# First 4x8 Layout Design



## HOMODELTRAINZ2009 (Jan 20, 2011)

Hey guys,

I'm trying to come up with my first layout I don't have much space so I decided to go with a 4x8. I have a lot of Bachmann ez track so that's what I will be using I would really like to use atlas 100 but I can’t afford to buy different track right now with my wedding coming up in June the fiancé would have a fit that's women for you lol. Anyways what do you guys think about it? Any suggestions or comments would be much appreciated. Hopefully I can save up enough money and go DCC soon I will probably go with the new digitrax zephyr xtra as it has a lot of new functions and room to expand and I will definitely get digitrax's PR3.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Looks like a fun layout! A nice little town / valley. I like the diagonal orientation of the roadway / town ... visually invitiing.

Couple of quick comments ...

Is 19.5" radius a standard offering with Bachmann?

Do think about the topography requirements of the mountain / tunnel on the right. My guess is that in order to actually adequately bury your two curved track section, you'll have to use hillside contours that are much steeper / vertical than the gradual grade implied by the color contours on your hill. Either that, or you'll have to expand the footprint perimeter of the hill, with it encroaching further to the left / town. Give this some thought.

Regards,

TJ


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## HOMODELTRAINZ2009 (Jan 20, 2011)

Thanks tjcruiser for the comments.



> Is 19.5" radius a standard offering with Bachmann


Not sure on that I'm a newbie at this stuff. lol



> Do think about the topography requirements of the mountain / tunnel on the right. My guess is that in order to actually adequately bury your two curved track section, you'll have to use hillside contours that are much steeper / vertical than the gradual grade implied by the color contours on your hill. Either that, or you'll have to expand the footprint perimeter of the hill, with it encroaching further to the left / town. Give this some thought.


Yeah I'm looking forward to working on my tunnel it looks like its going to be alot of work. And hopefully I have enough room to run 2 parallel tracks through it. Also do you know where I might be able to find a bridge for ez track I need one for the small section goes over the river. Thanks again for the help and suggestions.

Josh


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

this seems like a nice layout. seen it somewhere it seems. will check back at home, i think i can suggest a better one to look at. namely i don't think you need a double track all the way. and i would ditch EZ track ( ebay ) thats for playing on carpet mostly. just get normal flex track on cork roadbed. probably will be even cheaper.

as far as DCC i would not hurry with it.


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

Yeah I think EZ track isnt going to work well with this layout. Just too many od angles and curves. The five radii for NS EZ track are 18", 22", 24", 28" and 33.5" with 18" and 22" being the common ones.

If you are hellbent on using this layout (which looks nice BTW), take Tankist's suggestion of selling the EZ track and buying regular flex and switches. Atlas track is cheap and easy to find and roadbed is even cheaper.


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## HOMODELTRAINZ2009 (Jan 20, 2011)

> this seems like a nice layout. seen it somewhere it seems. will check back at home


Yeah I got the pic from a layout site. And the more I think about it I will probably put the ez track up on ebay hopefully I can make back enough to buy some different track.

Tankist


> i think i can suggest a better one to look at


If you have any ideas on a different layout design I would be happy to see it!


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