Dream and design

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CCT Lodi in large scale

Thu, 2014-10-09 06:15 — supagav

Hi, I'm new to this forum and here looking for some thoughts, ideas and suggestions please?

I'm thinking of constructing a small, large scale (1:29th) indoor switching layout based around the fruit packing lead in Lodi, on the CCT. A long time ago I watched a video of a geep squeezing round the tight corners of Tokay St (?) with some mechanical reefers and I thought that I would love to model that railroad someday!

Question on Wye and Reverser

Fri, 2014-10-03 10:30 — Chuck P

As I approach the time for tracklaying, I'm still a bit confused on the use of an auto-reverser for DCC. I know around my wye I should have one and would prefer using one and not some sort of switch.

I'm running a point to point with a large wye in the middle. The plan is ultra-simplified here.

I really need some help... :)

Fri, 2014-10-03 03:11 — luis_lopes

Dream and design

Hi all.

I have been trying to plan the layout, but I am having some issues. The plan is missing that "je ne sais quois"... that A-HA moment!

Foamcore vs. wood - Price comparison case study

Thu, 2014-10-02 19:24 — DKRickman

There has been some discussion of using foamcore for layout construction, which got me thinking about using it for my own future layout. Finding that I can purchase a 10-pack of 30"x40" online, with free shipping, for around $55, definitely encouraged things. With that in mind, I decided to see how a properly designed foamcore layout would compare to one built out of wood. Since weight is a bit of a concern for me (I have to build the layout and move it into position, and hopefully move it in the future), I realized that the lightest practical wood construction w

Request yard layout ideas

Tue, 2014-09-30 12:55 — casenundra

I am starting to plan the second level of my N scale layout and think that the summit of the helix(4 x 6) should have a yard with a Walthers 130 foot turntable and a scratch built 6 stall roundhouse. one leg off the turntable should be for sand, water, and coal since I added a 2 6 2 Prairie. to my locomotive roster(maybe more will be added in the future) (The rest are diesel). I have 96" X 18" to work with The first 40" are 24" deep on the left side. The helix exits on the left. the main line consists of 3 tracks Eastbound, Westbound, and Passenger shuttle.

Frustrated N Scaler

Tue, 2014-09-30 10:42 — Bremner

Man, this is getting frustrating. Atlas has new code 80 switches on the slow boat from China, but none of them are Customlines, they got code 55 #5's but no flex track. I have a lot of code 80 flex, a pair of left #4 Customlines, another pair of left #6 Customlines, 15*, 30* and 90* crossings....what's a frustrated N Scaler to do without any right switches? I am banging my head against the wall and all that I can think of is life would be so much simpler if I only had one right switch or two....

http://youtu.be/qjfSv9JwXgA

8 comments

New Seasonal Modular Display Idea - suggestions?

Fri, 2014-09-26 05:25 — fixxitt

Dream and design

After setting up my christmas display with 2 trains on a roughly 8x4 framework I built a couple years ago, it's time for a change. A couple problems with my current set up that I want to fix.

Firstly, as my layout changed, I had to add a couple 2x4's to all 4 sides to expand it (2x4's with foam board on top to match up with the surface.) this table is HEAVY and huge. We have it up against a wall for 9 months a year and it takes up a big chunk of our storage room.

Yard size/capacity

Wed, 2014-09-24 05:13 — pldvdk

Dream and design

I'm currently in the process of designing a new layout and am wondering about the size of the yard in relation to the rest of the layout. I tried a search on MRH, but couldn't find a post that addressed this. I kind of remember reading somewhere that the car capacity of the yard should be about equal to the car capacity of the industry tracks on the layout, but I'm not sure. I'd like to have a good yard, but don't want to make it larger than it needs to be for good operation. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Paul Krentz

Prototype curve radius to narrow gauge model question.

Fri, 2014-09-19 17:01 — orionstars

Hi All,

I am starting a new narrow gauge layout adventure. While I've had my own layouts and worked on others, I've never done one on a prototype let alone narrow gauge. So now I'm in the doodling/design stage and have a question which I'm sure has a simple answer.

(After many years in lab research I recognize when I get lost in my own circular thinking and when that happens there is no way out on my own!)

If a prototype curve is 10 degrees and I run it through the formula to a scale radius I end up with: