My layout - Plan done! Time to start (page 7)

[cteno4]

yeah those are nice to have big height adjustment, but here in the states they are $15 ea (3x the euro price!). the cheap ones have about 3cm screw type adjustment for height at the foot, good enough to make up for any oddities in the floor and such, but not a big height boost as its right at 70cm in hieght.

 

yeah finding good break points for sections is tough at times.

 

will be fun to watch it progress!

 

jeff

[NJHA]

Guys, I am totally stuck!

Been trying to come up with a plan that i like, but so far all options end up with a "naaaaa, i don't like this"

 

I may be missing some point here, or maybe wanting something too strange or impossible, i don't know.

The fact is that i have a lot of space but with a odd configuration, so all plans seem awkward and foolish.

 

My error i believe is that i am trying to come up with a station big enough to fit my longest train entirely (around 120cm to 140cm top), and i wanted to do it on a strait section. That, combined with r348 curves is eating a lot of space and making all things ugly and uninteresting!!.

 

I am tempted to explore the curved station option, but i have no idea on how to do it. Concentric curves? other way?  Do we have a plan of such solution around here? (too lazy to search i know :) )

[katoftw]

Why do they need easy access to the window when they have a whole balcony to go out on?

[Kabutoni]

How about you make a double tracked main line that has spirals on each ends with a yard underneath the layout? I've made some ghetto-ass sketch as an example.

 

 

Two electric separated loops with possibilities of intersections and easy access to the yard, might something go wrong there. A long stretched landscape where you can do lots of things with scenery.

[NJHA]

Why do they need easy access to the window when they have a whole balcony to go out on?

Wife requirement... no discussion there or no layout for trains ;)

 

Also one of the guests are my parents... and mother loves opening windows in the morning, so easy access is a must. :)

[Kabutoni]

Oh by the way, you can also opt for a big circle with a gap in the middle and have a part come down like this video:

 

 

I think this will also create lots of new options. You can have a yard under the window part again, but have two or maybe even more electrically separated loops.

 

- purple = walls;

- blue = useable area;

- orange = layout space;

- green = moveable bridge.

 

You can connect the bridge to the layout with variable-length pieces like this:

 

 

Also, make sure to install a very fine net in front of the window to protect the layout.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Toni Babelony

[NJHA]

That's a great solution Toni, well engineered.

But i have some logistic problems with my layout. Room is  450cm by 390cm (aprox 14,8 ft x 12,8 ft) , so it's rather big. The sheer weight of the all around structure would be quite high, causing too much tension on the support pulleys, i don't want to put so much pressure stress on the ceiling.

Also the visual impact would be high, and i am sure my wife would not be happy with it, not in the guest room :)

 

My main problem though is not space. I have a full 450cm wall to play so that is a long stretch of track.

My current problems are:

1- Placing a station at least 120cm long on the layout. I can solve this by positioning the station in the middle of the layout, where i have 30cm wide. These 30cm allow for a 4 to 6 track station to be placed, so that is a possible solution if all else fails.

2- Drawing after drawing i end up with a very strange dog bone, that i really don't like, because it seems too artificial and strictly following the layout plan. Trying to solve this now, but the ideas are just not there.  

Oh well, there is always something missing right?

[Densha]

Just post some layout drawings here, always interesting to discuss!

Edited May 5, 2014 by Densha

[Kabutoni]

Excuse my shitty quick drawing skills (30 sec. hurray), but what about this solution?

 

[JR 500系]

 

 

 

Thanks Toni! I didn't know this piece existed! It's good for linking those small gaps in between whereby even the 18.5mm is too big for the track. I faced a similar problem too, probably due to the laying of the tracks and there's quite a visible gap that causes electricity disturbances, and I placed a 18.5mm in and now the tracks look very compressed... Should have taken this solution instead, but there seems to be no stock for this item... 

[NJHA]

Just post some layout drawings here, always interesting to discuss!

I got so  :BangHead:  that i deleted them all. working on a new one, posting it soon 

[NJHA]

Excuse my shitty quick drawing skills (30 sec. hurray), but what about this solution?

Wanna trade? my drawing skills are just bad, bad, bad, no matter the amount of time i have. 

I like your design, the trains go out of sight and re-appear on the other end it's not a forced "around the layout" loop :)

 

Question though: 

The up/down part. Those are helix? or just regular ramps?

[Kabutoni]

Wanna trade? my drawing skills are just bad, bad, bad, no matter the amount of time i have. 

I like your design, the trains go out of sight and re-appear on the other end it's not a forced "around the layout" loop :)

 

Question though: 

The up/down part. Those are helix? or just regular ramps?

 

My drawing skills, never! I make a living out of them xD

 

Anyway, the up/down parts are either helixes or ramps, whatever you like. It's about the idea, just to give you some inspiration on what you can do with the space.

 

Personally, I'd go for this solution, plus a local line that branches off the station for some extra action. Maybe even a semi-automated point-to-point tram line as an extra.

[Densha]

Excuse my shitty quick drawing skills (30 sec. hurray), but what about this solution?

And now I can't resist to imagine scenery: on one side a concrete suburban tunnel where the trains disappears into and while the layout slowly changes rural, on the right the track goes into a mountain full of beautiful greenery!

[NJHA]

My drawing skills, never! I make a living out of them xD

 

Anyway, the up/down parts are either helixes or ramps, whatever you like. It's about the idea, just to give you some inspiration on what you can do with the space.

 

Personally, I'd go for this solution, plus a local line that branches off the station for some extra action. Maybe even a semi-automated point-to-point tram line as an extra.

Hmmm, you need to stop reading other peoples minds :)

 

That is quite about what i was also wanting to do, so the proposed idea fits like a glove :)

 

 

And now I can't resist to imagine scenery: on one side a concrete suburban tunnel where the trains disappears into and while the layout slowly changes rural, on the right the track goes into a mountain full of beautiful greenery!

again... you also need to stop reading other people minds :)

 

This is going to be a long project. Now lets see if i have some energy left tomorrow to draw the track plan.

[Kabutoni]

This is going to be a long project. Now lets see if i have some energy time left tomorrow to draw the track plan.

 

There is always enough time to draw track plans. Always.

[NJHA]

There is always enough time to draw track plans. Always.

 

Time, yes. Energy, as in willpower to do something, is a very different thing.

I got 2 kids, still young, they require my help with almost anything, from the schoolwork to that special project of drawing something to offer mom/sister/brother/... 

And with schoolwork, even though i am a university teacher, what i try to explain is always: "that is not the way my teacher said it was done".  Try to explain a stubborn kid that the math operation is done THAT way, and that he/she must have not paid attention to what the teacher was saying. "No way! I am sure this is done like this. My teacher said so!"

Or explain the problem for the nth time, just to be told : "still not getting how it is done..." arghhhhh 

 

By the time i finish my "duties" i have just a little bit of energy left and sometimes a massive headache   :)

 

Btw: I complain but i absolutely love being the center of their "needs", and being asked to help almost every minute.

[Lawrence]

You can always download SCARM as they have all the Kato pieces AFAIK, it is free and becomes quite intuitive after a little use.

http://www.scarm.info/index_en.html

[NJHA]

I know SCARM and i use it sometimes. It takes some time to get used to but after that is pretty much usable.

 

Most of the times i work with wintrack though. I prefer their user interface and i just love the auto connect feature.

[NJHA]

Ok. Finally, after a lot of drawing and failed attempts i managed to come up with something i like. 

I still have to figure out the scenery and possibly do some work on the station area but for now at least i have a working plan to guide me. 

 

So now to explain. 

The final drawing is this: 

 

The blue color lines are the 2 main lines. The upper platform will receive trains going west to east. The trains going east to west will stop at the lower platform. The dotted blue lines are tunnels.

The pinkish color lines will be a future tram/city line. The middle platform will receive West-East on the upper line and East-West on the lower line. These lines will be independent from the main line, with no predicted connections.

The green line (dotted) is under the board. This line will permit access to the under loop via point A and exit via point B1 or B2. Switch C will decide on what place is the train going to pop up.  Being under the board i can setup a storage area for trains at a later stage.

 

As for scenic: 

Left side will have a city. 

Right side will have possibly a mountain, with maybe a waterfall and a river/lake, with country landscape, still undecided. 

 

Forgot to add: 

Comments, improvement ideas, other issues, are 200% welcome :)

Edited May 16, 2014 by NJHA

[katoftw]

How long are your trams?  That middle station is huge? haha

 

The layout seems very busy in the skinny bit.  Maybe if the left side is the city, then just have a small loop for trams with nothing going through the middle or to the rural right side.

[NJHA]

hehe middle station is huge indeed, at least 1,24m long. For trams that have 1 car is indeed massive. Even for 2 cars trains is massive. :)

I said i had to do some work on the station area, now i know what is wrong there.

 

I think i could remove the middle station and add a storage line there, or maybe rework the lines a bit to move them away from the board limits.

[NJHA]

(...) Murphy's law states if you build a totally built in layout about the time you are 75% done you will have to move!

 

Jeff

Remember this Jeff? 

 

Well, the project hasn't died (far from it) but i applied for a job outside Portugal and I am waiting for results, so everything was put on hold. 

I believe that by the end of June i may have a definite answer.

And i hope i get the job... i am excited to face new challenges.   

[cteno4]

Well nail something to the wall fast! That should assure the job comes thru!

 

Best of luck landing the new job and challenges!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[NJHA]

So, June ended, July ended and we are now in August. 

 

What's up? 

 

First, i didn't get the job. I was sad and confused for a while because i was sure i was a 100% fit but it turns out i was only about a 85% fit, so someone else got it. 

Since mid July i have been working on my layout plan.

Been talking to my wife and we came to the conclusion that a full wall to wall layout would remove a lot of space, and had to many implications. So i decided to go with my original plan for the room, an L shaped layout with the longer side having around 280 to 300 cm.

 

Easier said than done :)

After "wasting" long hours designing a "killer" layout (at least "killing" my nerves) I finally came up with something i liked a lot. Layout has 2 independent loops, one rather big, another one a bit smaller. Now i only need to integrate a station on it. Easy, right?  Guess again...

 

After a lot of struggle (14 "final" versions), i came up with 2 plans. Now i just ask for your help. 

 

1- Do you guys see any problem on either plan? something i missed, some disaster prone area, some error with operations?

2- Would you change anything? what?

3- Witch one do you prefer ?

 

Plan 1 : Original plan. Tried to get the station in there, but... 

 

Plan 2: Surrender plan. I surrendered to my inability and just placed the station in line with the main line.