Ridgewood Lines- Layout Planning

[tankist]

Hello members. after few years of absence i'm planning a railroad again. My first attempt did leave me with quite a bit experience, learned what works and much more so what doesn't . I hope to build a fun road that will keep me busy for many years. in this thread i will be sharing and discussing my ideas as far as track-plan and operation.

Room i managed to negotiate with significant other.
Requirement: TV, Fireplace and Aquarium(plumbed) visible from couch.
Colored Sections - Permanent. Operation - Out and back in.
Dashed sections - removable, allowing continous run when deployed. no solid plan yet, will attempt Free-mo compatibility where possible.

Westrern Wall Module.
Normal direction of traffic Counterclockwise. Light Orange and blue Sections climbing to upper module. Brown access to lower staging. Any rail calculated max grade to 2.5 with exception of solid brown 3.4 which will only be used to descent. this allows me to have vertical separation of 6.5 inch between lower and upper tracks.

To help visualize elevation

Green Northern wall Module- dual level.
shadow staging plan in development. considering transfer tableat the easern (right) end instead of keeping a clean escape track for arriving trains.

with only 6.5" track to track vertical separation I plan to construct Upper green section with 3/4ply +~1/4 of roadbed leaving 5" clearance for rolling stock. for any derailment or maintenance the top portion will be comprised of liftable sections. no track plan for upper section yet

 

[tankist]

Reworked western module almost completely.
the Isle between the layout and bookshelf increased to 24"
minimal radius is at 24", i'm below 2% grade everywhere on mainline and below 3% on the hidden spiral. additional loop downwards will add 4" more inches vertically between layers to comfortable 10"+
but what i especially like is that i now have entire bottom portion accessible by rail for the industries! the red and blue spurs are a temp placeholder while i plan for a better light industrial district. your thoughts are welcome.

thanks!

 

[otiscnj]

I have a question-why not just plan to make it an 'around the walls' layout, with the permanent part of it a switching layout of sorts. You could probably incorporate larger radius curves that way. Additionally, if you're going to take parts of the layout down, when not being used, why not just tie the two ends of the layout together? What height are you planning to make it? Also, what scale will you be using-looks like HO.

Does the fire place work? Not sure I'd put a layout that close to an open flame, but others may know better than I do. 19" aisles are sort of narrow.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[tankist]

I think the answer to this is my realization that full deployment of modules is not going to happen as often as I would like. I do want to have a bit more run with just the permanent section. I considered linking into a loop with the modules, but at the moment I m leaning against since continuoa run will be possible anyways.
Yes 19" is insufficient for aisles, I think I initially got carried away drawing. It is now at 2feet wide which I think should be workable.

Fireplace will have to stay off when modules are deployed.

 

[tankist]

working on peninsula industries and rail. and so far not getting anywhere.
1. in order for the green section to vertically clear the return loop it is raised somewhat.
idea of operation: switcher can either push the train (up to three 9" cars) or pull in and run around to shove to destination. peco code75 track .
reach to couple/decouple can be problematic but i like that the are becomes kind of mini switching layout all by itself here

From Operator eye point it will look something like this. thinking to block the farthest line off sight with taller scenery

2. reworked for much simpler siding , with passing siding (hidden downward section is reworked as well from more run). this way things are much flatter as i don't need to climb over the hidden line below. and i guess i have a bit more room for non rail dependent industries in the
do i need passing siding at all ?

 

[Iron Horseman]

working on peninsula industries and rail. and so far not getting anywhere.
1. in order for the green section to vertically clear the return loop it is raised somewhat.
2. reworked for much simpler siding , with passing siding (hidden downward section is reworked as well from more run). this way things are much flatter as i don't need to climb over the hidden line below. and i guess i have a bit more room for non rail dependent industries in the
do i need passing siding at all?

Any reason for the bottom loop being taken off from where it is and going through the center of the blob? If one used a curved turnout it could be made parallel to the main. Removing it from going through that center space leaves the center clear to do with as you please. If my eye-ball estimations are correct this also gives the same horizontal space to make the grade separation needed to clear the two tracks.

 

[tankist]

Thank you for the suggestion. I did not try that arrangement, it looks like I will have to drop few inches from min radius. Which will be fine in back as I want to hide that return line as well, I don't mind overhang if I can't see it.
Will see what I can do with that.

ADD:
after lots of bending - this will work.
walthers #7 curved (24"-28"), orange curves are 23"
2.6% grade is required to clear 4" between acceding and descending lines, probably bit more with easement. but i like that double line to northern section can meet closer

trade-offs, trade-offs ...

thanks again

 

[tankist]

Latest version of plan.

And a folded diagram. Track magically connects at the checkers (via the bridge)