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| Posted: Wed May 9th, 2012 03:36 pm |
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1st Post |
drwonga
| Joined: | Sun Apr 15th, 2012 |
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Hi Folks!
I just moved to a house where I have a dedicated train room! (No basements out in CA, so the best I could hope for!) I am planning an On30 logging layout, set in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, probably around the 1930's. (So I'm thinking mainly steam (little Porters) and some early critter diesels.) I'm new to On30, so I wanted to build a smaller section of this layout first, to make sure I'm ok building in this scale. But, I wanted that section I build as a test, to integrate fully into the finished room-sized layout.
So I'm looking for some ideas! I find the out-and-back layouts to be intriguing, perhaps playing with elevation so the train only sort-of runs through the same scene twice. I would like to model a remote logging town, a logging area, the railroad service area, and an interchange with a standard gauge railroad. The bechwork will most likely be dominoes with legs, laid out on the walls. The room is roughly 9'x9', only 3 sides used. (There is a sliding closet for storage and a door on the remaining wall, which I would like to keep open and available.)
Does anybody have some track plans that might fit these constraints? I'm more than willing to modify a track plan as well, so inspirational layouts are great too!
Thanks for all your help!
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| Posted: Wed May 9th, 2012 04:27 pm |
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2nd Post |
W C Greene
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| Joined: | Fri May 4th, 2007 |
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Howdy and welcome to Freerails. There are those amongst us who do some wonderful track plans, I am sure they will offer advice, etc. Am I right in that you would like a "point to point" layout? That is an operational scheme that is both prototypical and not for everyone. Are you a builder more than a runner? A sit and watch trains run type of guy? Or maybe a bit of both? And with 9 by 9 around the walls (I assume) 3 sides, point to point might be the way. Since you prefer little Porters and critters, it might, MIGHT be possible to have a continous run with very tight radius turns at each end. Your choice. And also, that standard gauge interchange might just be a single piece of track with a 40 foot boxcar, O scale is bigger than most modelers realize. Stuff to consider and as I said, more ideas will surely be posted. Take care and get your pencil and paper ready.
Woodie
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| Posted: Wed May 9th, 2012 07:23 pm |
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3rd Post |
drwonga
| Joined: | Sun Apr 15th, 2012 |
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Hi Woodie!
Thanks for the reply. I'm very interested in having a reason for the railroad. (I already wrote up an extensive history on the freelanced railroad.) I think it would be nice to have a decently long run so I could run a porter slowly through the scene if I wanted to just sit back and watch...maybe having to intervene every 10 minutes or so. I do like taking photographs of what I build, so scenery is an important element. I am excited by the scratch building and kit bashing opportunities in On30. (I'm currently working on a scratch built diesel critter.) The largest piece of rolling stock will be the Bachmann passenger car (only 1), and maybe a caboose. The rest I intend on using short, 1 truck based cars. For the standard gauge interchange, I just wanted to model it and have a place to send stuff to, from the railroad.
Most of the buildings I was planning on scratch building and making them taller vs wider or longer. Depending on the space, I would utilize building flats as well to save on depth.
I guess right now I'm really looking for inspirational track plans that I might be able to customize to fit my own space.
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| Posted: Wed May 9th, 2012 07:40 pm |
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4th Post |
W C Greene
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This will "tie in" with another thread on Freerails-for inspiration, ideas, and just plain enjoyment-find a copy of George Abdill's PACIFIC SLOPE RAILROADS, a very inexpensive and overlooked book on just what the title relays. There are numerious photos of critters and Porters and all sorts of motive power in that area. There were many tiny loggers in the Sierras, even a couple of real 30" lines, the subject of a series in the NG&SL Gazette a few years back. Seek and ye shall find...just the right thing to model.
Woodie
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| Posted: Wed May 9th, 2012 08:51 pm |
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5th Post |
Herb Kephart
Administrator
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Hi, And welcome to FreeRails!
Woodie is correct, Abdill's books have lots of neat photos that will inspire anyone.
Please understand that we aren't going to design a layout for you, but we will be glad to critique a design that you come up with, make suggestions, and point out possible trouble spots.
Start out with a large piece of paper, and draw your room to a convenient, and as large as possible scale. Then draw a light line 30" from each of the walls that are intended to have the railroad built along. The space between the wall, and the 30" line is your "reach area"---that is as far as the normal person can reach--and even then work is difficult to preform at the last couple inches by the wall.
Now, try sketching track in that area. Remember that you need space for buildings, between parallel tracks (if any) and the radius of curves has to be drawn to scale. Might be a good idea to decide where your std. gage interchange is going to be early in the planning process. When you get something that interests you, do the whole process over again, this time drawing everything as close to scale as possible. You will probably have to make some changes to get things to fit. At this point, put the drawing away for a couple days, and read back posts here, or read a book. Couple days later dig the drawing out and see if you still like what you have designed. If so post it and out panel of "experts" will look it over and make suggestions.
Have you got a name? We like to respond to posts in a "personal" way--
Herb 
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| Posted: Wed May 9th, 2012 10:54 pm |
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6th Post |
rogerssantafe
| Joined: | Sat Feb 11th, 2012 |
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I usually start with a sheet of 8" X 11" graph paper. I prefer the ones with 4 squares to the inch. This lets me rough out my ideas. Then I move to larger sheets of paper for individual scenes. One thing I did when building Ntrak and Z-scale modules was to photocopy switches crossings and other sections of track. This made fitting them in the plan much easier. I even tried this with my large scale but the copies were harder to make.
Roger
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Roger
Post Oak & Otter Lake RR
Coyote Ridge RR
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| Posted: Wed May 9th, 2012 11:58 pm |
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7th Post |
drwonga
| Joined: | Sun Apr 15th, 2012 |
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So I actually started with graph paper earlier in the week to crank out some ideas. I think I have something that will work...and yes, there is a switch back up part of the mountain! One of the lower levels of the track goes through a long tunnel, so it breaks up the scene with the switchbacks, reducing the amount of time two tracks visually share the same scene. Once I polish it up a bit, I'll post a scan.
Larry
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| Posted: Fri May 11th, 2012 01:12 am |
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8th Post |
pipopak
| Joined: | Wed Apr 13th, 2011 |
| Location: | Florida USA |
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Hello and welcome to the Nut House!
Regardless of the track plan you decide "is the one" I suggest making a scale 3D model of it. Make a copy of it, glue to suitable cardboard and cut along the up or down changes of elevation. Put together a scale model of the room with doors, windows, etc in the proper places and set it in. Then make VERY simple chunks of wood to represent major buildings and put in place. Total time invested: maybe 2 hours, but will help a lot finding out potential trouble spots and goofs.
If you do not glue the "layout" to the "room" different ones can be tried without making new rooms every time.
If you get a doll like a GI Joe and build everything to it's scale then you can put "yourself" in to have a more realistic view.
Worked for me.
Jose.Last edited on Fri May 11th, 2012 01:17 am by pipopak
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| Posted: Fri May 11th, 2012 02:46 am |
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9th Post |
drwonga
| Joined: | Sun Apr 15th, 2012 |
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Lots of people suggest building a 3D model to test everything out. I was thinking of starting in a 3'x4'section first, as little tester module. Think the 3D model would help in that case too?
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| Posted: Fri May 11th, 2012 04:18 am |
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10th Post |
pipopak
| Joined: | Wed Apr 13th, 2011 |
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Yes.
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No matter how bad things are now, they can (and will) go worse.
Mr Murphy.
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