Reason for what I do.


waredbear

waredbear

Member
I put together a small oval downstairs to test some trains with my grandson. This is the first time he has seen HO running and he is just amazed at it. He asks me everyday if we can go down and run the trains. I have decided to build a 4x8 layout that is easier to reach. :rolleyes: I've looked through books and viewed hundreds on track plans on-line. I've pretty well decided to go with the Atlas plan "The Yardmaster". I get to do some yard switching and I'm going to add some switch legs in the middle of the figure 8. I will start a thread in the layout section once I get started.

This broght a smile on my face.
 
That's great for you and your grandson. I was introduced to the hobby by my dad and grandad and it holds great, nostalgic memories for me. I know youre doing the same for your grandson. Good for you! enjoy
 
Looks like a fun layout. You'll have a blast with it. Of course, published track plans tend to be a starting point... You could easily add a secone yard area for some point to point action.

Doug

10010.jpg

A couple of ideas...
Yardmaster1.png
Yardmaster2.png
 
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Awww...that's why a lot of us are in trains, because dad or grandpa started us out. Good for you.

One point to consider with your 4x8. The average man's reach is 33". Even if you have access to all four sides of the layout, it's going to be difficult to reach things in the middle. If any of the sides are against walls, now you've really got a problem. Have you considered two 4x4's, with a 30" wide shelf connecting the two? You'll be able to get a lot more mainline running room and not have all those reach problems.
 
Dougget said:
Looks like a fun layout. You'll have a blast with it. Of course, published track plans tend to be a starting point... You could easily add a secone yard area for some point to point action.

Doug
Click to expand...

Thanks Doug for the suggestions. I agree with the "starting point" comment. I looked and looked and looked through several Atlas books, on-line plans, here, and on the XTrakCad forum and couldn't find one that was just right. They were all missing what I wanted. This one isn't perfect but it will have to do "for now". I couldn't sleep the other night so I sat here with the layout and XTrakCad and started recreating the trackplan. I just about finished it yesterday. I wanted a yard to switch in, a run-around to prevent blocking the main and a few sidings to deliver cars to. I almost went with the "Out and Back" plan but I didn't want to deal with a reversing loop and I wanted a two ended approach to the yard. So I've added several switching points inside the loops. I will post it as soon as I get the last one in.

UP2CSX - I have a two 4x4's already but I call it a 4x8. :D
 
I ended up with some $$$ for my birthday and my daughter told me that "I had to use the money to buy train stuff"...:D...no problem. I was torn between a DCC system and some more E-Z track. I decided to go with the track so we can make different layouts on the floor untill I can clear out a space for a permanent one. I bought several 18" curves, 2 right and 2 left turnouts, 20 - 9" straights, a 30 degree crossing, some 4.5" sections and some 1/2 18" radius curves. I figure I can switch the tracks around from the oval shown above, to the figure 8 below, to a small yard that I will make this weekend and will post pics after I figure it out. Anybody know of any E-Z track plans on the Internet? I have found one with about 4 plans and that is it.

I also had some end pieces of 2x3 laying around so I cut out some elevations for a cross-over. They start at 1/4" and go up to 3" in 1/4" increments. There are a total of 12 going in each direction. The third picture shows how I used them on one side of the figure eight and the last picture shows how they look against a car.
 
Track Came In

The two orders of Bachmann E-Z Track came in yesterday and today. I removed the figure 8 I made to make room for a new lay-out. I saw this basic loop inside a loop on the back of a MRR magizine and thought I could do that. I added the yard to the right and the spur to the left. Just so happens I already had the tier system to lift the track up to 3". Unfortunately my grandson came home early from daycare so we can't run it tonight. I still need to run some AC over to the two switches in the yard. The two turnouts on the mainline are manual switches. I can see hours and hours of fun on this layout.

I posted a video over on You Tube. Click on the link below.
 
Reid, looks like the start of an empire. :) Just a warning, if you're not already aware of it. The black roadbed version of E-Z track has steel rails, not nickel silver, like the gray roadbed version. The profile of the black roadbed is just slightly lower than the gray roadbed, so the two types don't mate exactly level. You probably don't notice this on carpet, but you will on a solid surface. You can shim the tracks where they meet to level them but it's a good idea to keep the black roadbed sections together as much as possible so you only have to shim at a couple of points. The steel rail will need cleaning more often than the NS rail, but it's not a real problem unless you've got the layout in a really humid, damp environment. The steel rail can corrode pretty quickly under these conditions.
 
UP2CSX said:
The profile of the black roadbed is just slightly lower than the gray roadbed, so the two types don't mate exactly level........The steel rail will need cleaning more often than the NS rail, but it's not a real problem unless you've got the layout in a really humid, damp environment. The steel rail can corrode pretty quickly under these conditions.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the warning. I knew the difference between the nickel silver and steel. I also knew the steel would need to be cleaned. I'm planning on putting the steel track in the yard area only. I didn't know there was a height difference in the track. I am having problems with that at the yard. I will have to look at it closely and see if that is the problem. Thanks for the info. I made the layout above using every piece of track I had except for the 30 degree crossing just to see what I could build.
 
My grandaughters are 4 and 7 and they had a blast with a bachman layout I bought for Christmas. Now, I am really into the craft. I got some photo's on last night, they are on the top this morning. I used a 4x8, but wanted plenty of room for a logging operation, forest, and antique industrial complex. I ended up with a main track around the outside, with some curves on the long north end, a spur to load logs, and two parallel sidings runnin along the main perimeter track on the long south end. I am really happy with it, and have room to fill in with cool buildings as I go.

Their concern was, "Where's the people"? Now I have about 25 people on the board, 5 horses, some cyotes and a deer. We have as much fun moving the people around as anything else. More later
 
We just started our new layout (after about 30 years of nothing).
Our grandson (about 1.5 years old) loves it.
When he comes over (at least twice a week) he takes his coat off and points to the basement (my man cave) and says two magic words---CHOO CHOO. Off we go for at least a couple of hours.
 
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