Model Train Bliss"!

2" blue sheets were common. They are getting hard to find around here. 

In general terms, an O72 switch is the combination of a short (maybe 10") piece of straight track and one piece of an O72 circle track.  If I recall correctly, it takes 16 pieces of Atlas O72 curves to make a full circle, and the curved part of the switch (maybe needing a partial curve fitter piece) would fill in for one of those 16 pieces.

 

Switches that use numbers (#4.5, #5, #7, etc.) have no such ability to replace a full curve section of any radius or diameter.  Instead, there is a small curve where the branch separates from the straight, and the number of the switch merely measures how fast the divergence occurs, with the smaller number representing the faster divergence.

 

The numbered switches are usually more easily used by longer equipment, but they also take up more layout space in use.

 

Hope this helps.

Chuck

Here's a recent thread that explains turnouts pretty well, some about Atlas as well.

 

Atlas number vs radius turnouts

Thanks for the encouragemeant. It looks like a lot has changed since I was last on here. I have PS2 engines and it looks like MTH is at PS3 now. I'll have to see what that is all about

Ahhh yes, first it was blue foam, then it turned to pink foam. It used to only be about $20 a sheet. Now it's $35...progress...

Here is a shot from this very own forum from about 10 years ago and my son





then it turned into this.

I like the foam tables, it's super easy to work with and you can make bridges and tunnel portals out of it.

It looks like the spot I have to work with is about 22' by 11'. I have a couple track plans I'll post later to get some ideas on which to proceed with.

Welcome back and good luck with your new layout. I enjoyed seeing the photos of your son now and then. Like your son, the hobby has also matured and it will be fun for you to catch up on all that is new.

 

Happy New Year to you.

Wow! When I started to build my layout one could not get anything except 1/2" white foam....still can't down here except by special order at $85.00 per sheet!!

 

anyhow, welcome back and those are real nice pics of your earlier setup.

Welcome back "tagginback".

 

I like the idea of O-72 turns on your layout. Not only can you run your scale stuff on it but, IMO your traditional size trains look alot better on it. In fact if you check out the thread with the vedio of the Jon Herry in it you will see that O-72 is not always enough with some of todays products.

 

Good luck to you buddy, I know you will have alot of fun with your building project.

 

If I can make one suggestion please remember access when planning out your bench work. That foam board is cool stuff but we have had people fall through it from time to time trying to reach an out of reach spot on the layout.

Also, the 1X1.5" stripping is wonderful for any number of things but cross supports is not one of them.

 

In any case always remember our cardinal rule, "HAVE FUN"!

Welcome back. sounds like you have a good space to work with. Take your time and everything will work out well.

Welcome back and keep us up to date on your progress!

 

May I ask why?

I decided to liquidate most of my HO collection, 

Welcome back!!! Good luck with the new layout.

My layout is a Gar Graves setup, with some Ross in the newer sections (and old Lionel

042 tubular "buried" in the yards); the standard GG switch is a #4, I believe, and I 

find this to be a very useful switch in general. It will handle any equipment, but

does not take up a great deal of room - especially in width, where it can actually

be more space-efficient than an 072 switch - there is no "curve" to compensate

for if you want the diverging route to stay fairly close. Also, GG switches can be 

shortened easily a bit in length. Compared to a #4 or larger, an 072 switch is

fairly tight; I have one on my main line, and it's obvious.

 

 

Welcome back to the forum!!  Your pictures are wonderful and I am looking forward to seeing the progress of your new layout as you build it with your son...

 

Alan

Welcome back.

 

22 X !1 will make a nice size layout.

 

Having a helper will speed up the process and make it that much more fun.

Tagginbac,

   Welcome back to the forum, have fun with building your layout and post some pictures as you build!

PCRR/Dave

Oh yea about the color of the foam board. I think each color has certain characteristics such density and R rating.

The pink is used for temperature control, the blue is used for sound deadening and under concrete slabs.

As for the white stuff it is really a cheap version of the two.  They use it for coffee cups because they can press it together, but it will crush, or break up under construction stresses, so for that it is a very poor product to use.

 

I don't know if this is true or not so if I'm wrong please don't hesitate to correct me. I'm dealing with a memory of what what I have been told about twenty years ago when I was remodeling my home.

This foam is different from the previous blue and pink foam I used to get. It's greenish blue and doesn't cut as easily with a razor knife

 

Again, thanks for the warm wishes. I'll answer a couple questions then post some progress pics.

I've been playing with some track plans and it looks like the numbered are the way to go. Thank you rtr12, that was a great link to the explanation of the turnouts. I'll have to redo my layout plans a little and see what they look like. I would appreciate any comments or advise.

Getting rid of the HO May I ask why?

Sure, I have about 140 book case boxes ( 24 x 24 x 30 inches) full of HO stuff. I don't use it and after setting the O scale back up my son agreed O was the way to go. A lot of it is stuff I can re-use on the new layout, scenery etc. but I've unboxed bout 100 locos so far. I cannot believe what they are going for on our favorite auction site.

I'll keep a few of the classics but I can re-use that money for al the track I need to buy.

Basically, I have the following O scale locos i will use on the new layout.

All MTH NW Y 3b
    MTH NW Y 6b
    MTH Unshrouded J class
    MTH Cass Scenic  Shay
    MTH Climax

I will be getting a PS2 version of the J class, love that engine and I'd like to track down a Weaver Atlantic Hiawatha. I know it doesn't fit but I love that engine for guest appearances.

Not sure to stick with Atlas track or look at something else. I have the following Atlas track left over from the previous layout.

3 O54 left switches
2 O54 right switches
1 O72 left switch
31 O45 curves
18  O54 curves
16 O72 curves

I look like the only thing I can use is the O72 curves.

So this is one idea, it's the old Gorre & Daphetid  layout. I've had it in HO and ripped the track up and re-did it in ON30. It's very tight and the biggest curves I can have are 72 inch. I'l have to duck under the table to get to the middle open area, but I can reach all the track. There would be 24" of clearance in the front, left and right side. The back would be against a wall. I like this layout because it's a twice around and the shay and climax would be right at home on this. The big articulates probably will feel cramped.


This one is the same size as the other one, same clearances. It's exactly opposite as I would like it but with the five foot width, I have to keep that to the front.

This layout gives me a big 81 inch loop to run on the lower level and can disappear into a mountain. I thought about adding sidings in the back to park trains but I don't see how i can do that now with having access.

The inner level is O72 minimum curves. The idea is to use the switchback to go up or down 8 to 10 inches to a mine. I'm thinking up right now even though it's down on the track plan. Then you can go up 8 to 10 inches to the fiddle yard over the lower levels parking area. Not too sure about that grade though

I like the idea of using the numbered switches now instead of O72. I'll have to play with that a little. I also don't like the big circle look to everything. Maybe I'm trying to cram too many things in..geesh wit the amount of room I have to work with...it's still not enough.

Anyway that's where I'm at right now.

Basically looking at the track plan you can see lines where the tables will be. This 5 x 12 foot section on the left will be the front and the 4 x 6 foot section will be the left side. On the right will be 2 tables of 3 x 8 foot lengths. Then a couple more 5 foot by 10 or 12 foot to fill it in.

I know some of you are cringing at the 1 x 3 table legs, lol. It's worked so far and if I need to add stronger legs it's easy to add them later.


What was left of the old Jurrasic Park and Franklins Tower table has been stripped and re-purposed into the new photo above. I had to raise it 2 inches


Here you can see where the new table will fit in. I can always move a car to give me more room in the front...and I have 2 feet of clearance on the left and right of the table. It was tempting to use that real estate but I didn't

Wow nice space, and car collection.  Welcome back in to the hobby.