Critique/Thoughts on Track Plan

I am a big fan of layouts viewed from the middle and with reversing options. I marked up your document with a couple of items I would consider.

The extra yard track in the left yard, I would move that switch down to the main and just have the branch accessible from there. Also assuming that the middle is accessible, I would move the passing and right yard closer to the middle for easier reach. You also have two switches that are a little hard to reach (from the middle). They provide for an unattended train to run while working on the left yard, but are hard to reach too. That ones is a toss-up to me.

It's a great start!

Thanks for the advice AtoZ. I made some changes today. The blue outline represents the benchwork. Any input appreciated.

Very nice. You also jumped from AnyRail to SCARM I see. If you add your SCARM file you will get more guys jumping in with updated suggestions.

Yeah. I had the old version of Anyrail and it didn't have 031 Fastrack switches, which was making it hard to get things to work out right. I still think Anyrail is easier to use but SCARM is OK. I still couldn't get some areas to hook up exactly but I figure I'll just have to cut track to fit when I start laying it

You should add a switching lead. Your yard lead goes right to the main. You can’t switch the yard without blocking the main.

OGR Webmaster posted:

You should add a switching lead. Your yard lead goes right to the main. You can’t switch the yard without blocking the main.

Good point. How would I do that on my plan? I'll be honest, I don't know what you mean by "switching lead"....

CLICK HERE to see what a Switching Lead or Yard Lead is.

Dear C & O Fan:

Highly respectfully I would say to you; it is difficult giving an opinion not knowing what the actual DESIGN is of this railroad.  I see the track arrangement.  

Is this a display layout?  Is this an operational layout?  Where or what is supposed to be?  What is it supposed to represent or do?  What will be your participation into it once completed?  Do you want to operate it?  Or just look at it?

If I had your space, I personally would NOT create a looping track.  If you are running a display that would be a different story.  If you want a model railroad, I would suggest that you get away from the round and round and DESIGN a point to point track arrangement where your trains would actually be going somewhere and doing something, then reversing and returning, like real life versus this spaghetti bowl of track-work.

I'm not being mean-spirited or snotty.  Just trying to share some wisdom gained over the course of 45 years so you don't find yourself dissatisfied with your layout. 

MOST IMPORTANTLY--it all depends on you and what you want.  Is this a toy circling for fun or a rivet by rivet reproduction? 

I think you missed a couple of Mike's points in your revision. I've taken that and made some changes. Sorry, I don't use any layout software. My changes are a bit crude because I used MS paint, but you'll get the idea. Finding room for a lead as Rich suggested is not easy.

I have preserved both direction reversing and removed redundancies.

Thanks for the replies and advice. I truly appreciate all of it. Perhaps it would help if I told the story behind this upcoming layout.

First off, I am a complete amateur who is trying to learn. I had a 6'X9' HO layout at my old house; it was far from fancy. My wife and I moved to a much larger house and I finally had a room in my basement for a "real" layout. I continued to acquire HO stuff but never got around to starting a layout.

Recently, my grandfather dismantled his O gauge layout which I now have. His layout was not prototypical or set in any era. He just bought stuff he liked as he found it. I have everything from 1920's steam engines to modern diesel engines and everything in between, including rolling stock, structures, etc... He had a lot of stuff packed onto his semi-small layout so I also have quite a bit of track and probably 15-20 remote switches. It was all O31. Thus, I have been trying to design based on what I have, rather than spend a bunch of money. I would love to go to O72 but I have all of the stuff to build in O31.

Honestly, as some have noted and others have probably noticed, I don't have a pinpointed vision. The only thing I really want is to be able to put the layout back together. 1) So my grandfather can use his knowledge to help me with it and 2) so he can enjoy it some more while he still can.

Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn't. Like I said, I truly appreciate all the feedback. I thought maybe explaining my logic would help you help me. Please keep the ideas coming. I need all the help I can get... Thanks again.

Since you don't have a plan...maybe consider starting small, like an 8 by 4 board so you can get some experience laying track and running wire.  I would not recommend to anyone to build a basement layout to start.

Good luck...LASTLY, I like your idea to use 72 curves.  If you go small, forego those to the future when you use a larger area.

C&O Fan posted:

Honestly, as some have noted and others have probably noticed, I don't have a pinpointed vision. The only thing I really want is to be able to put the layout back together. 1) So my grandfather can use his knowledge to help me with it and 2) so he can enjoy it some more while he still can.

Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn't. Like I said, I truly appreciate all the feedback. I thought maybe explaining my logic would help you help me. Please keep the ideas coming. I need all the help I can get... Thanks again.

Alot of good advice here, you definitely came to the right place for that. Here's a good example of old school 031 fun;

John C. posted:

Since you don't have a plan...maybe consider starting small, like an 8 by 4 board so you can get some experience laying track and running wire.  I would not recommend to anyone to build a basement layout to start.

Good luck...LASTLY, I like your idea to use 72 curves.  If you go small, forego those to the future when you use a larger area.

Thanks. I have considered building just the right side of the track plan I posted above first (it would be about 4'X10') then adding later. For reference though, it's in a 19'X10' room IN the basement. Not a complete basement layout. 

C&O Fan, First building a layout that your grandfather can identify with and use his experience is of utmost importance in your case.  Having a layout your grandfather will enjoy with you is second.  I also take it that you are on a budget, wanting to use the 031 parts you still have.  Building a layout like you have presented would be a great way to enjoy the hobby with your grandfather.  Later on in life, your desires and goals will likely change.  Then you can build a layout using 072 for a minimum and have a different theme!  Right now I would call it the grandfather-grandson theme!  

Very well said Mark! Your grandfather is passing it on down to you so share it with him! As I know when the time comes you will be passing it down the line! It's not about what size its about having fun and if you can have that same fun with one you love it makes it even better!

I was thinking about your track inventory. Here, I converted two plans from Model Builder, Jan, 1941. One is O72 that I converted and the other was already O31.

They almost fit into your space. I thought I'd put them up for your consideration. I think you can make them fit.

Ok,

A little more work to modify it to fit the space and connect the two. The connector track should be insulated to keep two trains running separately. Some of the sidings should be insulated, also, to provide a place to park engines and run one train on the entire layout.

I made some assumptions on the door location. You can see the room walls as translucent. I colored the table close to postwar grass green.

My thoughts were to use the 1941 designs as they may have something gramps would have run. It also keeps an era specific feel.

All the stuff is attached. Oh, I used some O72 switches to get the 22.5° angle for yard.

Thanks to Moonman's mock-up, I made some changes. I added another curved section to create a loop on the top, which now allows 2 trains to run on 2 separate l-shaped loops. The yard can now be worked while another train operates on the right and bottom. I moved the passing siding from the bottom to the right side. I think this is where I would put a passenger station and the area inside that loop would be some sort of town. The bottom I'm still working on. It would probably be an industrial area. I also wanted at least some elevation so everything wasn't completely flat. The only place I thought this would work without interfering with switches was on the left. It is only a 4" elevation and is about 4% grade. More than I'd like but I just don't see any other way to do it.