New member new layout design to be done

[Amtrakking]

Thinking of doing an automotive manufacturing theme layout and put this on paper. The auto factory is highlighted in yellow and will probably be scratchbuilt. My era will be modern from 1990-present. I included a station as I was thinking I would include an Amtrak passenger train. My locale would be a mfg or semi-urban setting with the auto factory and associated industry in the northeast USA in the spring or summer season. Operation of some yard function along with a continuous loop would be ideal. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thnx

 

[cajon]

FIRST of all, the layout needs to be completely walk around because you won't be able to reach inside beyond 30" given the size of your layout. You could have popups in the middle, but those can be a pain to use. But there are probably other layout plans that have the auto industry & Amtrak included. Do a Google search w/ those parameters including available layout size. Do some research on the auto industry & RRs that served them. Also see if you can find track charts for that kind of RR.

 

[bob]

View attachment 27899

Thinking of doing an automotive manufacturing theme layout and put this on paper...

That's not a bad start. I suggest you get serious about drawing the plan to scale, as you do have some problem areas, especially the yard by the auto plant, I suspect that won't all fit. But the general concept is a nice idea and you can fine tune it to fit.

 

[cajon]

The spurs next to the auto plant look more like a layout yard than to service the plant. If it's the layout yard turn it around & connect it to the siding on the right. Make the yard double ended so it can be worked from both ends. Think about having the auto plant spurs coming off the bottom mainline & its own siding. Also most auto plants have spurs going inside to set out parts (tires, smaller parts & coil steel). Finished cars were usually driven outside to be loaded onto autoracks.

 

[Amtrakking]

I love you guys!! Great ideas & suggestions. Cajon's point about access is well taken; I am thinking the layout could be mounted on a metal frame that has wheels. I am researching alot of the issues involved and will add your considerations to my list. I have modified my original plan and will reconfigure the yard as you suggested. Bob thanks for your input, I will continue to refine the plan.....AND I will get the plan properly drawn. Do you know what templates and/or tools I can use to draw the plans? Don't have a working pc now.

Amtrakking

 

[Iron Horseman]

Thinking of doing an automotive manufacturing theme layout and put this on paper. The auto factory is highlighted in yellow and will probably be scratchbuilt. My era will be modern from 1990-present. I included a station as I was thinking I would include an Amtrak passenger train. My locale would be a mfg or semi-urban setting with the auto factory and associated industry in the northeast USA in the spring or summer season. Operation of some yard function along with a continuous loop would be ideal. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

On a normal 4x8 layout it is hard to make use of the center of the area. This is because by the time one gets the track headed in that direction the space is ended. This has 16 feet and 8 feet so it would be much easier to get some track into those underutilized center areas. I guess I am saying I think a lot space in the center areas could be used for either a long mainline run or much more interesting switching. As the others have said or implied, for the automobile factory break the spur track off much further to the right and get them in there closer to center.

The track configuration on the lower right hand side is going to be difficult even if one uses curved turnouts. 6' looks like a lot on paper, but try to put four 24" curves in there and then reverse curve one set of them to connect on the left just is not going to fit well. Curved turnouts, S-curves, and tight radius (yes even 24" is tight) just don't mix well. Instead of curving the one side to the left, why not take it straight up into the center of the space, curve it back on itself around to the right (270 degrees) and cross over to meet the tracks coming from the left side? A 3/4 loop inside the loop. That makes a longer main line run, eliminates the s-curve issue and could make a really cool crossing scene (or bridge if you go 3D).

Then there is that long straight track along the top, that is parallel to the long straight edge of the benchwork. In my opinion that is visually un-interesting. If they are just bowed in a tiny bit (ten degrees or so), it makes it look much less toy trainish and interesting. After having 5 layouts or so with straight track parallel to all the edges of the board, it dawned on me that this was "not" a requirement. Notice the plan below where instead of having the front (bottom) track run straight along the front edge with all the industries behind it, the track was squeezed toward the center of the space. The visual difference of the train running through a scene like this is amazing. Suddenly the train is not running "in front" of all the scenery it is running behind some buildings and through the scene. Ever since I had this revelation and saw the plan below, even if the track design is a simple oval, I offset it a couple degrees from the edges of the benchwork (as in the photo two images below). While in this case it doesn't let the train run through anything because the space is so small, the train still doesn't run staight along the side-o-the board.

 

[Iron Horseman]

Oh yeah, Your space reminds me of a interesting layout done by Atlas called the "grade crossing deluxe". They intertwined two figure-8s with a whole bunch of crossings and crossover tracks. It was only 6' x 13' but the idea could be expanded into a space of your size.

 

[Olie]

I'm going to throw out an idea I've been stewing on for a while that may make some face palm and say I'm crazy. Run both. Run HO and N scale. Who says you can't? N scale track will fit inside HO. Model the layout to your liking, have the HO scale train you have envisioned. Then, when you want to run long Amtrak trains, throw your N scales up there. Build a display case. Whichever one you;'re not running, display it near the layout. Park it on a siding. One thing I've learned, you can model prototype..........or not. There's more info out there than you can imagine to get you close to the real world. Even the die-hard "experts" will have to admit that not everything on their layouts is exactly prototype. It's impossible. On the other hand, you can do what YOU want. It's your layout. If your heart is set on HO, then go HO. If you really want to see that long train go by, then do it! That is why I suggested running both scales. Not perfect per-say but can be done. As I sit here typing this, I have a HO double track running above my head as a ceiling layout and an N scale layout that runs over my desk and off to my right along the wall. I like them. That's all that matters to me.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Just remember, it's your layout, do what YOU want.

 

[cajon]

The real RRs avoid switchbacks like the plague. They always take up space without any benefit to the RRs and it takes longer to use them. But if a RR has to use them because of space limitations they always put an industry on its own spur.