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So I am going to start a layout late spring or early summer.  I know I am going to put it in one half of my 2 car garage (need to park the car still)  So I am looking at half of a double garage and I have allotted roughly either 8x14 or 9x14 space. 

Now the dilemma is I know we are moving in about 3-4 years, so all I really want to do is run trains.  Probably won't worry too much about scenery on this layout unless I make this a modular layout.  I have been looking at layouts for months and am lost.  I will be using Atlas track and am thinking of 063 or 054 as a minimum radius.  Right now all my engines will run on 054 or larger.  I would like to run a minimum of 2 trains at once and would like a dedicated loop for a conventional PW set I have if possible.  If it connects to the rest of the layout, I assume I will need block control.  I have been thinking dogbone plans, but really am not sure.  Would like one bridge and some sort of yard for switching  I need some help from the gurus on this board.  My mind is just going in 1000 different directions.  Can this be done reasonable well or am I crazy?  Ask any questions, I am here to learn and enjoy!  Thanks for any help you can provide!

PS--I have a MAC, but DL SCARM on an old pc laptop we had, but haven't made much sense out of it.  I am just not very creative in the design aspect.

Last edited by roll_the_dice
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Andy, Start with the idea of a modular layout, depending on how you do build it can be a layout that you can walk on. My home layout was built with the idea of it being modular just in case we move in the future Being modular it does not need to look modular. If we should happen to move in the future I will have to do some surgery but the layout will survive

I have added a link to a video that shows progression and before and after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaPD8G6f3HU

Ray

Last edited by Rayin"S"

Using one of the computer layout programs can quickly become overwhelming if you're not used to it, plus you're trying to do two things at once - come up with a layout plan and also make it modular.

One approach that may help is to at least put a layout design on plain paper and then  start modifying it to meet your requirements for bridge, yard, etc. It may take you 6 or 7 attempts before you come up with a final plan that looks good to you, but at least you'll have something down on paper. At that point, you can transfer the design to some graph/block paper to get a better idea of dimensions and post it here on the forum and I'm sure people here can help you refine the plan, but the primary thing is to get something down on paper and go from there if you're not comfortable with the programs.

Rayin"S" posted:

Andy, Start with the idea of a modular layout, depending on how you do build it can be a layout that you can walk on. My home layout was built with the idea of it being modular just in case we move in the future Being modular it does not need to look modular. If we should happen to move in the future I will have to do some surgery but the layout will survive

I have added a link to a video that shows progression and before and after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaPD8G6f3HU

Ray

Thanks...that is encouraging.  Nice video of your WIP.  Nice to see it go from the start to running trains with nice scenery.  I do like the idea of modular, but if/when we move I anticipate having a much larger space for trains...so might start over anyway...but something to think about.

Richie C. posted:

Using one of the computer layout programs can quickly become overwhelming if you're not used to it, plus you're trying to do two things at once - come up with a layout plan and also make it modular.

One approach that may help is to at least put a layout design on plain paper and then  start modifying it to meet your requirements for bridge, yard, etc. It may take you 6 or 7 attempts before you come up with a final plan that looks good to you, but at least you'll have something down on paper. At that point, you can transfer the design to some graph/block paper to get a better idea of dimensions and post it here on the forum and I'm sure people here can help you refine the plan, but the primary thing is to get something down on paper and go from there if you're not comfortable with the programs.

OK, so I watched a SCARM tutorial and did some basics...this is what I had in mind.  This is a little too large for my space, but this is the general idea.  I ran out of "track" for the free version.  The outer loop is 054 and the inner is 045.  I would like 063 and 054, but not sure if the space I have allows it.  maybe 2 loops isn't possible or I keep my larger engines on the outer loop.  I think this should allow for some yard.  I doubt I put a turntable on this layout, maybe just part of the yard for engines. 

The usable track space I have is 9x14...would like to keep it 8x14, am not opposed to another foot.  Thanks!!

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