unusual layout

T

trains1972

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Sep 1, 2004
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philadelphia, pa
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unusual layout more pictures added

I have just started an unusual layout design. I have some ideas for scenery but I am not sure if they would work out or not. I am still in the construction stage and only got half of the first level done. There will be ten levels maybe eleven if I have the room for it.
Here is a pictures of the basic layout design.

This is the risers and I placed track in were the shelves will go for the tracks. The outisde shelves are 6" the inside are 3" The three top ones will be 6"
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This picture shows more of the layout. This is still only one third of the area that is going to have scenery on it.

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My son started some scenery but nothing is glued in place yet, it has to come out for me to put the track in behind it. The scenery is going to for looking into the section not from above.

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I was thinking about changing the scenery in each section. The one section would have the factory and some buildings. The next section would be a mountianous terrain. On the other side of the mountain would be plains. I don't want to cover or hide the track for no more then one of the sections at a time. I want to be able to see the caboose of the train when the engine comes out the other side. Would changing scenes like that be all right or would it look weird?

I know it is unusal layout I wanted a layout that took a long time to run from one end to the other also I would be able to run about 8-10 trains without worrying about them running to each other. I also wanted to model different seasons on the same layout. I am starting to think I should play it safe and treat it as one layout and build a mountain up to the next shelf and save the top shelves for industries.
Thanks for any advice or ideas for scenery.
 
uhhhh.... uhhhhh....:eek: :eek: :D

I am speechless. That is going to be awesome. :thumb:

I am having enough trouble doing scenery on a 4X8, let alone.....WOW

I like the idea, brilliant. Huge layout in a small space? hmmmm....
 
Speechless to say the least! :eek: :eek: :eek: I thought the two levels I'm planning was complicated. :oops:
One question, with the narrow shelving, are the levels point to point or loops, and if they are loops how do you plan on turning them around or do they run completely around the room? If they do you must have one heck of a lift-out or duckunder. :D :D
Keep us posted with updates. This is going to be very interesting to follow. :thumb: :thumb:
 
The layout is basically a crawl under. I got tired of the short line layouts. Having so many ideas for scenery and not having the room for it all. It is a point to point layout with reverse loops in the yard areas. The levels run around the round they stack up into one stack because of lack of room. I will update this when I get more work done. I did forget to put a picture of the first freight yard with the other pictures. There will be 2 yards the bottom one is the smallest at 8'x2' the top yard would be 14'x2'. I don't have the top yard figured out yet but the design will be something similar to the lower yard.
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I have 4 more risers to cut out and put into place. Once they are done then I will finish the bottom layer. I will take more pictures.
 
unusual layout more pictures added

thanks guys. I was not sure how you guys would have reply to the layout since it is an unusual design. I took a few more pictures to try to get the whole area in the picture. I could not get it all in one picture.
march120050142wl.jpg

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This picture shows the reverse loop at the end of the yard.
march120050161ze.jpg
 
I am not sure if it could be call a helix or not. The one track by the yard is like a helix but the other tracks do not stack on top of each other. The idea came from a helix and my last layout which use to climb from start to end.

How do you guys want to get updated on the layout. I do get a little work done each day and by the end of the week it adds up. I could show you guys every little thing or wait until there is a big change in the layout. I could also post pictures with or without the trains.

I am hoping to have the first level finshed by the end of the week. Once I get all the risers into place then the rest should be easier. It is going to take a while to build this layout.
 
I have an update on the work. I finshed the risers before I ran out of time today. I will install them tomorrow and put the track in to finish the first loop of track. If my math is right I should be at the next level. I want to run a test train through several times before starting the next level.
 
have up dated pictures for you guys. I got the last of the risers in and finished the plywood section of the first loop. I have a little more track to put in before I cross over the bottom track.
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The work will be quicker now that all the risers are in place. The piece running over and behind the track that is all ready there is one piece 8' long. I might put more track down when I get home but I am not sure about it yet.
 
Now that I got a lot of the layout built let me try to explain my vision beter. The layout is going to look like there are three layouts stacked on top of each other. The bottom layers will have 4 tracks the top 3 tracks 11 levels in all.
The section that looks like a ladder will not have scenery on it. The other sections will. The scenes will be in between the risers three scenes on top of each other ment to be looked at as section not a whole layout. The patern of scenery will be town in one section, nature in the next, different town or industry in the third section. When looking from a distance the train went trough a city and crossed the natural boarder river, desert, etc.. to get to the next town or city. The middle section with the curves on it is going to be all mountain. The mountain is a divider between states. I plan on having 2 states about 6 cities for each state. One state would be in winter and fall seasons, the other state will be in summer and spring. The scene will be from the Pacific side of the country but the cities will be fictional names of family members. The cities will only be 25" long and some will have industries in them only a couple. I am thinking about adding another freight yard half way up on the second layer but I have to look into that idea more before I build it. I have to check the space between the yards see if i can work in 8" space in the yards.
 
This is a very original concept and it's really coming along!!! What a great way to pack a lot of operation into a limited space. Maybe you'll start a whole new trend in layout planning. :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Val
 
My son got started on some of the scenery. He did not get much done and cannot put it into a fixed place yet because I still have to work behind it. Here is pictures of his work.
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This is his plans for the scene. First he has been looking on the internet for pictures of what that buisness would look like inside. He is going to attach a picture inside the building front. The he is going to add a sidewalk with poles and wires. Add a street and some cars plus people on the sidewalk. I am going to talk to him about adding clouds to the sky back ground.
 
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