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I finally found a plan I like... Im not sure how to show it... here goes

Start with the plan.. follow until the 4 tracks go under the turntable lead..then plan -2 (lower layer) if you go in om the outside line follow around you come back out on the inside line going the opposite direction.. same with middle two lines.. third level is staging and a big reversing loop...

comments??

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Last edited by RD
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Dan,

I found this plan in an old layout book and I am trying to put it together in RRT but my skills are very limited as you can see...

Basicly it's 14x25 .. 3 levels..the plan is level one -plan 2 lower level and plan 3 bottom level. The five tracks at the top of the plan are a passenger station /yard.. follow the spur from the yard to the mainline and follow it around until it goes under that spur..on to plan 2.. if you are on the outside line going in and follow it around you come back out on the inner-most line in the opposite direction.

see where I'm going??  I need to figure out how to make grades and levels all on one plan but until then this is thye best I can do....

RD posted:

Dan,

I found this plan in an old layout book and I am trying to put it together in RRT but my skills are very limited as you can see...

Basicly it's 14x25 .. 3 levels..the plan is level one -plan 2 lower level and plan 3 bottom level. The five tracks at the top of the plan are a passenger station /yard.. follow the spur from the yard to the mainline and follow it around until it goes under that spur..on to plan 2.. if you are on the outside line going in and follow it around you come back out on the inner-most line in the opposite direction.

see where I'm going??  I need to figure out how to make grades and levels all on one plan but until then this is thye best I can do....

I get the connection between the first two levels, but can't see how the third level ties in.  I presume the first level is the diagram on the left.  

I changed the title because I am hoping someone can show me how to join these files.

Im going to try the tutorial one more time but so far it's not helping. I am working with version 5.2

and trying to join the three levels. This is a very rough copy of the plan in the book..no switches or sidings have been included yet but...baby steps.....

Any help  and/or advice would be apreciated.

thanks

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Last edited by RD

read:

  1. layers - to show each level separately when working
  2. color track - sometimes that helps when working with multi-levels
  3. elevated track to set the height of the track on a layer
  4. setting grades - to select and set the grade of the transition between layers

I tried to copy and paste to one file. I don't know how they are supposed to connect or even if it is multi-level.

You'll need a barn if this is in O. It's 10 x 20 in HO , so a guesstimate in O would be at least double that - 20 x 40.

 

Last edited by Moonman

I'm not sure there is a way to "physically join" separate RRT files, although SantaFe Jim's "select and paste" method might be worth a try.  The end goal though is, you've got to learn to think in "layers" with RRT:  keeping all the layers in ONE RRT file -- the same way photographers think in layers using Photoshop (if that helps).  

Each of the track layers should have track in a different color.  Scenery objects and buildings should be in their own layers too.  When you're filling out the different layers with track components, you can "hide" other layers to avoid confusion.  Then selectively toggle different layers on/off as needed.

Since all of the layers reside in one RRT file, you should start your RRT file with the maximum room dimensions... starting with the main track layer, then switch to the second (middle) layer and third (bottom) layer accordingly.  I've also found it handy with RRT to plan ahead using absolute track heights.  For example, in this plan, you might want to think about the main (top) track layer at 55", the second (middle) track layer at 48", and the third (bottom) track layer at 40".  Or whatever works best for you.

Hope that helps.

David

 

Last edited by Rocky Mountaineer

RD, as Jim says, it's easy to merge the 3 files, so here's what that looks like (1st photo). As you can see, they don't line up too well, so you have some work to do.
- The Black tracks are from your Plan#66.rrt file and are on layer "track 1".
- The Blue tracks are from your Plan#66-2.rrt file and are on layer "track 2".
- The Green tracks are from your Plan#66-3/rrt file and are on layer "track 3".

FWIW, rather than change the individual track colors, I generally change the color of the layers instead. In this case, I would also add a layer for the grades between the levels and set that layer to a 4th color.

Based on the drawing you posted from the magazine, it appears that the Blue tracks should connect to the 4 tracks in the larger blue circle and the Green tracks should connect with the 2 tracks in the smaller blue circle. I couldn't tell from the drawing exactly which layers were which, but it looked like the Green tracks were on the lowest level and the Blue tracks on an intermediate level, so I set the height of the Green tracks to 0", the Blue tracks to 7" and the Black tracks to 14" just to show some separation in the 3D view (2nd photo).

The 3rd photo shows the beginning steps to link Level 2 with Level 1 (Level 3 is hidden). As you can see, I added some straight sections to expand the Blue curves on the left so the loops on the right sit more directly below those above. More work needs to be done so they all connect and I thought I'd let you play with that. Once that's done, the expanded curves will then form the grade down to this level. I did create a grade with the one leg I connected. I added a "grades" layer and changed the color to Cyan (looks like purple in the photo). The grade goes from 14" down to 7" and by including the straight sections, the slope is an acceptable 2.9%.

I hope some of this helps you move along with this design. I assume you have the 14'x25' space the design will need for O scale.

NOTE: I didn't mention the difficulties you are going to have reaching various sections of the track, etc., so you really need to think about access if you pursue this.

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Last edited by DoubleDAZ
SantaFeJim posted:

Moonman -

I have used rr-track for 15 years so I know of what I speak.  I donated my Dell to a company that trains veterans in computer repair last November so I don't have a PC.  Now, if rr-track made a version for a MAC I would have assembled the layout for Rich and emailed the rr-file directly to him.

I think Carl simply meant that the result is pretty ugly, as you can see from my post. It's even uglier if you don't first set up some layers (like I did so you can keep the levels separate for the work that needs to be done to line things up properly. In this case, it probably would have been easier to learn how to use layers rather than create 3 separate files that don't line up with each other. Now there's a lot of work that needs to be done to get things to fit together and I'm not sure RCS has the needed sectional pieces, not to mention the decision to use RCS track in the first place. I didn't take the time because I think this will be a good exercise to really learn RRT.

WOW!!

Thank you all so much.. this is eactly what I was hoping for.. I think I just need a push in the right direction and you've given me something I can work with.

Jim: I was able to do exactly as you said and got everything in one file.. but it looked pretty much like the first photo in Daves post .. at least it was all in one file.. thanks for that.

David: Thinking in layers was the clue I needed to give me a new perspective. Once I started looking for "layer" options new menus started to drop down...that helped.

Doubledaz Dave: Forget John Wick...you are now my new hero!!

What you did in the third photo is exactly what I was trying for. You also raise some good questions that I think I can answer. I am lucky enough to have the space for this with room to walk around the outside of the whole layout. I also have options on the orientation in the room and I can massage it to make it work...If you look at the photo from the magazine most of the trackwork is reachable from the outside of the layout with the exeption of the turntable/rounhouse area.

Grades: The best way to explain whats going on is this.. the track from the turntable and the track coming off the switch at the top of the black level form an overpass that goes over all four of the mainline tracks that pass under and down to the next level .. this is where it gets interesting.. a train going under the overpass on the outside track (the track with the spur going to the "Y") travels around under the upper level and comes back out of the overpass on the inside most (purple or cayan) track going the opposite direction!!  The same thing happens with a train on either of the inner tracks .. it goes under on one and comes back out on the other going the other way... cool right??!!

The spur with the "Y" leads to the lowest level  ... train goes in off one leg of the Y  travels around and comes out the other leg.. it's a big reverse loop..this is also the level that leads to lower level staging under the yard/passenger station.

It looks much more complicated than it is ... I had to study it for a while but it is really just a double mainline twisted over itself. I think with some help  and proper planning I could pull this off..... right now I am working on the room and dismantling the old 8x12.. new carpeting & lighting  etc... then the journey begins... should be fun!

Again thank you guys for all the help..

 

 

Last edited by RD
SantaFeJim posted:

Moonman -

I have used rr-track for 15 years so I know of what I speak.  I donated my Dell to a company that trains veterans in computer repair last November so I don't have a PC.  Now, if rr-track made a version for a MAC I would have assembled the layout for Rich and emailed the rr-file directly to him.

speaking and doing are two different things - one is bs and one gets results - Daz got results

it's a start over situation - copy and pasting resulted in spaghetti

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