# Help with a little design change



## Bman (Aug 24, 2010)

Hello all, I was wondering if I could get a little feedback on a change that I was thinking about making on my HO layout. The layout is 6' x 16', I have included a pic of how it is now and another pic of a proposed layout. My issue with the way it is now is that I cannot move a train very easily out of the yard directly to the out side track. It just seem like I have good flow when I am moving cars around the yard. I am open to any suggestions, and I am willing to change anything inside of the four lines I have placed on the proposed layout. The rest of it starts to rise in elevation and I really don't want to tear into that. I am working with Atlas code 100 track because I have a ton of it. 

Designing a layout that is functional and looks good is very frustrating to me, I am definitely not the engineering type!!

Let me know if I have left anything out.
Thanks


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

BMan,

Is there a difference in those two layouts? (Goof with the image post, maybe???)

TJ


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## Bman (Aug 24, 2010)

Whoops...Yeah sorry, I straightened it out now!!


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Hit up cabledawg, he's great with these!!
I personally would extend the lower yard and ditch the upper and add in a few more spurs off the middle. I just think with that much yard your trains will get lost in the confusion.


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

I'm following but I'm away from home till Thursday so I cant help much.


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## Bman (Aug 24, 2010)

Any one else have some new ideas on this one. Maybe even some radical new ideas. I'm open to anything, I'm just trying to get more flow out of the yard. I think the biggest problem I have right now is that six axle locos cannot run the inside track, but they can run real good on the outside track. Right now with the layout the way it is it's very cumbersome to get out of the yard with my SD38's and get to the outside track pulling a train of cars. With my Geeps I can pull out of the yard in either direction make a loop around the inside track and switch to the outside track. 

I am working on getting the bigger engines to run inside track but I don't know if it's ever gonna happen without blowing it up completely. I chalked it up to inexperience with grades and curves.

Thanks


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

The solution is simple, you have to make a bigger layout already!

"Never enough room"


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

I totally forgot about this one, sorry! I'll work on it a bit tomorrow and post up some options.


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

Man that took foreeeeever to trace your layout in AnyRail. I hope I got it close enough that you can work with it.










I made a runaround for the lower yard ladder and eliminated the upper. Instead of having two yards, the inner loop now has a siding with your original (whats left anyways) spur tracks with a few added/changed. The idea is that the GP's can move cars in/out of the spur tracks onto the siding and then build the consist. The GP's will then pull the train around and stop in front of one crossover, uncouple, then contiue on out of the way. The SD's canthen hop the crossover, back into the consist, then pull forward and out the other cossover, returning back to the outer loop.

The only thing I dont like about my setup is that the GP's cant move cars directly into the lower yard. I'm working a solution, bu havent come up with much that is practical and easy.


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## Bman (Aug 24, 2010)

WOW! I like it a lot, I know that you had some constraints to work with and you still turned nothing into something really cool. I really like the way the outer loop connects to the inner loop. Great job!!


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks, Bman!

Here's another one for you, but I dont think it'll work any better.










With this one, the GP's can move all the cars to the yard to build the consist. The SD's can then move into the yard and grab thier train to pull out to the outer loop. The downside is this requires backing the train out of the ladder and pulling forward through the crossover, or pulling forward out of the ladder, then backing through the crossover. Or you can just have a GP stage a train in the siding and have the SD back into that train to hook up. Still doesnt look very pretty, and I end up using part of the ladder as the crossover, but with this one the GP's and SD's have seperate jobs on the layout.


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## Bman (Aug 24, 2010)

Ok, I changed the game a little bit because I picked up some #6 switches. I got to work a little bit and came up with something that resembles cabledawg's first design very closely. The only reason I had to change it was because the new switches are different. 

I like my new switches!


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

Looks good! Cool video too! :thumbsup:


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## Canadian Car Knocker (Feb 8, 2011)

Looking good!


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## novice (Feb 2, 2011)

Nice layout - I like the size of the lake at the end. It is a lake isn't it?


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## Canadian Car Knocker (Feb 8, 2011)

This thread is giving me some pretty good idea's for the layout i'm currently working on.


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

Looks good so far. I'll admit adding a little one with trains, makes a video top notch. Nice to see the General Contractor on site, getting the new spur ready. ​


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## Bman (Aug 24, 2010)

novice said:


> Nice layout - I like the size of the lake at the end. It is a lake isn't it?


Yes it is a lake, I just painted it that blue color for effect. I have yet to add any "realistic water" or glazing of any kind



Canadian Car Knocker said:


> This thread is giving me some pretty good idea's for the layout i'm currently working on.


Cool, that's what it's all about. My layout is kind of a "what not to do" in model railroading. build it, take some of it apart, build it, take it apart again. At least I'm not totally exploding it every time. My biggest learning curve was how to put in grades that your trains can actually run on. Oh well...Live and learn!!



Xnats said:


> Looks good so far. I'll admit adding a little one with trains, makes a video top notch. Nice to see the General Contractor on site, getting the new spur ready. ​


My right hand man, or maybe I should say I'm his right hand man. He is always a part of the model railroad. And it's because of him that I can spend so much time working on it


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