Help! Anyone sale their talents?

Help! I was looking for someone to help design my track plan for my new layout and thought i would check here. TrainClown was kind enough to actually design my last track plan, but i never got a chance to build it before i had to move. Now i have a big double car garage and all of my bench work complete, but not a clue as how to design a operational layout. I am willing to pay someone for their time and efforts, and i will help all i can, but im really lost here. In the past i have purchased many of the top selling track planning books from Armstrong and coster. Anyone intrested, please let me know. I have 3rd Planit and also RTS version 7, but i cant get the hang of useing either of them. I dont want something that will take years to design or build, just a good starting point. Thanks in advance for any and all help!
steve:cry:
 

Nazgul

Active Member
From one Steve to another......Post a drawing of your completed bench work with measurements and any obstructions. Any info would be helpful.There are plenty of people here to help....For FREE!
 

tverskaya

Member
Maybe you've also said it somewhere but which gauge, era and theme are you planning for? The one thing we'd appreciate in return are pictures of the layout as it's built :)
 
Thanks Steve, here is a rough drawing of my benchwork and its shape. I didnt have time to do a really good drawing, but maybe this will help. Is there any way to do a good drawing besides useing MS Paint? Thanks!

Era- 1950 - 1970
Scale-HO
Theme - Midwestern / Western (Maybe Desert or something Flat.)
 

tverskaya

Member
The drawing seems not to have come through. MSPaint should be sufficient if you mention the dimensions. Make sure the attachment isn't too big...a small jpeg should work best.
 

tverskaya

Member
It might be useful to have the length of the upper peninsula and the angle at which the lower peninsula connects to the rest. Also the size of the small triangles at the inner corners of the 2' wide tables would be useful. On which sides of the layout will access be blocked by walls (no big problem as it isn't very deep, but it does play a role for deciding where to put yards) Finally: as it's a new layout - are you going to use any existing track you already have or do we have a free hand designing it?
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Trainsteve,

You might also check the "givens & druthers" form for what kind of information to include about how you will use this layout... Is it a showcase for models, or is it for operations? What sort of industries do you want, and what are their track requirements? etc, etc...

Andrew
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
Other things to consider is what sort of equipment are you going to run. With 5 foot wide ballons at each end, you can run broad radius ballon tracks to turn the trains around and run just about anything, but the bigger equipment you run, the longer your passing sidings must be. Smaller equipment will allow more railroad in the same amount of space. I've seen some pretty awesome track plans posted here on the gauge from one member to another, just the more information that is posted going in the better the track plan will be.
 
Hello everyone, and thanks for the responses. Sorry it took me so long to respond, but i have been working a lot of O.T at work. Im gonna try to awnser all the suggestions here the best that i can, so here it goes.......

The length of the upper peninsula is 5' 5" from where it starts into the baloon. The triangles in the corners of the 2 (2' wide tables) are 36" each side giveing me a total of 4' 3" from the back of each corner to the front of each triangle. the angle of the lower peninsula is 7.5% in the bend. I am planning on masonite back drops on the rear side of the tables, but im gonna make them around 12" - 16" tall only. There is no track laid as of yet, so the table is all open.(Design away!:thumb: ) I read through the givens / druthers form and this is waht i came up with...

(Railroad Name) -Open for suggestions.
Scale: HO


Prototype: AT&SF-UP-BN-DRG&W etc. ( I really like Pelle Sobergs, Big disels in the desert) MR March 2005.
Era:1965- 1980
Region:West/Mid west
Railroad:?
Governing Rolling Stock: tankers, open/closed hoppers/wood chip/53' maxxi/ 4-6 axle locos.

Relative Emphasis:

|_________x_____________V_______________________|
Track/Operation

Scenic realism
|__________x
_______________V____________________|

Mainline Running

  1. Passenger Train Switching -6
  2. Helper District Operations -4
  3. Main-Line Passenger Train Operation -2
  4. Long Freight Train Operations -3
  5. Engine Terminal Movements -5
  6. Local Freight Operations -1
Typical operating Crew: __2____ Eye Level (Owner)6' 3" ___In.

Well everyone, i hope this is enough to give you some ideas as to what im looking for. Please let me know if there are any other questions, and i really appreciate all the intrest in helping me, THANKS!:wave:




 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
With the corners 4'3" deep you won't be able to reach to the back from the front, but since you have said that the benchwork will be set out from the wall, you should have rear access. If you build the layout at shoulder height, you will need a small step stool of somesort to get high enough to reach over the back drops if you need to access the back of one of the corners. It looks like your benchwork has some great potential for a nice layout. How long do you plan to have your longest train? The length of the trains determines the length needed for passing sidings for good operation. I remember years ago in one of Tony Koester's first "Trains of Thought" columns in MR that he mentioned that he designed the old Allegheny Midland with passing sidings for 15 car trains, then after he had it built, he found that 20 car trains looked much better, so he had to rip out all of the too short passing sidings and make them longer to operate the railroad.
 
Hey Russ, thanks for the reply. I have already built my benchwork, and it is 53" from the floor to the top of the table. As fae as the length of my trains i plan to run, i would say probanly 15 - 20 cars, but my rolling stock will be no longer than 50 - 60 ft cars. Thanks for your help!:wave:
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
I forgot to ask, are you interrested in a single track main with passing sidings where you would run loop to loop with two reverse loops, or do you want a double track mainline that is basically a folded dog bone?
 
Hey Russ, well, i guess i really never thought about it. I think i would like a double main around it, what do you recomend? thanks!:wave:
 

tverskaya

Member
The folded dogbone as the basic shape as Russ suggests would probably be a sensible option. One idea I came up with, which is more or less a variation on this one, is a primarily single track running all the way around the layout, with some type of scenic divider (just height difference or so) on the two foot wide sections. The road could run as double track on the central 2' wide section, (the main line) with a station and/or yard more or less in the far corners, and the top and bottom 2' sections could be the two single tracks, which would meet each other at the balloon tracks. These parts could also include some industries or a secondary passenger station.

I understand that your priorities go from 1 to 6, where 1 is the most important and 6 the least? With the plan I have in mind you'll have the long road running all around the layout with some wide turns where long trains can look awesome. There is also room for quite a number of industries, big and small. Maybe a farm or a mine sending it's goods to a factory in one of the towns near the two larger station/yard areas.

Something else which might just look cool are some hills or a canyon near one of the balloon tracks with a big bridge. Don't know if you want one but it might be an idea - at least it looks great on the trackplan I have in mind for you :)

I'll draw up something one of these days.
 

tverskaya

Member
Proposed trackplan

Allright, after a few hours playing with WinTrack, I came up with the following. The resolution of this image is abysmally low, but I can email a higher resolution version or upload a new version. I have used Fleischmann Profi track as a guide for track, but I guess the general shape can be realized with any major manufacturer's tracksystem and some flextrack.

Features:
-two stations with enough track to operate and store a fair lot of train.
-a double track mainline between the stations which connects to the reverse loops at the ends.
-use of large radius curves to accomodate easy and aesthetically pleasing running of long trains, also some long turnouts, especially on the mainlines (except on a few sidetracks in top right and bottom right corners.)
-4 or 5 spurs along which industries could be located
-a secondary, single track line to have an alternative route for trains to follow. It connects to the mainline at a few places, which ensures 'endless' variations on routes to follow. Also a train should be able to run independently while leaving sections of track free for other operations.
-avoided long, straight sections parallel to the table edge, as they make suck the life out of a layout (IMHO)
-two places with a bridge (tunnel could be an option, if preferred) to cross the track.
-some free space for landscaping!

I hope this will be a start. Let me know of any modifications you may have in mind and I'll incorporate them into the trackplan. Send me a PM if you want the more detailed picture.
 

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Triplex

Active Member
I have used Fleischmann Profi track as a guide for track, but I guess the general shape can be realized with any major manufacturer's tracksystem and some flextrack.
If I recall, Fleischmann Profi turnouts have a continuous radius on the diverging leg. Peco turnouts are like this, but US brands such as Atlas have straight-frog turnouts. Continuous-radius turnouts save space except in crossovers, because there you need a larger turnout to avoid S-curve problems, which straight-frog turnouts automatically reduce.
 
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