Andalo_an

Designing a New Layout

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I've been wanting to redesign my current layout for a number of reasons. Primarily because the current setup only allows for a single continuous loop, but it also uses the standard Lego 40s curves, it wasn't wholly my own design (mostly just a design suggested by Lego), and I wanted to take the step for a layout with detailed landscaping. Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on designing this setup.

 

Layout 2

I want to stick with 9v for mostly an aesthetic reason which is why I've designed this with the FxTrack System in mind. As such BlueBrick is missing a couple of the elements but that didn't detract from what I was able to work with. With a layout semi-complete it was time to add in the landscape details that I had had in mind when putting the layout together, and so I've drawn the following.

 

Layout 2 Detail

Key:
Light Blue -Hillside (Includes Tunnel and double track cutout)
Blue -"Water"
Gold -Fields
Green -Trees
Lighter Green -Plants (not trees)
Brown -Structures
Tan -Dirt Road
Black -Paved Road
Gray -Border

The back and left sides are against a wall.

 

Am I being over confident in what I would be able to fit into the available space?

If/ when I power the track is there anything I need to take into account? Power Distribution? Short-circuiting?

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l-gauge.org has them in the resources section.

4 minutes ago, 1963maniac said:

I am wondering how and from where you got those custom tracks into "BlueBrick" ?

 

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I realize that I may not have been as clear with my original post as I could have been.

I was looking for some help in designing a layout with 9v capabilities taking into account both traditional transformer operation in running power to each loop. What precautions would I need to take in avoiding short circuits between the loops? Would separate power even be possible with the current setup? Would only a single hookup per loop be sufficient enough?

 

A projected piece of the FxTrack System is the incorporation of DCC. With this system of control and power setup I wouldn't need to worry about isolating the different sections/ loops just make sure polarities don't cross, correct? Would I need to wire the layout differently for this style of setup? Again, how many hookups would I need to power this?

 

My only experience with powering a layout of a basic loop of track (set 4535-1) and until just over a year ago when I jump-started building a new era of layouts for myself with setting up this:

Layout1.0

(the brown baseplates are giving relation to how the new layout is situated.)

However, by this point something in my connection is no longer working after sitting for years gathering dust. I can get light from the 9v light brick when I hook it directly up to the transformer but the motor itself doesn't run when I connect power to the track, but I digress. With a completely new layout design I am looking for assistance in that regard. 

 

Other then that I return to the final question I postured in my original post, Given the size of setup I have given myself would I be able to fit the design elements I have drawn in?

 

Feel free to ask any questions if you are able to give assistance in the matter.

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@Andalo_an Unless you have an alternative to/ modified version of lego's 9V speed regulator, I would recommend using at least 2 regulators. I would have one controlling the outer two loops and the other on the inner loop & sidings. It helps to insulate the loops from each other, especially if you envision running trains in opposite directions.

Your original layout is probably not working well due to cleanliness, 'cold' motors, and the amount of trackage being operated by the single regulator.

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You are correct with your statement regarding DCC. I don't think you need more than 2 feeds for that.

If you go that route you will probably run with more than 9V and a kind of square wave AC permanently on the track. You need to be aware that placing an unmodified 9V train motor on the track may destroy it. (Visitors?)

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Great design, great use of the FxTrack system. Based on your layout design I believe you can fit everything in. The lower left corner has quite a bit going on with the water, dirt path and fields. You may want to have the water feeding the pond from the right instead?

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For the water running out the bottom I didn't want it to put a bridge under a switch nor did I want it to run under 3 tracks at once. The shape of the waterway isn't set in stone yet, but the location really can’t move from its current spot in the layout without major changes to the track. My current thoughts are to have a girder bridge for the double track, a worn wooden deck bridge for the siding track to the farm and a stone single arch bridge for the last loop. All the bridges are single spans.

 

As far as the landscaping goes;

- I'm taking inspiration from the LGMS/ MILS system but not strictly following it.

-I want at least 3 or 4 bricks deep from the baseplate to the rail height allowing me to have elevation changes both below and above the track elevation throughout the layout.

-I plan to have the water not be blue but trans/ clear with stones underneath it.

-There will be a marshy area with reeds and other aquatic flora extending from the open water of the lake in the center of the table.

-The second lake isn’t natural and is more of a drainage basin/ holding pond and so therefor will have murkier water and have other garbage in it.

-Pretty much everywhere except in the “yard” area and the fields will be forested/ have undergrowth.

-Most of the landscape on the right half of the layout is grasslands/ plains except for the top right corner which is a heavily wooded/ abandoned rail.

-The structures I’m currently planning are and have notated in the drawing are a farmhouse with a shed at the end of the dirt road. The dirt road crosses the track but before that turns off into more of a worn path that follows the river/ creek to a countryside loading dock. In the “yard” there is a water tower, a sand tower and other maintenance equipment. This area is the only place that won’t be densely vegetated. Finally, above that is a passenger station and platform with a paved road. There will be other smaller elements that will come as the layout becomes physical.

-In the upper left I have a tunnel cut through a mountain/ large hillside as well as a pair of tracks that are in a cut through. As far as the rock I want to avoid using a majority light/ dark gray, but instead use a mix of other natural colors.

-There are a lot of things that I have chosen to do purely because of aesthetics. This includes making the layout with metal rails, using reddish brown tiles for the rail ties, and including excessive detail in the trees/ ground cover (I don’t want to have open areas of studs on the ground.)

-I will be building the landscape in such a way so that once I have completed my physical setup (a few years down the line), I can then move on to creating tiles that I can easily swap out to change the seasons.

 

The footprint of the layout is the largest it can make it, even the shape is specifically designed to fit. My current layout is ballasted, and the rails are fully detailed, but is built directly on baseplates and not detailed any further.

So, yeah. There are a lot of things that I have envisioned for this project and I will try to keep you guys posted as it progresses into reality.

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