About a year ago, I started a small layout, but ended up moving before I could make any real progress on it. I plan on starting again, and want to start with a yard (HO scale). I don't have a lot of space, so ideally, the yard will be about 2x8. I will expand the railroad, piece by piece, in both directions. So I've got a few questions:
I'll probably be using atlas flextrack, since it's pretty cheap and readily available. What's the difference between code 83 and code 100?
I don't have any track or turnouts left over, and I can't figure out how to get XtrkCAD to work, so I can't really get a good idea of how viable a 2' deep yard is. Provided that a mainline and one A/D track exist, and are pretty close to the front of the layout (let's say centerlines at about 3" and 5" from the front on a 24" deep layout), how many body tracks can my yard have? It'll be a total of 24" deep and I'll probably be using #4 or #6 turnouts, depending on how many tracks I can fit in there. I'm planning on allowing the yard lead to 'spill over' onto the next module (turntable, steam maintenance facility, REA, etc), so length is not as much of a deciding factor as depth.
Better yet, can anyone who has built a yard on such a relatively limited scale provide a trackplan?
Thanks in advance
Also, is there a layout planning program thats a little, uh, easier to use than XtrkCAD?
I'll probably be using atlas flextrack, since it's pretty cheap and readily available. What's the difference between code 83 and code 100?
I don't have any track or turnouts left over, and I can't figure out how to get XtrkCAD to work, so I can't really get a good idea of how viable a 2' deep yard is. Provided that a mainline and one A/D track exist, and are pretty close to the front of the layout (let's say centerlines at about 3" and 5" from the front on a 24" deep layout), how many body tracks can my yard have? It'll be a total of 24" deep and I'll probably be using #4 or #6 turnouts, depending on how many tracks I can fit in there. I'm planning on allowing the yard lead to 'spill over' onto the next module (turntable, steam maintenance facility, REA, etc), so length is not as much of a deciding factor as depth.
Better yet, can anyone who has built a yard on such a relatively limited scale provide a trackplan?
Thanks in advance
Also, is there a layout planning program thats a little, uh, easier to use than XtrkCAD?