Planning stages

[flagman64]

Having just retired and moved into my new home with plenty of room, i am planning yo build my first model RR layout in 50 years.  I would appreciate any suggestions anyone has for me as I plan. (
what to do first?)   Thank you in advance for your response...Flagman64

[rogertra]

Having just retired and moved into my new home with plenty of room, i am planning yo build my first model RR layout in 50 years.  I would appreciate any suggestions anyone has for me as I plan. (
what to do first?)   Thank you in advance for your response...Flagman64

That's an impossible question to answer as we have no idea what your interests are.

However: -

1)  Read up on your favourite railroad(s).

2)  Subscribe or purchase monthly at least one model railroad magazine and read it.

3)  Purchase books on model railroad design from track planning to benchwork contruction.

4)  Purchase books on model railroad operation.

5)  Decide if you are going to be a model railroader or do you just want to play trains.

6)  Chose between DC or DCC and sound or no sound.

7)  Chose a scale that suits your needs.

  Chose whether to freelance or prototype.

9)  Chose an era and stick with it.

10)  Do what you think is best and have fun regardless of what the rest of us think. 

[WoundedBear]

I haven't updated anything in this thread for a while, but work does continue on. I have managed to get quite a few more structures built and I will add photos soon.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,8740.0.html

Have a look through the thread and you can get a feel for how I planned  mine out. So far things are working out ok....not perfectly, but acceptable. One thing Ive learned, is that no matter how well you think you've covered your bases, you will always find a tripping point somewhere.

Sid

[jonathan]

Flagman,

Welcome!  I started my layout 5 years ago and found this forum to be most helpful with many areas of planning and building my layout.

Along with the other bits of advice you have, and will, recieve, I started with defining my space.  Exactly how much square footage do you have to build a layout.  Keep in mind that you need a decent size space to turn your trains around, if you are planning for continuous running.

Most HO Scale equipment will negotiate 24" radius curves.  You can get away with smaller radii if you plan to only run smaller equipment.  If I had the space, I would have gone with larger radius curves, but the space just wasn't there.  If you plan to run larger bra$$ locomotives someday, you will need 30"-33" radius curves.

Space always seems to be one of the biggest issues when defining your railroad and the type of equipment you will run.

Regards,

Jonathan

[jward]

kayout planning is always a compromise. it is a trade off between the space you have and the layout you want. sacrifices will have to be made. the trade off is that larger locomotives and cars require larger curves which drastically reduce what you can do in a given space.

personally, i choose to use smaller radii, model a mountainous region, and limit the size of my tolling stock. the following are my thoughts on this method....

overall, we are trying to make the layout look like it is larger than it actually is. nothing kills the illusion more than large amounts of straight track. to this end, if i have room i design some extra curves  into what would normally be long straightaways. view blocks such as tunnels and overpasses also serve to increase the illusion of distance.

to gain as long a mainline as possible, i add grades to my layouts. the track runs through the space twice on different levels. done right, it looks like two seperate railroads running through the mountains. that was a common situation in the east where i live. the grades also serve to limit train lengths as they reduce the pulling power of the locomotives. this is not necessarily a bad thing as it opens up the possibilities of using helper locomotives to assist trains climbing a grade.

i don't use helixes. i am modelling a mountain railroad, where the main operational point is the climb to the top. if you are going to have a second deck (which i am not against) why bury the climb where it can't be seen?

yard tracks do not have to be straight, in fact they lok better with a gentle curve to them.

for a good example of the philosophies i describes, look at john allen's gorre & daphetid layout:

http://www.gdlines.com