Track Plan for a Beginner


B

benny_en_fuego

New Member
Hello. I am working on a track plan for my son's first HO layout. I'm completely new to model railroading, so hoping for a little guidance on the ins-and-outs of track plan features I should be looking for. We live in an area with lots of mainline traffic, so he likes the 6 axle diesels and I'm aware of the 22" radius and 3" concentric track spacing recommendations. It also seems like the 11.5' x 57" bench is on the small side for mainline modeling, but his interests are all over, so not too committed to hyper-realism or sticking to one specific era. The layout will be DCC as he is most interested in the lights and sounds of railroading. I have a couple of light/sound crossing kits and plan to integrate working turnout indicators as well. Maybe even a couple working storm sirens.

I know its a broad question and a big ask, but are there any must-haves for a small/medium HO layout, particularly for younger kids? I've got an example I drew up in SCARM that I intend to scale up to 25" and 22" radii. Its a dogbone style to keep him relatively immersed in the action and includes a switch yard on the left, a spur for passenger traffic on the right, and a loop that should allow for switching directions. Any/all feedback on this idea is welcomed! Thanks
 

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Hi Benny, welcome to the forum. Model railroading is a lot of fun, and can be a life-long hobby.

Well, after looking at your plan, I must admit that it is a fairly nice plan for a first layout, and a nice starter size at that for modern era model railroading (4'-9" x 11'-6"), with adequate curve radii of 22" and 25" or thereabouts.

However, a few thoughts:
For one, I would consider forgetting the reversing loop for now. While a nice feature for more experienced model railroaders, it would add some wiring complexity (whether manual switching or auto reversing) that you could probably live without for awhile. Besides, you could always add it in later, if so desired.
For another, you haven't said how old your son is or how big he is, but I would be recommend re-designing the yard and any other turnouts so they are as close to an edge of the table as reasonable. Trains tend to derail occasionally, and even more so at turnouts. So they need to be easy enough for a youngster to reach, instead of way out in the middle of a table where it's either hard or else impossible to reach.
And since this is your very first layout, I'd recommend painting the table top a light gray or light tan or light tannish-gray color with plain old FLAT latex house paint. Then simply nail the track directly to it, without any roadbed or ballast. That way, you can get some track down and get some trains running without messing around with a bunch of scenery. You can come back later and do as much or little as you want, plus if you decide to change the entire track plan at a later date, it will be much easier to do so, as you should be able to re-use virtually everything.

Just a few thoughts for you to think about. Others are sure to chime in with some more good thoughts for beginners.

Good luck and have fun! :)👍
 
Welcome to the forum!

The dogbone style layout is a great choice for beginners!

I agree with Mixed Freight on all their ideas, particularly with the reversing loop and how it will add some complexity to the layout with wiring.

Have you considered using Bachman EZ track or Kato Unitrack? I’d recommend Kato Unitrack! These are great for a starter model railroad and can easily be assembled/taken apart for whenever changes need to be made on the layout.

- Guilford
 
benny_en_fuego said:
I know its a broad question and a big ask, but are there any must-haves for a small/medium HO layout, particularly for younger kids?
Click to expand...
must haves:
Continuous running - check.
A place to "park" cars - check.

Truthfully I would have loved to have this layout when I was a kid!
benny_en_fuego said:
Its a dogbone style to keep him relatively immersed in the action and includes a switch yard on the left, a spur for passenger traffic on the right, and a loop that should allow for switching directions. Any/all feedback on this idea is welcomed! Thanks
Click to expand...
A few comments, suggestions. Only one urgent is in RED, and if one removes the crossover in pink, obviously, it ceases to be an issue.
Layout comments.jpg
 
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Mixed Freight said:
Hi Benny, welcome to the forum. Model railroading is a lot of fun, and can be a life-long hobby.

Well, after looking at your plan, I must admit that it is a fairly nice plan for a first layout, and a nice starter size at that for modern era model railroading (4'-9" x 11'-6"), with adequate curve radii of 22" and 25" or thereabouts.

However, a few thoughts:
For one, I would consider forgetting the reversing loop for now. While a nice feature for more experienced model railroaders, it would add some wiring complexity (whether manual switching or auto reversing) that you could probably live without for awhile. Besides, you could always add it in later, if so desired.
For another, you haven't said how old your son is or how big he is, but I would be recommend re-designing the yard and any other turnouts so they are as close to an edge of the table as reasonable. Trains tend to derail occasionally, and even more so at turnouts. So they need to be easy enough for a youngster to reach, instead of way out in the middle of a table where it's either hard or else impossible to reach.
And since this is your very first layout, I'd recommend painting the table top a light gray or light tan or light tannish-gray color with plain old FLAT latex house paint. Then simply nail the track directly to it, without any roadbed or ballast. That way, you can get some track down and get some trains running without messing around with a bunch of scenery. You can come back later and do as much or little as you want, plus if you decide to change the entire track plan at a later date, it will be much easier to do so, as you should be able to re-use virtually everything.

Just a few thoughts for you to think about. Others are sure to chime in with some more good thoughts for beginners.

Good luck and have fun! :)👍
Click to expand...
Thanks for the wisdom on the reversing loop! I hadn't considered the opposing polarity problem and it looks like some extra hardware is required to make that easy/reliable, so that's backburnered for now. My kids are 7 and 5, so I can appreciate the accessibility concern with the yard. I neglected to mention that much of the bench work material is salvaged from an old 22' shuffleboard that was already in the basement. As such, I was able to use the 10 legs attached to a torsion box frame, which yields a final bench height of 27" after the locking casters. Right on the money for them, but a little hard on my back. But lots of decorative moulding remains to clean up and place a retaining barrier around the layout to keep all locos and rolling stock in bounds.

Took your advice and quit stressing about roadbed, etc. and just started throwing down some track, so we are off to the races.
 
At the age your kids are they definitely want to be hands on and not just watch trains go around. With DCC all of you can be running a loco at the same time. Not knowing your physical space I would still suggest a narrow or shelf type railroad that goes around the room or point to point with at least a half dozen industries for switching and several passing sidings. This way they can always be close to the action and their train. Let them come up with the rules of the road, who has right-away, what tracks locos can go on, or not. Let them make the switch list of cars to move and where. Their attention span will not be more than an hour but with the rules and switch lists they can stop and pick back up anytime.
 
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I would definitely eliminate the track along the yellow line, as this creates a reverse loop, where you will get into polarity problems. The suggestion of placing the track as close to the edge of the table as possible, so the kids can reach the cars is okay, IF you put some kind of retaining wall to prevent derails from taking the plunge off the table. It doesn't have to be too high, just enough to stop the cars from falling off the edge. It doesn't necessarily have to be all around the table, but on outer curves which is where you are most likely to have derailments. At five and seven, daddy will be around to reach over any guards, if necessary. I also agree that the "pink" crossover is not desirable and not really necessary. Best wishes on your project.
 
Wow. Lots of great feedback! Good ol influenza visited this week which unexpectedly spurred this project along. We decided to stop worrying about trackbed and details and just get some track down and run trains per the advice from this thread. It was definitely a welcome change from the usual sick days screen time. We finished an outer loop, did some buss wiring, and he's already logged 4 solid hours of runtime.

Solid advice on omitting the reversing loop. Maybe someday that'll be a change, but I see the complexity involved.

We'll be putting on a retaining wall shortly. Legs, 1x boards, and mouldings are all salvaged from an old shuffleboard table that came with the house years ago. The mouldings should add a finished look and functional retainment, and the price of free can't be beat.

Also, solid feedback on the yard layout. I hadn't accounted for car length, instead was focused on quantity over quality. Hoping to get some turnouts done this week, but waiting on some hardware.

Has anyone ever used the touch toggles from Barrett-Hill? I placed an order 14 days ago, but no order confirmation/shipping notice and no email reply. Not sure the usual turnaround time.
 
I agree guilford about Bachman or kato track . ( kato fan )if you don’t like what you guys have done it’s quite easy to disassemble and redo . On my layout in retro spect i would have used. Just 3/4 foam board instead of plywood and 1/2 foam board ) ( dab of hot glue fixing track to foam board ) without plywood to reduce the weight as I have rollers on my layout to move it around if I want too . More weight and support than needed .
Mike
 
If you remove the reversing loop section in yellow, I would move the yard lead as far to the right as you can to lengthen the yard tracks. Those tracks won't hold many cars as it is now in the track plan. You'll have difficulty parking a passenger train in there if they are full-length wagons.
 
benny_en_fuego said:
Has anyone ever used the touch toggles from Barrett-Hill? I placed an order 14 days ago, but no order confirmation/shipping notice and no email reply. Not sure the usual turnaround time.
Click to expand...
I had not ever heard of them before. They look pretty slick. From the write up on the web-site I cannot tell if they are a digital switch, some sort of capacitance inductance, optical or ???? I almost got the impression their "base unit" converted the whatever signal came from the panel into a physical switch or relay.
 
The company SEEMS legit, but it bothers me that the copyright date on the website stops at 2015. A good webmaster keeps that updated and current. I think I'd give them a call at the number listed.
 
baja463 said:
The company SEEMS legit, but it bothers me that the copyright date on the website stops at 2015. A good webmaster keeps that updated and current. I think I'd give them a call at the number listed.
Click to expand...
Have to admit, they have some interesting tools for a MRR, I'll need to check them out some more.

Oh! I've just checked their website, Copyright is 2024
 
baja463 said:
Ah, that explains it -- we're looking at two different websites. This one: https://www.berretthill.com/controls/ is the 2015. Yours is probably the most current one.
Click to expand...
On doing some more research about Berret Hill, he seems to have been around for a while, found these two items that you might find of interest, the one on MRH forum discusses what is needed for the Touch switches, also a YT on using them on a staging yard.
Hope this helps.

forum.mrhmag.com

Berrett Hill Touch Toggles and Arduino for Servo Control

Hi. I have read Peter's (pierre52) Servos 101 and Geoff Bunza's Modeller's Introduction to the Arduino. I need some guidance on how to proceed. My layout will have 10-15 turnouts. I would like to control them with servos driven by an Arduino. I would also like to use Berrett Hill Touch Toggles...
forum.mrhmag.com forum.mrhmag.com


 
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