Baseboard and Layout Design

Testing inclines before purchasing and laying terrain and track

Baseboard

The final design for the baseboard took the guidelines outlined in the previous post and was ultimately constrained by the great leveler for all model railroads, available space.

I got the final length and depth by measuring how intrusive the layout would be in the room it was going in. I did some rough estimates for the operating 'hole' using chairs, my wife and step-son - much to his enjoyment. A quick check of an N scale layout at the local club confirmed how many N gauge tracks could be reasonably laid side by side on 30cms/12'' of board.

I did some research regarding layout building, including Mr Google and The abc's of Model Railroading by Model Railroader (1989!! but basics still hold true), and settled on 9mm ply for the board and roughly 2x4 for the frame (I live in a metric country so the framing was actually 4.5cm x 9cm).

Patience was a virtue of the summer as my wife had had a car accident back in November and we were still waiting for a vehicle that could tow a trailer and haul the timber. But we borrowed a SUV and trailer for something else and lets just say, I optimised the opportunity.

We double checked the plan, cut and laid out the timber to check, cut wiring holes around the framing, and got building. My wife was awesome and pretty much got down to building with me after she'd read the plan and understood what we were up to. This thing was definitely a two-person job!

Rigidity was my only concern and I've perhaps overengineered the frame, but it seems to have come out solid. The legs take the whole thing a few millimeters over the NMRA standard module height which is more than enough to duck under to get to the operating area.

Layout Design - The Tennille/Sandersville Interchange

Let's just first say there have been many, many iterations on a theme. 

The last time I tried a layout there pretty much was no internet. So I had a 'brain moment' and went looking for Sandersville RR on Google Maps. I found it, and my step-son and I spent hours travelling over Sandersville RR and NS RR at Tennille in satellite mode. The first decision was what to do first and we settled on getting the double curves operating for 8-year-old fun and the Tennille yards for a bit of switching action.

Prototype

Turns out there are two yards, more or less, near Tennille, the Sandersville interchange and a huge yard for Rail Car Services (I've shortened to Rail Inc.) and their rolling stock servicing industry. I also noted that as the main line nears Tennille, it splits to double track before entering either yard.

As an aside, there is also an operational wye at the interchange (which heads to Wrightsville), which I thought was cool.

Sandersville Interchange - Google Maps

 

Yard near Rail Car Services - Google Maps

To the South ('right') of the interchange lies the NS Dillard yard at Savannah, to the North ('left') of the RailInc. yard lies the NS Brosnan yard in Macon. (Images above have been rotated to fit on the page).

Design

I started designing using the trusted old gridded paper and pencil, but downloaded SCARM for free and started playing with that. I didn't like it at first but once I accepted how it worked, used it to design two yards on the layout straights between the curves.

Now flextrack and I don't really like each other and the review session on easements I did via Youtube left me, my wife, and step-son in complete stunned silence. Having had issues with my very first layout, I decided I wanted larger than minimum, fixed curves, so that I didn't have to use flexitrack and 6-axle diesels and longer rolling stock, could operate without easements.

I'd been given a handsome voucher for our local model shop and they really only stocked Bachmann E-Z Track. I did a first run of the layout in SCARM using it completely but then read about the variable quality of their turnouts (no spring/device to hold the points in place once switched).

So I bought a 17.5'' and 19'' set of E-Z-track curves and straights for the ends of the layout. I know its not 'cool' for model railroading using E-Z track and that I should be hand-laying the entire layout, but I am a beginner and everything in my modest fleet of locos and cars takes the corners, and entries/exits to/from them.

Subsequent designs used Peco Streamline for the points and felxitrack for the straights.

In the end I kind of merged the two prototype yards together to create the Sandersville interchange and decided on having two passing tracks on the other straight, RailInc., section, to give four tracks creating a 'visible staging yard' and resting place for complete trains.

But, and some would say its a big one, there was a niggling in the back of my mind - I didn't know how yards really operated. I decided to Google yard design and was very glad I did.

I found an article called the "ten commandments" of yard design and learnt what an A/D track was, and about ladders, leads, and classification tracks. Suffice to say my interchange yard completely changed again. 

Turns out, I had fouled the main, the leads, the ladder and the A/D track, all in one design. I re-did the design and even then, after watching a yard operations/design video on YouTube, found I had still fouled one of the leads. The video was really good at providing a visual for the theory and Ron explains his North Yard in easily understood language.

Norfolk Southern - Sandersville interchange at Tennille - 'finished' design

I'm pretty sure I've nailed a decent operating yard now with the finished design above (comments welcome if I haven't). SCARM was good in the end as it allowed me to make mistakes on the screen rather than when laying and I've used it to design the final intentions rather than an exact replica - using it as a guide and list of track parts.

I'm also pretty sure, having mocked up some turnouts on the baseboard, I'll be able to squeeze another classification yard in as the runaround is 1.6m long at present (long enough for a number of cars) and using Peco streamline means there's plenty of width left on the 30cm wide sections - sacrificing 'finger room' between tracks in the yard.

I've subsequently bought some of the assorted short track segments from Atlas and Bachmann as I've already had one of 'those' moments test laying the track; the streamline Peco turnouts are indeed streamlined and need some short straights in and around the crossovers!

I then thought about the electrics and because a guideline of the railroad is to use what I already had, including the old DC controllers, I went for Cab Control and followed the guidelines in The abc's of Model Railroading.

About an hour and 15 coloured pencils later, I'd produced a reasonable block diagram.

Here comments are also definitely welcome as that interchange point on the lower right (part of yellow block) still has me questioning where the block should end - i.e. should it be part of the ladder, curve/lead, or A/D track as it is in the diagram?

The RailInc., five track beast of a yard at the top is actually too wide to get Sandersville on the straight section (which will meander around the rear of the layout), so it will be superseded. But it gives an idea of the RailInc. yard and using SCARM to play around has prevented me buying stuff I can't feasibly use.

But as beginners do, the fun did not stop there.

I realised that the 'RailInc.' yard at the back would be right next to my intended, meandering Sandersville RR. I decided raising the main and yard at the back would separate it and provide a sense of place; separating the NS RR from the Sandersville RR (it would also allow for an escape route out of the loop for SAN - as I've effectively trapped the short line in the main line loops).

I stuck a 4% incline on each curve in the design and went looking for Woodland Scenics inclines and risers.

The advice from my local train shop was an emphatic 'DON'T'. N scale and 4% don't go together very well, in fact they advised me to leave the inclines out all together unless a 2% incline was used and all locos were tested first.

This would be a problem as I really wanted to separate the NS 'RialInc.' yard from SAN. The only thing for it was to test the incline. So I got some 3mm MDF and some 1" dowling and bashed together a horrendous test track with bluetac and tape!!!

But I'm glad I did, as nothing would make it up the 4% rise we started the testing session with. However, everything nailed the 2% with flying colours.

The rolling stock has all been weighted as per NMRA standards and all locos pulled 12 cars up 2% without a problem. Double-heading the Dash 8 40Cs, we got up to 15 cars without a problem and then ran out of space - with still plenty of juice to go.

Then we tried a scale speed of about 20mph, just crawling up the incline and still got to the top.

I have very old locos and even this 25+-year-old loco made the grade (so to speak), the LifeLike, GP38-2 pulled better than anything else, but I am so glad I tested everything. I would hate to feel the disappointment I felt at testing the 4% rise, after actually laying the track.

Given the 2% rises will be on a curve, that's pretty much a 3% rise and so I'm happy all locos did 12 cars on a 2% (that, lets face it, had some 'drooping' portions more akin to 4-5%), as average train length will only be 10 - 12 in any case, a little more when double-heading.

The trials and tribulations of just designing a layout have been a journey in themselves. To get to this stage I've had to learn about the following:

• researching the prototype (real) railroad
• yard design
• layout design and length of trains and cars 
• curves and easements
• minimum curves for US 6-axle and 4-axle locos
• different track types
• building a baseboard
• weighting rolling stock so they roll properly
• scale speed
• grades and model RR inclines
• DC Cab Control , block design and common rail wiring

But the track I've been waiting on has arrived and the turnouts for the main line/A-D track are ready to go.

Guess there's nothing left but to start laying some track!

Another problem to overcome at some stage, is wondering dinosaurs. Got up one morning to find this beast had escaped from his pen and mauled a coal train... thing is, my step-son was away at the time, so this was my wife's sense of humour!