# First N-scale layout (in over 20 years)



## nygooch (12 mo ago)

Moved into a new house due to job relocation...Virginia to Milwaukee. The new house came with an old pool table in the basement with an old ping pong table on it. Since it is cold as crap up here I decided to get back into trains and the ping pong table made a great base.

Started with 2" foam. Bought two 4' x 8' sheets thinking that one would be the base and the other would be used to build elevation.

Issue #1 - can't fit 8' x 4' in my car. had to cut down to 2' x 4'
Issue #2 - Ping pong tables are 5' x 10' - so layout will be bigger and pieces of 2' 4' used to add onto the reassembled 4' x 8'

So then I modeled a layout in scarm....









Then printed out the entire thing on 8.5" x 11" paper, taped them together and laid them on the foam.


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

Next I would cut away the paper and and glue the cork down (I had a bunch of track already that was old school)


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

More track laid....


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

close up of the mountain so far. I'm going to make so the entire top can lift off in one piece just in case.


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

So the DCC arrived (along with a DCC loco) and it's converted over. Engine stutters in a couple places (prob need to clean the track) and "picks the points" at some switches. Trouble shooting that and then going to figure out couplers. In the mean time, I am 3D printing some coal cars to paint and add trucks to.


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Nice work!

Looks like you have a fun project going there! 👍


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Looking good and you're moving right along.  
Interesting track plan.

Magic


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

It's shaping up nicely, welcome to the forum.


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## CHRlSTIAN (12 mo ago)

Wonderful layout in sight ! Nice hat by the way.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

Very interesting layout and approach to building. I like it.


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## Mark C (Jul 11, 2020)

Looks like you can run 3 trains at once if you just want to see them go round. 

Is all of the track on a single level? Doesn't seem to have enough run length in the current design to change levels, but you might want to consider that to add interest


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

There is one incline to the back left corner, where the mountain/hill is going to go. Other than that I stayed level.

I've been running the trains lately and having some fun so not much progress. Going to put them up this weekend and start laying plaster. Also need to start printing some buildings to paint. I printed the Theresa Mine, which is going to straddle one of the spurs but it is going to take me a while to cut away all of the printed supports.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Ngooch

I do agree, you have an interesting layout from the standpoint of running trains 
through multiple paths.

You say you have been running trains...but
have you laid all of your track according to the plan you have posted
and test run it? If you haven't, do pause a moment.
I see electrical problems. After drawing the layout using Red for
'outside rail' and Black for 'inside rail' I find three phase (polarity) conflicts
(short circuits) at turnouts.
.
Although I haven't found a 'reverse loop' that lets you turn a
train around to go the opposite direction on the same track...you do
seem to have a 'short circuit' problem when connecting the 'upper inside
oval' to the 'lower inside oval' and where you connect the lower
inside oval to the outside oval at the top left turnout.

There us a conflict where you have a double crossover connecting
the lower inside oval to the upper inside oval. There is another
conflict where you have a track from the left of the lower inside oval to
the left of the outside oval at the top.

The resolutions for these conflicts are likely to result in 
two and possibly three isolated track sections that would each require a reverse
loop controller. If you want to continue with this track plan I'll
be glad to work out where you will need to place insulated joiners
or gaps to prevent the short circuits. 

Don


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

All the track is laid and I've been running the trains all around the layout. The only issue I've had with shorts is when the train rides the transfer and ends up picking the points, causing a short.

I am running DCC and have not had any issues with shorts. I traced the outside rail through and can't see where you are talking about. The outside overall rail continues to be the outside rail in the upper loop and then becomes the inside rail on the lower loop

Unless I'm missing something and got luck where my track connections were gapped.....


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

Update on progress.... All the track is taped over and started laying some WS plaster cloth I had. I'm going to go back of this with papertowels soaked in Hydrocal and use that for the rest


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Yes, I see. You have reversed the Red/Black rails in the lower inside oval.
That does eliminate, in all instances, the shorting that I had found. I had assumed
(and you know what they say about those who do) that all three ovals had designated the outside
rail to be Red. As red outside rail in the lower oval you had conflicts
in the middle double crossover and also the connector from the lower
inside oval to the outside oval at the top left. But that's all Zilch now.

You'll certainly have a lot of different routes for your trains...and you
can run several at the same time...it'll be fun keeping them apart.

Don


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## GTW son (12 mo ago)

Wow, that's certainly some layout.
Keep us posted.


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Hopefully, you are elbow deep in plaster right now, LOL!

I know I'm at least elbow deep.. probably more like knee deep. I just bought a 4th rock mold so I can get even more variation in rock formations on my layout!! I needed some flat rock faces so I can get rock texture on some cliffs without adding too much bulk. It seems if I try to carve it into the plaster as it dries, I really don't end up with anything that resembles a rock face... So I've been casting rock faces in plaster, then cementing those to the sides of my cliffs.









I need to stop into Lowes either today or tomorrow to get more plaster of paris, so when the coming snowpocolypse shuts things down, I can retreat to my basement and make rocks!


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

I noticed at Home Depot that the drywall plaster is much cheaper than Plaster of Paris and you can buy it in different set times. I got some 20 minute and it worked great.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

nygooch said:


> I noticed at Home Depot that the drywall plaster is much cheaper than Plaster of Paris and you can buy it in different set times. I got some 20 minute and it worked great.


That is what I use, but I use plaster cloth along with it.


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## nygooch (12 mo ago)

here is the latest. With kids hockey in full swing and some home projects I have not been able to do as much. Going to do a darker wash and then light dry brush over the whole thing before I put any grass down. We decided to go with 1970's Colorado/Cripple Creek region since I printed a model of the Theresa Mine. Going to be a lot of plain landscape. Have not decided if the farm is going to be a horse or cattle farm.


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## scenicsRme (Aug 19, 2020)

AFAS picking points and shorts at turnouts, those are major problems with the Atlas snap switches it looks like you are using. They can be "helped" with some bandaids, Check out Tractionfan's excellent write up on them in the HO version. I wish I had seen this sooner, I would have highly encouraged you to toss the Atlas junk turnouts and use the highly dependable and long lived Peco turnouts. Unfortunately they are not quite a drop in replacement for the Atlas, as the Snap switches were designed with a curved diverging leg so they would exactly replace a section of Atlas curved track without altering the curve. Whereas prototypical turnouts and Peco turnouts (except the double curved ones) have a straight diverging leg, so the geometry is different which is why the Peco turnouts work so much better, especially in the crossovers, you would have far, far less derailments with them.


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