# Advice/Critique



## C&O Fan (Apr 7, 2018)

I've been doing some playing around with Anyrail and drew up a VERY preliminary sketch for an O Gauge track plan for the 19'X10' space I have. Everything is 031. Appreciate anyone who wants to look it over and give advice or criticism. I welcome any input whether positive or negative. Thanks.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Needs crossings.


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## C&O Fan (Apr 7, 2018)

Thanks for the reply Nikola. Where do you think crossings should be placed?

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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

One top center to make another 'X' and another top towards right to extend down and to the right down to the right siding.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

My immediate concern would be accessibility. You may have trouble reaching all the parts of this arrangement. Can you add walls and benchwork to give us an idea where you will stand, etc?


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## C&O Fan (Apr 7, 2018)

Made some changes today. The outline represents benchwork. Any input appreciated.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Nice! i Might relocate the passing siding on the lower section to the very bottom, and make it longer.


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## C&O Fan (Apr 7, 2018)

I had that siding on the other side, but moved it because of reach

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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

So, you didn't include the grid, but it looks like roughly a 2 foot aisle. That's tight but manageable for a lone operator, but forget having two or more (don't know whether that matters or not).

Do you have access to the left and right sides (IOW, the only wall would be along the top edge)? If not, your corners are going to be a nightmare. The most any of us can comfortably reach is about 30". Something to keep in mind.

For the trackwork itself, i will say that I have a bias against just laying tracks down in an interesting pattern, and right now, your layout lacks any consideration for what structures would go where and what kind of operations and scenery options you would have. I really dislike articial things like the large X you created. If it were me, I would revert to the first design, but leave the lower passing siding where it is in the second design. I much prefer the Y's leading in to the loop on the right than the X.

Now look at the 4 yard tracks in the upper left. For this part, keep the second arrangement. First of all, with the lower-most, don't send it out straight or give it a full 90 degree turn to parallel the main, but send it on an angle into the center of the return loop. This opens up many more possibilities for an interesting rail-served industry to be there, or something big like an engine house. The top 3 tracks are dead ends, with no convenient way for a loco to pull a train in (and they're too short to hold anything more than a loco and 3-4 cars. If the loco pulls in, it's buried and all you can do is park it. You haven't left yourself any good way for a loco to PUSH cars in , drop them and go do something else.

Just some admittedly biased ideas to think about. None of that may matter to you (and that's OK), but it may give you some food for thought. Design a LAYOUT, not a track plan.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

One thing that I'm doing for mine is having more than one loop for running. I'd like to have at least three trains in action and switching to allow them access to the whole layout.

Next, I STRONGLY suggest you consider larger curves. You are greatly limiting the universe of things you can run with O31 curves. If you join the tables at the broken part with a lift bridge or a drop-down, you can have at least one loop of O72 that will allow you to run larger equipment.


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## C&O Fan (Apr 7, 2018)

Thanks for the replies and advice. I truly appreciate all of it. Perhaps it would help if I told the story behind this upcoming layout.

First off, I am a complete amateur who is trying to learn. I had a 6'X9' HO layout at my old house; it was far from fancy. My wife and I moved to a much larger house and I finally had a room in my basement for a "real" layout. I continued to acquire HO stuff but never got around to starting a layout. 

Recently, my grandfather dismantled his O gauge layout which I now have. His layout was not prototypical or set in any era. He just bought stuff he liked as he found it. I have everything from 1920's steam engines to modern diesel engines and everything in between, including rolling stock, structures, etc... He had a lot of stuff packed onto his semi-small layout so I also have quite a bit of track and probably 15-20 remote switches. It was all O31. Thus, I have been trying to design based on what I have, rather than spend a bunch of money. I would love to go to O72 but I have all of the stuff to build in O31.

Honestly, as some have noted and others have probably noticed, I don't have a pinpointed vision. The only thing I really want is to be able to put the layout back together. 1) So my grandfather can use his knowledge to help me with it and 2) so he can enjoy it some more while he still can.

Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn't. Like I said, I truly appreciate all the feedback. I thought maybe explaining my logic would help you help me. Please keep the ideas coming. I need all the help I can get... Thanks again.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

C&O Fan said:


> Thanks for the replies and advice. I truly appreciate all of it. Perhaps it would help if I told the story behind this upcoming layout.
> 
> First off, I am a complete amateur who is trying to learn. I had a 6'X9' HO layout at my old house; it was far from fancy. My wife and I moved to a much larger house and I finally had a room in my basement for a "real" layout. I continued to acquire HO stuff but never got around to starting a layout.
> 
> ...


I would be doing exactly the same thing. I do agree that with that much space you should be able to have several trains running at the same time.


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