4x8 track plans

[rookie123]

I posted the layout I'm thinking about here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sue_rookie/11817723794/

The basement room is huge 25 x 20 so not a problem. Will use 1" foam on plywood or 4" foam as base with proper support structure.

The inner track would be a ground zero all the way around. The middle track would be at elevation 1" and the outer loop at 2". The middle and outer loops would rise 1" to 2" and 3" respectively on the far side of the town with all the landscaping needed to have a tunnel and bridge system. The open space would only be for setup, landscaping, derailment, etc as the controls would be on the outside of the 8' x 8' layout. I'm considering how to connect the two outside loops with cross overs.

Does 22" radius for the two outer loops and 18" for the inner loop seem OK? Does it take 4 sections of 22" radius to make a 90 degree turn? I would plan to install the tracks at ground level zero for testing before installing the different elevations and risers.

I would appreciate any suggestions you might have. Thanks very much.
Rookie

[Joe Satnik]

Rook,

For Bachmann HO Nickel-Silver E-Z Track:

15"R - 30 degrees

18"R - 30, 15 and 10 degrees

22"R - 22.5 and 11.25 degrees (22.5 x 4 = 90 degrees)

26"R- 18 degrees

28"R - 18 degrees

33.25"R - 6, 12 and 18 degrees

33.5"R - 18 degrees.

98 percent of all your questions (including the chart above) can be answered by downloading and using AnyRail.com track CAD program. 

It's free (for the first 50 track pieces) and fun to learn.  You can solve most track connection (geometry) problems with less than 50 pieces. 

When you get good at it, you can export your design to your photo hosting website and put a link to it here.

Your design begs for larger radius (26"R or 28"R?) curves on the outside loop.  Do you understand how to lay out "concentric" curves?

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[rookie123]

Wow Joe. Some excellent information and I will run with your suggestions - I'll download the app and see what happens. I love doing that kind of thing.

Again thanks for the enlightenment,
Rookie

[rookie123]

Joe it seems the software will only run on Windows and I'm 100% Apple. If I can get a cheap copy of Windows I'll install it on my Mac and see if that works. Poop.....

Thanks again,
Rookie

[Morgun 30]

Rookie, I drew up a plan I could send you. It's 14x7, but I could make it larger.

[Joe Satnik]

Rook,

People are throwing away or paying recyclers to take old XP (perhaps even Vista) desktop machines off their hands...

Someone you know has one gathering dust in their basement and would gladly give it to you. 

Joe 

[rookie123]

morgue, I like that. just email it to [email protected].

Thanks

[Morgun 30]

Rookie, 3 emails sent

[Doneldon]

rook-

That's an awful lot of work and expense for a railroad which just runs laps over and over. I'm not sure how long it will remain interesting and engaging. Also, watching your layout will be like looking down into an open pit mine since the edges will be higher than the middle. Layouts which can be viewed at or near eye level are much more immersive and realistic than the ones we must look down on.
                                                                                                                                                                                      -- D

[rookie123]

Donelson, thanks for the tips. Had not thought about it from that perspective. Will do some more thinking about complexity and elevation differences. I've got to keep 3.5 and 4.5 year old interested for a few years before they get to the age that want to make it something else. I don't think I want to start at a complex endpoint with them.

I love people that help me think about things.
Rookie

[rookie123]

Joe, could not Winebottle to work but I've found a Windows 7 program that I can install on my Mac later today and then run any rail software.

Appreciate your help,
Rookie

[Joe Satnik]

Yeah, but, with 2 computers and a chair on rollers you would have a command station. 

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

So there are two plans from the 1950s that originally used 15-inch-radius curves. Were 15-R curves more commonly used "back then"?  

Yes, and sometimes as small as 13"R.  Most modelers didn't have the extra room for large train layouts back then so most layout designs were small (the 4x8 being very common).  In fact, Atlas's 22"R was considered a luxury back then.  Of course, we didn't run (nor were they commonly available back then anyway) UP Big Boys or Challengers on 4x8 layouts but the popular little 0-4-0 "Docksides", "Little Hustler" diesels, and 40ft freight cars operated just fine on the tighter curves.

Harvey

Thanks! That's interesting to know. (Some of us don't have room for large layouts today, either.  ) That probably explains a couple of things: I'm sure I read somewhere that the minimum radius for Mantua's "General" is 12 inches, and also why the instruction sheet that came with my old Atlas pier set mentioned how to use the piers if you were using 15-inch-radius curves (would have made an awfully steep grade, I would think).

JBJ

Last night I was browsing through my collection of old Mantua/Tyco catalogs, and I actually took time to read the catalog from 1957, the oldest catalog in my collection. I was surprised to notice that in that catalog Tyco was pushing its new 12"-radius sectional track. That's right: 12-inch radius. The 12-inch curves were touted as advantageous for people with very little space but who still wanted a layout.

Tyco claimed that all the engines in the catalog, except the 4-6-2 and the 2-8-2, would actually run on the 12-inch curves. (I have to imagine that even a 41-foot car would not have looked too good going around a 12-inch curve.)

Three other things interested me in that catalog. One, some of the train sets actually came packaged with 15"-radius curve track sections. Two, this was apparently the time that Mantua/Tyco was transitioning from its own, older-style hook-and-loop couplers to the then-new horn-hook couplers. Three, apparently the "General," in a ready-to-run train set with a combine and a coach, was new that year.

[Len]

I believe Tyco also had 9" radius curves embedded in street sections for use with trolleys.

If really pressed for space, Peco makes a line of sectional track called "Set-track", for obvious reasons, that has pretty tight curves using code 100 rail that can be connected to EZ-Track.

Appoximate sizes are:
R1 - 14.6" radius
Double curve 14.6/17.2 easement
R2 - 17.2" radius
Double curve 17.2/19.9 easement
R3 - 19.9" radius
R4 - 22.5" radius
There are also turnouts with equivelent radius diverging tracks.

Item numbers start with "ST' vs the "SL" of their "Stream-line" track system.

Len

[show33]

Guys:
Just following up on this thread. After some experimenting I settled on the following layout. Idea was to get a good amount of track in a 4 x 8 set up with some good switching and siding operations...using just standard turnouts and 18 degree curves.

Idea was to see if the kids and I took a liking to the hobby and will expand/replace as needed. Well, happy to say everyone is enjoying the hobby and we will be expanding as finances allow.

Have to say I am totally impressed with the Bachmann products out of the box. We have the two locos from the Digital Commander set and just added some silver series rolling stock. Everything is so much better quality that what I remember as a kid 30 years ago.

I really like the EZ command...simply to use and durable. I can use it and enjoy it, but the best part is I have no problems handing it to my three year old son - he is able to operate the trains, switch between the two locos, and (with a little help!) turn the lights on and I don't worry about him breaking it

Good stuff so far...looking forward to claiming more room in the basement to expand

Would be interested to hear thoughts on my initial layout...I think it's a pretty good "starter" layout that was built on a fairly tight budget