hey madhatter,go to the track planning forum and go to th sticky for xtrkcad.it tells you everything.hey guys im trying to find a new way to do my yard ill have a new layout up by the end of the day.
im stuck on my layout
- Thread starter bigsteel
- Start date
Xtrkcad is now a SourceForge project. The home page is at http://sourceforge.net/projects/xtrkcad-fork/. You can also Google xtrkcad download and get a lot of hits.MadHatter said:
bigsteel said:ok here it is.
Big Steel
Thanks for the diagram - it explains a whole lot.
I'm guessing the landing does not have standing head room under it. Is this correct? How high is the space under the landing? Is there a wall between the stairs and the layout area, or are the stairs open?
I'll be putting my thinking cap on. But at first glance a U or doughnut arrangement opening or ducking under to the window aisle looks to be the most feasible. Your thoughts?
Also, what would be your priority order for what are called "layout design elements"? My guess would be:
1) large steel mill facility and rail service
2) engine servicing terminal
3) reasonable size mine producing a fair amount of rail traffic
Last questions: Era? Locomotives you plan on using? Will you use company switchers at the steel mill with an interchange yard to the railroad? Or have the railroad do all the mill switching? Any passenger traffic or models?
I think you are on your way to a great layout for you - like Granpa Coyote and some of the other Gaugers.
yours in planning
ok first ,glad you got Xtrk its a great program,twothe landing is 7.5 in tall and the room is a standard 8ft tall,so ther is standing room.and the stairs are open,no walls.is a doughnut pretty much what i hve and yes towards the aisle is most feasable.and since i like point to point and continous running that will have to be involved like my ideas.
my layotu design elements are in priority order
1.steel mill
2.coal mine,since this was C&O's prime commoditie
3.engine servicing,dont have to have it but would like it.
my era is very broad,1960's to early 70's.ill have my C&O engines do all the switchin.the yard switchers will be medium sized deisels.i dont know what would be used so im guessing some 44 tonners and GP9's?like i said i dont know what switchers i should use or what Chessie system would have.for road engines just on the mainline ill have E series locos and a single 2-6-6-2 articulated.but in my later era it will be larger 4 axled deisels,besides the E sreies ther will be no other six axled engines.
ther will be no passenger service , if ther is it will be some time in the future or just for fun.no passenger service will be on the layout itself.
my layotu design elements are in priority order
1.steel mill
2.coal mine,since this was C&O's prime commoditie
3.engine servicing,dont have to have it but would like it.
my era is very broad,1960's to early 70's.ill have my C&O engines do all the switchin.the yard switchers will be medium sized deisels.i dont know what would be used so im guessing some 44 tonners and GP9's?like i said i dont know what switchers i should use or what Chessie system would have.for road engines just on the mainline ill have E series locos and a single 2-6-6-2 articulated.but in my later era it will be larger 4 axled deisels,besides the E sreies ther will be no other six axled engines.
ther will be no passenger service , if ther is it will be some time in the future or just for fun.no passenger service will be on the layout itself.
Big Steel,I came and looked like you asked..My best advice is it needs redesign using solid LDEs'..You will need to BACK into the mine and you have NO where to spot the loads after you pull them.Then there that long reach that needs attention..Of course you could reverse the yard and steel mill that will put your yard closer to the operators pit.
alright i cant think of anything,ive got an idea for a table but it being only 10 feet long i cant get a yard to work right.ugh designing is the worst part.
I'm still working on your design- It's my favourite part of the hobby, helping people with their designs!! Well tomorrow is my day off from work so I'm gonna start my layout- Yipee!!!! But I will try to come up with something reliable to night.
One thing to remember here is that Bigsteel already has the benchwork he has drawn in place. I suspect he's reluctant to tear it down and start again.
Bigsteel, can I ask why you built your benchwork before you finalized a track plan?
Bigsteel, can I ask why you built your benchwork before you finalized a track plan?
i kinda figured it was the best way to utilize my space,but its been built not in place yet so i can still modify pretty well to fit another benchwork design , no biggy.
oh and it will peobably have to be rebuilt anyway since my stud hangers are teraing,LOL next time i shopuld pay for the heavy duty hangers.
can a yard be curved?and still look somewhat prototypical.cause if it can i had some ideas to make my yard longer.
Yes, a yard can be curved. You will not want to curve it too tight, and will probably have to manually couple cars that come together in the curve.
A question about your space - How high is the window, and can you go under or in front of it?
Andrew
A question about your space - How high is the window, and can you go under or in front of it?
Andrew
im cant go under the window since there is a braker box there and i forgot to put it on the design of the whole room.i just might be able to fit a 10 in wide peice in there to make my lead longer.ill post my yard trackplan in a minute.the whole layout and benchwork is cahnged and better designed like pgandw wanted me to do.it is just the yard the rest i havent designed yet.
here is the redisigned layout with 3 foot shelves and rotated to have the lift out bridge nesr the aisle way.ive rea up on yard design and i beleive this yard is much more functional than my last effort.i also think my engine terminal is better placed like pgandw said.the 2 lines coming of the double mainline are A/D tracks and they connect to the upper yard.i may make it one track wider though.and on the other side near the engine terminal tracks will be a yard for completed products,such as steel coils and sheet steel.one more modification ill post later and ask some questions about.
well here it is.
well here it is.
I think you're still going too deep. You'll never reach the back of your yard. I'm 6'3". and wear a 37" sleeve, but my functional reach on a 48" high layout is just over 2'.
If you're going to go that deep, put it on the side that is open, so you can access both sides.
If you're going to go that deep, put it on the side that is open, so you can access both sides.
my layout isnt 48in high it is 36 in high.i was thinking about 48 but after having to use 3 ft deep bench work il either have 36in high or bump it up to 40in.i wanted it to be low enough for my yard to work out right and have little kids be able to see the trains run.
ok here it is with a little more done.i added a yard track near the bottom of the yard,and put the mine tracks near the bottom of the picture.on the inner tracks are the depot and ill have a small industry of some sort on the spur.the tracks start to rise before the scenic divide and the inner tracks level offwhile the mine tracks rise level off and fall again back to normal level.wel here it is:
