New "N" Plan for comments

CSX-er

New Member
After some forty years of “arm chair quarter-backing I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and join the rest of you operators out there. Much of this is due to wifey’s begging, cajoling, arm twisting etc. The bad part…..condo livin’ ain’t the most spacious thing to work with. Room allotted ... was an 8.5' X 12' spare bedroom that serves other multi-purpose functions! Space allotted .... was a miserly 31" X 144" (yep...that equates to approximately 34 square feet folks . Spent many hours trying to devise a workable plan that included my wish-list. First up was continuous running so I could run a 20 - 25 string of what-ever ... behind a couple of heavy pullers and not be chasing it's tail. Next was a sizable yard to park what I've been collecting over those years. Also I wanted to be able to work off the main while watching those horses chug by. Throw in a few industrial sites to keep me busy....and that's about it. An added bonus is 2 reverse tracks for turning things around. The good part....bench-work is complete (incuding back-drop) and am at the track laying stage. I’m hoping that a few comments from any of you out there would be helpful. Attached is "THE PLAN" as I visualised it. But....West Virginia (the local) and Saskatchewan....are a few miles apart....so comment away !

Best I can do is a pic of the plan….tried playing with those CAD thingies with very little success ….aiyaa…..the joys of getting old and “un-trainable” !
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
First of all, welcome to the Gauge.:wave::wave: You'll get a lot of great advice and help here if that's what you're looking for.

Secondly, your "plan" did not post. If you are having problems posting pics, look in the photo forum, there is a "sticky" there to tell you how to do it. If you are still having problems, let me know and I will help you get squared away. You cannot be that "untrainable", it's not high tech stuff..:D:D
 

CSX-er

New Member
Try it again

Thanx....think the size of the pic had something to do with it not posting.. so I zipped it...here goes..
 

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ezdays

Out AZ way
CSX-er said:
Thanx....think the size of the pic had something to do with it not posting.. so I zipped it...here goes..
Yeah, the file size was OK, but the # of pixels was about twice what is allowed. Posting a zip file is all right, but it requires one to download, save then open it off-line, so I've taken the liberty of doing that, but making it less dense so it could be uploaded here. I also sharpened the contrast a bit to make it easier to read. I hope you don't mind my doing that. Here are the results:
 

Attachments

  • PLAN_1d.jpg
    PLAN_1d.jpg
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ezdays

Out AZ way
CSX-er said:
Thanx ezdays....I see even posting is gonna be on a learning curve!!!
You're welcome. I just used a photo edit application (there are several that are free. PC Mag this week has a list of a few and the one I recommend, PhotoPlus 6 is at the top of their free list), and set the maximum pixel size to 640 wide. That's all that's allowed here. If you link to it, it can be bigger, but then it tends to be too big for some to view, and if the file size is too large, it takes too long for it to download for some with dial-up.

Like I said, just ask if you need help. Lots of willing people here.:thumb::thumb:
 

tillsbury

Member
Your forty years of watching has paid off -- that's a really nice plan. Either you're an expert or you've been listening very carefully...

I take it you'll be running the twice-around main with your continuous stuff, and then switching to keep out of its way -- I do the same thing here.

My only comments would be:
1) big tunnels on the left-hand side. Make sure you can reach them. Since the entire left-hand side is mostly a hill, you should be able to make it such that the underneath of the layout is hollow (or at least has a big hole in it) so that you can get in from underneath. Failing that, you'll need a hatch in your mountain -- perhaps you could make the town removeable? That's not a bad idea anyway so that you can work on the details close-up away from the layout.

2) I assume you've worked out the inclines for the right-hand side. It seems that you have to make the drop (of about 2 inches) from the top right where the conveyor (?) goes over the track to somewhere about where the siding starts under the bridge in the cutting (and the double-truss bridge at the front). That's going to be fairly tight, although doable. For 2% you want to have about 100 inches of track, plus a bit for the start and end of the incline, but you only have 50 or so in the big 180-degree curve on the right. You can go to nearly 4%, or you can steal some more down into the cutting, or you can have less than 2" under the bridge (but not at the left where you're going under the town), or a combination of the lot. But you won't want a 4% grade on a tight 180-degree curve in a tunnel. You will need to think carefully about the grades, especially where there's switching involved like at the front (which really needs to be on the level, otherwise stuff will zoom off where you don't want it!). Although you'd probably be ok with a slight grade at the front right where your simple crossover is, you'd probably not want the more complex crossover arrangement at the top right to be on an incline -- it makes track laying quite hairy to get that many switches all on the same plane and running reliably.

I'm sure it can be done, but I think that careful consideration of where your grades are will pay off. Have you thought about checking your plan on computer to get the grades precise? If you haven't, I'll happily try sticking it in the system here if you say what track you're using. Are you going for Atlas 55? Peco 55? Something else? What size of turnouts on main and yard?

Charles
 

CSX-er

New Member
Comments Taken!

Your forty years of watching has paid off -- that's a really nice plan. Either you're an expert or you've been listening very carefully...



Thanx for your very insightful and informative reply to my request. This was EXACTLY what I was looking for from this forum! …still blushing from the above though!

I take it you'll be running the twice-around main with your continuous stuff, and then switching to keep out of its way -- I do the same thing here.



....yep…that’s why “the yard” and mine area are blocked off from the thru mainline. Allows me to putter around there without disrupting the scheduled stuff.



My only comments would be:
1) big tunnels on the left-hand side. Make sure you can reach them. Since the entire left-hand side is mostly a hill, you should be able to make it such that the underneath of the layout is hollow (or at least has a big hole in it) so that you can get in from underneath. Failing that, you'll need a hatch in your mountain -- perhaps you could make the town removeable? That's not a bad idea anyway so that you can work on the details close-up away from the layout.



….well…since the depth of this is only 31”….not too..too concerned. Am using Styrofoam as scenery base so your lift-out is well taken….nuthin like watchin’ soaps on telly and doin’ the fine detailing stuff at the same time…eh?


2) I assume you've worked out the inclines for the right-hand side. It seems that you have to make the drop (of about 2 inches) from the top right where the conveyor (?) goes over the track to somewhere about where the siding starts under the bridge in the cutting (and the double-truss bridge at the front). That's going to be fairly tight, although doable. For 2% you want to have about 100 inches of track, plus a bit for the start and end of the incline, but you only have 50 or so in the big 180-degree curve on the right. You can go to nearly 4%, or you can steal some more down into the cutting, or you can have less than 2" under the bridge (but not at the left where you're going under the town), or a combination of the lot. But you won't want a 4% grade on a tight 180-degree curve in a tunnel. You will need to think carefully about the grades, especially where there's switching involved like at the front (which really needs to be on the level, otherwise stuff will zoom off where you don't want it!). Although you'd probably be ok with a slight grade at the front right where your simple crossover is, you'd probably not want the more complex crossover arrangement at the top right to be on an incline -- it makes track laying quite hairy to get that many switches all on the same plane and running reliably.


…beat you to it! Well almost…. I used a water-level to shoot all the grades (and to level all the bench work) prior to setting the sub road-bed. …said oops…that looks a tad steep and proceeded from there. Like you said…started my transitions in the cut a little earlier lowered the upper level by almost 3/8” and went from there. Didn’t occur to me on paper that the clearance was the bottom of the bridge….not the sub-roadbed I had to concern myself with …..see …you can’t learn everything from that armchair! That front track I just sloped down gradually and it’s hardly noticeable. I used ¾” Poplar 6 ply cabinet grade ply-wood for the sub….its VERY flexible but stable stuff…highly recommended! Last night (THE TEST-RUN !!!)I ran a Spectrum SD40 up the grade…..and it pulled 14 cars……so I’m a happy camper


I'm sure it can be done, but I think that careful consideration of where your grades are will pay off. Have you thought about checking your plan on computer to get the grades precise? If you haven't, I'll happily try sticking it in the system here if you say what track you're using. Are you going for Atlas 55? Peco 55? Something else? What size of turnouts on main and yard?



…duh….did you see my first post? Tried those fancy-dancy CAD things….too bad you can’t make “square curves” with the suckers…..’cause I sure can’t produce a round one with any of ‘em! What I’m using is Atlas code 80 and their Custom line #6 turnouts. This is all “stuff” I bought maybe 15 years ago….and had squirreled away … so being frugal….didn’t want to buy new stuff….besides…these old eyes can’t tell the diff! If your that curious…have at it…as they say!

…again thanks for your commentary….its given me lots to consider down the line!
 

CSX-er

New Member
Addendum!

...forgot to mention....it's still a work in progress... I swapped the lines thru the cut so that the main is now by the river.... Also was able to squeeze another siding track into the yard ( now 3 wide) which still only over-runs the layout edge by 1 1/2" as their rears curve to follow the main lead-in.
 
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