Three times around the tree in Fastrack

If no one speaks up, I can see if I can convert it tomorrow. Does it have to be limited to 6’6” x 6’6”?

the size can be larger than 6'6" x 6'6" 

Do you want O-36 or O-48 or is a combination of both okay?

I liked that plan the first time I saw it. If you build it, post some pics.

Eric, here's an initial O-36 plan just to get started. I'll work on O-48 and combo versions tomorrow.

Forum member Santa Fe VA has this layout - we documented his as built - it has longer legs - then we found the article - he has photos and video of it posted around 2016

thanks Dave. I look forward to the other versions that you come up with.

And thanks Carl. 

Eric

Other things got in the way today, so I’ll try to play with the design tomorrow.

I like this plan. Here's my version with MTH RealTrax; O-42 and O-54.

Eric, sorry it took longer than I thought and didn't come out quite like I hoped. At about 8' x 9.5' it's larger than I thought it'd be and there are 2 places that don't join in the software, but should if built. The blue tracks are at 0" elevation, the green at 5" and the purple have grades of 4.0% and 4.5%.

Thanks Dave. Interesting plan and how it really grew in size.  I like it but it's a tight fit in the living room! I appreciate your help with both track plans.  Eric

Eric, I wanted to see what the larger size middle circle did and I suspect even using smaller curves on the outside wouldn’t yield enough reduction in size to make it worth the exercise. Sorry it didn’t work out.

I converted my MTH version to Fastrack and achieved a footprint of 84" x 80". Although, I did have to use O36, O48, O60 and O72.

Oh man, did I mess up trying to do too many things at the same time. I got confused and used tubular track. Duh. Glad Oman saw it was supposed to be FasTrack.

Dave

Please look at my scarm file and make any improvements that you see fit. This is my first layout with Fastrack. I set the elevation at 6.5" and achieved 5.7% grades.

Keith, I’ll do that. If Eric is going to use a trestle set for elevation, they raise the tracks 5”, but if he’s going to use plywood, he’ll need 5” plus the thickness of the ply. That probably means at least 5.5”, but extra height never hurts as long as trains can get up/down okay, preferably without having to manually control speed. I still can’t believe I got sidetracked and used tubular track instead of FasTrack. 😜

Keith, I don't see anything wrong with it. I snipped the one track that wasn't joined so I could run the simulation and it looks nice. I'm going to see if I can flatten it and make it longer.

Edit: Well, trying that didn't work the way I thought, so I guess it's don't fix what isn't broke.

I'd never seen this before.....now I want to make this happen next Christmas

Just for your interest - here is @Santa Fe Va 's layout that has extended legs based on the 2006 version of the layout - someone converted it to FasTrack - then he acquired it - it was 2014 - sheesh - time flies- 

yes - it is a space eater - 8' x 8' without the extension 

Santa Fe Va Thrice Around the tree

The video is a show of the layout in the condition that he acquired it - but, it will give you a feel for how the finished build can look