Plywood

[lesak1]

Try a hardwood dealer.  baltic birch is multy ply plywood that comes in         5' x 5' sizes  regular plywood can be special ordered in just about any size but hold on to you wallet.   there is a lot of ways to join plywood together just do a little searching. Dale

[CNE Runner]

Trainsrock - It seems that your ping-pong table is only used for a month/year. A 5'x 9' table takes up a lot of real estate for such limited utility (assuming you aren't in training for the U.S. Ping-Pong team). In your case, I think I would get rid of the table (easy Mom...by 'rid of' I mean fold up and put in storage) and build a smaller layout with wheeled, and folding, legs. This would give you the benefit of both worlds: a transportable layout (that can be either stowed along a wall or rolled out of the way), and a ping-pong table for wrapping presents or playing. The February 2010 issue of Model Railroader magazine has an article on benchwork with fold-up legs (pp. 40-45).

I guess I just don't see the profit in the direction you are going with this project...but you are happy with your plans - and that is all that counts. Keep us informed of your progress.

Ray

[Cody J]

I have decided to have a 4x8 layout since it is easier to find and is cheaper. It will still be set up on the ping pong table with 6 inches of room on every side. I have already done the track plan but can not put it on here because i have to print it out, scan it, and save it as a picture, upload it to photobucket then put it on here and my scanner isn't working.

cody

[Guilford Guy]

Or you could just save the file as a bmp or gif, and then upload it to photobucket...

[ABC]

Or you could just save the file as a bmp or gif, and then upload it to photobucket...

How can he do that when he has his track plan drawn out by hand on a piece of paper, and his scanner is not working. How is he going to get it on to his computer without a scanner or other means to upload it.

[Jim Banner]

... can not put it on here because i have to print it out, scan it, and save it as a picture, upload it to photobucket ...

I suspect both Guilford Guy and I were led to believe the drawing was in trainsrock's computer, not sketched on paper, when we read the highlighted part of the above quote.  Depending on what program he uses to draw things on his computer, he may well be able to do as Guilford guy suggests.

Another suggestion, if trainsrock has a digital camera available, is to photograph a printout or even even photograph his computer screen (with the camera flash turned off.)  Assuming trainsrock is using Windows on his computer, he could use the Print Scr  (print screen) button on his keyboard to grab a screen shot, then paste it into Windows Paint as an image.  He can then crop and size the image (if needed) and save it as a .jpg for uploading.

Jim

p.s. to illustrate what you can do with a screen shot, the image below took about 2 minutes to grab, process and upload to a website.

[ABC]

... can not put it on here because i have to print it out, scan it, and save it as a picture, upload it to photobucket ...

Thanks Jim, for pointing that out, I missed the print it out part, I went from "...cannot put it on here because" directly to "scan it, and save it...".
So now, he's in business if he has a digital camera or if the program he used supports the image type or if he is using a windows computer. So, he actually has a nice selection if he should want to show his track plan.

[Cody J]

I am using Atlas Right Track software, my digital camera is not with me, and I tried saving it as a .bmp and when I went to upload it to Photobucket I couldn't find it. So sorry guys but I can't put it on here today. Tomorrow after school I'll have my digital camera so I'll do that then.

cody

[ABC]

I am using Atlas Right Track software, my digital camera is not with me, and I tried saving it as a .bmp and when I went to upload it to Photobucket I couldn't find it. So sorry guys but I can't put it on here today. Tomorrow after school I'll have my digital camera so I'll do that then.

Did you try taking a screen shot, then pasting it into a program where you can save it as a compatible document? 

[Cody J]

No.

[ABC]

No.

Well, I'll look forward to seeing it tomorrow!

[Cody J]

As promised, here is the 4x8 track plan.



I know the yard is incredibly weird shaped but I don't know of any other way to design the yard.

[Joe Satnik]

Dear TR,

Are you using HO Atlas track or Bachmann HO EZ-Track?

Would you like board cuts/splices to change a solid sheet 4'x8' into a 5' x 9' (or so) doughnut? 

(Hole material used to expand outside ring.)

You can use the divergent route of the turnouts as the main on a curve and use the straight route as the siding. 

Detail: The curved portion of the turnout is actually up the straight by 1-1/2".  You must compensate for that additional 1-1/2" on the opposite side of the oval, or put a turnout there, too.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Edit:  Added "(Hole material....)"

[James Thomas]

Hi,
Why not make the oval as big as possible and put the yard inside so the tracks can be straight.  You will have lots of trouble coupling and uncoupling on curves.  Also, you would be able to use 22" radius in the oval.  Bigger is better when it comes to curves.

Good luck,
JRT

[Cody J]

Thanks James. I guess I never really thought of that.

Joe: I am using Bachmann Nickel Silver EZ-Track.
I am also not understanding what you mean by hole material?