# lookin for ideas for track plans



## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

hey guys any good dieas for a 6 ft x 10 ft ho layout thanks.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

LFB

That all depends on what scale...you can make a very nice complex layout
with N, a very serviceable layout in HO and put down a good oval with
a few turnouts in 0.

Give us something to start with and also say what kind of operation you like,
continuous running, switching or a combination? DC or DCC?

Don


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

HO scale more operations based but with a loop for continus running. sort of industrial type of landscape what all do i need to list id draw my own but i tried by hand didn't work out and tried 3 different pc software programs didn't work. rr will be csx and norfolk southern. hope this is a good enough start to go off of thanks.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

6 ft by 10 ft creates access problems. I am 6 ft tall with long arms. I can comfortably reach 2 1/2 ft into my layout, but at 3 ft in it would be difficult for me to do any delicate work (like laying track or soldering wires to track), and I would lean on the structures at the edge of the layout.

And your username implies that you might have more of a reach problem than me.

You could put a hole in the center, but that means crawling under the table to get access or building a lift-up section for entry. Or you could put an indented area along the long sides, squeezing the width down to 4 or 5 feet in the center. The ends could stay at 6 ft wide, and you could then reach everything.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Yes, as Mtrr says, access can be a problem with a 6 ft width. One way to take
advantage of that is to use it as a sight barrier...build a mountain in that
center space...you might have a tunnel going through it. 

If you have DCC I'd recommend a single track main line basically following
the perimeter of the table with passing sidings. That way you can have 
nice wide radius curves that will let you run the big steamers and 6 axle diesels.
Add a yard and some spur tracks for industries so you can do switching
operations.

Don


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*printed up periodicals have ideas for specific sized areas.*



little fat buddy said:


> hey guys any good dieas for a 6 ft x 10 ft ho layout thanks.


Atlas model railroading company, in the past provided printed up copy's of track plans that 
were designed for specific sized areas such as you described. I think your local hobby shop
carries these periodicals. And track planning idea booklets. I would try to avoid sectional track though.And go with nickle silver. I f you want to save a little money? Of course your choices are somewhat more limited. Good luck!


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

well 6x10 is what i have and alreayd have the benchwork built on caster wheels so i can get to every part of the layout i was thinking a mountain in the middle and do that part first just need to find a plan that i am happy with. and most of the ones ive found look like there just toyish the only one i like i found is the virginian but id want to add more operations to it just don't know how too thanks.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Add sidings and passing tracks to any existing layout plan simply by installing extra turnouts and the corresponding trackage.

And casters or not, the issue is the length of the average human arm. A 6' wide layout will generally leave you with an area 1-2 feet wide in the center that you cannot easily reach, assuming you have access from both sides. If only one side, 3' or more of that layout would be inaccessible.

FWIW, it probably wasn't a great idea to build benchwork when you don't have a track plan, but that's water over the dam now.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

thanks for the idea and meh im pretty tall and worse case since its gonna have maontianus devider ill build that first and if have to use a step stool if needed i think ill use the virginian plan as a base and modify it to my liking thanks guys. and oh well i built benchwork withotu a plan big deal it ins't to me sorry if thsi offends anyone.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

You might consider a 'lift out' panel in that center of your layout that
is hard to reach. You could pop up there and do whatever needs
done. My brother has a similar situation on his layout and left
one section temporarily unfinished to permit access to the center
of one part of his layout. He can landscape that section and place it
in the now open space.

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

little fat buddy said:


> ...and oh well, I built benchwork without a plan. Big deal. It isn't to me. Sorry if this offends anyone.


I edited your post to translate to English. 

Offended? Of course not. Why would anyone take offense? There are no rules for how to build a layout.

I was concerned, however, that by building the benchwork first, you have greatly limited the options available to you, because now you have to fit track to the benchwork, rather than just building benchwork to support your layout.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

sorry for the bad spelling and well i built benchwork before the track because its at the moment all the space i have avilble to prmantly devote to a layout though i may build a 2 ft x 10ft addition to it later on down the road for a yard or soemthing just need some good ideas to get my brain going and donr that may work ill think about the lift out section in the middle thanks guys.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

okay ive found a plan i really like but need some help its made for a 5x9 table and i have the 6 x 10 i want to enlarge the curves any help would be appreciated 

there is the plan i really like it because it incoporates pretty much everything im after though i would want to remove the reversing loop most likly unless thats nto too hard to deal with i will be using nce dcc to run the layout i have a powercab thanks guys.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

LFB

That's a very operational layout. You have both continuous running
and switching.

I would leave the reverse loop track as it is. You can get a Digitrax AR1
Reverse loop controller for 29.99 here:

http://www.digitrax.com/products/autoreversing/ar1/

It would automatically keep the polarity of the reverse loop
matched. Your trains would not know it's there.

Don


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Reverse loops are useful to turn a train around. But if you only have one reverse loop, you can't turn the train back the other direction -- unless you back carefully through the reverse loop -- which is asking for derailments -- unless you have short trains.

If you are running diesels in the post-caboose era, you can get around this problem by you lashing two diesels tail to tail (so that one is always leading nose-first) and use a run-around track in your yard to move the diesels from one end of the train to the other. No need to reverse the cars.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

okay are they hard to wire up the auto reverse unti and will that work with my powercab dcc system and what about widining the curve radii thanks guys.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

little fat buddy said:


> okay are they hard to wire up the auto reverse unti and will that work with my powercab dcc system and what about widining the curve radii thanks guys.


What you need to do is to get one of the computer programs that helps you design a layout, set up for your larger layout size, then start adding track segments to mimic the layout that you found -- but with wider curves than the original.

I would start with mostly sectional track in the layout program -- it makes it easier to know what your radii are and what limitations you might run into. You can still use flex track in the actual layout.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

little fat buddy said:


> okay are they hard to wire up the auto reverse unti and will that work with my powercab dcc system and what about widining the curve radii thanks guys.


No. Very simple to wire a reverse loop controller. They all will work
with your Powercab DCC system. 

The Ar1, or any other reverse loop controller is fed track power directly
from your track power buss or output of your controller. The output
of the reverse loop controller goes directly to the track that you
have isolated by insulated joiners. In this case right after the turnout
in the lower left and just before the turnout in upper right that create
the 'reverse loop'.

A quick primer on the way it works. When the loco wheels span the
insulated joiners they create a short circuit. The reverse loop controller
quickly senses this and reverses the phasing (polarity). The loco doesn't
even blink but continues on. When it gets to the other end the wheels
again cause a short and the controller again matches polarity. It's all
totally automatic and after installation usually under the table, You
never have to do anything more.

The wider your radius the more likely you can run the bigger locos.

Don


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

okay thank you don r for the info on the auto reverser and i talked to the guy who drew the orginal plan and he said in my space the largest i can bump the curves up to and not be directly on the edge of the layout woudl be 22 on the inner main and 24 on the outer mainline would i be able to get away with this with ac6000s and sd70aces es44s ect ect thanks for all the help 

Zach Flowe


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

little fat buddy said:


> okay thank you don r for the info on the auto reverser and i talked to the guy who drew the orginal plan and he said in my space the largest i can bump the curves up to and not be directly on the edge of the layout woudl be 22 on the inner main and 24 on the outer mainline would i be able to get away with this with ac6000s and sd70aces es44s ect ect thanks for all the help
> 
> Zach Flowe


You are very lucky. Byron is one of the preeminent layout designers around today.

You might be able to fudge a second reversing loop in on that track that is now dedicated to the "plant arranged by builder" if you removed the industry and started your curve near the turnout. It would probably require a curved turnout at the upper end (mind you, I haven't tested it, I'm just winging it by eye). Byron might tell you -- or not, because he does run a design business and may not want to do for free work that he could charge for.

As far as the locos working... the answer, as with many other things in this industry, is "it depends". I checked on a few locos, the ones I could find specs for all claim to handle an 18" curve, but recommend 22" or greater. If you have the room, though, wider curves are always better. They probably won't look very realistic, but will probably run fine.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

yeah i probably wont hear much more out of him he though was kind enough to tell me abotu the curve radii i can go up to he said those are the largest i can go to without having track pretty much directly on the dge of the table which in my situation is not good with a concrete floor my bedroom was a 2 car garage at one point and my old sd70m-2 knows how it feels to make that death dive to the floor by accident i still need find a few more replacement parts for her to fully bring her to her former glory. thanks for all the help guys zachary flowe.


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