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Kyle, According to what I found about the MRC item it "makes the operation of reverse loops transparent to the operator, they require no intervention other than aligning turnouts." I also want to align the turnout when a train approaches the back side and it is in the wrong direction. I...

David, I was planning on using the switch motor to change the track "polarity". That part is easy and comes free with a DPDT equiped switch machine like the Tortoise. Changing the direction of the wye and the polarity of the track before the gets to the "cut" with the minimum amount of...

I want to have an automatic turnout & polarity switching of two hidden reversing loops. I don't care which direction the train goes when it enters the loop. The layout will use DCC. I know there are some commercial items for this purpose but they seem complicated, expensive, require more...

Galen, Even the Ancient Chinese knew "A journey of a thousand miles (or 727,559 inches in HO) starts with a single step". This was and still is true. Had I not committed to running the 8 > 9 car GN passenger train first I would strongly consider making a 4' x 8' with 22" radius curves...

I think this should be close to the final layout. Thanks to all of the helpful suggestions on The-Gauge I think I have avoided most major mistakes but would like to get further comments to help avoid at least some of the minor ones. 50 years ago my wife took a trip (alone at nine years old -...

Not using water Since I have not been able to locate any HO scale water molecules to make it look right I am not going to use real water :) Both the terrain and majority of the track will be heading downhill to the left I thought it might be easier to tilt the entire layout rather than "cut...

Anybody have some experience in this area? My current plan has some passing lanes where I might want to drop or park some passenger cars. Does this area need to be dead level so the cars won't roll to the main line? I was thinking about 1/2% to 1%. I think I can do what I want without it...

Work is progressing on the layout design but the latest version needs an access port (infrequent I hope) in the center of the 8' x 8' "turnaround loop" area at end. I was thinking about having a lake that drops down on a hinge. Is this a reasonable way to hide an access port? Are there...

Double reversing loop main line Well the research continues. I am considering doing a main line that does a full loop around the table with two reversing loops in the 6' wide "fiddle room" to the left. The secondary inner loop will also enter & exit the fiddle room. The back loop will be...

I certainly assume there needs to be a smooth transistion from flat track to a grade. If you use a single radius transistion what is a reasonable radius for reliable operation? For a realistic operation? Does this radius change depending on the grade? Is it necessary to "ease" (larger...

Andrew, I had thought about blocking the panel and wouldn't consider it if it was a main panel. The house has an outside panel with the main breakers and meter mounted on two posts near our transformer, a large "main" panel on an outside wall of the house with most of the major breakers, a...

Room Layout OK, I am very open to suggestions. I did want to stay away from a "duck-under" but it is a possibility. Big-Jim does have a good reach:) (6'3' 36" arm) There are two electric panels I need to access. They are both on the "top" wall about 10' and 14' from theright hand side...

There is no "right" wall. There is about 7' open to the right. The room is about 35' from left to right with a sliding door in the upper right hand corner on the "east" wall. I only need to slide in to reset breakers but I might consider increasing this a little.

Hard part is done - wife supports building layout in lower level :) I have a large room (16 x 35) in the lower level (They call them daylight basements here) that will include a layout along with my offive and dog kennels. I am planning on adding a divider wall on the last 6 feet that will...