Yard Design

[Cody J]

Thank you Tyler. I'll work on that.

[Cody J]

Tyler, I just visited the Cad Rail site and it was very expensive. I am only 13 years of age and do not have the money to invest in that. Do you know of any free ones?

[Cody J]

Jward:

Is this what you mean by Pinwheel type yard?

http://www.walkersquawker.net/images/untitled1.jpg

Or this?

http://ttrak.cincy.home.insightbb.com/450Layouts/465Yards/TTRAK33yard.E.v1.small.gif

thanks,
cody

[Tylerf]

On the cad rail homepage there is a link saying free demo. However upon actually looking at m layout planning software I've just realized that cadrails alright but for your purpose you should get the free demo for 3rd planIT. Similar to cad rail but it's allot easier plus you can select bachmann eztrack and the program has all the dimensions of all the eztrack pieces. Also you can add a train or two to the track and actually run them in a 3d view of the plan. This should help make layout planning much better for you, but I have to add that on the free demos, you can't save , but you can make the layout in the program and then take pictures of it.

[jward]

the first link, the walkersquawker one, shows the pinwheel yard lead very well.

as for a track planning program, atlas has a free one called right track which is available for download on their site. even if you are not using atlas track, i am not, it will still give you an idea what will fit in the space you have. it's alot easier than trying to draw everything to scale on graph paper.

[Tylerf]

I've drawn an interpritation of your layout plan on 3rd planit. If you can wait till tomorrow night sometime I'll try to post it on here as I've never done it before. A few notes about the layout, 5 by 9 is not as long a rectangle as you have drawn so space is much more compact. The branch will work however not as long as you've drawn. The yard you've drawn is basically not possible with eztrack however in my plan I've over come this issue and it actually looks quite nice. I've even found an easy way to include a reverse loop on the branch. I'll definetly have to give you my version of your plan, it actually looks quite good, I tried to follow you're plan as close as possible but there's definetly not enough space once you add the proper curves. 

[pdlethbridge]

Cody, let me show you what I have as an example

I have 1 foot squares to show the size. Now the yard starting in the middle right side can only hold about 15 cars as I have extended a couple of the tracks but haven't shown that in the plan. All track is Atlas code 83 with custom line #4 turnouts. Now for size, that yard is about 2 feet by 5 feet. A big chunk of area and not a lot of storage. So, if you are planning a 5' x 9' layout, I'd suggest using something like the Atlas software (free) to plan your layout. At the very least you will have a rough idea of what you can really do.
http://www.atlasrr.com/righttrack.htm

[Cody J]

Thanks for all the responses.

TylerF- thanks for drawing the plan! It is very appreciated. And yes, I noticed today that the rectangle was too long.

Jward- Thanks for the response about the track planning on Atlas.

thanks
cody

[Cody J]

LAYOUT UDPATE

My layout will now be 9x6 not 9x5. It was not wide enough.

cody

[renniks]

Cody,

Remember the reachability factor which will vary with the height of layout(and as you grow up). All track should be easy to reach without stretching.

Eric UK

[Cody J]

Thanks

cody

[jward]

i applaud your decision to add the extra foot in width. dedicate that foot to your yard.

with the pinwheel design, you'd probably have your yard tracks out front and the main line set back behind the yard. it should still be within reach though.

since the average person's reach is about 2 1/2 feet, any free standing HO layout, if butted up against the wall,  is going to contain areas you cannot reach from the aisles. the easiest way around this is to provide for access to the back tracks from under the layout, either through a hatch which can be opened, or by burying the back tracks inside3 a tunnel where they can be reached from inside the mountain. needless to say, you'll probably not want to use a solid plywood top, and you'll want to build the layout framework with these popups in mind.

you can minimize the derailments in hard to reach places by keeping all switches within arms reach of the aisles.

[renniks]

Cody

Have redrawn plan (on a 3" grid) to reduce width a little. The centerlines of the straight tracks on each side are now 2 1/2" from the edge on a 5ft.width. Have added Tyler's idea of a return loop. There is a very small gap (about 1/2") on RH side of loop which can be 'lost'.



In consideration of your age nearly all track, apart from section of return loop across the middle,are within 18" of the outer edges. The remarks posted about 2 1/2 feet reach apply to the average Adult. If you leave out the return loop you can have a 2ft.x 4 to 5ft. 'pit' in the middle and operate from inside.

Eric UK

[Cody J]

Thanks both of you for your information.
Thanks for the plan Renniks.
Here is a plan that I worked on this afternoon for about 3 hours!! I had to keep restarting because you can't erase more than the last 5 tracks you made. LOL. The big space to the left is where the yard will be situated if it doesn't need that much width, the Industry District or the Industry Line (samething) will be expanded to include another industry and it will have more room. I know that the switch towards the top of the industry line only has one "end" that switch isn't supposed to be there. Anyway, here it is:
http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk49/trainsrock96/?action=view&current=NEWTrackPlans1.jpg

It is made using the software available from Atlas. Any ideas or improvements?

thanks
cody

[pdlethbridge]

If you need help with the wiring, please ask us. Atlas software is great and you can change a lot of settings including how many un do's in view, options