Track Design

 

In my original track design, I wanted the rails to go around the water feature through a tunnel and also in front of the water feature where I could perform switching operations, but track plans may not always go as planned. A good tip - make a half circle with the curve you plan to use so you get an idea of the space you’ll need in completing curves.  I chose O-54” radius curves so I could accommodate the larger locomotives, and the radius was a happy middle of unrealistic O-36” and sweeping O-72” curves. Plus the O-54” curves just fit nicely in my layout design.  Once you have the preliminary design down on paper. It’s time to begin the rough layout of track to see if your vision is actually going to look and function.  Warning - Reality is coming, you'll see...Is all that track is going to fit here? You’ll ask yourself.  OK, another tip.  Plan your layout in loops of track, That's if you want a loop, I’ve seen a few outdoor designs that are point to point layouts. I wanted continuous running loops where multiple trains can run freely without a collision. I built my layout with a two loop vision with the ability to join the loops into a large long running loop. Again your railroad your rules..The one thing you MUST always remember is to have fun building your layout.